Wizard 101: a Fantastic MMORPG that has Stood the Test of Time
Wizard101 is a piece of art not only in the world of MMOs but in the greater world of modern video games.
Wizard101 Logo
Do you like traveling and experiencing the diverse landscapes that the world around you offers? Do you also like magic? If so, Wizard101 just might be the closest thing to enjoying both without having to leave the comfort of your bed.
An engaging video game that’s enjoyable for both the avid gamer and the casual player, for both old and young, Wizard101 is a piece of art not only in the world of MMOs but in the greater world of modern video games.
With development beginning in 2005 and the release of the game being in the second half of 2008, Wizard101 has been a longtime player in the MMORPG scene. Since then, the game has thrived and continues to thrive, receiving constant updates and having a strong player base. As of today, the game has over 2.9 million total players and daily player counts in the past year were regularly reaching the six figures.
Players travel through the worlds of Wizard101 as wizards (hence the game name) enrolled in the Ravenwood Magical School of Arts. At the beginning of the game, wizards must choose from one of seven schools of magic that are taught at the college to major in. From there, they learn the many spells that the school has to offer. As the wizard learns more magic, they are sent by Merle Ambrose, the school’s headmaster, to solve problems in the eighteen different worlds of the Spiral galaxy that Wizard101 exists in, most of which are caused by other powerful wizards who have used their immense knowledge and skill to advance their own agendas at the expense of the wellbeing of the Spiral’s inhabitants.
Each world welcomes the player with its own storylines, landscapes, characters, creatures, friends, and foes. Many of the worlds are also based on real world settings, with Marleybone being based off of 18th century London and Mooshu being set off of Feudal Japan. Although the wizard’s main goal in the game is to use their magic and travel all across the Spiral to solve its problem, there are many other activities that Wizards can partake in, from extensive PVP gameplay to collecting and training pets to in-game photography. Furthermore, because of how massive the game’s landscapes are, exploring what they have to offer is an activity in itself.
Many other popular MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games), like Toontown Online and Free Realms, were released and thriving alongside Wizard101 during the 2000s and 2010s. However, unlike these other MMOs, Wizard101 has not only survived the trend of these MMOs dying, but has since continued to thrive into the 2010s and the present decade. Wizard101 is an anomaly in that it maintains unique, high-quality, and updated gameplay in a genre where many have failed because they couldn’t accomplish having these crucial traits.
There are numerous aspects and details in Wizard101 that allow the game to have such admirable qualities. One amazing aspect of the game is the attention to detail put into the different worlds of the game. As mentioned before, each different world has its own unique architecture, landscapes, creatures, and characters, both good and evil. On top of these varying details, almost every world is based on a unique historical period, from that of Ancient Egypt to that of feudal England. These two facts make Wizard101 a very diverse game in terms of its setting. It stands out from other video games, many of which are based off of a single theme, period of time, or aesthetic.
Another great thing about the game is the sheer amount of content that exists within it. There are eighteen worlds in the game, each having a main storyline as well as hundreds of “side quests,” all with their own lore,rewards, and tasks. On top of these tasks, like using magic to battle monsters and exploring dungeons, there are many smaller hobbies within the game as well. For example, there’s a thriving interior designing scene in the game, with players competing in decorating the houses that wizards can purchase and display. Other hobbies, like photography, collecting pets, and crafting, are integral parts of the game as well. Players will never be exhausted from things to do in Wizard101.
One beautiful aspect of the game is the nostalgia that it triggers for players. Since its opening, the graphics of the game haven’t advanced at the rate of other video games from its time. This, however, isn’t a bad thing at all. Many of today’s players of Wizard101 used to play when they were children. Coming back to the game after so many years to see that, aesthetically, it’s the same game that brought them joy in their childhoods, makes them loyal players again. For people who have never played Wizard101 before, they still get to experience a homey aesthetic of gaming that isn’t common in today’s games. The outdated graphics actually add to the game in a profound way rather than take away from it.
One background detail that adds greatly to the game is its soundtrack. Every single world has its own unique soundtrack album, most of them having about fifteen different songs within them corresponding to different locations within it. The musical composers for the game did a great job at contributing to the ambience and aesthetic of the diverse worlds through the large amount of music they created.
One negative aspect of the game is its pay-to-play payment model. Simply put, everything is too expensive. To access anything past the first world in the game, one has to buy a membership or purchase game zones with in-game currency. One month memberships cost $9.95, six month memberships cost $49.95, and twelve month memberships cost $79.95. The in-game currency can be obtained for free but at extremely small amounts that are never enough to purchase game zones, so players must spend money on that if they don’t want to buy a membership. Progressing through the game without paid gear is also very difficult, so many players have to resort to dishing out money on top of their already expensive memberships to be able to have a more enjoyable playing experience. Despite these high costs, many players are willing to dish out hundreds of dollars on the game. However, the high costs also leave the game unplayable for many.
Wizard101 is the definition of “old but gold”; an expensive yet high quality MMO that has stood the test of time unlike its peers in the industry. With a sentimental allure unlike any other game of today, Wizard101 is a beautiful game with such great content and attention to detail put into it and that is easily appealing to both newer players and gaming veterans alike!
Veteran • Jul 2, 2022 at 2:31 pm
As a veteran player 7 school completionist who has achieved PvE endgame in Wizard101, I can verify that this article is very embellished and does not explain the truth.
Withstanding the test of time does not equate to the game actually being good. This game in particular is stubbornly clinging to be alive. Also, a proper correction would be that 2.9 million total players are “registered” which means it doesn’t mean all 2.9 million players actually play it regularly. Realistically, the numbers are closer to the 4 digits, maybe the low 5 digits to be generous. A good indication is shown in their “realms” which only 3-4/30 (or something) appear to be “full” most of the time.
18 worlds is only true if you count Wintertusk and Grizzleheim separately (some consider them to be together because there is only one spiral door for that one world), otherwise we would have 17 worlds. 5 in Arc 1, 5 in Arc 2, 3 in Arc 3, 2 so far in Arc 4, 2 side worlds.
Although it is true that (some) worlds are based on real world settings, they are very not historically accurate and some are actually quite culturally offensive. The game’s landscapes compared to today’s MMOs are not massive at all.
Thrive is a word that players use when referring to how they are surviving, using the infamous aggressive micro transactions to milk their players of their money. Their sales comprise of mostly outrageously expensive scams that can mostly be found in the game quite easily. They are not thriving because of the traits described in the article.
Their creative conceptual thinking is very outdated and predictable, their game is definitely not high quality, and their game updates are so minute that it’s disappointing. The amount of content they push out 3 times a year is so tiny compared to the other MMOs that exist out there. Their largest game updates in the Fall can EASILY be completed in 1-2 days and then the player would have to wait for another year for the next world. In other words, their updates are full of hot air and don’t actually amount to much.
The sheer amount of content that exist in the game is a massive exaggeration. Most players don’t actually do the side quests in the game from how low quality and boring they are until Karamelle, the 2nd last world in the game. The rewards from side quests are also very unrewarding to the point the side quests are mostly ignored.
Saying that players will never be exhausted from things to do in Wizard101 is quite false. Most players don’t actually collect pets for fun and most pets are quite ugly. Photography/Photomancy is only “integral” to main questline requirements when it asks for it. Crafting is a massive chore which most of the good recipes require battling monsters.
Speaking of battling monsters, the dynamic in the gameplay is quite mundane. Half the time you spend battling is just watching the animations play out without you actually doing anything so it’s not uncommon for a lot of players to control 2, 3, or even 4 characters at the same time and/or watch Netflix or some other streaming site, taking away from their intention to have you immersed in their magical world.
The outdated graphics do not add to the game. This is a facade observed in the first world, Wizard City where they actually updated the graphics for that world to look deceptively good, with the quality crashing VERY fast in the next world of Krokotopia which is the world with the oldest graphics.
If there is ANYTHING to praise about the game though, it would be the game’s composer, Nelson Everhart. He has composed most of the music for the game and you can see how the music noticeably improves in the feeling.
Realistically, the game is at a fair price point in the pay to play model when it comes to getting a membership to access the other 16 worlds (could be less in the future) that isn’t Wizard City. Progressing through the game is not difficult as long as you farm it and you 100% DO NOT need to pay for gear to accomplish that.
These “expenses” are not the reason why the game is unplayable. The reason why the game is very unplayable is from their mundane battle system which gets repetitive really quickly and their lack of endgame content for PvE players. Their “events” are REUSED constantly and are the same thing used over and over again. Speaking of which, this game does have PvP content (which is restrained in a single place other than houses/castles) but it is notoriously known as the most toxic place in the entire game. Their aggressive micro transactions are very insulting to their consumers as some micro transaction events in the past has asked you to shill out $500 USD within 2-3 days in the past. Wizard101’s company Kingsisle (under MGI/Gamigo) is notoriously known to be a greedy company who treats their employees and consumers badly alike. The rewards in game from their events are very stingy and the company is afraid of being generous to their players. They have no respect for the loyalty of their long time players resulting in a constant loss of their players.
I’d like to go back to the point where there are apparently “TONS” of content. Technically that is true but it’s all mundane and very not sustainable. As an endgame player, there is a very CLEAR lack of content. The progression goes as is: level up to max, get new spells & gear them up. The game is EXTREMELY linear and hitting max level is absurdly easy due to complaining casual players. The process is very braindead as well as for 75% of the game, you are pretty much recycling the same tactic. The devs are very uncreative with the battle system as well to increase difficulty. After you hit one max, players invented the idea of maxing out another character and so on and so forth until the 7th max level as there are 7 schools of magic. Imagine trying to repeat that process 7 times with all the dialogue and battles with the same battle tactic. All 7 schools employ the same battle tactic. There is a lack of school identity to diversify how they deal damage. Players know this as the blade/feint stack one shot tactic or something along the lines.
What happens when a person hits 7 max levels, grinded all the meta gear for them, and trained all the pets perfectly? In my experience, there is nothing “fun” to do. Other than the recycled events, the Deckathalon and Beastmoon (and then the other aspect of gameplay PvP which I am not eager to touch whatsoever), the occasional 5 boxes and Lost Pages reused event (which you can experience at any point in the game when it’s out), there is pretty much nothing for PvE Endgame players to do which I am at that point. I gladly uninstalled the game after reaching that plateau, found a much higher quality game quite easily which their aspects astronomically surpasses this game with everything build much better.
Additionally, a large chunk of the playerbase exclusively play Wizard101, not knowing how much better OTHER games can actually be. This article is quite disappointing as it not only has many false points but does not describe the essence of the game properly and sounds like it has been written by someone who clearly hasn’t experienced the game properly.
Wizard101 as a matter of a fact has aged quite poorly, a low quality MMO that is trying to extend their expiry date which MGI/Gamigo has graciously helped them preserve which they will transform into a game in infinite limbo. The sentimental allure is a trap for your money as the company deliberately uses that to milk you. Finally, this game is not beautiful (only in specific places in all honesty), and you would be better off wasting your time somewhere else where that game actually deserves it.
Chris Collins • Feb 6, 2023 at 9:26 pm
I agree with you. Music is pretty fire, but that’s basically it. There’s a lot of telling signs why the game has never seen any improvement in player numbers, while most of the people sit around in the top realm being afk. Don’t get me started on defeat and collect quests, or the insnae trash luck you get on gear drops, or any drops you want.