Hey there! So these tiered wands that are meant to be exclusive, are actually also giftable. This needs to be fixed because it totally erases the point of exclusivity.
My friends who have 1 or 2 year old accounts are walking around with the Celebration Staff, all because a friend with a 10+ year old account gifted it to them. If possible, these wizards should have their gifted wands automatically converted to the wand that matches their tier.
PLEASE ADDRESS THIS I consider it an honor to have played for 10+ years. I felt so appreciated when KI released these wands. Thank you!
Hey there! So these tiered wands that are meant to be exclusive, are actually also giftable. This needs to be fixed because it totally erases the point of exclusivity.
My friends who have 1 or 2 year old accounts are walking around with the Celebration Staff, all because a friend with a 10+ year old account gifted it to them. If possible, these wizards should have their gifted wands automatically converted to the wand that matches their tier.
PLEASE ADDRESS THIS I consider it an honor to have played for 10+ years. I felt so appreciated when KI released these wands. Thank you!
Hello! Thank you for the report! We are aware of this bug and will get a fix in as soon as we can!
Exclusive items should NEVER be. It can only make some feel less than. What this game should be about is helping others, sharing information on obtaining any badge, pet, items, what-have-you, that they want. If you see someone with something you think they will want, help them achieve that goal. Exclusive items only separate and divide us wizards. Making this celebration wand giftable is a beautiful thing. Making it (or any item) exclusive is just disgusting. This game has taken strides in becoming inclusive. We should also consider just how unfair this is to children newly introduced to wizard101. They should be faulted because they were born a decade after older players? They're just children. It's not fair to them or even the adults who didn't create their account until after others did. The other day I saw someone with items that made me go hmm and I wiki'd Party Hat and Valor staff and the owner of those items had such an arrogance that they have those items and therefore is an "original", thus they were better than me and all others not having those rare items. I told them how I once missed a promotional code due to hurricane (superstorm) Sandy and their reaction was to tell me "tough". But to know me, you will know I have quite some rare collections in which I take total pride in having as they are things I worked hard for (in the game) and these rare things that I own are things most anyone can earn for themselves. Examples of some rare items I currently own (or are working my way to earning) are - all the holiday wands and I mean ALL of them, for every level. And I got these the hard way - farming for them. It's taken me years and just need a few more hallowe'en wands to complete. I also have an ultimate fishing luck pet (the most fishing luck on a pet in all the Spiral), I own every fish in every size. I am 1 badge away from becoming a deckath-elite badge owner. I just crafted my Ultimate Hands of Fate. All of those accomplishments are things any membered wizard can achieve because they are not exclusive to those who started their account on this day vs that day.
Let me make this very clear to KingsIsle and Gamigo, every item created for us wizards, should be attainable for ALL wizards. It should not matter if their account was created 13 yrs ago vs created yesterday. The solution I recommend is making us work for it. So, what can be considered is make a new world where rare, exclusive, retired items can be EARNED. Talk it over with the powers that be and the difficulty to obtain each retired/rare/exclusive item. This concept worked great with the Beckett wands. That was one of the best game decisions. Players had to have certain requirements to be able to fish for those. This now is your opportunity to turn this negative Topic into the something positive. I want you to also consider how smart it truly was to be able to gift these wands. If a child newly creates their w101 game tomorrow, they can have a relative gift it to them. Not being able to attain an item such as the celebration wand is no cause to celebrate. Why would we turn away new players? Gifting it makes more players happy than the few complaining here. Whereas new people thinking about joining the Spiral may reconsider when they see they will be given less consideration. Plus, all those who did gift it, still paid KI 100 crowns to do so. It has made KI a wee bit of money while making the one gifting it and receiving it happy too. Please consider what I have said here and do not take it lightly. The ability to EARN every in-game nook and cranny is what has kept my interest in this game for all it's years. My entire wizard's existence is because it was gifted to me, knowing how I can achieve the goal of one day obtaining every crowns item, including every wand, every holiday item and every pet, etc. is what made me make the account and continue playing all throughout the years. I have become saddened each time we are introduced an exclusive item (the likes of which are unobtainable to most). Exclusive badges have turned me away from pvp and I shake my head when thinking of how there are badges for 1st place deckathalon winners (as those are highly unlikely to most). I hope whoever reads this sees the passion I have for this game and why. Longer playing wizards have been given the opportunity to help those with accounts not as long as theirs. It was a beautiful thing.
The wands have been corrected to no longer be gifted. Apologies about some making their way onto other player accounts.
There are many things needing fixing with this game and this was absolutely not one of them. Apologizing for something that was a good thing is something I do not recommend. Instead of apologizing, this could have been a teaching moment for how to play nice among peers. That opportunity is still here.
Exclusive items should NEVER be. It can only make some feel less than. What this game should be about is helping others, sharing information on obtaining any badge, pet, items, what-have-you, that they want. If you see someone with something you think they will want, help them achieve that goal. Exclusive items only separate and divide us wizards. Making this celebration wand giftable is a beautiful thing. Making it (or any item) exclusive is just disgusting. This game has taken strides in becoming inclusive. We should also consider just how unfair this is to children newly introduced to wizard101. They should be faulted because they were born a decade after older players? They're just children. It's not fair to them or even the adults who didn't create their account until after others did. The other day I saw someone with items that made me go hmm and I wiki'd Party Hat and Valor staff and the owner of those items had such an arrogance that they have those items and therefore is an "original", thus they were better than me and all others not having those rare items. I told them how I once missed a promotional code due to hurricane (superstorm) Sandy and their reaction was to tell me "tough". But to know me, you will know I have quite some rare collections in which I take total pride in having as they are things I worked hard for (in the game) and these rare things that I own are things most anyone can earn for themselves. Examples of some rare items I currently own (or are working my way to earning) are - all the holiday wands and I mean ALL of them, for every level. And I got these the hard way - farming for them. It's taken me years and just need a few more hallowe'en wands to complete. I also have an ultimate fishing luck pet (the most fishing luck on a pet in all the Spiral), I own every fish in every size. I am 1 badge away from becoming a deckath-elite badge owner. I just crafted my Ultimate Hands of Fate. All of those accomplishments are things any membered wizard can achieve because they are not exclusive to those who started their account on this day vs that day.
Let me make this very clear to KingsIsle and Gamigo, every item created for us wizards, should be attainable for ALL wizards. It should not matter if their account was created 13 yrs ago vs created yesterday. The solution I recommend is making us work for it. So, what can be considered is make a new world where rare, exclusive, retired items can be EARNED. Talk it over with the powers that be and the difficulty to obtain each retired/rare/exclusive item. This concept worked great with the Beckett wands. That was one of the best game decisions. Players had to have certain requirements to be able to fish for those. This now is your opportunity to turn this negative Topic into the something positive. I want you to also consider how smart it truly was to be able to gift these wands. If a child newly creates their w101 game tomorrow, they can have a relative gift it to them. Not being able to attain an item such as the celebration wand is no cause to celebrate. Why would we turn away new players? Gifting it makes more players happy than the few complaining here. Whereas new people thinking about joining the Spiral may reconsider when they see they will be given less consideration. Plus, all those who did gift it, still paid KI 100 crowns to do so. It has made KI a wee bit of money while making the one gifting it and receiving it happy too. Please consider what I have said here and do not take it lightly. The ability to EARN every in-game nook and cranny is what has kept my interest in this game for all it's years. My entire wizard's existence is because it was gifted to me, knowing how I can achieve the goal of one day obtaining every crowns item, including every wand, every holiday item and every pet, etc. is what made me make the account and continue playing all throughout the years. I have become saddened each time we are introduced an exclusive item (the likes of which are unobtainable to most). Exclusive badges have turned me away from pvp and I shake my head when thinking of how there are badges for 1st place deckathalon winners (as those are highly unlikely to most). I hope whoever reads this sees the passion I have for this game and why. Longer playing wizards have been given the opportunity to help those with accounts not as long as theirs. It was a beautiful thing.
I really agree. Making things "exclusive" can be really unfair for new people who are starting out. It really takes away the magic of the game and will most likely just push people away from playing instead of bringing them into the game. I had a older account, but I lost it and I lost some items on that account that I can't get on my now account because its "younger".
Exclusive items should NEVER be. It can only make some feel less than. What this game should be about is helping others, sharing information on obtaining any badge, pet, items, what-have-you, that they want. If you see someone with something you think they will want, help them achieve that goal. Exclusive items only separate and divide us wizards. Making this celebration wand giftable is a beautiful thing. Making it (or any item) exclusive is just disgusting. This game has taken strides in becoming inclusive. We should also consider just how unfair this is to children newly introduced to wizard101. They should be faulted because they were born a decade after older players? They're just children. It's not fair to them or even the adults who didn't create their account until after others did. The other day I saw someone with items that made me go hmm and I wiki'd Party Hat and Valor staff and the owner of those items had such an arrogance that they have those items and therefore is an "original", thus they were better than me and all others not having those rare items. I told them how I once missed a promotional code due to hurricane (superstorm) Sandy and their reaction was to tell me "tough". But to know me, you will know I have quite some rare collections in which I take total pride in having as they are things I worked hard for (in the game) and these rare things that I own are things most anyone can earn for themselves. Examples of some rare items I currently own (or are working my way to earning) are - all the holiday wands and I mean ALL of them, for every level. And I got these the hard way - farming for them. It's taken me years and just need a few more hallowe'en wands to complete. I also have an ultimate fishing luck pet (the most fishing luck on a pet in all the Spiral), I own every fish in every size. I am 1 badge away from becoming a deckath-elite badge owner. I just crafted my Ultimate Hands of Fate. All of those accomplishments are things any membered wizard can achieve because they are not exclusive to those who started their account on this day vs that day.
Let me make this very clear to KingsIsle and Gamigo, every item created for us wizards, should be attainable for ALL wizards. It should not matter if their account was created 13 yrs ago vs created yesterday. The solution I recommend is making us work for it. So, what can be considered is make a new world where rare, exclusive, retired items can be EARNED. Talk it over with the powers that be and the difficulty to obtain each retired/rare/exclusive item. This concept worked great with the Beckett wands. That was one of the best game decisions. Players had to have certain requirements to be able to fish for those. This now is your opportunity to turn this negative Topic into the something positive. I want you to also consider how smart it truly was to be able to gift these wands. If a child newly creates their w101 game tomorrow, they can have a relative gift it to them. Not being able to attain an item such as the celebration wand is no cause to celebrate. Why would we turn away new players? Gifting it makes more players happy than the few complaining here. Whereas new people thinking about joining the Spiral may reconsider when they see they will be given less consideration. Plus, all those who did gift it, still paid KI 100 crowns to do so. It has made KI a wee bit of money while making the one gifting it and receiving it happy too. Please consider what I have said here and do not take it lightly. The ability to EARN every in-game nook and cranny is what has kept my interest in this game for all it's years. My entire wizard's existence is because it was gifted to me, knowing how I can achieve the goal of one day obtaining every crowns item, including every wand, every holiday item and every pet, etc. is what made me make the account and continue playing all throughout the years. I have become saddened each time we are introduced an exclusive item (the likes of which are unobtainable to most). Exclusive badges have turned me away from pvp and I shake my head when thinking of how there are badges for 1st place deckathalon winners (as those are highly unlikely to most). I hope whoever reads this sees the passion I have for this game and why. Longer playing wizards have been given the opportunity to help those with accounts not as long as theirs. It was a beautiful thing.
No. New players are NOT being turned away. They get their own wands, and they have the chance to amass many amazing, rare items in the game. There is nothing wrong with honoring loyal players, and retired items are just that, RETIRED. The Valor wand was given to veterans and their families exclusively, and for you to insinuate other players should have access to it is preposterous. Many of the other retired items were also released for charity. As much as I want the Meowmodon mount, I believe those players who gave to charity with their purchases all those years ago should be honored for it, and to offer it again with a different charity or no cause at all is disrespectful. New players will have the chance to get their own exclusive items. I've taken months-long breaks from Wizard 101, and come back to find all sorts of code items that I missed out on. It is what it is. You're here for the exclusive item, or you aren't.
No. New players are NOT being turned away. They get their own wands, and they have the chance to amass many amazing, rare items in the game. There is nothing wrong with honoring loyal players, and retired items are just that, RETIRED. The Valor wand was given to veterans and their families exclusively, and for you to insinuate other players should have access to it is preposterous. Many of the other retired items were also released for charity. As much as I want the Meowmodon mount, I believe those players who gave to charity with their purchases all those years ago should be honored for it, and to offer it again with a different charity or no cause at all is disrespectful. New players will have the chance to get their own exclusive items. I've taken months-long breaks from Wizard 101, and come back to find all sorts of code items that I missed out on. It is what it is. You're here for the exclusive item, or you aren't.
What I say is not preposterous by any means whatsoever. Nor are my thoughts disrespectful. My thoughts are valid, honest and kind. You should rethink yours though. You contradict the wiki but if what you said was true then it disregards all actual veterans that made an account at a later date. So if someone was actually serving during that time, maybe they'd appreciate those items and should not be told "tough".
But, good thing you started this Topic because now I have a few ways KI can bring back ANY item. I am sure every wizard, including veterans and their family members, would appreciate the opportunity to get their own special items from years past.
Way 1 - Create a dungeon like we have with Krampus. It can be yearly, seasonal, or whatever. You can make those dungeons in the Krampus spots (or wherever) and any promotion from years yonder will be the top prize.
Make us earn it. You can charge a fee ala a skeleton key. I am sure someone at creative can think up other ways this can work.
Way 2 - A boss drop a la Loremaster? This is my least favorite way unless someone else can think how to make this work. Perhaps make a brand new special quest or quests to reach new boss fights. Have those bosses drop exclusive, retired promotional items. So many people playing are completists so if they own the items already, they'd still invest time in completing the dungeon/quest/boss. Hmm, that's not so bad now that I thought more about it.
Way 3 - Fishing. Those who already owned Beckett wands might not have been the happiest but everyone else sure was. This is still popular to this day!
Way 4 - I am going to tell here how offers for such items as the celebration wand, pioneer/frontier dragon mounts, etc. SHOULD have been introduced from day 1. What I propose is once again fair for all. Put back these items (including the dragon statues) into the Crown Shop every year. Make this only purchasable to those with accounts for however many years. THIS is how you make it fair to loyal wizards. It shows loyalty and not just to those who were able to make their accounts on a certain date. It rewards loyalty to those who may have come slightly after and stuck around. So if we are going to say only those with accounts created on Sept 2, 2008 can have a certain item, change that ridiculous policy. That is what is preposterous. Make it so those with 5+ years become legible. That is how you reward a customers loyalty. That is how you make it fair. This is how you can respond to the question I posed when I asked KI Live if you will ever reintroduce yearly birthday items to us. This is genius. Make it so once an account reaches their yearly milestone, they get access to certain items. These items would include those dragon mounts, dragon statues, birthday wands, etc. You can spread those items out however you seem fit. And yes, make these giftable. There is only upside to making these giftable. It is such a nice gesture when a friend with an account older than yours does something like this for those who cannot. If it weren't for giftable items, I would not be the wizard I am today. One teensy gesture by an in-game friend changed my course and KI is all the better for it with all I have contributed and plan on continuing to contribute. Plus, KI will only make money by making more things giftable. Maybe some players might like to buy crowns just to gift celebration wands to all their friends.
As for Charity items - Reintroduce them. I do believe some w101 items are introduced early which becomes its own reward for owning it first. Don't listen to nonsense being spewed of how a charity item can only be attached to 1 charity. That does not diminish a charity. Again, the reward for some items was access to them before anyone else was and those who did so will always have that as their reward. If I am wrong on this, it does not even matter because owning something before others can definitely be its own reward. This coincides with the 5th and 13th birthday giveaways from what I said above. Bring back old items every now and then to introduce them to new customers who could not get them at the time those items came out.
We've got to remember, this is a game and there is no precedent for what can and cannot be done. There is no such thing as "expired" in the virtual world. KI can bring any item back (even the current code, thirteenager2021 gives us an 8th anniversary gobbler cake). Do not look at other games to set the pace. YOU set the pace, KI. You want to make it fair? This is how. Who am I? I am the customer. I say the way some things are now are not "fair" and I know you want to make things fair so take what I say very seriously if you would like to attempt that.
I want to reiterate something. This game is made for kids most and foremost. The way these birthday wands were introduced, only allows those who are not kids to own them. That makes no sense. Who does everyone think would like a virtual birthday wand more? My guess would be the youngest ones and the completionists. I say give everyone a chance.
I do realize there is a chance KI's plans all along are to reintroduce the birthday wands every year with the same caveat as my proposal. The wording on the website is left up for interpretation. Perhaps they will bring them back on a yearly basis, thus allowing a new batch of wizards their chance at owning them. Heh, perhaps anyone who read this entire post should be awarded a 'loyalty' reward. XD
Kenneth and many others felt sad because of the policy set by KI. Then he felt glee when his friend gifted it to him.
Does KI understand this? The only ones who like exclusive items are those privy enough to get them. All others feel an emptiness inside them. Exclusive equals bad. It tells a certain group of people they are not worthy. How anyone at KI does not see this is beyond me. Hopefully these posts will help you see this.
We always have an opportunity to right our wrongs. You first have to realize the difference.
KI really should rethink what they have done here and start thinking about everyone instead of a select few.
I'd like to think this game does not intend to put forth any more items only meant for certain groups. That would not be fair for all.
Kenneth Frost, I do not know who you are but I want to thank you for sharing how this made you feel. You are not alone.
I think that in this particular case, the problem can be solved by making sure to bring these wands back to the Crown shop every September. This way, the Celebration Staff would still be exclusively for people whose accounts are at least 10 years old, but by bringing it back every year more and more people will have 10-year-old accounts. If you can't get it now, you can get it in the future when your account becomes 10 years old. I think that this would be a good way to preserve the "veterans only" exclusivity that people have asked for a lot (at least over on Central) while also making sure that people don't actually miss out.
I don't think that they should be made giftable though, because their very purpose is to show off that you've been around for that many years. Giving the Celebration Staff to people whose accounts aren't 10 years old ruins that aspect of the Staff, and turns it into just another Crowns Shop Wand. This has to go hand-in-hand with returning the wands every year, though, so that people can still eventually get it.
Other exclusive items would have to be brought back in other ways depending on what they are and how one could originally get them. And maybe not all exclusive items should be brought back if they were specifically made for a certain time. There is no 'one size fits all' solution to this sort of thing, but there's still a lot of ways to bring back these sorts of items for people who simply missed the window of opportunity without really diminishing their exclusivity status. For example, the charity mounts from before can be brought back with future KI campaigns to donate to charity. There's nothing 2009-specific about the Charity Meowmodon because it's a charity-specific mount. The way to obtain it should still be the same, or at the very least similar. Something involving donating to charity. Definitely not adding it to Loremaster or whatever.
Torpzun I really like that idea although I do feel like they shouldn't bring back old items like the Meowmodon that were meant to be for a certain time period. But with the celebration wands they haven't said they are exclusive to this birthday celebration, so I think that it would be a great thing to bring it back every year because first, then people aren't sad when they can't get it and second because it may even help KI's player count because people will stick around and come back for exclusive items when their account age is high enough.
I think that in this particular case, the problem can be solved by making sure to bring these wands back to the Crown shop every September. This way, the Celebration Staff would still be exclusively for people whose accounts are at least 10 years old, but by bringing it back every year more and more people will have 10-year-old accounts. If you can't get it now, you can get it in the future when your account becomes 10 years old. I think that this would be a good way to preserve the "veterans only" exclusivity that people have asked for a lot (at least over on Central) while also making sure that people don't actually miss out.
I don't think that they should be made giftable though, because their very purpose is to show off that you've been around for that many years. Giving the Celebration Staff to people whose accounts aren't 10 years old ruins that aspect of the Staff, and turns it into just another Crowns Shop Wand. This has to go hand-in-hand with returning the wands every year, though, so that people can still eventually get it.
Other exclusive items would have to be brought back in other ways depending on what they are and how one could originally get them. And maybe not all exclusive items should be brought back if they were specifically made for a certain time. There is no 'one size fits all' solution to this sort of thing, but there's still a lot of ways to bring back these sorts of items for people who simply missed the window of opportunity without really diminishing their exclusivity status. For example, the charity mounts from before can be brought back with future KI campaigns to donate to charity. There's nothing 2009-specific about the Charity Meowmodon because it's a charity-specific mount. The way to obtain it should still be the same, or at the very least similar. Something involving donating to charity. Definitely not adding it to Loremaster or whatever.
I would agree that this is the best way to go about it. They could even add more wands to it further down the line. I could see myself sticking around another 2 years for a 15 year staff or heck even another 7 years for a 20 year staff. As long as wiz is here i will be as well :P
As far as bringing stuff back goes, i think KI has actually done a decent job with it like, for example, when they brought back the retired hydra mount pack recently or when they do their bundle-a-palooza for all the retired bundles. I do think that certain items shouldn't be brought back though such as the charity mounts or other limited time events like the veteran wand that was mentioned before or the pioneer/frontier dragons for example.
Doing something nice for charity should not have limits. Make it so we are able to purchase charity items ANY DAY OF THE YEAR. If this cannot be done, consider reintroducing 'retired' charity items from time to time.
Thanks Torpzun26 for summing up my suggestion from earlier in this topic - to reintroduce the bday wands on a yearly basis. The same should be done for all such items - this includes pioneer/frontier dragon mounts. It is just not a fair thing to tell people they are being excluded because their account didn't make the cut. Many players, for one reason or another, had to abandon their original account and start anew. These are 'wiz originals' who are not being recognized as so. This policy is not fair to them or new players who will never get their chance at acquiring an item they would love to have.
The same goes for veterans day items. Those posting here saying to keep it as it is are likely doing so because they are thinking KI had good reason to make it this way. It is all they know because it is all KI ever gave us the chance to know. Had all these items - frontier dragons, charity items, veterans day promotions, birthday wands and all items in between - been introduced in a manner so that ALL players old and new can eventually get them, not a single player would oppose.
Gift ability - it does not ruin the aspect. It merely changes the concept. I can only imagine the 10-yr old's glee when gifted an item he/she is not able to purchase. It's sorta like how a 10-yr old usually can't drive themself to the toy store and buy a toy they desire. Yes, they can wait until they are old enough (which further adds to my suggestion to bring back items yearly), but these are VIRTUAL items we are talking about, not age-restricted tangible items. Even in the tangible world, party-goers are able to take home party favors/parting gifts. One does not have to be 13 to take home a party item like a bday plate/napkin/hat/etc. Can you imagine telling little Billy he cannot take home the party favors from his older friends birthday party? These are items gifted to attendees (and occasionally a party favor or goodie bag is saved for friends who could not attend). I see the bday wands as MORE than the purpose of showing off one's wiz status (which again, it by no means proves one player is around longer than another), I see them as so much more if given the ability to gift and be gifted as it would then allow younger players to run around the Spiral with total happiness that they know they have a friend willing to gift them something that gives joy to all involved.
I was gifted all 4 wands AND the birthday box mount. I am playing this game longer than the 2 persons who gifted these to me. I then gifted the bday box to my best friend. I would have highly considered gifting the 4 wands had I been given the opportunity to (even though she could had bought them herself). I will reveal to you now that all 4 people involved in gifting with me were all highly gracious and overjoyed - the gifters and the giftees. As much as I wanted these items, I would not have bought myself that bday box.
I want you all to imagine, in another universe KI has made the bday box the item not able to be gifted. (That's a few purchases they would miss out on). And in another universe, charity, veterans, and all exclusive items never came to be. Truly imagine this. Now, all those posters here having the thought that KI should leave things as they are, what would your thoughts be then, there, in that universe? It would be the same thoughts as now - that this is the proper way to introduce intangible in-game virtual items. No one would be the wiser...? People would be arguing in favor of keeping it as it is, as we know it to be, as it would be the only thing we know. Please don't respond with "but this is the universe KI bestowed upon us", instead, let's all think outside the birthday box.
I consider it an honor to have played for 10+ years. I felt so appreciated when KI released these wands. Thank you! 
