It’s here! The update you’ve been seeing talked about from Wizards on Test Realm is finally on the Live servers. Featuring the Beastmoon Hunt event, new Deckathalons, and more, here’s what you can expect to see both immediately upon logging in, as well as in the days ahead. Those marked “coming soon” will be turned on as events rotate in and out from month to month.
Wizard City Revamp completed!
FTUE! (First Time User Experience)
Advance Quick Sell
New Beastmoon Hunt
New Scroll of Fortune
More Deckathalon fun (coming soon)
New Spiral Showcase (coming soon)
Test Realm didn’t grab all the fun with the Fire Deckathalon having kicked off on the Live servers on July 11. Congrats to all our Deckathletes that conquered that event! How far up the tower did you get?
Here’s a quick lookback on all the July fun! (we didn’t list certain offer announcements):
JUL 10: Test Realm kicked off for the Summer Update!
JUL 11: The Fire Deckathalon event introduced some changes.
JUL 18: Develop Livestream: Beastmoon Hunt! Now on YouTube.
JUL 19: Professor Falmea talks about the Scroll of Fortune.
JUL 22: Christmas in July! Did you get your favorite pack or mount from the event?
JUL 23: The Aero Plains Bundle is now available at Wizard101.com!
JUL 24: Poll – Which of these Polaris creatures would be an excellent greeter for new Wizards?
JUL 25: KI Live! Missed the show? Watch it below on YouTube.
JUL 26: Poll - Which retired bundle house would you most like to see in the Crown Shop?
JUL 29: Shark Week! All the fish in the Spiral turn into sharks!! Just kidding :)
As always, keep updated daily on the latest news for next month on Twitter and Facebook!
Developer Livestream & Dev Diary: Beastmoon Hunt!
There was so much to cover in July, we had multiple developer livestreams and dev diary videos! A week before KI Live, we had a livestream dedicated to showing off the new Beastmoon Hunt event, and as of this newsletter going out, we also released the Beastmoon Hunt Dev Diary.
A tip from this month’s KI Live comes from community member Valcoor Dragonfinder:
“Level up as many creatures as you can in the Beastmoon event. That way if your favourite creature is taken, you can use another on that you've leveled.” - Valcoor Dragonfinder
FTUE (First Time User Experience) DEV DIARY
Can you believe that Wizard101 has nearly 11 years of amazing content under its belt? Wow! Way back when, most computers had just a fraction of the horsepower they do today. This limited our ability to produce life-like scenes and animations, though we think you’ll agree that we did a pretty good job with the tools we had at the time!
The first few hours of gameplay is known as the FTUE (First Time User Experience). We’ve spent a good amount of time refining this part of the game that gives a first impression to new Wizards. Here’s our dev diary that talks all about the FTUE!
KI LIVE WITH SPARCK & PROFESSOR FALMEA
This month’s KI Live was all about the Summer Update. If you are reading this sentence right now, then the Summer Update has already made its way to the Live servers!
The traditional and ever popular Zone of the Month continues with a discounted offer! Moving on from Marleybone, this month we’re featuring Jade Palace in MooShu. Access to this area (along with Hametsu Village) usually requires 1,200 Crowns, but because this is our zone of the month, we’ve discounted this area to 960 Crowns through August 18th!
Sam Johnson, KingsIsle’s Lead Creative Designer, has been quite pleased with the community’s reactions to his last few Zone of the Months and would like to know what you think of this latest one. Post a comment on social media, in the official forums, or contact us directly and let him know where you would like the story to be taken next!
Name: Jade Palace
Location: The Jade Palace is the hub zone of MooShu, as well as the home/(just) resting place of Emperor Yoshihito.
Description:
Nestled in an idyllic valley, the Jade Palace is the spiritual and cultural heart of the venerable Empire of MooShu. In addition to housing the main market and palace gardens, the grounds of the Jade Palace are also home to the historic Emperor’s Throne Room. There are also direct connections to Shoshun and Hametsu Villages, as well as the famed Yoshihito Temple. More advanced Wizards enjoy studying the Scrolls of Light in the Tower of Absolute Being, and Storm Wizards will also venture here to visit Khai Tengri’s Dojo to dig up the finest Worms of the Earth.
Secrets:
Not one but two of Zeke’s Explorer quest items can be found in the Jade Palace.
The two lost Blue Oysters are just burnin’ for you to find them! One is pretty easy to find; just look for a tiny island in the middle of a small pond. While the other Blue Oyster is behind a cherry blossom tree near the Garden Dojo.
Who’s That Boss?
The grand finale of MooShu entails besting the infamous Jade Oni, the evil demon who was holding sway over the slumbering Emperor Yoshihito.
A Peek Behind the Dev Process:
The concept map for this zone started quite humbly with the Environment Artist sketching out the market/vendor area on a single sheet of paper. However, the sketch eventually sprawled out over several sheets of butcher paper taped together. The sketch got so big that it no longer fit on the Artist’s desk, so he moved to a conference table. But even that wasn’t big enough. The map’s final form was so big, that it had to be completed spread out on an open area of the floor!
Which area in Wizard101 should we spotlight for next month? Let us know by tweeting your suggestion @Wizard101 or by emailing community@Wizard101.com!
DECORATOR'S CORNER
We want to add a monthly spotlight of a decorated house or dorm room! If you have an amazingly extravagant and interesting house to share, please email a few screenshots to community@wizard101.com and we’ll get it spotlighted in one of the upcoming newsletters!
Fan Screenshot of the Month
This screenshot is from Iridian Willowglen. She captured this image of her Wizard with a couple of new Beastmoon plants:
And this screenshot is from Deirdre Willowtail. She captured this image with her friend at the Pet Pavilion:
Fan Art Spotlight
For this month’s fan art spotlight, we are showcasing a neat screenshot alteration from Magical Wizard with her friend:
FAN VIDEO OF THE MONTH
We’re adding a neat new feature to these monthly newsletters, a fan video of the month! For August, ‘Who's Abby K. Doodle?!’, who is essentially a representative for new students:
“Oh, wow, you look new! Are you new here? Have you met all of the professors? Have you picked a school?!” - Abby K. Doodle
We would love to see more screenshots and art from the community for next month’s newsletter. Do you have something amazing to share? Send it to us in an email to community@Wizard101.com! We’re always interested in showing off more fan art, gameplay guides, and other content.
Jeremy also tests the Beastmoon Hunt event on test realm and shares his insights about this brand new feature to the game!
Learn more about the rewards you can obtain from the Beastmoon Hunt as Cody RavenTamer looks at all the new flashy robes.
Our newest member, Tor, looks at the Summer Test Realm and shares an overview on some of the new features including FTUI and the completion of Wizard City's revamp.
What does it take to defeat the Titan's Trident... 100 times?!?! Dese shares her experience of getting the elusive Storm Chaser badge.
Wizard101 Code Wands are some of the rarest items in the game. Learn more about them as Tor fishes in the waters of Zafaria.
Cody and Sierra explore Fishing Luck and how to maximize it.
Patrick is one step closer in completing his max level gear series with Life Gear now released!
DuelCircle's hosting a contest for "International Scepter of Tribute Day" and 5 lucky scepter enthusiasts will receive 5,000 crowns! The contest ends on August 10th.
VODs from the Luau '19 tournament are now on YouTube
The unaffiliated-with-KingsIsle “Community Newsletter” had a great selection of Wizard101 links this month. NOTE: Be sure to visit and follow their Twitter page for more information. To subscribe to their newsletter, send a message to them over Twitter inquiring to be added or email them at community.newsletter.101@gmail.com. You can unsubscribe at any time by sending them an email with the phrase “UNSUB”.
