| ESRB:A Quick Look at Wizard 101
MMORPG.com's Matt Plourde was inspired ocver the holidays to play Wizard 101 with his niece. Today, he presents us with his early impressions of the game.
I've been playing graphical MMORPGs since the original Neverwinter Nights, hosted by AOL, in 1992. Through the years, I've played most of the major MMORPG releases and plenty of free-to-play offerings. I've gamed with friends, but never family - until now. On Christmas Eve, I noticed my thirteen-year old niece playing what looked like an MMORPG. She showed me Wizard 101. I jumped at the chance to play an online game with a family member, and installed the game that night. Despite being geared toward a younger crowd, this game has some depth and a palpable "fun" factor for all ages.
Wizard 101 is self-described as an "online Wizard school adventure with collectible card magic..." Well, being a former Magic the Gathering addict as well, I became even more intrigued.
The download and install are free and quite simple - pretty much the easiest install for a game you'll face these days. Once in the game, you choose your character's primary school of magic from Fire, Ice, Storm, Myth, Life, Death or Balance. Either answer the questions to have your magic school selected for you, or skip the questions and simply pick what you want. After that, you pick your appearance from some limited options. Then, you are presented with a brief tutorial (skippable, if you prefer) which covers movement, questing, chatting, and combat. Once all of that is finished, it's on the Wizard City!
The headmaster wizard, Merle Ambrose, gives you your first quest directing you to the newbie zone - Unicorn Way. Merle is a cross between Gandalf, Dumbledore, and Elminster - but he serves his purpose as mentor and quest launching pad.
You'll notice a spellbook and a compass in the lower right of your screen. The spellbook is everything - inventory, help system, magic deck configuration, title management, system settings, world map, etc. Don't worry about the spellbook quite yet. If you click on the compass, all the zone exits and places of interest will be displayed around the edges of the screen. Clicking the M key (or getting there through your spellbook) will also bring up the zone and world maps. Your first quest will also have arrows on the ground, directing you towards the quest goal. All of this makes for an easy introduction to younger kids or newcomers to the genre.
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By this time, you'll notice non-player character portraits filling up the right side of your screen. These serve as further tips & interface help - click on them to get the text. Experienced players can disable the tips in the system settings.
The newbie zone is usually quite full of players, so you'll notice battles happening on the street. You can easily join in and cooperatively slay beasties by simply walking near the battle. Everything happens right in the game world, and other players can view your battle and the spells you cast - which are all animated quite colorfully and smoothly.
Staying on the sidewalk will keep you safe from monster attacks, if you need to get to a particular destination. You may also notice floating red and blue wisps. As you cast spells and take damage, your health and mana globes will be reduced - use the wisps to replenish them while in the adventuring zone (red for health, blue for mana). There are other ways to recover health and mana, but simply collecting these wisps in the beginning is the fastest and easiest.
As you defeat enemies, you are rewarded with the usual MMORPG fare of experience and gold. Of course, you will also find items. These items can be examined and equipped by pressing B or using your spellbook to access your backpack. At first, the items will be simple and add to your health or defenses against certain types of attacks (Fire, Ice, Storm, etc). If you want to sell items, there is a merchant right in the entrance to Unicorn Way, so you don't have far to go. To sell items, click on the "Sell" tab at the top of the screen and then click on the type of item (hat, robe, boots, etc). Yeah, it's not the slickest vendor interface, but it gets the job done.
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Combat is by far the best aspect of Wizard 101 - especially if you come from a card-gaming background. Etherlords, for the PC, was one of the first computer games to borrow directly from Magic: The Gathering. Then, some time later, Magic came officially to the computer world. Just like Magic and Etherlords, you have an array of spells which starts off small and builds as you progress through the game. You construct your "deck" from these spells and "draw" several cards each round of combat. You and your friends have 30 seconds to select a spell and then the combat round plays out. The monsters and players all attack in what seems like a random order, and then it is time for the next round. As mentioned in the MMORPG.COM review here (http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/362/view/reviews/loadReview/66), group battles are fun, engaging, and even offer a fair amount of tactical options.
Once you reach level 2, return to Merle Ambrose's house to get another quest called "Enrollment." This will take you through the Ravenwood school and you will get some nice experience and a useful spell from your primary magic school. After that, accept all the quests you can find (a yellow exclamation mark denotes a quest-giver). Some of the quests will lead you into "interior" rooms to face a boss. Unfortunately, you must defeat these bosses without the help of a friend, which is disappointing since the boss fights are quite fun. Atlantica Online (another turn-based MMORPG) has the same limitation, and I'm not a fan of being forced to solo the more interesting battles and quest-ends.
Complete Unicorn Way quests until you are level 5. Once you hit level 5, open your map and click on the little "bed" icon - this will return you to Ravenwood school. Find your trainer and learn the level 5 spell for your school. If you want, you can also use your "training points" to learn a level 1 spell from another school (and a level 5 spell if you choose the same secondary school). Since these spells will behave much like spells you already have, there's really no need to do this quite yet. Also, you cannot undo your training point choices just yet - but the developers have promised that functionality in the near future.
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After you complete all Unicorn Way quests, you should be around level 5. Merle Ambrose will give you a "Potion" and a title - "Hero of the Unicorn Way." When the potion is full (completely purple with a stopper), you can click on it to replenish your health and mana! Once used, you can play mini-games to refill the potion for free. At this time, you will also notice that some quests lead you into "Premium" zones, which you do not have access to unless you pay for access or buy a monthly subscription.
Here ends day one in Wizard City!
Wizard 101 offers much more than a passing glance would reveal. However, the kid-centric themes, limited MMORPG features, and turn-based nature of the battles may not appeal to some hardened MMORPG veterans. Trying the game is free, so there is little to lose if you think you might be interested. You may find yourself pleasantly surprised!
Another game that is truely misadvertised as free to play. Having premium zones, just says that it is a free trial. No different than a time limit you get on other games.
Have to agree completely. Spellborn has the exact same features, yet it's not free... because it's not. As mentioned above, there are a lot of pay games with 10-day trial runs, which is more than enough time to get through the beginning stuff... yet they aren't free either.
It seems like it might be an interesting game, even if the author needs to have a lesson in claiming a game is free when the game itself does no such thing.
(EDIT:Italics denotes changes to comment)
It is free to play, you just have to pay like, 1$ to open a new zone. No subscription, and you never have to pay it again.
It is free to play, you just have to pay like, 1$ to open a new zone. No subscription, and you never have to pay it again.
Quite true, I was not trying to make this out as a game that needs a large investment, but then again, a dollar is a dollar, no credit card no play. So it really is not free to play in the sense that many of the other games are.
A kid can't sit down and play this game without an adult helping out with a credit card. While there are other actual free to play games where they can. So that is the point I am trying to make.
Actually, about 12% of this game IS free. It's not until you get to Cyclops Ave that you need to start paying, and by that time you should know if you like the game or not. And, unlike many games, this MMO gives you more than one way to pay. You can pay by subscription, which unlocks all zones, or you can pay also pay by zone, unlocking each zone as you go. I think the game is fun and entertaining, and the battles are innovative. And now with a new world, Dragonspyre, about to be released (its in the test realm now) I'm finding myself playing it even more.
I do have some concerns with the game, a quest drop option would be nice. Some people have expressed that they would like an option to turn off battle animations. The chat system, while I understand is geared toward children, is still a bit restricting (can't even say "Christmas"). There are a few other things that I find bothersome, but, as a whole, I love this game.
My 8 year old daughter has been playing Wizard 101 for about a month and trained up to level 25 with no problem. I ended up buying her a subscription for the holidays.
She plays Lord of the Rings Online (she has her own level 31 Elf Hunter!) and enjoys Wizard 101 because it is (obviously) more kid-friendly. The ability to text by typing in your own sentences is a major benefit to this game; it is hard to do any combat strategy using only the speed-chat option.
Look, it may not be perfect (as far as the free vs. paid portions of the game) but there isnt much good 3D MMOs for kids out there yet. And Wizard 101 is an excellent choice to introduce the MMO concept and cooperative gaming to younger players.
Where is it advertised as free to play? It's an unlimited time, content-limited free trial.
It's actually the article the author here wrote and NOT the game itself. My bad. Bad on the author too for calling it "free" about a dozen times in the article.
The game is free to play. You are in no way forced to purchase the premium areas unless you want to experience the content. Nothing is stopping one from playing the arena forever at no charge, for example. I do agree however that it's a "sneaky" sort of free.
With regards to the game...I've very impressed with it.
Since the quick look seems to have been a little too quick for the writer to know what he's talking about, let's correct the inaccuracies, misleading statements, and glaring omissions.
"The download and install are free and quite simple - pretty much the easiest install for a game you'll face these days."
It sounds like the author's experience was decidedly different from mine. I don't think of an installation where I have to contact tech support as being a candidate for the easiest. They were able to fix the problem (go find this particular file and delete it), and responded with impressive speed (and on a weekend!), but still.
"Once in the game, you choose your character's primary school of magic from Fire, Ice, Storm, Myth, Life, Death or Balance. Either answer the questions to have your magic school selected for you, or skip the questions and simply pick what you want."
What's the point of saying that there is a class system and listing the classes without stating the point of the system? Cards are associated with particular classes, with some available only to the main class, and others buyable by all other classes (and free to characters of the associated class). Only cards of your main class are able to take advantage of power pips, which count double, making using cards of your own class far more efficient, at least among cards that cost at least two pips. That's a very brief description, but it's not how the class system works in most games.
"Everything happens right in the game world, and other players can view your battle and the spells you cast"
Except in the instanced content, of which there is quite a bit. Most boss battles are instanced, and most other battles are not, though there are quite a few exceptions to both of those claims.
"Staying on the sidewalk will keep you safe from monster attacks, if you need to get to a particular destination."
Sidewalks aren't safe. Places where mobs don't go are safe. That the two are correlated is not a coincidence, but it is important to make the distinction. There are some places in the middle of a road that are safe, and some sidewalk areas that aren't.
"As you cast spells and take damage, your health and mana globes will be reduced - use the wisps to replenish them while in the adventuring zone (red for health, blue for mana)."
Apart from Unicorn Way, the general rule is that red wisps only spawn in places where there are mobs and blue wisps only spawn in places where there are not. In particular, refilling mana via wisps usually requires you to leave the area. There are also some places where neither spawn.
"There are other ways to recover health and mana, but simply collecting these wisps in the beginning is the fastest and easiest."
Why the "in the beginning" caveat? Apart from Unicorn Way, the relative efficiency of various ways of refilling health or mana doesn't change. That's probably worth mentioning, given that it's decidedly unlike quite a lot of other games; indeed, the description in the article seems to imply the opposite. A blue wisp is 10% of max mana, a red wisp is 25% of max health, and standing in a zone without mobs is 1/60 of max health every 5 seconds, all truncated to an integer.
"As you defeat enemies, you are rewarded with the usual MMORPG fare of experience and gold. Of course, you will also find items."
Kind of, but that's deceptive.
The gold you get from killing mobs is trivial. The main sources of gold are selling the items that the mobs drop and completing quests.
Speaking of items, the items that you get from random mobs are only infrequently meant to be actually used. They're almost invariably to be sold, which is how you get gold. Items that you actually use are mainly bought from vendors or obtained as quest rewards, with the occasional useful drop from a mob--and even this is nearly always from a boss.
As for experience, that comes almost exclusively as quest rewards. If you were to take away all the experience that a high level player has obtained by killing mobs, most would only lose a couple of levels or so.
"Combat is by far the best aspect of Wizard 101"
So how about a description of it. Nothing about pips, even? About the strategy being more complicated than solo combat in most MMORPGs? About how the number of mobs that will attack at once depends on how many players you have? I guess the spare treatment is understandable, given that an explanation of combat would be an article in itself. Of course, the author here couldn't write that article competently if so inclined, as demonstrated by:
"The monsters and players all attack in what seems like a random order, and then it is time for the next round."
Play proceeds in clockwise order. Every single time. There are no exceptions. Ever. The only part of hte combat order that might be at all random is whether the sun or sword position gets the first attack of the battle, and even that is displayed on the ground at the very beginning of the battle. There is quite a bit of randomness in combat from other factors, but turn order isn't one of them, apart from the first move of the battle.
"Unfortunately, you must defeat these bosses without the help of a friend, which is disappointing since the boss fights are quite fun."
Few areas are strictly solo. Up to level 29, the only ones I've come across are Golem Tower, a couple of easy boss fights, and a few short battles for class-specific quests. While quite a few boss fights are in instances, you can bring up to four players into the instance. That's what the countdown is for when you try to enter an instance. Anyone else in the same realm who tries to enter the same instance during that countdown will be put into the same instance as you.
"Atlantica Online (another turn-based MMORPG) has the same limitation,"
Atlantica has the restriction you describe, but Wizard101 does not. Atlantica makes the hard end-bosses solo. Wizard101 makes a few fairly easy fights solo, but always lets you group for the hard bosses.
"If you want, you can also use your "training points" to learn a level 1 spell from another school (and a level 5 spell if you choose the same secondary school)."
You can, but it's not a terribly bright idea to do so. The level 1 spells become junk pretty quickly, even if your main class, let alone some other. Damage spells not of your main class are generally junk at any level, apart from wands and tresure cards or item cards that give more damage per pip than normal, as they can't benefit from power pips and you can't get the main class blades for them. They might be marginally useful at low levels, but that utility deteriorates pretty quickly. The point of buying level 1 or 5 spells is to get access to some higher level ones, but when you're new to the game, you won't know which higher level spells you'll eventually want. It's better to save your training points until you need something.
"At this time, you will also notice that some quests lead you into "Premium" zones, which you do not have access to unless you pay for access or buy a monthly subscription."
And you'll also get some quests that take you to Triton Avenue and Haunted Cave, which comprise about 2/3 of the free trial area. You get to about level 9 1/2 (that is, level 9 and halfway from 9 to 10) in the free trial areas if you don't spend time grinding mobs.
As an older mmorpg player, 27 been playing online games for a decade like most, I saw the commercial for this game and I said... "what the heck" Why not try a cutsie game that had the guts to advertise online.
Yeah it's not totally free to play, but an unlimited 'take your time' trial play option is unique and sold me. The ability to subscribe and play in normal mmorpg fashion is a + or just pay as you play and take your time with it. I got 3 characters working on getting them all to 15 before paying for a bit more content.
This is ideal and on top of that it is a fun game to play online with others. It's not hard, but what MMORPG is? There's a tactical element in the higher levels that get you thinking and if something goes wrong it's typically not because some player decided to go afk real quick before a pull or the other BS you typically deal with in a game.
It's not the greatest game I ever played, but it's been fun. Worth the 10 bucks I paid over a month ago and am still digging thru content with roughly 7 bucks left to spend. Kinda wish they had a cheaper option when I found out how far the cash could stretch.
I'd like to see more in their pvp front, but the community seems pretty open and receptive.
Even if you just free to play and socialize it's a cute game. I'd let any kid ages 6+ play it with it's strong language filter as well.
I must apologize for some inaccuracies - there was some confusion over the versions of the article I sent to MMORPG.com. Sadly, you got the wrong version - it is more my fault than MMORPG.com's fault.
As far as going into a detailed look at combat and such - the article was supposed to be named "Day 1 in Wizard City"... apparently, that got lost in translation as well. So, consider the article as a "Day 1" primer, and it should hopefeully make more sense.
I usually don't post in my article threads, but I felt like my article somewhat got mangled on it's way through (again - my fault).
I guess I view Wiz101 much like I do Pirates of the Caribbean online -- yeah, you can play it forever for free, but you might not be satifisied with that... Some people consider that "free" (myself included). At least I didn't have to buy a box...
Some people are going to complain no matter how small an inaccuracy is. If it exists, some will pounce on it gleefully and rip it to shreds because it makes them feel better about themselves.
Kudos the the reporter for bringing the game 'to light'.
Edited for typo
The article does make a lot more sense as a description of the first area only. I often get annoyed at reviews that make it look like the reviewer barely played the game, but that's kind of the point if it was only meant to describe the first area with combat, apart from the short tutorial.
I love the game, the idea of collecting cards and decks is fun, now if only they or another developer could build on it, it could be a good game.
I just like the whole idea of it and would gladly pay well over the odds to play a game like that.
I am waiting on etherlords III ..... this game, etherlords and perhaps Battle forge for a part... are the only decent card game mmorpgs... anyone else found one ? Cause I amsearching since 4ever to find one :)