I have played this game for a long time, since Grizzleheim first became a thing. I have loved this game well and genuinely want to see it continue to thrive and succeed for as long as it will. However, recent developments have given me cause for concern. More and more I feel like Wizard101 is drifting away from the jenesequa that made the game great at its start. More and more I feel like the game is choking itself. Lately the game feels like it has lost that sense of wonder and adventure that has kept me playing for over a decade.
In the original story everything had a real-world inspiration but that's about as far as it went. The writers always found a way to put their unique spin on that inspiration and make it their own. Grizzleheim and Khrysalis are probably among the epitome of these worlds. But nowadays I feel like the story is so cluttered with obvious references and easter eggs that its almost suffocating. In the early days of the game I enjoyed that these things where hard to find a neat thing for players with a keen eye, but now the recents arcs lean so heavily on these in-your-face references that the story feela hardly unique at all. This worries me greatly, for what feels like forever I have been craving an experience from this game that feels fresh and exciting, but the further I progress the less and less I find.
I continue following the game but have barely felt the desire to play anymore, I get on once and awhile to check out new features but that's about it. This entire community has grown up a lot since Wizard101's release. But I am sad to say and this game no longer fulfills that desire for epic thrilling adventure as it used to. I suppose my only remaining question is does anyone else feel this way?
Please keep responses tame and constructive this is a discussion after all.
I agree. Myself, and friends of mine have made several posts over the years eluding to this very thing. I referenced as "The Spiral is losing is magic". I think they rely way too much on pay content now. If more focus were devoted to the story and the evolution of the classes, the profit margins would soar. I have seen glimmers of hope recently however. The hiring of Sparck, and Mace were a huge plus to the community ,as they listen, and give feedback, where we were once simply ignored. I share your concerns, and hope they are learning from their mistakes, so that this game can thrive once again.
Use of puns and the story are not necessarily the same thing to me.
Yes, there are puns. There have been puns since the beginning (Reed Treever, Beetles etc.) I do agree that there was a strong overreliance on references in Empyrea-the Pork, Beans and Sparck being just Star Trek characters with funny names AND important to the overall story for a long period also rubbed me the wrong way. I do however think that so long as the references are brief it's less in your face. So more like the subtle nods of Karamelle to Disneyland or Willy Wonka (a boss named Wilhelm Wonky or whatever) is not a big deal to me. It's also been made clear by some of the writers in the past that they like the puns/references so I sort of expect those to continue.
Moral of the story: The Story and Lore I still feel are interesting. I love the world building! I think it's fine to have references and puns, but they should not dictate the story as I feel that they did in Empyrea at times. They should mostly be relegated to one off quests and more hidden Easter eggs-not what some would argue are "blatant rip-offs" of another franchise. I think Karamelle for the most part recovered from the atrocity of Empyrea's in-your-face references and expect Lemuria to also be okay. (AKA, might see a few Marvel references, but so long as IRONY-MAN and CAPTAIN COOL-RANCH aren't with us the entire way-I think it will be okay (and it will be okay if they make a brief cameo, but it should be relegated to cameo only.)
hi, thanks for making this thread! i agree with you, i think new storylines are starting to lean too hard into overly-goofy humor and "in-your-face" references that are dominating the narratives while making the stories themselves harder to follow.
i think the problem has two parts: on one hand is too many clumsy "in-your-face" references, and on the other hand is too much weird, almost juvenile humor. i think the revamped wizard city and karamelle are the best examples of both sides, though each lean into one side more than the other.
for wizard city, i liked the idea of revamping the story to add more clarity, context, and energy! but i did not like how so many key parts of the original story -- both story beats and the overall magical tone -- got wiped out & replaced by a wildly reference-heavy narrative that became too silly to take seriously (specific example: firecat alley). new wizard city feels less like a genuine story and more like a theatre show i didn't sign up to be a part of. it repeatedly breaks my immersion as a player into the story of a promising wizard starting their magical adventure.
and in the end? i actually think many parts of wizard city's story became more disorganized than before. its like you said: the story stifles itself with references & wacky humor that make the basic flow fall off-track, and the magical vibe ends up lost.
then there's karamelle. i do agree with exp613 about karamelle's references seeming more subtle, which was cool. however, karamelle was filled with so much juvenile humor that made the story both harder to take seriously and harder to follow. its a shame, because karamelle's setup for arc 4 and the idea behind its own story is pretty cool! but to me, karamelle is like empyrea (both parts) in how the story starts off clear and promising, gets lost and dull in the middle, then recovers toward the end. but the fact that the two lemuria pre-quests tell us so much more about arc 4 than all of karamelle is... weird to me.
i think karamelle just went too far with its goofy humor, and in a lot of cases, it wasn't even funny as much as it was plain awkward or even gross (gobblerton... ugh). until the very end, it didn't feel wizard-y or authentic at all.
considering karamelle, i'm a bit worried about lemuria's story. i think the pre-quests did a fantastic job of setting it up! but that means lemuria itself now has some very high expectations. if it ends up too much like karamelle humor-wise, or even like wizard city in tone, it might become the biggest world letdown ever. but i'm rooting for KI -- i have faith the story will be worth the hype.
(now, if they start trying to revamp the rest of arc 1's story... i really hope they've learned from their mistakes with wizard city, and from player feedback. in my opinion? please just leave it alone. if it must be revamped, do so very, very lightly. please.)
to wrap up, i do really hope this game dials the recent silliness back a bit and returns more to its genuine, magical vibe -- not just with story, but other parts of the game too (eg. gear design, spells, sound design, even art style). maybe that's a lot to ask, but i still hope that devs are open to feedback like ours. i know we aren't the only ones worried about the game's new tone, either. there's been discussions on other social media these past few months sharing similar concerns with the story becoming too silly & reference-heavy. so you're not alone!
sorry this reply got so long, but i appreciate your time & patience. thanks again for starting this thread! wishing everyone & this game the best
i really hope they've learned from their mistakes with wizard city, and from player feedback. in my opinion? please just leave it alone. if it 