Congratulations to KingsIsle for an amazing year. Wizard101 will always be number 1 in my book. My entire family loves the game.  My children got to experience their first MMO and we all discovered a magical adventure right inside the Spiral.

Thx,

Fallon (@diaryofawizard)

 We are flattered and delighted to win this very prestigious honor, and would like to thank all of the members of our team, all of our business partners, and of course of community for helping to make it happen. 2009 was a fantastic year for us here at Ravenwood School, and 2010 is looking to be equally exciting.

Thanks!

J Todd Coleman
Headmaster Ambrose
KingsIsle Entertainment, Inc.

ps. Wizard101 was also picked as the runner up in another category: Best Free-To-Play Game of 2009! Click on the link below to get more information about that:

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/163/featur...ited-Best-F2P-MMO-of-2009.html

Congrats to Kings Isle.  The award is much deserved.  The additions they have made to the game are really nice.  Nice to see a dev team listen to the players.  Once again, grats.

I definitely agree with this choice! I'm in my mid-twenties, but I still find this game to be incredibly fun to play. Congratulations to KingsIsle!

I came across W101 about 6 months ago via Facebook friends.  I am an adult player with a young son and admit to being totally addicted to this game.  It is the first MMO I have ever tried and love that it is challenging for me but safe and fun for my first grader too.  I also want to commend KI for great customer service.  I have had several issues with gift cards and crown purchases and they took care of it right away and really went above and beyond to make sure I was a happy customer.  I think they offer something for everyone and I want to say Congrats KI, you really deserve this!

woot woot  your have earn it !!! this is a very great game to play i love it been playing since beta :) and still playing xD

Star Trek Online: Best game in development of 2009

Everquest 2: Best game you haven't played in 2009

LotRO: Best big name game to release an expansion of 2009

Everquest: Best game anniversary celebration of 2009

WARHAMMER: Best game to avoid of 2009

Mortal Online: Best fanboi hyped game of 2009 to not be released

Aion: Best grinder of 2009

 This is probably the first MMORPG award I can actually agree with. Wizard 101 is a pretty awesome game in itself despite being for kids, which does make it the perfect family game, especially in comparison to the other games (Anyone over the age of 12 who's played maplestory knows that, while cute, everything else about it including the community of children makes it creepy as balls besides the fact that its ultra grindy. The music is kinda nice though). 

It will be interesting to see how this award is recieved?

I say that because despite the reputation this site and its readers / poster have Wizard 101 and KingsIsle attract very little criticism?

Personally I believe it's because KingsIsle produced a very good product with Wizard 101.

There are people who won't play it (it's not to everyones taste) but overall the criticisms are small.

It doesn't pretend to be something its not and it doesn't try to be everything to everyone.

Well done KingsIsle - hopefully others will continue to take note.

Question for Kingsisle.

My mother's computer was recently infected with a virus (which I am sorry I do not recall the name of and realize it may be relevant).  She had to bring it in to the local comp shop to have it cleaned/removed.  They informed her that it was through the kingsisle files that it occured.  She runs Norton, I use AVG and had no problems.

Is there any likely cause for this to have happened?  Has this been an issue with other players?  If so has it been fixed?

My son was very disappointed when I told him I had to remove Wizard 101 and that he could no longer play at home or at his grandma's.  I think it is a great game and had alot of fun playing with him, just not going to risk dl'ing again if it is an issue.

Originally posted by phc_doc

Question for Kingsisle.

My mother's computer was recently infected with a virus (which I am sorry I do not recall the name of and realize it may be relevant).  She had to bring it in to the local comp shop to have it cleaned/removed.  They informed her that it was through the kingsisle files that it occured.  She runs Norton, I use AVG and had no problems.

...

Get a refund on that money from the Computer Shop.

Seriously - if it was a KingsIsle end problem then a very short search here, or the KingsIsle site or just in Google would turn up hundreds of links about it.

Look up "Spellborn virus" in Google to see what I mean (not a virus there BTW)

I would suggest:
Either - you particular antivirus software identified a part of the KingsIsle software as having 'something in common' with a virus.  That does not mean it was a virus.  Note that many anti-virus apps also have something in common with a virus because of how they work.
OR you got the virus somewhere else.

Also - when you get a virus - or think you have a virus - use www.cybertechhelp.com "Malware removal forum" - it's free and they do a better job than some 'professionals'.

Please don't hesitate to contact our Customer Support team at support@wizard101.com - they can work with you to find out what happened and help you reinstall the game without fear.

We take the security of our players very seriously, so please talk with our support team about this, and thank you for letting us know.

~Professor Greyrose

Though a rather young game for me, I so wish this had been around when I was a nipper! Kids these days get all the best stuff :D

Congrats to Kindsisle,

Please keep up the great work on wizard101. This game is great for Children and adults alike.
MeCatz

Leader of Wizened Wizard

Originally posted by diaryofawiz

Congratulations to KingsIsle for an amazing year. Wizard101 will always be number 1 in my book. My entire family loves the game.  My children got to experience their first MMO and we all discovered a magical adventure right inside the Spiral.

Thx,

Fallon (@diaryofawizard)

I know it is EXTREMELY easy to get caught up in your children's excitement,but put that aside...would you your self as the adult play w101 w/o any of your children?Would just you and your wife play it?I really think the honest answer is no,you might try it out,but you won't feel overly excited about playing it.You might even say you would play it,but again no more so than any other game on the market.

No question it is a great children's game,but imo it takes a distant second place to Free Realms.If you say yo uare willing to enjoy w101 with your family,there is absolutely no reason you would not do the same with FR.As a fact FER has a ton more diversity a ton more game play and just really offers more people more options,therefor it is a lot better suited to family play.

W101 as is FR is directed at ages 3-15.That really narrows down the FAMILY term.I have played games and guiled up or grouped up with all family member guilds and teams.Often times they had 4-5 members so they needed a 6th or 2 others but there was still that solid family play and they all would individually enjoy the game even if their family was not with them.

These older demographic games may alienate the very young but they offer a wider array to the term "family".I would say ages 8+ for the other games,because they offer so much more,they have a better chance to keep the interest of more people.

So imo and of course t oeach their own,but if you are going to rate a FAMILY game based on catering to the VERY young,then Free Realms blows the doors of f Wiz 101 it is not even close.

I would say just basing off of VERY young demographic that FR #1 W 101 #2 and any number of F2p games as #3 just because you can have your whole family play for no cost.However for a TRUE wider age group for a family game then maybe a game i don't like but #1 WOW...#2 FFXI[good game for females always helps]#3 EQ2.

 I wasnt too impressed with Wizard 101 when they just released. Thought it was very simple and had mediocre graphics. But could work for the kids.

Thanks MMORPG.com for highlighting this style of game.  Exposure for these types of games helps keep the industry innovative I think.

In my opinion...

Free Realms is the better overall game, because of more things to do. Sadly (and here is, where Wizard 101 shines) you do it mostly solo.

Wizard 101 (like Toontown online) has an awesome grouping system + trading card game is always fun. The TCG in Free Realms isn´t very accessible and a bit poisoned because of cash shop.

While Wizard101 was a great game in 2009 it has really gone downhill. The problem is the scam where people offer special Crowns Items in exchange for Treasure Cards. Kids that want mounts or clothing are told that if they give their cards they will get a gift. The gift never comes. It happens all the time. My daughter doesn't enjoy the game anymore because it makes her sad to see these kids getting ripped off. The people doing the scamming say that it is posted on the Wizard101 site that scamming is not a bannable offense and they are not at all shy about standing in a crowd pulling the scam over and over. I've seen it and it is sickening.

This game did a great job protecting kids with the different chat options. They have dropped the ball in this area. Seems that the whole issue could be resolved if the gifting option was gone. I'm not sure it is a great idea for kids to be taking gifts from strangers anyway.  What a shame.