During the holidays, we’re running a contest through our “12 Days of the Spiral“. The question is – what has Wizard101 or Pirate101 meant to you and/or your family in the past year? Here is our tenth winner! Read how Wizard101 helped this adult found family friendly gaming through Wizard101.
I began playing Wizard101 over four years ago after my sons saw the commercials on TV and wanted to try the game. After watching them play for a while I decided to make an account and give it a try. I have always enjoyed role playing games and fantasy. I thought even though it was a “kids” game I might like it. I soon discovered after reading the Wizard101 forums that many adults were playing and enjoying the game and it was truly a family game, not just a “kids” game. It has been a wonderful bonding experience with my two sons(ages 12 and 7). My oldest son and I enjoy doing the dungeons or the Winterbane and Pagoda Gauntlets together. We also like to hatch pets together too try to get rare hybrid pets. While my youngest enjoys collecting pets and looking at the different houses and items in the crown shop. Our family’s finances don’t allow me to spend much money on crowns, so I have only bought a few locations. My oldest son saves his allowance to purchase game play cards for crowns and items.
Since I only have access to all of Wizard City and Parts of Krokotopia, I have become an expert on those areas of the game. I really enjoy helping new players with their quests in those locations and showing them all the places to find reagents as well as the ways to get special items such as the rare pet drops from Lord Nightshade.
I have been working on finishing my degree the past few years and had not played much the last couple of years. This year has been especially stressful and I have found myself playing more. It is very refreshing for me to take a short break from my studies and play Wizard101 for a little while. It also gives my some quality time with my boys doing something we both enjoy and can share. Even when we’re not playing we often talk about certain strategies to use on the different bosses or how to gain special items or hatch a certain pet. My oldest son is always coming up with ideas for new pets or special abilities he would like to see in the game.
I know that there a relatively few adult players on Wizard101; But a few of us have figured out that it is truly a game for any age. Also it is a great, safe, fun place to spend quality family time together battling evil and meeting new friends.
Alex DragonTamer
Level 25 Fire Wizard
During the holidays, we’re running a contest through our “12 Days of the Spiral“. The question is – what has Wizard101 or Pirate101 meant to you and/or your family in the past year? Here is our ninth winner! Read how Wizard101 helped instill some good qualities and life skills into this young person’s life.
Honestly, Wizard101 has changed my life. I first started to play in 2009. One day, my cousin who is basically my other twin, randomly introduced it to me, and so I thought I would give it a try. I generally was a “gamer” type of person, but that day I realized my true talent. Wizard101 has greatly impacted me in terms of skills, my studies, and me generally.
My cousin used to live far away from me and I would rarely see him. However, Wizard101 allowed us to contact each other through the game. We would develop different skills and strategies that we would both need in order to complete a quest. It taught me to co-operate with him and others as I was not the best person to co-ordinate with. It greatly impacted my ability to recognize what is most important and what is least in terms of doing quests, gathering health, and choosing specific attire that would help in terms of resist, damage, critical rating, and block.
Furthermore, it taught me to organize my time. I would keep a specific schedule in order to balance my time with my family, on my game and my studies. As I got older, I started to help my mother with chores, and started to work. The money I earned, I would partly use it for my membership and other things. Wizard101 greatly taught me how to be responsible and manage my money and time wisely, and such a skill greatly helps me now. Also, I was a pretty slow communicator through technology, and this game helped me increase my ability to type faster, which is a funny thing, but honestly it greatly helped.
I have been gaming for approximately four years. Wizard101 has taught me skills which greatly impacted my overall life, such as responsibility, time management, organization, and coordination. I am significantly thankful to KingsIsle as it has allowed me the ability to connect with my only cousin through Wizard101, and together we both learned various different techniques and strategies for quests. It helped open my mind to newer techniques and improved my ability to be a critical and creative thinker. It has honestly helped me to become a different and better person. As of now, I believe that I am going to stay as a loyal member to Wizard101 until the end. Thank you to KingsIsle for creating such an amazing and friendly game.
Tristan HawkFlame
Level 49, Death Wizard
During the holidays, we’re running a contest through our “12 Days of the Spiral“. The question is – what has Wizard101 or Pirate101 meant to you and/or your family in the past year? Today we have our eighth winner! Read how this Wizard realized that there are still some good-natured games out in the MMO world.
What happened to the good-natured games? When you head to your local game store, M seems to be the most prominent letter on our game boxes. Thankfully, there is a family appropriate alternative which changed relationships with my family and friends for the better. The first time I saw the rotating triangle on that arena, I imagined what would happen if I clicked the download button on that game’s website. I never imagined that clicking that button would change me this much. Wizard 101 helped me become more efficient at work and helped me create bonding relationships that I could never wish to be undone.
We do have to initially keep in mind that multitasking is an art. You can’t start doing two things at once and expect to be amazing at it. My first time flying through Unicorn Way didn’t go perfectly. As I went through the game, I ran over more hurdles, but the goal of reaching the status of my cousin’s main character, Tarlac StormCaller, was the one goal that kept me jumping. Eventually, I got more efficient in my playing style. I waited on quests to see if I could metaphorically kill two birds with one stone. I saw similar effects in my homework, and I got more done faster. In fourth grade, I had issues with homework, but I started to complete some assignments before you could beat Rattlebones.
I also became closer with my cousin. I used to usually be a timid person who didn’t mingle with my athletic cousins, so Tarlac StormCaller was and still is one of my favorite family members to be with. He was the one who inadvertently convinced me to download Wizard101 in the first place, and he’s the one who aided me in reaching my current level status. Though I have yet to return the favor to him, I have returned the favor to others. A childhood friend of mine, let’s call her Kaylee for privacy reasons, ran into the game by pure chance and started playing. By the time I discovered this, I was in MooShu and she was grinding Field Guards in the Haunted Cave to raise her levels. She even received the badge for fighting 2,000 undead in the process. I decided to help her through the game as Tarlac did for me. Currently she is in Marleybone with her other friend; let’s name her Terrie for privacy purposes as well. I enjoy playing with Tarlac and Kaylee, and I’m glad I’ve made these long-lasting relationships.
These people have also made me realize the answer to my question. What happened to good-natured games? Nothing happened to them. There’s always a clean gaming experience for you, even in a gaming genre known for profane content. I want to thank you, KI, for this awesome experience you’ve created, and I hope you continue to create experiences like these for a long time.
Joseph DarkFlame
Level 56 Fire Wizard
During the holidays, we’re running a contest through our “12 Days of the Spiral“. The question is – what has Wizard101 or Pirate101 meant to you and/or your family in the past year? Today we have our seventh winner! Read how Pirate101 helped Fishy Courtney Nightingale cope with depression and anxiety.
What has Pirate101 meant to me in the past year? I’ll tell you, but first I need you to imagine something for me.
Imagine that you’re scared to leave the house. Imagine that you can’t help crying over the smallest, most insignificant things. Imagine that you consider yourself such a disappointment to yourself and the world that you’ve contemplated causing yourself physical harm. Imagine that you were once confident, but have been crushed and battered down by your decision to bottle up most of your emotions your entire life. Imagine that the walls keeping those emotions at bay have broken down, and you’ve been left to drown in the tidal wave that follows those walls bursting open. Imagine that.
That’s what happened to me in the past year. And Pirate101 was my only escape from a world which had become unbearable—a world which I was no longer able to cope with.
I was depressed and anxious to the point that I needed medication to help me climb out of the pit of darkness that I’d dug myself into.
Pirate101 was part of the ladder that got me out of that hole. No matter what, the game was always there for me, full of characters I could aspire to be like and people who would come to be close friends.
When my world came tumbling down and I cut myself off from family and friends alike, Kan Po was my first mate, my friend, giving me invaluable advice to help me on my adventure into the Spiral.
When I felt that I had no direction in life, Bonnie Anne was on her path to becoming a better musketeer, dedicated to her talents and the crew that she had joined, never afraid to speak her mind.
When I felt that I had made an awful mistake that I would never be forgiven for, Ratbeard had been given a second chance on my crew and was finding ways to set right the wrongs he had caused.
As I progressed through the game, I eventually made friends, though it took a lot for me to even be able to talk to them to begin with. Sharing the game with my younger brother helped make me more confident about things though—if someone six years younger than me could do it, then why couldn’t I? Now I have a group of high level friends and we can all count on each other to lend a hand when it’s needed.
Pirate101 gave me a constant, a world I could escape to, a place where I could become Fishy Courtney Nightingale and sail the skyways, making friends, recruiting my crew and helping people. Pirate101 taught me to follow my dreams, to find my path and stick to it, no matter what anyone else said. Pirate101 even brought my brother and I closer together, giving us something to talk about instead of arguing constantly.
Without the contribution and beautiful storyline, characters and players of Pirate101, I would still be stuck in the deep, dark, abysmal trench which had yawned open and swallowed me, cutting me off from the world. Without Pirate101, I would still be yelling at my brother constantly, and making family life miserable.
Without Pirate101, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I’m still not quite sure who that person is, but the lessons this game have taught me ensure that I will stay on the path to finding out.
That’s what Pirate101 has meant to me in the past year.
Fishy Courtney Nightingale
Level 65 Witchdoctor
During the holidays, we’re running a contest through our “12 Days of the Spiral“. The question is – what has Wizard101 or Pirate101 meant to you and/or your family in the past year? Today we have our sixth winner! Read how Wizard101 helped Jessica SkySong live life to the fullest while she was recovering from an injury.
“Hey Mom, how are all your little wizard friends today?” asks my 25-year old son, mocking me ever so gently. Little does he know how Wizard101 has been a lifesaver for me this past year.
When torn cartilage and tendons in my hip sidelined me over twelve months ago, making me a virtual prisoner in my own home, I turned to Wizard101 while I awaited surgery. What a difference this game has made to my mood and outlook! I may be immobilized in real life, trapped on a couch, but my wizardly self gets to run, jump and “fly” in a virtual world. There are times when, after playing for an extended period of time, I close my eyes to sleep and feel myself “flying” over the cobblestones in Olde Town. Now that’s magical!
In fact, it’s Wizard101 that has enabled me to “continue” my usual activities of daily living, brightening my mood. Rather than fretting that I can’t tend to my real garden, I putter in my virtual gardens, where the pests are easier to deal with and harvests never disappoint. Unable to finish home improvement projects, I now decorate my wizard homes instead…and doesn’t that make me feel like a little girl again, playing with doll houses! How precious and rare is an activity that can make us feel young? I can no longer sit at my sewing machine, but here in Wizard101 I get to craft and “stitch” to my heart’s content. Best of all I don’t have to wait for real-world friends to return from work to socialize; I can find adult wizard friends—-some half a world away– almost any time of the night or day, ready for questing and bantering (And yes, Virginia, there are adult wizards in the Spiral!).
This Christmas I won’t be able to make the long trip home to distribute gifts to family. Instead I’ll be dusting off my wizard’s Santa suit and sleigh, ready to take my spot on the Commons and delight in gifting some unsuspecting wizards in my KI family. Wizard101 is more than a game to me now; it’s a much-needed distraction when TV bores me and pain interferes with sleeping or reading, a way to socialize I never thought possible (many thanks to all my “little wizard friends”!), a surrogate family, an outlet for creativity, a window onto a world where I can feel something like my old self again—even if I am wearing a goofy hat and riding a dragon! Many thanks, KI, for keeping me sane during some tough times.
Jessica SkySong
Level 93 Life Wizard
KingsIsle Blog 