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Wizard101 Pricing Model

AuthorMessage
Hero
Sep 08, 2008
712
Wow lol. I have read some pretty outrageous replies from some of the kids here. LOL!

This game is not necessarily about having the greatest graphics of all time. This game introduces a concept that no other game that I know of has. Exclusively wizards casting nothing but spells. You raise and train your wizards, and become more powerful, casting more powerful spells.

While you can basically pick up any other mmo and pick a wizard and cast nothing but spells, Wizard101 is incredibly unique, with an incredibly unique battle system.

Playing this game for free through virtually entire Wizard City, you will spend HOURS and HOURS playing. For absolutely not a single cent.

After this post, I will go out and demand my free midnight snack from Jack in the Box, and sue Square Enix for having made me pay for Final Fantasy VII and X.

Free games are usually sponsored. They are riddled with commercials, advertisements, and links that make you want to purchase outside or inside game content. If you can show me a completely free game that you can play through, without having to sit to watch advertisements, sponsor adds, or be forced to read anything outside the game, I will purchase a plain ticket, head on over to your house, and give you one of my monthly paychecks.

We are NOT talking about checkers or chess here. A game like Wizard101 giving out such a huge introductory content of free game play is pretty generous.

I read how someone already had a game that cost like 160 dollars with two accounts and twelve characters, and how that person pointed out that Wizard101 lost him as a customer. LOL. You quit a game, and get this one instead. If you dont like it. Simply dont buy it and be quiet about it. No one wants to hear ANYONE moan and groan on how they got to pay for something. By the way, I am furious I have to pay for electricity and water. I will rant and moan and groan until your ears fall off!

This game is pretty good. It is VERY good. At grandmaster, I will walk down a different path with another wizard from another school. I like watching myself summon Stormzilla and watch him trample the cars beneath his feet. I like watching the awesome Helephant chop mobs in half.

If you think about it, it requires numerous programmers, testers, and teams to even get STARTED with programming this game. Maintaining such a huge program with all the possible bugs does not come with automatic debugging robots. People have to work there to keep up this game. People work for money, and the money they earn gives them the opportunity to enjoy a decent/good/great life.

Actually this is how the world goes round. EACH and EVERY single person on this planet has to work. I work. Me working is what enables me to sit right here and write this very post, while waiting for maintenance to start the game back up. Farmers have to mow, cut, harvest, maintain their fields so they can grow their food to sell. People working in fast food restaurants do not work there for the fun of it, but for the money. They can then turn around and use that money to maintain their way of life.

I am sure by now all of you that complained so easily have gotten my point.
As for crowns, it is an entirely different topic all together. The game does NOT force you to buy crowns. So that subject is automatically moot.

Survivor
Jun 12, 2008
18
Shiningfantasia wrote:
Wow lol. I have read some pretty outrageous replies from some of the kids here. LOL!

This game is not necessarily about having the greatest graphics of all time. This game introduces a concept that no other game that I know of has. Exclusively wizards casting nothing but spells. You raise and train your wizards, and become more powerful, casting more powerful spells.

While you can basically pick up any other mmo and pick a wizard and cast nothing but spells, Wizard101 is incredibly unique, with an incredibly unique battle system.

Playing this game for free through virtually entire Wizard City, you will spend HOURS and HOURS playing. For absolutely not a single cent.

After this post, I will go out and demand my free midnight snack from Jack in the Box, and sue Square Enix for having made me pay for Final Fantasy VII and X.

Free games are usually sponsored. They are riddled with commercials, advertisements, and links that make you want to purchase outside or inside game content. If you can show me a completely free game that you can play through, without having to sit to watch advertisements, sponsor adds, or be forced to read anything outside the game, I will purchase a plain ticket, head on over to your house, and give you one of my monthly paychecks.

We are NOT talking about checkers or chess here. A game like Wizard101 giving out such a huge introductory content of free game play is pretty generous.

I read how someone already had a game that cost like 160 dollars with two accounts and twelve characters, and how that person pointed out that Wizard101 lost him as a customer. LOL. You quit a game, and get this one instead. If you dont like it. Simply dont buy it and be quiet about it. No one wants to hear ANYONE moan and groan on how they got to pay for something. By the way, I am furious I have to pay for electricity and water. I will rant and moan and groan until your ears fall off!

This game is pretty good. It is VERY good. At grandmaster, I will walk down a different path with another wizard from another school. I like watching myself summon Stormzilla and watch him trample the cars beneath his feet. I like watching the awesome Helephant chop mobs in half.

If you think about it, it requires numerous programmers, testers, and teams to even get STARTED with programming this game. Maintaining such a huge program with all the possible bugs does not come with automatic debugging robots. People have to work there to keep up this game. People work for money, and the money they earn gives them the opportunity to enjoy a decent/good/great life.

Actually this is how the world goes round. EACH and EVERY single person on this planet has to work. I work. Me working is what enables me to sit right here and write this very post, while waiting for maintenance to start the game back up. Farmers have to mow, cut, harvest, maintain their fields so they can grow their food to sell. People working in fast food restaurants do not work there for the fun of it, but for the money. They can then turn around and use that money to maintain their way of life.

I am sure by now all of you that complained so easily have gotten my point.
As for crowns, it is an entirely different topic all together. The game does NOT force you to buy crowns. So that subject is automatically moot.


Long diatribe, but misses the point many of us tried to make, some of which really aren't valid anymore:

  • F2P - KingsIsle implied in pre-launch interviews that Wizard101 would be partially f2p. It's not partially f2p. Instead it has a non-expiring, but content-limited free trial. Once you play up to the limit of the free content, there's no incentive to play it further. Frankly, now that the game has gone live, this point is moot, since it'll soon be forgotten.


  • Cost - I'm not against paying for Wizard101, but $10/month is a little steep for a kids game, especially when compared to more feature-rich subscription-based teen+ titles like CoH, WoW, LotR, etc...... I wouldn't necessarily balk at paying $10/month for myself to play, if I were a single subscriber, but I can see non-gaming parents balking at paying that fee for their child. Also, the $10/month fee is prohibitively expensive for families who play together. Thankfully, KingsIsle addressed the family cost concerns by implementing a family subscription package. It should also be noted that Wizard101 software is free-to-download, which saves players, especially families, from having to purchase a retail box/player. The cost issues are *mostly* moot at this point (due to the lack of retail box and the family subscription pricing), but still relevant for some individual subscribers, especially kids. If KingsIsle implements gametime cards at retail outlets like Target and Walmart and has Wizard101 retail tie-ins (plushies, items, etc..) like NeoPets and WebKinz have at stores like Claire's and Limited Too, then I think they could eliminate that concern and do very well for themselves. Also, a TCG is an obvious tie-in.


  • Crowns - The items bought from crowns, at least in the levels I've played (<20) are far better than any item I've ever looted, been rewarded or could purchase for gold. This is certainly incentive for buying crowns, but it also means even paid subscribers don't have access to the best items (at least at low levels). As such, one might pay $10/month just to access content, but need to pay even more for the best gear available to them. That seems a little greedy. I'm not against, microtransactions, per se, but I'd rather see them for things that don't alter game play or give advantages that can't be obtained through legitimate play. I'm talking about unique pets (that don't give cards, btw), special skins, charging crowns instead of gold to paint new colors on your gear/pet, etc...

    As it stands now, a player with full Zeke gear (once again, at least at lower levels) has higher accuracy, attack power and defense for all schools of magic than players without Zeke gear, even subscribing members. In regular PVE play, this probably isn't a problem, but it can definitely give unfair advantages in PVP (dueling) to those who pay for gear vs. those who don't/can't. This basically brings the concept of twinking into Wizard101.

    Personally, I consider this issue to be the most troubling of the three, at this point.

~Ripper

Survivor
Sep 13, 2008
14
Shiningfantasia wrote:
Wow lol. I have read some pretty outrageous replies from some of the kids here. LOL!

This game is not necessarily about having the greatest graphics of all time. This game introduces a concept that no other game that I know of has. Exclusively wizards casting nothing but spells. You raise and train your wizards, and become more powerful, casting more powerful spells.

While you can basically pick up any other mmo and pick a wizard and cast nothing but spells, Wizard101 is incredibly unique, with an incredibly unique battle system.

Playing this game for free through virtually entire Wizard City, you will spend HOURS and HOURS playing. For absolutely not a single cent.

After this post, I will go out and demand my free midnight snack from Jack in the Box, and sue Square Enix for having made me pay for Final Fantasy VII and X.

Free games are usually sponsored. They are riddled with commercials, advertisements, and links that make you want to purchase outside or inside game content. If you can show me a completely free game that you can play through, without having to sit to watch advertisements, sponsor adds, or be forced to read anything outside the game, I will purchase a plain ticket, head on over to your house, and give you one of my monthly paychecks.

We are NOT talking about checkers or chess here. A game like Wizard101 giving out such a huge introductory content of free game play is pretty generous.

I read how someone already had a game that cost like 160 dollars with two accounts and twelve characters, and how that person pointed out that Wizard101 lost him as a customer. LOL. You quit a game, and get this one instead. If you dont like it. Simply dont buy it and be quiet about it. No one wants to hear ANYONE moan and groan on how they got to pay for something. By the way, I am furious I have to pay for electricity and water. I will rant and moan and groan until your ears fall off!

This game is pretty good. It is VERY good. At grandmaster, I will walk down a different path with another wizard from another school. I like watching myself summon Stormzilla and watch him trample the cars beneath his feet. I like watching the awesome Helephant chop mobs in half.

If you think about it, it requires numerous programmers, testers, and teams to even get STARTED with programming this game. Maintaining such a huge program with all the possible bugs does not come with automatic debugging robots. People have to work there to keep up this game. People work for money, and the money they earn gives them the opportunity to enjoy a decent/good/great life.

Actually this is how the world goes round. EACH and EVERY single person on this planet has to work. I work. Me working is what enables me to sit right here and write this very post, while waiting for maintenance to start the game back up. Farmers have to mow, cut, harvest, maintain their fields so they can grow their food to sell. People working in fast food restaurants do not work there for the fun of it, but for the money. They can then turn around and use that money to maintain their way of life.

I am sure by now all of you that complained so easily have gotten my point.
As for crowns, it is an entirely different topic all together. The game does NOT force you to buy crowns. So that subject is automatically moot.
i see where u are coming from but in the same vein i can say name 1 other mmo where u pay monthly and have to pay real cash for items i dont think you can as this is the only one i have heard of that makes you do both? every1 is saying it's unfair that u can pay to be a subscriber and still not become the best wizard unless you pay even more for some item's that's not right. It kinda does force you to buy them if u wanna keep up with some of the other players thats just my opinion tho and you can have your own.

Explorer
Sep 21, 2008
67
Kilajula wrote:
grandmaster wrote:
Oh great, here we go again, "I want to play for free!" Well, I want to eat for free but for some unknown reason, McDonalds keeps thinking that I have to pay for their food! Can you believe it?!
Hahahaha, that made me laugh. On a side note I would thing McDonalds should pay us to eat their food, but that's my stomach ache talking.

I don't know, I assumed from the interviews that the free model had more content than half of wizard city. At most I was thinking a level cap around 20 or so. But I guess we know what happens when one assumes, lol.


haha i agree with both of you :D and the pricing seems fair, dont forget this is just the begining :D :D :D wizard101 is making alot of updates to the pricing is MORE than fair its generouse :D.

Hero
Sep 08, 2008
712
Well, yea, as with crowns, sure, it makes you WANT to pay extra cash just to be the best. But, it does not FORCE you to. Sure, you will always be behind in the lower levels, which does in some way, indirectly, affects gameplay, but the "twink" factor levels out as the game progresses.

At lower levels, it is very unfair that crown buyers have much better stats than a non-crown buyer. But, I have reached Mooshu, and with the help of really nice friends, have managed to collect non-crown gear, pretty much on par with crown gear from Zeke, as far as power is concerned. Actually, my hat and robe is better than the Zeke gear, although I ended up losing the crown spells. I kept the boots, simply because of the Dryad spell, the 3% extra accuracy and power pip percent bonus. The non-crown shoes instead have one extra percent to Storm's damage.

But, I do not understand how some people could peg 10 dollars a month to be expensive when WoW and EQ would charge 14 dollars ++ a month. Yea, WoW is a whole lot bigger, in depth, and "longer" than Wizard101, but, then again, Wizard101 was NOT created to be WoW.

As far as little kids are concerned, they should not be put in front of the computer anyway. I am sure the majority of good parents strictly monitor computer usage, but complaining about pricing simply because you are a kid, or because you have a kid that plays this game, will not get anyone anywhere. I consider the 9.95 per month fairly cheap compared to other games.

Remember, again, please, that this is not a hater message. This is my opinion that I am passionate about in sharing, as are all my posts in the Wizard101 forums concerning "controversial" and "political" topics.

Survivor
Sep 13, 2008
14
Shiningfantasia wrote:
Well, yea, as with crowns, sure, it makes you WANT to pay extra cash just to be the best. But, it does not FORCE you to. Sure, you will always be behind in the lower levels, which does in some way, indirectly, affects gameplay, but the "twink" factor levels out as the game progresses.

At lower levels, it is very unfair that crown buyers have much better stats than a non-crown buyer. But, I have reached Mooshu, and with the help of really nice friends, have managed to collect non-crown gear, pretty much on par with crown gear from Zeke, as far as power is concerned. Actually, my hat and robe is better than the Zeke gear, although I ended up losing the crown spells. I kept the boots, simply because of the Dryad spell, the 3% extra accuracy and power pip percent bonus. The non-crown shoes instead have one extra percent to Storm's damage.

But, I do not understand how some people could peg 10 dollars a month to be expensive when WoW and EQ would charge 14 dollars ++ a month. Yea, WoW is a whole lot bigger, in depth, and "longer" than Wizard101, but, then again, Wizard101 was NOT created to be WoW.

As far as little kids are concerned, they should not be put in front of the computer anyway. I am sure the majority of good parents strictly monitor computer usage, but complaining about pricing simply because you are a kid, or because you have a kid that plays this game, will not get anyone anywhere. I consider the 9.95 per month fairly cheap compared to other games.

Remember, again, please, that this is not a hater message. This is my opinion that I am passionate about in sharing, as are all my posts in the Wizard101 forums concerning "controversial" and "political" topics.
No I understand what you are saying and this game is def worth the monthly price the only concern is the crowns yes you pay $14 dollars a month for WOW but thats all you have to pay there is no extra fee for better equipment thats where people are coming from i think but im playing it smart and am just gonna save my crowns till i get to like level 50 and buy the best possible gear :D so anyway you wanna look at it im having fun with this game and def think it is worth it but i can also see where people are coming from with the crowns its a no win situation :P

Survivor
Jul 27, 2008
4
i understand where everyone is coming from so far. what i am confused about is this: we are not competing against each other like in other online games. we are competing against the game it self, with that being said, no one should feel that they are not as good as someone else. sure Zekes items can give you addition power ups and cards, but unless you are arena fighting they make no difference to the outcome of the game. we can all learn the same spells, so having an option to make yourself better with Zekes goods are nice, but not necessary to compete in the game

Explorer
Dec 14, 2008
51
i see a lot of wizards here are wondering how to get crowns. it's very simple guys. log in,click buy crowns. BOOM a whole list of crowns are up and their prices. it's nothing you EARN in Wizard101, the only money you earn there is gold!Lol

Administrator
You CAN earn Crowns in Wizard101.

Click the Earn Crowns button here on the website or in the game.

If you invite friends who are not playing Wizard101 and they subscribe, you can earn crowns provided they used your invitation to sign up.

You don't have to invite your friends who are already playing, they're already here!



community@wizard101.com