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Arcane House Bundle

2
AuthorMessage
Survivor
May 17, 2009
12
Professor Greyrose on May 28, 2014 wrote:
We’ve been listening to your feedback on the Arcane Builder’s Bundle and felt it might be time to clarify. First, thank you for your feedback. We do listen and want you to know that your thoughts and opinions are valuable to us. We don’t make decisions lightly or without considering our players.

There is a surprise feature to the Arcane Builder’s Bundle that we ourselves leaked a bit early in anxious anticipation, and it appears this new feature has caught a few of our players off guard. Upon first redemption of the “Build-a-Castle Plot,” all players will receive a Midday Estate to begin their castle building. The second and third redemption of an Arcane Builder’s Bundle reveals a greater surprise, which are castle plots at different times of day with an even larger number of blocks.

The intent was simply that after buying one Arcane Builder’s Bundle and creating the “perfect castle” out of the blocks and pieces provided, our players would want to keep their new house they've constructed and possibly build another. As a result, we thought receiving the same Midday Estate another time just wouldn't do for our players, so we put in special technology to award you with an entirely new looking Meadows at Dusk or Night Garden Estate if you decided to make multiple purchases of this bundle. Then as a special bonus, we also decided to include even more building blocks with those additional bundle purchases!

With all that said, many of our players would rather have their choice of time of day with the estate that comes with the Arcane Builder’s Bundle. Unfortunately we can’t currently offer this choice with the Arcane Builder’s Bundle due to the amount of bonus blocks included with the subsequent houses, but that doesn't mean that we’re limiting ourselves to that functionality in the future. Here’s another secret we've been holding close . . . in the future, we have plans to expand this Castle Building feature even more with some specialty plots of land and Castle Block “Booster Packs” so you can grow your castles and lands to new heights and numbers -- we’ll be adding recipes for crafting pieces too!

Guaranteed, we’ll continue taking your feedback every step of the way. We truly hope you enjoy this new way of building your own player housing, and this new feature will only get better and better with time. We’re sorry if there was any confusion around this new feature, and hope you understand our intentions with offering new estates with subsequent purchases of the Arcane Builder’s Bundle.

Enjoy your new castles! We can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Speaking of bundles, do you think you can bring back the Hawk Rider bundle back for a little bit?

Delver
Feb 16, 2010
235
I find this very disappointing and will agree with previous posters that $120 for one house is outrageous, and not something I will EVER do. As somebody said, this is more than the cost of an annual sub...just not going to happen. I don't need all that duplication for simple pride and vanity.

It is a wonderful idea and concept to be able to build your own castle, but it is unlikely to happen this way. You would have been far better off to either offer a choice of sky and blocks or offer only the Midday version at the $39 price and then offer $10 or $20 cards for additonal blocks and skies. You could have the Evening sky with other items like super good athames, rings and amulets. Then offer the Night sky with something like the Magic treehouse or fishbowl and include several bric a bric elixirs and increase the indoor and outdoor item limits. Then you might have something worth $59 - $79 and the $79 is still a reach for most folks.

Sorry Professor, this one is a fail.

Defender
Dec 20, 2010
169
Can the blocks from separate purchases be combined to make one larger castle or are they fixated to their own castle plot? Maybe even transferred from one plot to another by way of the attic?

For example: purchase second bundle and add those blocks to the same house built from the first

Survivor
Oct 21, 2010
8
The problem I have is that I purchased just the first bundle, spent hours building a house and I can't use wallpaper or tile. I don't like the flooring and every wall in stone. I locked the blocks and still can't use them. This needs to come with a set of instructions. I won't buy another if I can't decorate to personalize it.

Survivor
Mar 22, 2011
2
Personally, I LOVE this option. Now listen, I have been playing Wizard101 for many years now, and love the game. Some people feel that it would be a waste of money and that no way would they spend that kind of money to get all three bundles just for an additional house, the Night Gardens. That's your choice, people. Some people like it. That's their choice. It is not up to you whether or not Kingsisle changes this option or not. I think the whole Build-a-Castle thing is incredible, in fact, it is something I have been waiting for a very long time. I think the fact that you can add secret passage ways, how some doors open for you is just so incredible and fun. Now you may think this Night Gardens thing is a rip off, but this is your own personal opinion. I will be buying all three bundles, myself. You may argue, or exchange letters of hate with me. You are free to do that, but I am not changing my mind or opinion. This may in fact be the least sold bundle ever on Wizard101, but I think it's amazing, even if others don't The fact that you can craft items to put in it, the fact that it's size is amazing, the secret passage ways, the caves, rivers, everything. I absolutely love this thing, and would recommend it to anyone. The entire thing is so awesome to me, and Kingsisle, you guys are quite fantastic. My mind was completely blown when I saw this castle. I will have a lot of fun decorating, showing friends, and so on. My friend agrees with me. She is getting the bundle with the river running through it. All this said, everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it may not be what others think. Some like it, some don't. Just please, don't tell Kingsisle what they should do, that it is a rip off, that they should take it off the shelves and stop selling it, that they should add more to it, they should decrease the price, that they should add the option of the Night Gardens without spending $120.00, or that they should keep it the exact same way it is.

Geographer
Dec 14, 2009
916
Abigail EmeraldBre... on Jun 3, 2014 wrote:
Personally, I LOVE this option. Now listen, I have been playing Wizard101 for many years now, and love the game. Some people feel that it would be a waste of money and that no way would they spend that kind of money to get all three bundles just for an additional house, the Night Gardens. That's your choice, people. Some people like it. That's their choice. It is not up to you whether or not Kingsisle changes this option or not. I think the whole Build-a-Castle thing is incredible, in fact, it is something I have been waiting for a very long time. I think the fact that you can add secret passage ways, how some doors open for you is just so incredible and fun. Now you may think this Night Gardens thing is a rip off, but this is your own personal opinion. I will be buying all three bundles, myself. You may argue, or exchange letters of hate with me. You are free to do that, but I am not changing my mind or opinion. This may in fact be the least sold bundle ever on Wizard101, but I think it's amazing, even if others don't The fact that you can craft items to put in it, the fact that it's size is amazing, the secret passage ways, the caves, rivers, everything. I absolutely love this thing, and would recommend it to anyone. The entire thing is so awesome to me, and Kingsisle, you guys are quite fantastic. My mind was completely blown when I saw this castle. I will have a lot of fun decorating, showing friends, and so on. My friend agrees with me. She is getting the bundle with the river running through it. All this said, everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it may not be what others think. Some like it, some don't. Just please, don't tell Kingsisle what they should do, that it is a rip off, that they should take it off the shelves and stop selling it, that they should add more to it, they should decrease the price, that they should add the option of the Night Gardens without spending $120.00, or that they should keep it the exact same way it is.
You began by stating your opinion very passionately,and then end your plea,by telling others not to express theirs. Whatever value you were trying to add in the beginning, you totally deflated in the end. You have in essence posted a argument that contradicts itself,and left your post with no value whatsoever. It would have been better to post nothing at all.

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." -Abraham Lincoln

Delver
Feb 16, 2010
235
Abigail EmeraldBre... on Jun 3, 2014 wrote:
Personally, I LOVE this option. Now listen, I have been playing Wizard101 for many years now, and love the game. Some people feel that it would be a waste of money and that no way would they spend that kind of money to get all three bundles just for an additional house, the Night Gardens. That's your choice, people. Some people like it. That's their choice. It is not up to you whether or not Kingsisle changes this option or not. I think the whole Build-a-Castle thing is incredible, in fact, it is something I have been waiting for a very long time. I think the fact that you can add secret passage ways, how some doors open for you is just so incredible and fun. Now you may think this Night Gardens thing is a rip off, but this is your own personal opinion. I will be buying all three bundles, myself. You may argue, or exchange letters of hate with me. You are free to do that, but I am not changing my mind or opinion. This may in fact be the least sold bundle ever on Wizard101, but I think it's amazing, even if others don't The fact that you can craft items to put in it, the fact that it's size is amazing, the secret passage ways, the caves, rivers, everything. I absolutely love this thing, and would recommend it to anyone. The entire thing is so awesome to me, and Kingsisle, you guys are quite fantastic. My mind was completely blown when I saw this castle. I will have a lot of fun decorating, showing friends, and so on. My friend agrees with me. She is getting the bundle with the river running through it. All this said, everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it may not be what others think. Some like it, some don't. Just please, don't tell Kingsisle what they should do, that it is a rip off, that they should take it off the shelves and stop selling it, that they should add more to it, they should decrease the price, that they should add the option of the Night Gardens without spending $120.00, or that they should keep it the exact same way it is.
Abigail,
You are entitled to your opinion, just as we are entitled to ours. Both viewpoints are important. It is your choice to spend your $120 just as it is mine to refrain from doing so. I do indeed hope you enjoy building your castles.
Some have suggested that for something that totally changes the way housing is done, this should have been sent to test realm first. True, KI has never sent a gift card to test realm, but there is a first time for everything. So I’d have to agree with this sentiment. It would have given KI some critically needed feedback I think if they had done so. However the cat is out of the bag, and for this bundle at least, I doubt KI will change much.
However, I do have faith that KI does indeed listen to us. I’m hoping KI will take all the ideas that have been submitted and release future castle building options that are more reasonable.

Defender
Aug 11, 2013
113
Autumn Rain on May 29, 2014 wrote:
Thank you Professor for the reply, but after reading it, I realize I understood the intentions of the bundle correctly.

What I don't understand is, if, you wanted to change up the bundle for each one bought so that people didn't end up just buying the same bundle again in order to build a new house, then why did you leave the pet, mount, and gear exactly the same? That makes no sense. This is just my opinion, but I think it would have made more sense to come out with one bundle with the ability to choose one of three backgrounds, one of three pets, one of three mounts, and a choice of robes and then just do expansion packs. That way, if people wanted to buy the bundle again to make a new house, they wouldn't be stuck with everything the same except for the background. They could choose the combo that works best for them for their next handmade house. And I know that each time you buy the pack, the amount of indoor/outdoor items you are allowed to have gets larger for that pack, but that ability could have been given in the expansion packs along with more blocks.

You have come out with MANY wonderful packs in the past, and I am sure you will do the same in the future, but in my humble opinion, this pack just misses the mark. Building our own houses is something that people have wanted to do for a long time, but this idea should have come together better than it did. It is too bad that it is too late to go back and re-work it. I think you are really hoping that people will end up buying all 3 of the packs AND then spend money on expansion packs too. I don't see TOO much of that happening. I truly hope that the first expansion pack we see come out addresses a change in backgrounds (nightime) for people who only end up buying the bundle one time, because I think one bundle is all most people are going to be willing to buy or can afford to buy.

Respectfully,
Autumn FairyDreamer Level 79
I agree wholeheartedly with this post. shucks I second, third, fourth and fifth it. I've looked hard at this bundle since I still have money to spend from my birthday last month This bundle was badly done. The gear is worthless outside of the fact it LOOKS cool. Stats wise it's worthless. I can craft better gear and I'm only at the grandmaster artisian level. Having to build the castle is a neat feature BUT I don't want to have to buy the same pack 3x to do it. It would be easier to just release a craft recipe for each of the castle options and let us choose that way. While I want the pet because it's a nifty little bugger. I don't want it 3x over for the cost of a $120. I'm going to get enough of that if and when I hatch for one then keep cross hatching for the talent mix I want. So thanks but no thanks on this one.

Connor lvl 89

Defender
Nov 10, 2012
113
Robobot1747 on May 29, 2014 wrote:
So allow the players to redeem any plot they want, and trigger the bonus blocks by the number of redemptions rather than the castle. Clearly you already have code that does this.
Is your "special technology" a vacuum to suck our pocketses dry if we want a castle at night?
P.S. Refusing to let us choose our castle is not a feature, it's a blatant attempt at money-grubbing.
I doubt I'm EVER getting this bundle if I can't immediatly choose Night Garden, otherwise I shall not be purchasing it. I am not spending $120 to get TWO spare houses and etc to get the specific one I want. I want Night Garden, and I won't settle for Midday Estate. And also, how soon will building block stuff be put in, as well as letting us use wallpapers and floorings in our castles?

Archon
Sep 17, 2012
4162
Intrepidatius on Jun 3, 2014 wrote:
You began by stating your opinion very passionately,and then end your plea,by telling others not to express theirs. Whatever value you were trying to add in the beginning, you totally deflated in the end. You have in essence posted a argument that contradicts itself,and left your post with no value whatsoever. It would have been better to post nothing at all.

"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." -Abraham Lincoln
That quote is great advice, but Lincoln never said it. Maurice Switzer did, long after Lincoln was dead and long before it was attributed to Lincoln.

Survivor
Jan 06, 2013
2
I am so very disappointed and you may be listening but I don't think you are hearing us. It is sad that you would come up with such a wonderful idea and then spoil it by making it so expensive that few can afford it. I bought this card but I doubt that I will be redeeming it. I have seen the midday estate and I don't want it. I was hoping that I could get the midnight garden, but that is not an option I can afford. Tell me what were you thinking when you knew you would be giving us the same gear and pets, who wants that? I love this game and I won't stop playing but I am concerned that you forgot you developed this for children. I was not aware it was just for the money.

Geographer
Dec 14, 2009
916
seethe42 on Jun 6, 2014 wrote:
That quote is great advice, but Lincoln never said it. Maurice Switzer did, long after Lincoln was dead and long before it was attributed to Lincoln.
You are partially correct, it has been attributed to several people throughout history,including Confucious. I listed Lincoln because he is most commonly given credit for it.

Delver
Jun 17, 2011
211
Autumn Rain on May 29, 2014 wrote:
Thank you Professor for the reply, but after reading it, I realize I understood the intentions of the bundle correctly.

What I don't understand is, if, you wanted to change up the bundle for each one bought so that people didn't end up just buying the same bundle again in order to build a new house, then why did you leave the pet, mount, and gear exactly the same? That makes no sense. This is just my opinion, but I think it would have made more sense to come out with one bundle with the ability to choose one of three backgrounds, one of three pets, one of three mounts, and a choice of robes and then just do expansion packs. That way, if people wanted to buy the bundle again to make a new house, they wouldn't be stuck with everything the same except for the background. They could choose the combo that works best for them for their next handmade house. And I know that each time you buy the pack, the amount of indoor/outdoor items you are allowed to have gets larger for that pack, but that ability could have been given in the expansion packs along with more blocks.

You have come out with MANY wonderful packs in the past, and I am sure you will do the same in the future, but in my humble opinion, this pack just misses the mark. Building our own houses is something that people have wanted to do for a long time, but this idea should have come together better than it did. It is too bad that it is too late to go back and re-work it. I think you are really hoping that people will end up buying all 3 of the packs AND then spend money on expansion packs too. I don't see TOO much of that happening. I truly hope that the first expansion pack we see come out addresses a change in backgrounds (nightime) for people who only end up buying the bundle one time, because I think one bundle is all most people are going to be willing to buy or can afford to buy.

Respectfully,
Autumn FairyDreamer Level 79
You have that absolutely correct it would
it makes much more sense to come out with one bundle with the ability to choose one of three backgrounds, one of three pets, one of three mounts, and a choice of robes and then just do expansion packs. That way, if people wanted to buy the bundle again to make a new house, they wouldn't be stuck with everything the same except for the background. They could choose the combo that works best for them for their next handmade house."


I completely agree with your idea Autumn.

Delver
Jun 17, 2011
211
I understand your purpose, but most people will want the coolest house. That house is only available by buying 3 packs. Instead, you should just pick the background and landscape and therefore you can have the house you wanted by buying 1 pack. If you buy another pack, then you choose once more. You could buy 8 packs and each house would be different (that's just to prove my point, i doubt anyone will buy 8) and still, your 8th house could be less cool or cooler than the 1st. It is all about the creativity. This just makes more sense because the buy 3 packs and get a cool house just so you do not have the same house made sense. But you have to buy 3 to get nighttime and most people cannot afford that. If you could choose the background the purpose of not having the same house set up would still prove true. Better yet, its affordable.
Grace DreamRider

Explorer
Jun 06, 2013
67
Has anyone gotten the 3 bundles? I have some questions before buying them. Do you need castle space elixirs for all 3? Same gear, pet and mount on all 3? after you build can you decorate it? or are the blocks taking up the space? and if so are we limited to only one bric a brac elixir? All this needs clarification before I fork out the dough. Though I can afford it, I disagree with the way this is being sold. KI should take into account that a lot of people are on limited income, already paying for subs and crowns and what not. I think wizard can sell more by only requiring one to be sold to have all the same benefits of having the 3, minus the extra pets, gear, and mounts if there are any extras of those. I think more people are gonna be willing to buy this if having 3 was not a requirement of having the version they want.

Survivor
Jun 08, 2010
7
Professor Greyrose on May 28, 2014 wrote:
We’ve been listening to your feedback on the Arcane Builder’s Bundle and felt it might be time to clarify. First, thank you for your feedback. We do listen and want you to know that your thoughts and opinions are valuable to us. We don’t make decisions lightly or without considering our players.

There is a surprise feature to the Arcane Builder’s Bundle that we ourselves leaked a bit early in anxious anticipation, and it appears this new feature has caught a few of our players off guard. Upon first redemption of the “Build-a-Castle Plot,” all players will receive a Midday Estate to begin their castle building. The second and third redemption of an Arcane Builder’s Bundle reveals a greater surprise, which are castle plots at different times of day with an even larger number of blocks.

The intent was simply that after buying one Arcane Builder’s Bundle and creating the “perfect castle” out of the blocks and pieces provided, our players would want to keep their new house they've constructed and possibly build another. As a result, we thought receiving the same Midday Estate another time just wouldn't do for our players, so we put in special technology to award you with an entirely new looking Meadows at Dusk or Night Garden Estate if you decided to make multiple purchases of this bundle. Then as a special bonus, we also decided to include even more building blocks with those additional bundle purchases!

With all that said, many of our players would rather have their choice of time of day with the estate that comes with the Arcane Builder’s Bundle. Unfortunately we can’t currently offer this choice with the Arcane Builder’s Bundle due to the amount of bonus blocks included with the subsequent houses, but that doesn't mean that we’re limiting ourselves to that functionality in the future. Here’s another secret we've been holding close . . . in the future, we have plans to expand this Castle Building feature even more with some specialty plots of land and Castle Block “Booster Packs” so you can grow your castles and lands to new heights and numbers -- we’ll be adding recipes for crafting pieces too!

Guaranteed, we’ll continue taking your feedback every step of the way. We truly hope you enjoy this new way of building your own player housing, and this new feature will only get better and better with time. We’re sorry if there was any confusion around this new feature, and hope you understand our intentions with offering new estates with subsequent purchases of the Arcane Builder’s Bundle.

Enjoy your new castles! We can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Do you know how long until the building block can be crafted in the game? (future doesn't really help me know when)

Survivor
Sep 25, 2011
3
My son and I have been longtime players of Wizard101. It is our time together and we enjoy it. We pay for a membership every month and I make sure to have tens of thousands crowns available for when there is a must have item he wants.

This bundle happens to be an item we were both very excited about. the fact that it would cost $120.00 for each of us to get the 3rd house is simply too much. If I completely disregard the fact that we would have 2 extra identical armor sets, mounts and pets it still makes no sense to me.

I have no issue investing in something that we have chosen to do together and will continue to do so. I just hope that someone realizes what a poor marketing decision this is. I will more than likely pass on this bundle for the both of us and explain to my son that it is not a smart decision to purchase it and wait for the next.

Delver
Dec 30, 2012
291
Kristencollins1972 on Jun 12, 2014 wrote:
My son and I have been longtime players of Wizard101. It is our time together and we enjoy it. We pay for a membership every month and I make sure to have tens of thousands crowns available for when there is a must have item he wants.

This bundle happens to be an item we were both very excited about. the fact that it would cost $120.00 for each of us to get the 3rd house is simply too much. If I completely disregard the fact that we would have 2 extra identical armor sets, mounts and pets it still makes no sense to me.

I have no issue investing in something that we have chosen to do together and will continue to do so. I just hope that someone realizes what a poor marketing decision this is. I will more than likely pass on this bundle for the both of us and explain to my son that it is not a smart decision to purchase it and wait for the next.
I completely agree.
What is the point in three mounts, wands, and gear?
Not to mention you cannot share the house amongst other wizards to get duck or night!
Ridiculous!
The bundle prices need to be lowered to about $20 anyways, that is a more fitting price. $40 is too much.

Defender
Dec 20, 2010
169
I would buy the bundle 3 times IF and that's a big IF, I could take the blocks from all three purchases and use them to build one huge castle on one plot of land. But I doubt we can, so I won't at this time. No one has said otherwise if we can combine the blocks or not.

Survivor
Nov 12, 2009
6
The Arcane housing bundle is certainly not worth the price. I've been with Wizards for many years and have seen so much progress and details gone in to creating housing. But this seems like a step backwards. I understand how this is suppose to work but it seems like some one had a idea and ran with it. With out really thinking about the clientele.
And speaking of the bundle.. the clothing stats are not what I expected. Its nice have the high stats and shielding but the lack of health points subject your character to a quick demise. I added the outfit to a level 60 character and he was vanquished in a short time. You would be better to get clothing from the shop for Gold instead of cash.

Survivor
Aug 10, 2013
7
I bought the arcane bundle, and I'm not *THAT* upset that you have to buy it and waste tons of money 2 extra times, because you can essentially do the same thing in different landscapes, but KI, you have to understand, what would we do with 3 of the same pet, mount, and gear? We should be able to cash them in for something else if we do buy the bundle multiple times. I'm not planning on buying the bundle again, but if you do make it so people can choose the landscape in the future, we should be able to change it if we have already redeemed the bundle ( Which probably will be hard to do, again, I'm just saying, I don't really mind. )
With all do respect, please consider a fix.

- Logan Thunder Thorn

2