Major developments have occurred across Wizard City since last month’s newsletter teaser of Test Realm content! We’ve reviewed and responded to a ton of community feedback, made adjustments to the new content, and are now getting ready to release it to the Live Realm. All Wizards will get a chance to experience the Wizard City Underground, Spellwrighting System, the new Beastmoon Hunt arena, and so much more very soon.
Keep watch for the big announcement of this update’s release! Here’s a peek at what’s coming:
New Wizard City Underground Quests
Spellwrighting System
New Utility Spells
Backpack Butler
Hatchmaking Kiosk Improvements
Castle Magic Update
Continued FTUE Improvements
Expanding the Beastmoon Hunts
Expanding the Deckathalons
Click here to view the complete update notes for this release.
Now for a quick look back on all the October activities:
OCT 02: Part 2 of the Beastmoon Hunt Dev Diary Video series released
OCT 03: Wizard101’s Halloween Decorating Contest kicks off
OCT 14: New Pirate Nightmare Pack
OCT 15: New Creepier Carnival Bundle
OCT 16: Abracadoodle #201 released
OCT 17: KingsIsle announces its Extra Life initiative
OCT 23: The Wizard City Underground Update went to Test Realm
OCT 31: Halloween! Special spooky KI Live
Throughout the month we also had various Test Realm teasers on social. Check them out and keep updated daily on the latest news for next month on Twitter and Facebook!
DUELCIRCLE AND KINGSISLE AT PAX SOUTH 2020
Deep in the Heart of Texas, in Historic San Antonio, DuelCircle is proud to announce their return to PAX South this upcoming January, and KingsIsle will be there with them!
DuelCircle’s 5th Anniversary Fiesta Party will be held on Thursday, January 16th from 6-10pm at Dave & Busters located within Rivercenter Mall, just steps away from the historic Alamo and the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. This event is free of charge for the entire community! Free General Public ticketing will be released via Eventbrite on Monday, November 25th at 12pm CST.
“We’re proud to announce that during the first half of the party, we’ll have KingsIsle join us for the first-ever Live Audience Community Hosted KI Live in San Antonio. That’s right, you’ll be able to watch all of the action as we chat with the KingsIsle team at 8pm Eastern/7pm Central!" - DuelCircle
Apple has released its macOS Catalina update. If you upgrade right away to Catalina, you will not be able to play Wizard101 or Pirate101!
The good news is that we’re working on making both games Catalina compatible. To ensure game access is not interrupted, please wait to install Catalina until we announce support for the new OS.
Thanks for your patience as we work on this updated functionality. We will notify you as soon as support for Catalina becomes available!
CONGRATS TO OUR EXTRA LIFE COMMUNITY TEAM!
Congrats, Extra Life Wizards! Together with the community we raised over $8,000 and counting. While the award window has closed, we are keeping our Extra Life page open through the rest of the year to get to our $10,000 goal. Come on community, we can do it for the kids!
THE WIZARD CITY UNDERGROUND DEV DIARY VIDEO
Get a behind-the-scenes look at what the Wizard City Underground is hiding in our latest dev diary!
AN IMPROMPTU TEST REALM LIVESTREAM
We had a ton of fun with the community for over an hour in the events currently on Test Realm!
As we teased leading up to Test Realm, a new type of Arena has been introduced to the Beastmoon Hunt. Our developers took their beast forms on an Avalon-inspired romp and discussed what's changed and why.
We also revealed to the community the chance to now fight your professors in the latest changes to the Deckathalon events! It’s a long way up to the top of the now 30 floors of the newly expanded Deckathalon Towers with each school’s Professor is waiting to duel Deckathletes.
Have you already tried challenging Professor Greyrose in the Ice Deckathalon? Let us know in the Community Forums what you think of the new Deckathalon changes!
KI LIVE WITH SPARCK & PROFESSOR FALMEA
KI Live in October was frightfully fun! Upon arriving in the office, our team saw ghouls, skeletons, and all sorts of other strange creatures roaming the halls. We were so frightened at the spectacle we almost didn’t conduct a KI Live... that is, until those ghouls and skeletons decided to help us out by appearing on the show! You can watch the recording below:
Congrats to Kayly and Tom for winning the Community Select costumes!
A tip from this month’s KI Live comes from community member JaredSpellFrost:
“If you do not want your chat box spammed with messages from harvesting plants, simply click on the ‘House’ tab! All of the information from harvests will go there instead, and your main chat box will be kept tidy!” - JaredSpellFrost
2019 HALLOWEEN DECORATION CONTEST
Screenshot from Amber Sky
BOO! Congrats to the winners of the 2019 Halloween Decorating Contest! There were so many great entries this year. At first we thought the restriction to Dorms and Bunkhouses might be too much, but it proved to be quite fun for the many participants. All of the entries were all super scary to review too!
Drum Roll please! And the winners are...
1 Grand Ghoul: 30,000 Crowns + Obsidian Mimic Pet + Spider Rider Mount goes to...
Daniel Sun Sword! - “With the amazing features like Castle magic, I managed to create some cool effects that made my dorm room look super spooky for the Halloween season!”
Amber Skyweaver - “Amber Skyweaver is hosting a little party. Nosferabbit is giving a Hallows Eve blessing before all the girls, ghosts and ghouls go out to either trick or treat. Happy Halloween Wizzies!”
Julia Moongem - “With Shadowmagic -- we summon this ghost -- we treat it with respect -- the upmost! We truly fancy -- the powers of Shadowmancy -- witches and wizards unite, on this frightening Halloween night! Happy Halloween!”
5 Honorable Zombies: 10,000 Crowns each goes to...
Elizabeth Jade Caster - “My name is Elizabeth Jadecaster and this is my spooky home! It serves as a stop for hungry ghouls and gremlins on All Hallows' Eve for them to warm up by the fire, load up on cookies, and line their pockets with candy before heading out to scare the awaiting children.”
Isabella Frost - “Red Riding hood is walking through the dark deep woods, until she heard laughter between the trees and followed it to the haunted tea party!”
Kristen Moon Dreamer - “Hennie the Happy Witch is very popular on Halloween, with the best games & candy. But this year, wizards met with one of the greatest frights of The Spiral: healthy Halloween treats (although wizards are still debating whether no-sugar ectoplasm stew can even be considered a treat)."
Just as everyone began to think that Hennie truly had no sweets to give, they realized she tricked them. For as everyone began to sip the stew, a table of sweets appeared! Hennie giggled at having tricked Ravenwood’s finest wizards, and everybody joined in the laughter, making it the happiest, laughiest Halloween ever!”
Suri Star Dreamer - Dorm Name: The Krokopatras Tomb! - “This place is the spooky tomb where krokopatra lies after dying in a terrible accident at krokotopia, she now rests in a tomb to the north. Anyone who decides to visit, must take the chance that they will never. get. out. Legend says every Halloween, krokopatra breaks free and haunts all the wizards in Wizard City!”
Sydney Ghostweaver
Visit the Pirate101 Newsletter to see which Pirates won in their side of the contest!
ZONE OF THE MONTH
The traditional and ever popular Zone of the Month continues! Sorry, no discount this time around. This month we’re featuring Aggrobah in Mirage.
Mike Sears, KingsIsle’s Narrative Designer, has been quite pleased with the community’s reactions to the last few Zone of the Months and would like to know what you think of this latest one. Post a comment on social media, in the official forums, or contact us directly and let him know where you would like us to take the story next!
Name: Aggrobah
Location: Aggrobah is the largest and arguably most metropolitan of settlements in all of Mirage.
Description:
The site that has become known as Aggrobah has been inhabited by the denizens of Mirage for countless generations. Due to its location on a key river port, it’s easy to see why the ancient nomads picked this spot to put down roots. The natural resources available led to the camp evolving into one of the most densely populated and technologically advanced cities Mirage has ever known. As such, the city has been divided into three districts: the River District, the Gardens District, and the Arcades District.
Don’t Miss This Side Quest!!
The Side Quest entitled, “Home Invasions!” sets the Wizard on the task of helping rid Aggrobah of Thuggie gangsters who have violently co-opted the homes of honest Aggrobahnis for their gang hideouts. However, the Wizard quickly learns that no good deed goes unpunished in Aggrobah…
Who’s That Boss?
Loother Ray is a Rank 15 Boss and leader of the Fangs, the vicious Aggrobah street gang. Once you’re ready to come out and play, obtain the mainline quest, “Truce Talks” from Sultana Sharzad and venture into the Four Points.
Behind the Dev Process:
The name for Aggrobah came early in the world building brainstorming for Mirage. The name came from a pun-tastic stroke of genius from our valiant Art Lead, Mr. Karl Holbert, long before we had any concrete story ideas or designs for the zone. The name was loosely inspired by a certain famous city from another similarly themed story, but with a video game spin. Of course, we couldn’t let a zone with “Aggro” right there in the name not be filled with as many hostile enemies as possible!
Which area in Wizard101 should we spotlight for next month? Let us know by tweeting your suggestion @Wizard101 or by emailing community@Wizard101.com!
FAN SCREENSHOT SPOTLIGHT
This screenshot is from the group Merlin’s Keep during their adventures on Test Realm. Do you recognize the location they are in?
FAN ART SPOTLIGHT
For this month’s fan art, we are showcasing TheArtOfWarlord’s drawing of Landscaper Doug!
We would love to see more screenshots and art from the community for next month’s newsletter. Do you have something amazing to share? Send it to us in an email to community@Wizard101.com! We’re always interested in showing off more fan art, gameplay guides, and other content.
Thanks, Wizards!
FAN VIDEO OF THE MONTH
Here is a video from TheArtOfWarlord interviewing our very own developer, Rhea Shelley:
We would love to see more art from our fans for next month’s newsletter. Do you have something amazing to share? Send it to us in an email to community@Wizard101.com! We’re always interested in showing off more fan art, gameplay guides, videos, and other content.
The unaffiliated-with-KingsIsle “Community Newsletter” had a great selection of Wizard101 links this month. NOTE: Be sure to visit and follow their Twitter page for more information. To subscribe to their newsletter, send a 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”.
FOLLOW WIZARD101
Question for our newsletter readers - is there a newsletter section we should add? Tweet your suggestion to @Wizard101 and we’ll select the top idea we can implement to win 5,000 Crowns!
Be sure to follow the game and its community on social media!
If you didn’t get a chance to read our article on online safety, please take a moment to stop by our KingsIsle Blog and read the post titled Account Security Best Practices. There’s important information in the article to manage and protect your entire family’s accounts.
