My dear Wizards,
Hard to believe it's September already! Time flies when you're having fun!
This summer has been great to KingsIsle. The team has been busy at work making Celestia (and a few other surprises up our sleeves), and we are coming up to our second anniversary. Happy 2nd birthday to everyone!
Speaking of time flying, it boggles my mind that it's been two years since Wizard101 launched! Recently, Massive Online Gamer gave me the opportunity to talk more about the highs and lows of the last two years. You can read the interview in their upcoming September issue.
Ah... the memories. I remember the long hours and the delirium of launching Wizard101 as if it was yesterday... and today we’re there again as we prepare to release Celestia!
We're looking forward to getting more information out about the upcoming updates soon. I know... no fair, but I have to give our team of marketing sorcerers the first crack at announcing the really cool stuff! So stay tuned... I’ll be able to say a lot more in next month's letter. We appreciate your patience while we take the time to make Celestia the coolest world yet. Things are coming together, plans are becoming reality... but there is much more to be done.
Before that, though... we have an amazing special guest visiting the Spiral! I can't tell you who it is yet, but we’re thrilled about her visit! Keep your eyes peeled for news and updates coming soon!
In the last month, we've spent some time on two important fronts:
First of all, we've released a few behind-the-scenes updates to speed things up in game. We’re very happy to have so many dedicated students, but the number of players creates challenges that we’ve worked diligently to address. Our highest priority is ensuring that playing Wizard101 is great experience for everyone!
Secondly, we're trying to maintain and improve communication with the community. (That's you!) To that end, we're doing a few new things. You'll notice me hanging around the Dorms on the forums a little more on Feedback Fridays. I've been making a habit of it on Fridays because... well... Feedback Fridays just has a nice ring to it! Every so often we'll put up a discussion topic. Sometimes it might be getting your opinion on matters that we're considering for the future, and sometimes it may just be for fun. So far, we've
created our own quests, decided which
professors we wanted to pick on, figured out
names to add to the character creation list, and figured out
what creatures we want to become. I've thoroughly enjoyed all the discussions, and this helps keep us aware of what you, the players, want from Wizard101.
We've also partnered with Wizard101 Central and have been doing a semi-regular Q&A there, answering your burning questions. Check it out
here if you haven't already, and please submit your questions. Of course there are some behind-the-scenes things we can't talk about (or can't talk about yet), but we've enjoyed spilling the beans now and again.
Last (but certainly not least), we're trying to incorporate fixes to legacy issues or those little "thorn in your side" issues. Ever sold an item you spent a whole bunch of crowns on? We're going to make sure there is a confirmation for that (and that it's defaulted to “No”). Tired of your Life Minion healing itself when it doesn't need to? We know that stinks, so Minions are getting some love. Are dye costs breaking your bank? We're reviewing those, too. Is selling and buying one reagent at a time getting you down? Us too... so we're fixing it. This is just a taste of what's in development for the next few updates!
As the weather is starting to cool down a little and transition into fall, we're just getting warmed up with a lot of new content coming your way. Study hard, keep your wands ready, and get ready for what's to come!
Safe journeys,
Leah Ruben
Producer,
Wizard101
