Prof. Falmea's Producer's Letter, Sept. 2020

[AluraMist]

From the Wizard101 social media site:

Professor Falmea's hotly anticipated Producer's Letter has arrived!
Read on as she talks about game development and how and why we're working on what's coming up next:



"My Dear Wizards,

The summer heat feels the same as it ever was, and also just a little different this year. While the outside world is topsy turvy (quite an understatement, I realize), we here at KingsIsle are committed to maintaining the Spiral as a place for our community that feels safe, stable, and positive. We want to ensure that Wizard101 remains a space for you to connect with your friends and family.

The team has also been dreaming up ways for you to better adventure and socialize in the Spiral and means for you to advance your Wizard to new heights, including beginning the Arc 4 storyline in Karamelle! We’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do some long-standing housekeeping to support Wizard’s growth and longevity, allowing us to be here for you for many, many years to come.

Also, we’re truly excited to celebrate Wizard’s 12th anniversary with you all September long!

Your Professor is an extremely goal-oriented individual, it's just one of those things built into us Producer-types. As such, we set some specific intentions and goals for Wizard101 for 2020. I'm going to talk about a few of them here, and how they’ve influenced our decisions about what goes into our updates and how we approach them.

It Takes All Types



It’s something we’ve done throughout the game’s history, but this year we really wanted to focus on making sure there’s something for every Wizard to do in game. However, there are a lot of different interests and personalities out there! Some Wizards are just getting started. Some Wizards have done everything there is to do. Some Wizards like to be the best. Some want to be the first to accomplish something, or to accomplish ALL of the things. And some are mainly just here to have fun with their friends.

If you're as interested in Game Psychology as I am, please google “the four personality types of Gamers”. As someone who loves the idea of the “sorting hat” in that other Wizard-y world, and who also can’t help but take every personality test that comes along, I was intrigued to find that I was very much an Achiever. ... "


Read the complete Producer's Letter here: https://www.wizard101.com/game/produ...i5PnnRCPAO8mKA

[Cosmos]

We’ll also be improving C... oh, I must leave SOME things as a surprise.

C—rowns?

C—rafting?

C—ustomization?

C—Derby?! Someone tell Casp!

[Dylan Windwalker]

Looking forward to a new world

[Kingurz]

C—rowns?

C—rafting?

C—ustomization?

C—Derby?! Someone tell Casp!

In order of likelihood of being referenced (to me):


1. Castles/Castle Tours - KI has hinted about getting the community together for a housing roundtable (like they did with Blake for PvP). Why hold a roundtable if you weren't planning to make some changes? (just like Blake roundtable proceeded the spell audit changes and 5th Age PvP in the works). These improvements are most likely to center around Castle Tours to incentivize players to actually participate in the Castle Tour system (either has a viewer/rater or as a creator/ratee). Something like how Blaze encourages players to use the Team-Up Kiosk for rewards.

2. Critical System - This one is minor, since the critical system already received a major overhaul awhile back. These improvements would be to adjust the critical system to the upcoming gear and larger "revamping" session going on. In this instance, critical is one of the "stats" to be rebalanced as indicated in the Spell Balance Audit back in July

3. Crown Shop - No evidence for this one, but KI occasionally updates the interface. Maybe this improvement is less to do with graphics and arrangement and more on something more functional with it like delivery of items to friends or to you (continue with the new interface recently added).

4. Crafting - No evidence for this one either, but the crafting system has been basically the same since day one. New recipes and gear have been added over time, but the system hasn't changed. Maybe KI is improving how crafting works, just like they did with the graphics and character models to give a better feel for new players they are currently targeting. At a minimum, this would be new visuals or audio that accompanies a craft attempt (i.e. something that makes it look like you are actually crafting).

[MzDreamfire]

C—rowns?
C—rafting?
C—ustomization?
C—Derby?! Someone tell Casp!

Maybe C-elestia?