The RISE of wizard101...?

[masterofcatastrophe]

Yesterday ratbeard posted a pre-testrealm dev diary demonstrating upcoming fundamental stat changes that are game changing.

Yet the most impressive part is the community reaction so far compared to that of changes released over the last years.

Many usually critical players of KI are now praising KI, and are looking forward to this upcoming update for the first time in soo long.

Do you think this is the start of the RISE of wizard101?
Are we inching towards another golden age perhaps?

[Spellbinder]

I have really been loving the direction the devs are taking the game overall and have faith that the game will keep seeing cool and creative updates that give it new life and diversity.

I am unsure if the devs will be able to overcome the hot mess that the sales team is however. Just, wow with that insanity.

[Tanner Hex]

On the game development side I'm really liking what I've been seeing recently. I also feel like there is more transparency and communication from the development team regarding what they are planning to do in coming updates. I'm really excited about the prospect of several treasure card/item card/monster only spells becoming trainable in the next update.

I feel like the marketing has gotten worse, though. Sales have changed - it seems like Super Crowns sales are gone for good. And even the regular 25% off crowns sales seem far less frequent. I'm also concerned about the game becoming even more pay-to-win. The best wands in the game are pretty much exclusively from packs, and having set bonuses tacked on to newer wands is just going to compound that issue. I'm also concerned about spellement packs because they seem like a really big money sink even compared to lore packs.

[ss2775]

developing team has been fantastic, however a pack of wolves cant move a mountain. The marketing team is atrocious, and compared to wiz's previous golden age we are not getting as much content as we used to. I'd like KI to invest in their devs and content updates team so wiz can get get a lot of content yearly like we used to...crazy we get a new world and a side world all in 1 yr back then

[Dylan Windwalker]

I definitely wouldn't say Golden Age but a boost in player popularity is a maybe. But the game has a long long ways to go including further graphics updates in certain worlds like Krokotopia and Marleybone (both of which has looked somewhat the same since a decade ago) and I feel like more battle mechanics would definitely help to in addition to more stat mechanics. We've been playing with the same battle circle method for so long now and sure its pretty smooth but it could have some improvements somehow (though Idk what these would be)... But at the same time the updates need to be easier to understand unlike other Multiplayer pc games that draw a more selective age range (unlike Wiz as it needs to stay easy to understand to target younger audiences) and the game needs to stay manageablely small so the game can still run well in lower end pcs and laptops rather than requiring gaming pc setups......

[Willowdreamer]

It's great that there are players looking forward to these types of game updates. For me, personally, it's really always been about the story, not the battles. I could not care less about high level stats and formulas, I want to see engaging story that takes me into new and amazing places.

I suppose since the entire MMO team has now been wholly focused on Wizard101 for several years, they can really delve into this nitty-gritty technical stuff for you all. I can only hope that the result will eventually be fewer cheating creatures that require fully orchestrated teams for casual players to dread.

[ValdusWildheart]

I am unsure if the devs will be able to overcome the hot mess that the sales team is however. Just, wow with that insanity.

ROFL you nailed it! I was going to say something similar but I can't top this. Perfect!

The good news is that W101 continues to occupy what is apparently an unappealing niche for other games. Presumably that continues to work to their advantage with low level "word of mouth" marketing / player acquisition despite no visible effort from KI.

That said, their VP of Marketing has been promoted to General Manager -- so they must like what he's doing. My guess is that he has reaped higher margins/profits off of mining the existing player base, which certainly would make top management happy and keep them investing.

Unfortunately, without a significant influx of new players, there just can't be a new golden age. So I voted no, but I don't think it's "dreaming." I don't think it's far-fetched at all for KI to decide to turn up sales and marketing to try to boost ROI on the investments they are making now with all the updates. That will likely take a good external hire.

[Cosmos]

To echo what many have already said, it is important to separate "KI: the developers" from "KI: the business".

They both need to work together in a positive way to achieve a golden age.

Better days? Could be.
Golden Age? Lol no. KI's gotta cough on me a little more before I start having that fever dream.

[masterofcatastrophe]

ROFL you nailed it! I was going to say something similar but I can't top this. Perfect!

The good news is that W101 continues to occupy what is apparently an unappealing niche for other games. Presumably that continues to work to their advantage with low level "word of mouth" marketing / player acquisition despite no visible effort from KI.

That said, their VP of Marketing has been promoted to General Manager -- so they must like what he's doing. My guess is that he has reaped higher margins/profits off of mining the existing player base, which certainly would make top management happy and keep them investing.

Unfortunately, without a significant influx of new players, there just can't be a new golden age. So I voted no, but I don't think it's "dreaming." I don't think it's far-fetched at all for KI to decide to turn up sales and marketing to try to boost ROI on the investments they are making now with all the updates. That will likely take a good external hire.

Ah valdus, I was awaiting for your response 😅
Btw isn't going from VP -> Manager a demotion?

[ValdusWildheart]

Ah valdus, I was awaiting for your response 
Btw isn't going from VP -> Manager a demotion?

LOL? Was it as bad as you expected?

Yes, VP to manager would be a demotion. VP to GM is usually not. GMs are typically the big profit center heads that report directly to the CEO. He was likely a direct report previously but going from marketing to P&L is always a promotion.