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This Game.... The Magic is Gone...

AuthorMessage
Adherent
Jul 03, 2010
2634
RavenLady777 on Mar 30, 2013 wrote:
I know many agree with you. I doubt that I will ever even see Azteca, or Avalon (which I was really looking forward to) since I'm stuck yet again on a do not collect quest in Zafaria. It's not even fun anymore. And I don't have hours and hours each day to play; and honestly if I did, why bother? I keep working on new little wizards which I will eventually take through Dragonspyre. And that's all. I'm done.
I've weighed seriously just deleting everything, but haven't yet. I probably won't be renewing my membership though since there seems to be no point.
KI made some serious mistakes starting with Celestia and it's only gotten worse. They forgot the core players...the casual FAMILY gamers.
I have been doing about the same thing with my game play - get to a certain spot and delete and start over. The kids gave up in Marleybone - it got too lonely for them to wander around there by self. I tried to catch up their wizards but Mooshu and then DS were just as vacant for them.

We had 4 accounts we are down to 2, one I did let renew recently on a yearly and we have one coming up in May we may cancel from renewing. It's getting more practical now to pay by the month so we can exit when we aren't going to play any more.

I also consider myself a casual family gamer type. I prefer the structure of the questing and some thought to get by but once all the figuring out comes into play my pace slows down. I have a Storm stuck in Celestia, after a ton of do not collect parked it, an Ice I left in Avalon, in the lake and I quit with my Life just in Azteca.

I can delete them all but my Life as she was my first wizard and since it was back when I had friends, helped so many along my way etc. there are a lot of memories and stuff to just delete but all the rest now are just disposables since I don't get out of the game what I used to after the 1st arc. It is time for spring cleaning for me too, no need to keep all the stuff that probably will never get used.

Geographer
Feb 19, 2010
935
Monsoon Jo on Mar 31, 2013 wrote:
What is needed next, to help, is not a level cap increase, but another waterworks with gear and a good story, something for those of us that dont use crowns. Great crafted wands and better crafted gear, let us chose our cards on gear, instead of the cards getting worse as we go along.

another WW set to finish all the troubles away huh? I do hope the developers you are lambasting are more imaginative than your cookie-cutter suggestion. .
Agreed another dungeon that takes 45mins-90mins just for a chance of a drop that you might be able to use is not something i want. I would like a gear upgrade but not all that farming again for something that will be outdated and unuseful 5-10 levels later.

Defender
Jan 25, 2009
173
vitamin d on Mar 31, 2013 wrote:
I have to agree with this. My highest level wizard is legendary and in celestia, and I have given up questing. I haven't touched that wizard since celestia came out, literally, and have quit the game for a long while after then. Recently I made a new wizard who is in mooshu, and I am LOVING it. It is true the old worlds are so much better, and once this new wizard reaches celestia I will either quit or make another new wizard. That's right, I have been here since 2010 and have still not completed or touched celestia, because of how awful it is.

Things that need to be changed
  • Needs to have better gear available. After legendary, every gear drop is completely useless and unneeded except for crafted and waterworks gear. It was not like this before, where you could buy gear from the bazaar that was useful.
  • Worlds should be easier and more enjoyable. Celestia, Azteca, Zafaria, all need to change and have lower difficulty level. Right now they are just boring and a point where most people quit the game.
  • We should be learning spells every few levels. It was fun to learn so many spells so quickly. Now in the higher levels, it is only every 10 levels, which takes a long time to reach anyway because of the difficulty of leveling.
YES!!! 100% agree.

Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
I currently have 1 wizard in Az, 1 in Av and 3 in Cl/WT. All the rest are still in the first arc. I have pretty much stopped questing in the second arc because the magic and fun are gone.

The gear is worthless. I am now only doing gardening and pet training/hatching. Other than running one of my wizards in the first arc, I just don't get that feeling of magic anymore.

Sorry KI, it is gone.

Defender
Jan 25, 2009
173
You cannot BELIEVE how much I agree with this. Either during or after Celestia (to me it was after CL (i did Have a little fun there), things wet terribly wrong, and it makes me sad to say it. The powerful magic that powered me up into playing this game is gone. These new worlds are so un-whimsical, it's almost as of Bartleby has died lol. I'm getting no good gear after Waterworks (which could use a nerf in my opinion.), questing is way too long and challenging, and don't even get me started on the storyline. All my good W101 friends are gone, and I don't blame them for leaving. I feel like leaving my wizard as a free player once my subscription ends. I just can't do it anymore

Explorer
Feb 24, 2012
78
i honestly think the magic hasnt left yet and even if it leaves all of you i will still play on as long as my both world friend Cole darkleaf still plays i will too.

Hero
Jul 30, 2012
771
I agree that Azteca does not seem as magical as first arc worlds, but I disagree that it is related to the number of dungeons or difficulty.

I believe that the magic comes from great stories, emersive environment, and engaging characters. Very similar to reading a book or watching a movie.

Also rewards must be percieved as adequate (or hopefully great!), otherwise accomplishments seem drab, empty, even frustrating. Rewards can be fame, fortune, cool stuff, or good feelings we get from helping others.
With Azteca I think the rewards are a significant issue. I don't care about the NPC's so saving Azteca from getting destroyed is not super important to me. My character is not getting better gear or items, and my level maxed out half-way through. Also the interactive play with other online wizards is really low because cooperative play is limited to established friends only. (battling with strangers is far more risky than going solo, and imprompt jumping into battles is generally disliked.) -> its not a very social environment like some of the other worlds. Overall the rewards are pretty bad.

In many ways worlds like Zafaria and Azteca remind me of playing tetris. I'm doing it just for the sake of advancing and leveling up. I really don't care about the characters or feeble stories. Remember this is an RPG... I want to play a role in a fantasy world and feel good about it.

Explorer
Sep 17, 2008
56
I don't hate this game at all, I don't think the magic is gone and I have no intentions to stop playing. However... that being said... yeah, there are some problems.

Difficulty is a major problem. Especially in later worlds. Battles take longer but the quests are the same: collect X amount of this or that. And do it for this NPC, then go over there and do it again for that NPC, etc. etc. It's not fun, it's just monotonous and dull. Unfortunately, the difficulty makes these quests hugely time consuming.

That's fine for Marleybone or Mooshu, where the battles don't take so long. You do the quest, there's a neat story about recovering stolen goods and proving someone's innocence (or whatever), then you move on. Bish bash bosh, Bob's your uncle. Cheerio and moving right along.

Gear... yeah, I see problems here as well. I think that the main issue is that there is one "Best" gear. There's no variety or versatility. Some of the packs have gear that changes this factor, and that's good, but I'm talking about dropped gear here. We should be able to sell more of it in the bazaar. And the variety needs to be increased. Every ice wizard at lvl 80 is going to go for the same gear. This also seems dull.

Lack of spells. I definitely agree there. Part of wizard101 is lost later in the game... the student part. You're put into a certain role, the role of a student at a wizard school, but the "learning" of magic is significantly reduced later in the game. Shouldn't it be just the opposite? Shouldn't we learn slower at first and faster later? Besides, I would like to see variety added to the spells. Instead of getting, for example, Orthrus after completing a quest... why not get a choice between 3 spells? Pick one for your play style. This would make it so no 2 wizards are alike, right?

Anyway, that's all I really have to contribute. Thanks for reading. :)

Survivor
Aug 28, 2011
22
I agree that this game is starting to turn from it's casual self but as you get stronger with better cards you should have learned the ropes. I dissagree with the loss of magic, I feel that it's still radiating but in a different way. The Morganthe story in my opinion is harder to follow than the Malistaire story but still thrilling to follow. The quests are kind of really repetitive (though I hate to admit it.) I love every other part of the game. In my opinion I think the equipment is the same basically. I see the magic but it's becoming dim. Also I have played a lot ever since 2009.

Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
ForerunnerDeity on Apr 4, 2013 wrote:
I agree that this game is starting to turn from it's casual self but as you get stronger with better cards you should have learned the ropes. I dissagree with the loss of magic, I feel that it's still radiating but in a different way. The Morganthe story in my opinion is harder to follow than the Malistaire story but still thrilling to follow. The quests are kind of really repetitive (though I hate to admit it.) I love every other part of the game. In my opinion I think the equipment is the same basically. I see the magic but it's becoming dim. Also I have played a lot ever since 2009.
Better cards? I would have to say that depends on what school you are playing. Life is constantly getting more healing boosts which we don't need.

Getting hit with Rank 10 spells long before we can even train them is pure nonsense. We should be getting those spells by the time we enter a new world not near the end. Plainly, our PROFESSORS are no longer preparing us for what we will be facing.

The gear is useless and downgraded so much it would probably work just fine for CL but not in the higher worlds.

The Morganthe story line in Av started breaking up then, and in Az, it is so broken, it is hard to find more often than not. Then you think you have finally completed and are so you can move on, only to be sent back to the same are more times than you would think possible.

The collect quests would not be so bad if we were able to stack those as we did in the first arc, but no. that has been stopped. And more times that not, when you see that "did not collect" several times in a row, start looking to see if there is a new badge to be earned.

You get a crafting quest that now requires ingredients that are becoming almost impossible to get. Look at the availability of amber and the difficulty in getting it whether gardening, transmuting, or farming. Now, in Az, one of the hardest to get is the Potent Trap. If you are lucky, you may get it from one of the earlier bosses that drop it. If not, you can farm and farm and may still be lvl 90 before getting it and depending on whether you have done ALL SIDE quests in the game or not, chances are you will be lvl 90 before you get to the right quest giver to get the quest for you lvl 88 spell. You are more than likely going to be level 90 before completeing AZ with a lot of XP left out there you won't get until the level cap is raised again.

The most balanced and fun world since the first arc is WT. CL was not bad. Still followed the storyline and not a lot of going in circles. Zf, was tedious. Av, started a lot of running in circles but still worth the effort except for the bad gear drops. Az, lost it completely. I have been playinig since Jan 2009. Az just is not worth the effort. The magic is gone and so is the fun.

Mastermind
Sep 30, 2009
391
DragonLady1818 on Apr 4, 2013 wrote:
Better cards? I would have to say that depends on what school you are playing. Life is constantly getting more healing boosts which we don't need.

Getting hit with Rank 10 spells long before we can even train them is pure nonsense. We should be getting those spells by the time we enter a new world not near the end. Plainly, our PROFESSORS are no longer preparing us for what we will be facing.

The gear is useless and downgraded so much it would probably work just fine for CL but not in the higher worlds.

The Morganthe story line in Av started breaking up then, and in Az, it is so broken, it is hard to find more often than not. Then you think you have finally completed and are so you can move on, only to be sent back to the same are more times than you would think possible.

The collect quests would not be so bad if we were able to stack those as we did in the first arc, but no. that has been stopped. And more times that not, when you see that "did not collect" several times in a row, start looking to see if there is a new badge to be earned.

You get a crafting quest that now requires ingredients that are becoming almost impossible to get. Look at the availability of amber and the difficulty in getting it whether gardening, transmuting, or farming. Now, in Az, one of the hardest to get is the Potent Trap. If you are lucky, you may get it from one of the earlier bosses that drop it. If not, you can farm and farm and may still be lvl 90 before getting it and depending on whether you have done ALL SIDE quests in the game or not, chances are you will be lvl 90 before you get to the right quest giver to get the quest for you lvl 88 spell. You are more than likely going to be level 90 before completeing AZ with a lot of XP left out there you won't get until the level cap is raised again.

The most balanced and fun world since the first arc is WT. CL was not bad. Still followed the storyline and not a lot of going in circles. Zf, was tedious. Av, started a lot of running in circles but still worth the effort except for the bad gear drops. Az, lost it completely. I have been playinig since Jan 2009. Az just is not worth the effort. The magic is gone and so is the fun.
very well said golden. i to found wintertusk to be the funnest since the second ark, the reason, simple. all the areas were different and unique in there own way, the mobs and bosses were just the right difficulty, and there was plenty of rewards worth the effort. also the quest werent so tedious.
a lot of the things ki has done lately seems to be the exact oppiste of common sense, 3vs1 solo only fights, normal mobs getting our spells before we get them, and the gear my goodness how hard is it to give craftable or farmable gear universal resist and universal block.
just start giving those to gear and add damage boost and people will be happy just as long as its at a reasonable amount i mean we will be leveling to level 100 soon come on ki.

as for the quest well every single time i have to go get information about where something is in azteca EVERY TIME its beat up like 5 mobs get the info and fight a boss, just mix it up a little just have them tell you its behind a bush or something as that would be the highlight of my day knowing that i dont have to fight another boss and that i can relax and just get the quest done and be one step closer to my new spell or whatever my current goal is.

man sorry for ranting but i just had to get that off of my chest.

Survivor
May 31, 2009
17
I feel the same way! I started playing around the time Dragonspyre first came out, and BAM i loved this game! So did all my friends, but after celestia we all quit, and if you ask all the old time players they will say around the time celestia came out, they quit. This game was way different but now it is starting become like WoW. I still love the game dont get me wrong but, it has changed completely. After DS this game basically becomes spend money, make lots of friends that can always help you, and goodbye solo days.

Survivor
Aug 28, 2011
22
GoldenDragon I do know what your saying. I am about to beat Avalon so I'll be able to relate to you better after that then. I had no idea that those monsters use the newest spells before we even get the quest for it. I feel now that they put to MUCH infasis on team work even though this is a family game. Some people don't have family who play. But I like somewhat a challenge without having to pester people to help me if I need help. I'll post back when I beat Azteca.

Explorer
Jul 22, 2009
82
I will rank the worlds on a fun meter
Wizard City - Fun
Krokotopia - A little boring
Marlybone - More Boring
Mooshu - Fun
Dragon Spyre - Really Fun
Celestia - The worst one
Zafaria - A little Boring
Avalon - REALLY FUN
Azteca - Sounds fun probably 2nd funnest.

AVALON's THE BEST

Defender
Jan 25, 2009
173
But to he honest withi you guys, Avalon seemed to have the least broken story to me. I actually enjoyed that world's story a bit, and if it weren't for terrible gear drops with no auction, along with no rank spell (except for those really hard craft able ones for death, storm, ice), Avalon may have been a brilliant world.

Survivor
Apr 18, 2009
15
While I agree on the quests, they are insanely difficult from celestia up. But, the whole game in my opinion is better than it has ever been. And will continue to get better in the future.

Survivor
Aug 22, 2009
22
(I have no idea where I'm going to go with this post, so bear with me! )
Yeah... I've agreed with mostly everyone on this topic.
The magic and fun of this supposedly family game is long gone.. my last straw was Azteca. I've pretty much been doing the quests because of a sense of duty- just to say I've finished it. I'm not saying that I'm quitting the game (although I may have a change of mind), I'm just posting my view on the subject.

At a lvl 89 Pyromancer, I probably will continue to be a lvl 89 instead of 90 because I just stopped doing the quests and went to training and hatching pets, farming in Vestrilund, and gardening. I can't seem to be up for Azteca anymore. I can list all the things why I'm doing this but I want to keep this short- Its a sense of duty why I'm still on W101, although I have those moments of fun with my friends or satisfaction of a good hatching or whatever.

What happened to this once Family Game??!

Jazzy Thunderstaff Lvl 89 Pyromancer

Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
ForerunnerDeity on Apr 5, 2013 wrote:
GoldenDragon I do know what your saying. I am about to beat Avalon so I'll be able to relate to you better after that then. I had no idea that those monsters use the newest spells before we even get the quest for it. I feel now that they put to MUCH infasis on team work even though this is a family game. Some people don't have family who play. But I like somewhat a challenge without having to pester people to help me if I need help. I'll post back when I beat Azteca.
Yes, they do have them before we do and some even now have Mastery Amulets.

Teamwork is great fun, but it is not always possible to have the help when you need it even from friends. Real life issues can also prevent having that help when needed.

My friends and I also like a challenge but there is also a point that is not a challenge but pure stress and headaches.

I wish you the best in Az. Also if you have not visited wizard101central.com, think about doing so. There are some great guides on that site tha can help you prepare for many of the battles in the various worlds.

@Turnip78, I noticed you did not have Grizz/WinterTusk on your fun meter. To me, Grizz was a little boring but WinterTusk more than made up for it. WT is a well balanced and fun world to travel.

Survivor
Jan 26, 2011
4
Here are a few things i see that drove a people away.

1. change in resist. now its elemental or spirit. everyone wants univeral resist. and if we had universal resist maybe people wont be complaining to much about immunity to a few schools. some schools have just plain awful resist all together. i am not saying pump up a bunch of resist but they need some decent resist.

2. gear. some of the gear is kinda cool then you see it only have +5 pips. what is up with that? now with mobs starting with like 10 pips we do need a boost in that. schools that have low pips are healing and hoping they dont die. and a lot of it is underpowered for what is going to be coming up. i am assuming the new world will be a bit harder hitting and harder.

3. difficulty. i really dont mind long fights but i can see for some that dont have a bunch of time it will be bothersome. it really shouldnt take 40mins just to do one quest. i like having to think more and plan strategy, but sitting down for 40mins for a collect this quest is a bit overboard.

And i dont know if any of you read the board about some new changes. the reshuffle change shouldnt be made.
some people run very small decks and now they have to fill it with a bunch of reshuffles so that throws off their style of play.
We do need a bit of boost in something. better gear will be a start since zafaria gear on is pretty much garbage and is kinda underpowered. but then again KI is a business so i see their point on making money putting good gear in packs but some of that could be rare drops instead of costing money.

Archon
Feb 07, 2011
3175
kress1977 on Apr 7, 2013 wrote:
Here are a few things i see that drove a people away.

1. change in resist. now its elemental or spirit. everyone wants univeral resist. and if we had universal resist maybe people wont be complaining to much about immunity to a few schools. some schools have just plain awful resist all together. i am not saying pump up a bunch of resist but they need some decent resist.

2. gear. some of the gear is kinda cool then you see it only have +5 pips. what is up with that? now with mobs starting with like 10 pips we do need a boost in that. schools that have low pips are healing and hoping they dont die. and a lot of it is underpowered for what is going to be coming up. i am assuming the new world will be a bit harder hitting and harder.

3. difficulty. i really dont mind long fights but i can see for some that dont have a bunch of time it will be bothersome. it really shouldnt take 40mins just to do one quest. i like having to think more and plan strategy, but sitting down for 40mins for a collect this quest is a bit overboard.

And i dont know if any of you read the board about some new changes. the reshuffle change shouldnt be made.
some people run very small decks and now they have to fill it with a bunch of reshuffles so that throws off their style of play.
We do need a bit of boost in something. better gear will be a start since zafaria gear on is pretty much garbage and is kinda underpowered. but then again KI is a business so i see their point on making money putting good gear in packs but some of that could be rare drops instead of costing money.
i agree with everything you said.

1) there is good gear with universal resist~ waterworks.

all of my wizards over level 60 are still in their full or partial sets. not only does it have better, more tangible stats than anything in azteca (ie: universal resist and block, not random stuff like critical), but my death wizard has 32 universal resist and was able to solo boss fights until he maxed out just before xibalba; my balance maxed out in pitch black lake, and she has 40% universal resist; storm in avalon has her full set as well and, combined with her pet, has 30 resist across.

wintertusk crafted gear is another good option, and it's available at level 56. my life wizard will be getting hers as soon as she's high-enough level to wear it.

2) gear gives us a percentage to power pip chance, not that number of pips.

last night in twin giants, my necromancer and his friends were chain-stunned almost to death on the first turn. we had first-cast advantage, so we got our stun-blocks up... and then, we were hit by 3 frost giants in a row; so much for that. there's no good reason that we shouldn't start with 6 pips now~ it's like we're stuck at level 45.

3) dungeons should not exceed 2 hours in length and be port-able.

most players, especially adults and older teens, have offline commitments: work or school, families, extracurricular activities, social lives and friendships; a lot of young children have short attention spans and just can't sit still long enough. and then, there are people with various afflictions that prevent them from spending hours at the computer... i understand working hard, but there's a difference between putting in time and doing time.



4) leave reshuffle alone.

my main wizard is balance, so she can use power pips for it. but what about my other wizards, who don't have mastery amulets and have to spend the equivalent of 8 pips to do so?

while a boon to balance wizards all over the spiral, no wizard wants to have to fill his or her deck with it, as those slots would be of much better use when filled with something we actually need.

all proposed changes to reshuffle should be implemented for pvp only.

pve players are continually getting shafted, to appease the pvp crowd. and, while i do have a sergeant among my wizarding ranks, i still consider myself a pve player.

so please, ki: listen to your community, and leave our spells alone!

-von

90 balance & death
72 storm
50 life
28 myth/ice
22 fire

Survivor
Jan 26, 2011
4
Dr Von on Apr 7, 2013 wrote:
i agree with everything you said.

1) there is good gear with universal resist~ waterworks.

all of my wizards over level 60 are still in their full or partial sets. not only does it have better, more tangible stats than anything in azteca (ie: universal resist and block, not random stuff like critical), but my death wizard has 32 universal resist and was able to solo boss fights until he maxed out just before xibalba; my balance maxed out in pitch black lake, and she has 40% universal resist; storm in avalon has her full set as well and, combined with her pet, has 30 resist across.

wintertusk crafted gear is another good option, and it's available at level 56. my life wizard will be getting hers as soon as she's high-enough level to wear it.

2) gear gives us a percentage to power pip chance, not that number of pips.

last night in twin giants, my necromancer and his friends were chain-stunned almost to death on the first turn. we had first-cast advantage, so we got our stun-blocks up... and then, we were hit by 3 frost giants in a row; so much for that. there's no good reason that we shouldn't start with 6 pips now~ it's like we're stuck at level 45.

3) dungeons should not exceed 2 hours in length and be port-able.

most players, especially adults and older teens, have offline commitments: work or school, families, extracurricular activities, social lives and friendships; a lot of young children have short attention spans and just can't sit still long enough. and then, there are people with various afflictions that prevent them from spending hours at the computer... i understand working hard, but there's a difference between putting in time and doing time.



4) leave reshuffle alone.

my main wizard is balance, so she can use power pips for it. but what about my other wizards, who don't have mastery amulets and have to spend the equivalent of 8 pips to do so?

while a boon to balance wizards all over the spiral, no wizard wants to have to fill his or her deck with it, as those slots would be of much better use when filled with something we actually need.

all proposed changes to reshuffle should be implemented for pvp only.

pve players are continually getting shafted, to appease the pvp crowd. and, while i do have a sergeant among my wizarding ranks, i still consider myself a pve player.

so please, ki: listen to your community, and leave our spells alone!

-von

90 balance & death
72 storm
50 life
28 myth/ice
22 fire
i agree with you on the pve and pvp statement. alot of stuff i read on here and wizard101central about this or that being overpowered is always followed up by PVP.
they are two seperate beast. i think PVP needs their own set of gear for the gear complaints.
will that help? who knows there is always going to be this or that thats good or bad. KI is trying to make things even but i would think this should help a bit.

Survivor
Jul 25, 2009
28
I will agree i have had a wizard101 account ever since 2009. But then i quit for 3 yrs cause it got boreing without membership or crowns then in 2012 i started for God knows why.

Armiger
Feb 25, 2009
2425
l CrossFired l on Apr 6, 2013 wrote:
(I have no idea where I'm going to go with this post, so bear with me! )
Yeah... I've agreed with mostly everyone on this topic.
The magic and fun of this supposedly family game is long gone.. my last straw was Azteca. I've pretty much been doing the quests because of a sense of duty- just to say I've finished it. I'm not saying that I'm quitting the game (although I may have a change of mind), I'm just posting my view on the subject.

At a lvl 89 Pyromancer, I probably will continue to be a lvl 89 instead of 90 because I just stopped doing the quests and went to training and hatching pets, farming in Vestrilund, and gardening. I can't seem to be up for Azteca anymore. I can list all the things why I'm doing this but I want to keep this short- Its a sense of duty why I'm still on W101, although I have those moments of fun with my friends or satisfaction of a good hatching or whatever.

What happened to this once Family Game??!

Jazzy Thunderstaff Lvl 89 Pyromancer
You are not alone as far as not completing Az. I have a lvl 88 Theurgist, just shy of being lvl 89 and would be well past lvl 90 before getting to the right area for the lvl 88 spell quest..... She is currently gardening, pet hatching/training and occasionally farming Halfang or for CP seeds. I refuse to spend hours on end farming any boss for EMP seeds.

I had all intentions of getting at least one wizard all the way through Azteca. Now, I am avoiding the second arc worlds like the plague. The excitement that a new world used to hold for me has been gone for a long time. I have some wonderful friends that have offered to help my wizard finish, but real life too has been an issue.

The story line started breaking apart by the time you get to Av, but still is easy enough to follow until Az. In Az, the story line starts bouncing all over the place and at times is completely lost. Too many bosses in a given area, No decent UPGRADED Gear for the cost, and most of the gear drops are NO AUCTION if you get any gear drops at all. Most quest rewards are common reagents or seeds that can be bought in the Bazaar. There are more Astral Spells that in some cases are just a renamed boost(especially Healing boosts that life wizards DON'T need more of). 3v1 Spell quests with you main spell quest so far into the world, that you are almost finished before you can get the quest for it. Crafting ingredients that are almost impossible to get and for some they are. Transmutes for some needed reagents that you can't get UNLESS you have already completed the crafting quest FIRST. Challenges are great within reason. But when they seem to serve no pupose, then why are they there? Wow, Az is so upside down, I am surprised my wizard is even as far as she is. Yep, Az lost it KI.

Az is a world that appears to have been created by a lot of followers with NO leader. There is no organization to AZ whatsoever. It is a jumbled mess.

Defender
Jun 06, 2009
101
When Waterworks was the top dungeon, most of the complaints centered around how nobody had the time to grind on that dungeon repeatedly to get the Water Works gear and felt cheated.

Yet what happened afterwards is the joy of the game went downhill because Water Works gear was more than just the golden standard -- no other gear gave better stats, and so all creativity about making your character unique was crushed. Gear that gives you everything you want means you have no reason to keep looking.

It took two additional worlds before KI was able to fix that problem, and start introducing gear that made most people think seriously about when to not use the Water Works gear. Water Works is still my Gold Standard, but I do not always wear it. The drops on the street in Avalon and Azteca are usually better choices -- but they do make you choose which traits you wish to be strong and which ones you are willing to sacrifice.

In other words, creativity and decisions have made their way back into the game. Another Water Works that gives the best-in-everything gear will have the same dampening effect as occured for the two worlds after Water Works.

I admit -- no new dungeon, new boss, nor any particularly special gear drops exist that have the charm and attraction of Water Works and Tower of the Helephant. Ghost Avalon gave us an interesting battle to figure out, but no rewards to make the effort worth repeating.

So what is the answer? Water Works gave us a Gold Standard for what a dungeon should be like to keep the interest in the game high, but it also gave us a Gold Standard on what the gear could do which ultimately worked to lower interest in the game by destroying creativity.

Perhaps it is time for a new Water Works. At least people would be complaining about something different for awhile.

- Stephen Earthmender
Life Wizard, Pixie Realm

Defender
Dec 20, 2010
169
Gee, I wonder if a new wand called "Nuclear Strike" that obliterates a world you don't want to finish is in order.

If the game was easy all the way through, Wizard101 would lose about the same amount of players due to boredom. I enjoy the harder worlds, have great friends that enjoy it as well. I develop new strategies to deal with the increase of difficulty.

The key is adaptation! Adapt to the changing environment and the harder worlds are not so tough.

Shortcuts are not the answer and usually result in dead ends!