The July Test Realm launched and ended with a successful roll-out of the new Wizard City look in the Live game! Wizards from across The Spiral are currently checking out the updates. We also added the new Magic Mirror feature that allows you to dress up your character to celebrate with other wizards the new look. Dress to impress and jump into Wizard City today!
Here is what several Wizards had to say about the new look:
“Just wanted to tell you guys that you've done a great job with the graphics update! This is something I've been hoping KI's would do for a long time. My biggest wow so far was Bernie the fire tree, what a difference!” -@OhimeKowai
“So great that I have been waiting for this release for SOO long and it comes out on my 18th birthday!!!” -@Aldw0lfa
“I have been playing this game since 2010 one day before my birthday and I am happy to see how it turned out at the end! Happy 10th Anniversary!” -@ArcanumLore
A reminder for those who prefer nostalgia or less graphic-intensive visuals, we’ve also instituted “Classic-Mode” so you can return these areas of the game to their original look. We know you might sometimes miss the old Wizard City, so we wanted to provide a way for you to return the game to its original settings. Look for the option in the Options Menu.
What's New?
Wizard101 News
Let’s take a quick look at some of the neat things that happened last month in July:
Launched the Test Realm and went Live with all the things we’ve been showing!
New Wizard City look
Photomancy
Azteca Fishing
Monstrology updates (Manders, Imps, and Elephants)
Jade Juju spam fix
Bug fixes
Christmas in July and Shark Week
Accursed Play Gauntlet officially launched
Castaway bundle is now in the online store
Patriotic Sale – Red, white, and blue items
Pack-a-Palooza and the release of the new Decaversary Hoard Pack
Lost Pages Event returned for a couple weeks
A whole slew of Member benefits including
Free Training point buyback
Free 1st second chance chest roll
Double Reagents and no crafting cooldowns
Double Animus
Double Pet XP
Introducing A New Community Manager
Wizard101 has a new community manager! While your friend and wizard mentor, Dworgyn, is still with KingsIsle in a new capacity as a designer, we’ve brought on board someone exciting that will be replacing him as leader of the community, and a new guide to your wizardly interests. As Dworgyn introduces in the forums and copied below, please welcome “Sparck” to the community!
Dworgyn:
Hello Students!
I just wanted to take a moment to introduce you to our newest Message Board Administrator and new Community Manager, “Sparck!” Sparck will be leading the “ark” here on the Wizard101.com Message Boards and assisting you with all your Community Management needs. Also, feel free to ask him questions in this post, and he may answer them on air during this month’s KI Live! He’ll be our special guest this coming Thursday, July 26, 2018 at 4pm US Central. https://www.wizard101.com/game/livestream-event
You’ll be seeing Sparck a lot more around our official Message Boards and also throughout all of KingsIsle’s official channels. He brings with him a lot of great experience from working with other videogame companies and has been busily leveling up a new wizard and experiencing all the Spiral has to offer.
As for me, don’t worry! I’m not leaving KingsIsle – in fact, KingsIsle has offered me an amazing opportunity to become a full-time Game Designer for our newest Mobile Game, Animal Cove! Ever since I was a “young wizard,” I’ve been crafting puzzles and games for my friends, and now my passion gets to become my new reality. Even better, I still get to work at the company I’ve loved and appreciated for almost ten years! I certainly hope you enjoy all our upcoming Mobile games. I think you’re going to love them.
Please know that I’ll still be “haunting” the forums as Dworgyn from time to time when needed (and obviously still playing my favorite MMOs, Wizard101 and Pirate101), but Sparck is taking the helm now, and I’m more than happy to help him as he learns more about our game and community.
You’ll be hearing more about this on KI Live, so let’s get on with the Introductions!
Sparck:
Greetings student Wizards!
As Dworgyn kindly introduced, my newly minted Wizard identity is the quite logical (but still very fun to hang around!) Sparck, and I also go by the more mysterious Bat Masterson in Pirate101. Being part of and a leader of game communities for many years now, I'm super excited and proud to be the new community manager for all of KingsIsle’s games!
I am thrilled to see community members across The Spiral and beyond connect with the KingsIsle team through the forums, livestreams, and in-game events. We’re going to be continuing to interact with you in these areas by celebrating Wizard101’s 10th Anniversary with even more exciting content and activities. Let’s work together to make it a fun adventure for all!
When it comes to being part of a new community, I’m absolutely all in – watching your skilled gameplay videos, reading your rich stories, diving into the forums and in-game, and seeing the unique screenshots and fan art you develop. There’s always something to look forward to and amazing to look back on with a community that’s prospered and grown for 10 years. Think of me as a supporter of your adventures where I’ll be there to help build the kind of community you want to see, just like how Dworgyn’s been with you.
In the meantime, let me know what the community team can do to help ensure you have a safe and fun gameplay experience for your favorite KingsIsle game. I also want to hear from all of you what your stories are for the game’s you play, especially if it’s something we can share with the rest of the community. This is what I’m here for!
Please do ask your questions here about myself and future plans for our community. Also, once we announce the next KI Live, you'll get another chance to ask questions then too, which I will respond to on the livestream. I can't wait to get to know all of you!
See you out there in The Spiral!
July's KI Live With Sparck
Zone of the Month
Zone of the Month: Wizard City Commons
Wizard City was newly remodeled and is begging to be our Zone of the Month. Although it ultimately means there’s no discounted zone this month, we couldn’t help but return back to the classics. Let’s reflect on this new zone, redone.
Name: The Commons
Location: The Commons is the central hub of Wizard101 and we always find a way to bring you back home.
Description: One doesn’t simply “describe” the Wizard City Commons, you have to experience it to understand. There’s always a mix of wizards hanging out. Merle’s castle is right in the center of the zone, there's a giant pond for fishing, the fairgrounds rest right behind Merle's house, and a grand library stands at the very end. In the middle of the pond is a grand statue proudly stating “Gratias ago vos” to all our Wizard101 Players.
Cost: Free! This is a great month to invite your friends to come see the new Wizard City.
Zeke Item: Wizard City is all about finding “The Smiths” – You can find the Commons Smith back in the Fairgrounds near a mini-game tent. (See picture.)
Chests: None. The bosses here drop really great loot though!
Secrets: By now, almost all the secrets of Wizard City are surely found, but a recent one added was a small tree by the library. When you view it in Classic mode, it’s just a tiny sapling. In HD Mode, it’s like it’s been growing for 10 years! It’s also pretty cool that you can explore all the way behind Merle’s castle now! (See pictures)
Reagents: It can be a little hard to find the Reagents in Wizard City because they tend to get scooped up quickly. Wizard City is in our most populated area of the game. That said, you can find Cat Tail, Deep Mushroom, and Mistwood here. If you’re really hunting for Reagents, you may want to find somewhere a little off the beaten path.
Fishing: Fishing begins and ends in the Commons Pond! You’ll be coming back here often to visit with Lucky Hookline. There are about 30 different kinds of fish in the commons and half of those come and go with the changes in the holidays.
Teleporters: None. The zone is very compact and easy to travel; however, one of Sparck’s Streamportals could help facilitate transport to the farthest reaches sometime in the future. A time-pressed wizard can only hope!
What’s the 4-1-1? After being summoned to Wizard City by Merle Ambrose, he teaches you the basics as you fend off an attack from none other than Malistaire! You’ll start your journey with a wax-sealed letter for Private Stillson who only lets you past because of this important letter from Merle. From here, you’ll be passing back through The Commons all the time to report back to Merle Ambrose. Enjoy your journey! It’s a big Spiral out there!
Who’s that Boss? Since the commons is a no-combat zone, you won’t be fighting any big bosses here, but you may see an interesting “visitation” from students learning their new spells or a giant firey phoenix flying overhead during our birthday.
Don’t miss this Side Quest! There are plenty of great side quests in Wizard City (including a brand new photomancy quest), and we’re sure you’ve done them all a million times. A fan favorite is the introduction to side quests at level 5 from Penny Dreadful. Penny gives the quest “A Dreadful Situation,” which is the first in a four quest chain that eventually leads to a Blue Cyclops pet. Who can pass up a quest that gives you a free pet?
Pictures:
Screenshot of the Month!
Fan Screenshot of the Month
We love to see your screenshots every month! Photomancy is now live with thousands of Wizards capturing unique instances of their gameplay experiences! Send us your best (three max please) screenshots every month to community@wizard101.com. We can’t wait to see what you capture!
This month’s Screenshot of the Month comes from Justin Titanhammer, who captured this great image of him posting next to Bernie, The Fire Tree...
We’ll be uploading all the screenshots received over the past month to Facebook soon. Thanks!
Fan Art Spotlight
Fan Art Spotlight
This summer has seen a good increase in fan art with some amazing works! Our spotlight this month goes to Avery for this fantastic concept art of The Commons:
Avery adds, “The new revamped Wizard City is truly a feast for the eyes. I literally spent around 2 hours running around taking screenshots. So, to celebrate the update, here is a painting of the Commons!”
This is fabulous work. Thank you for sharing it with the community, Avery!
We need to see more art from our fans! Do you have something to share? Send it to us in an email to community@Wizard101.com ASAP! We’re always in need of more fan art. Thanks!
What's Up in the Community?
The unaffiliated-with-KingsIsle “Community Newsletter” had a great selection of Wizard101-related links this month from around the web. NOTE: Be sure to visit and follow their Twitter page for more information. To subscribe to their newsletter, send a Direct Message to them over Twitter inquiring to be added or email them at community.newsletter.101@gmail.com. You can unsubscribe at any time by sending them an email with the phrase “UNSUB”
As Dworgyn kindly introduced, my newly minted Wizard identity is the quite logical (but still very fun to hang around!) Sparck, and I also go by the more mysterious Bat Masterson in Pirate101. Being part of and a leader of game communities for many years now, I'm super excited and proud to be the new community manager for all of KingsIsle’s games!
