I have three kids (12, 8 and 4) that play Wizard, as well as myself. We really enjoy this game and are very glad that there is a child friendly MMORPG we can play together. As a former Everquest 2 player, I have experience with MMORPG's and think you have come across something great with Wizard. I do, however have some thoughts and suggestions...
1. I would love to see trading of something other than treasure cards. I often get an item that I would like to give to one of my kids for free and can't. I realize that game developers don't want twinked characters running around all the time, so to cut down on that, perhaps items granted from quests could be "no trade". It seems this could easily be implemented since there are already "no auction" items. To prevent kids like my 4 year old running around and trying to trade with everyone, you could perhaps make it so item trading can only be with friends or perhaps with people on the same family account or something of that sort.
2. I like that there is a discount for family plans, but I don't think it's quite big enough or maybe once you reach four accounts it could be larger. XBox Live has a new family plan that's $90 a year for 4 accounts. I know that's a bit different since that's just access to live and you still have to buy the games, but I pay almost $30 a month for my four accounts. Still a decent deal, but it would be cool if I could get a really good discount for four accounts, especially if I paid for all of them together.
3. I would really love it if crowns weren't so expenive. I get tired of my kiddos asking me for money for crowns all the time so they can get mounts and pets and all the stuff you can't buy in game without crowns. I don't like that system and would like to see those items offered another way. Perhaps a complicated quest? I know this is another way to generate revenue for KingsIsle, but I think that there will be many that will buy the items with crowns anyway because they don't want to invest the time in a quest. As a parent with limited finances, I would love to see an alternative.
4. I love the pets! It's a fun aspect to the game that I'm really glad you introduced, but I hate how long it takes to level them. I think that perhaps allowing them to grow in strength as your character does would be an alternative. Or allow both? Many won't want to wait and will invest the time like they already do, but for people like me who can only game very casually, allowing the pet to get things as they age would be great. Or perhaps the aging buffs could be a little weaker than those earned by people who invested the training time. It would be like real pets that way... Dogs get smarter with age, but trained ones perform better.
5. I'd love it if housing could be shared somehow. In Everquest 2 housing was allowed to be shared and visited by anyone in the realm if that setting was implemented. I'd love to be able to have all my characters share one house. Perhaps people on family accounts could all have access to each others homes? Or a filter could be created to allow certain people access to the houses?
In any case, that's just my 2 cents worth. I think you've created a really fabulous game!! Keep up the good work :)
Thank you for your input. Let me address some of these.
1. The trade of items between different account logins will not be added to Wizard101. The only items that can be traded between two different account logins are non-enchanted Treasure Cards. Items that you want to place in the Shared Bank can be moved between Wizards on the same account. If you can't use the item, sell it to the Bazaar, and if it is marked No Auction, you can sell it at the regular shopkeeps throughout the Spiral.
2. We frequently run promotions that allow you to purchase an entire year's Membership for $60 which is less than the family Monthly price. Keep watch for we run it about once a month.
3. Again, we often run the large block of Crowns for only $60. Also any item that can be purchased in the game with Crowns (that does not shortcut the game), can also be obtained either through gold, crafting or as drops from creatures. Exceptions exist of course, but you have alternate methods of obtaining most items.
4. This is where Mega snacks are your friends. Mega snacks can be purchased in the Mega Snack Pack or are available as drops from a few boss creatures. They will level your pet much faster.
5. Houses are tied to one character. At this time they cannot be placed in the Shared Bank and each character must purchase their own house.
