Online entertainment company KingsIsle Entertainment today launched a new payment option that essentially lets players of the company’s new virtual world, Wizard101 decide for themselves which game payment plan suits them best, whether it’s via monthly subscription or micropayment. Each of the four imaginative 3D worlds currently in Wizard101 contains zones that are now individually unlockable through micropayment. A considerable amount of game content remains free to play.

“A parent can reward a child with days of entertainment content for the price of a pack of gum… and at the same time someone who regularly meets up with their friends in Wizard101 may elect to get full access up front, and save by subscribing,” said KingsIsle Entertainment CEO Elie Akilian.

Designed to fill the void between online play sites for the very young and MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) games with mature adult interaction, Wizard101 puts players in the fantasy role of a wizard apprentice at the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts. The game’s colorful creative look, family-friendly features and immersive game play have made the site a popular online destination since launch in September.

Players can choose to play in three economic formats:

Wizard101 features spell-casting adventure and card style game play. The game’s family-friendly safety features include a collaborative play style, a chat system with many options and a character name selector. The game contains no blood, and characters don’t die if they are defeated in a duel of spells-they simply go to a safe area in the game to regain health. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board gave Wizard101 a rating of E10+.

Just in time for Halloween, a very haunting new Wizard 101 gameplay trailer has materialized

And in the spirit of Halloween, the inhabitants of Wizard City have decided to celebrate this festive event by allowing users to participate and interact through fun new quests and challenges:

Online entertainment company KingsIsle Entertainment, Inc. has waved a magic wand over the family-friendly virtual world Wizard101 (www.wizard101.com) and conjured new limited time content, including three Haunted Towers and eleven frightfully fantastic adventures.

For those brave enough to seek out a wily scarecrow named Jack Hollow in Wizard101’s Wizard City Commons, several spooky challenges await, including:

• Test your courage against the ghostly inhabitants of three brand new towers

• Rescue Wizard City from a ghastly spell by defeating the Baron Mordecai

• Search out Jack O’lanterns throughout Wizard City

• Catch colorful ghosts haunting the wizard school campus

• Dunk for apples to collect prizes

Visit Spooky Bob in the Wizard City Shopping District for limited edition items such as costumes, wands, hats and accessories, including a special pet!

Several of the seasonal Hallowe’en quests can be found in the Free-to-Play areas of Wizard101 and a few additional ones require a monthly subscription to the game. Spooky Bob and the Haunted Towers will mysteriously vanish shortly after October 31st.

Wizard101 features spell-casting adventure and card style game play. The game’s family-friendly safety features include a collaborative play style, a chat system with many options and a character name selector. The game contains no blood, and characters don’t die if they are defeated in a duel of spells-they simply go to a safe area in the game to regain health.

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has given Wizard101 a rating of E10+. Anybody with a Windows based PC can play the Free-to-Play areas of the game for as long as they like. Advanced content is available by subscription at the rate of $6.95 per month on the family plan and $9.95 per month for a general subscription.

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Virtual Wizard School Now In Session

Tweens are grabbing their best spell-casting gear and rushing off to school… wizard school, that is. Online entertainment company KingsIsle Entertainment, Inc. has officially opened the doors of its highly anticipated Wizard101 (www.wizard101.com) virtual world, a magical 3D environment where aspiring wizards gather to adventure with friends and save their world from creatures like a pumpkin-headed Harvest Lord and a zombie named Wormguts.

Michael Lafferty of GameZone commented, “The game is thoroughly delightful, exuding a youthful sense of fun and excitement… KingsIsle is on track to have a certified hit title.”

Joe Blancato of GiantRealm said, “A kid-targeted [Massively Multiplayer Online Game] that’s charming the beard off anyone who plays it, regardless of age.”

Designed for pre-teens and attracting a wider audience of families and traditional gamers, Wizard101 features magical adventure and card style gameplay. Players enroll in the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts and begin a course of spell study. Immediately upon arrival at wizard school they are tapped by the Headmaster to help save the school from a renegade teacher who has disappeared but who seems to be behind some mysterious happenings.

Wizard101 features include:

Wizard101’s collaborative play style supports an environment where players benefit from working together in adventure quests and lower level characters can play alongside higher level ones. A three-tiered chat system and pre-defined character name generator create a safe community for younger players. The game contains no blood, and characters don’t die if they are defeated in a duel of spells-they simply go to a safe area on campus to regain health. An Arena provides a spot for more traditional gamers to show off their player versus player spell-casting skills. Wizard101 is free-to-play, with advanced play content available by subscription at the rate of $9.95 per month. Discounts are available for six-month and one-year subscriptions. For a limited time a 12 month subscription can be purchased for $60. Gift subscriptions are expected to be available online soon. To play, PC users may simply go to www.wizard101.com and download the game installer. A rating by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board is pending.

Magic in Wizard101
There are six main schools of magic and a meta-school that modifies the use of the other six. The three external schools are Fire, Ice, and Storms, and they relate to the ancient Titans that ruled the world in the Days Before (dragons, giants, and tritons). There are three internal schools, Myth, Life, and Death, which encompass the internal powers of the mind, body, and spirit. The school of Balance blends all of these. Each of the six major schools exhibits a feel and philosophy, in rhythm with its own nature. In addition, each of the three inner schools dwells in the midst of two outer schools, drawing some small part of themselves from those framing forces.
Inner Schools
The spells of the inner or internal schools focus their energies on channeling your own power, drawing on your life force to create what you need. Each school has its own particular method of doing such, but each one is fed by an internal force.
School of Death (Body)
“Timor mortis conturbat me.” (The Fear of Death Confounds Me)
Death is finality, absolutism, the study of the corporeal. All things pass eventually, and time cannot be held back indefinitely. Practitioners of the Death Art, known as Necromancers, understand this limitation and strive to face it unafraid, making the most of the time they have. Beware, though; some among its adherents grow morbid or try to cheat death through undeath. Necromancers use Whispers to hone their will, drawing on the power of courage to channel their own fears out of themselves and at their adversaries. Death sits between Ice and Storms, for the cold energy of undeath draws on those two forces.

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Magic in Wizard101
There are six main schools of magic and a meta-school that modifies the use of the other six. The three external schools are Fire, Ice, and Storms, and they relate to the ancient Titans that ruled the world in the Days Before (dragons, giants, and tritons). There are three internal schools, Myth, Life, and Death, which encompass the internal powers of the mind, body, and spirit. The school of Balance blends all of these. Each of the six major schools exhibits a feel and philosophy, in rhythm with its own nature. In addition, each of the three inner schools dwells in the midst of two outer schools, drawing some small part of themselves from those framing forces.

Inner Schools
The spells of the inner or internal schools focus their energies on channeling your own power, drawing on your life force to create what you need. Each school has its own particular method of doing such, but each one is fed by an internal force.

School of Life (Spirit)
“As we have been Created, so must we Create.”
Life is spirit, the force of awareness and existence. Practitioners of the Life Arts, known as Theurgists, are positive, enthusiastic people who seek to appreciate the simple pleasures. At times, however, they can be too flighty or frivolous when circumstances demand otherwise. Theurgists use Songs to breathe life and spirit into a vessel. Life sits between Fire and Storms, for the spark of life comes from those two forces.

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Beta Testers Find Virtual World Brings the Family Together For Shared Playtime

PLANO, TEXAS- Aug 06, 2008 - Online entertainment company KingsIsle Entertainment, Inc announced the successful completion of closed beta testing for virtual world Wizard101. The final beta testing phase has now been opened to the general public at www.wizard101.com. Wizard101, which emphasizes magical adventure and card-collecting in an online 3D world of Wizards, is expected to officially launch within the next month.

“We more than doubled our anticipated beta audience for Wizard101,” said KingsIsle CEO Elie Akilian. “It turns out that the solid game mechanics and whimsical fantasy environment appeal even beyond the tween audience. We’ve had a great response from testers that included everyone from grandmas who play with a grandchild sitting in their lap to twenty-something traditional gamers.”
Wizard101’s collaborative play style supports an environment where players benefit from working together in adventure quests. A tiered chat system and pre-defined character name generator create a safe community for younger players while an Arena provides a spot for more traditional gamers to show off their player versus player spell-casting skills. As they adventure, players can upgrade their costume and magical accessories, adopt bizarre pets, solve puzzles and play mini-games. At launch, Wizard101 will be free to play, with advanced play content available by subscription.

KingsIsle had Wizard101 under development for three years before the beta period, which means testers experienced a very fully fleshed out game with detailed graphics, fantastic worlds and fully-functional game play. There has been an increasing online buzz about Wizard101. Testers, including those below from esteemed virtual community The Syndicate® have been saying things like:
“Wizard101 is a great game for the whole family, especially for kids. I watch my 6 year old AND my 14 year old laughing with each other instead of irritating one another, as brothers tend to do. I play right along side of my kids.” “Having been a gamer for 30 years now, playing with my kids has to be the most fun I have ever had … They enjoy the ability to get many different spells and see all the amazing animations, and both are always wanting to start new wizards to try the others. I think the variety of schools and the spells that goes with them makes Wizard101 stand out over [other online games].”

Anyone with a PC who would like to join the final beta testing phase can now sign up at www.wizard101.com and instantly download and install the initial software to join the large cast of good, bad, and frequently silly in-game characters and other players. Beta testers play the game for free and provide feedback to the game’s creators leading up to the official launch.

For additional details go to www.wizard101.com.

Magic in Wizard101
There are six main schools of magic and a meta-school that modifies the use of the other six. The three external schools are Fire, Ice, and Storms, and they relate to the ancient Titans that ruled the world in the Days Before (dragons, giants, and tritons). There are three internal schools, Myth, Life, and Death, which encompass the internal powers of the mind, body, and spirit. The school of Balance blends all of these. Each of the six major schools exhibits a feel and philosophy, in rhythm with its own nature. In addition, each of the three inner schools dwells in the midst of two outer schools, drawing some small part of themselves from those framing forces.

Inner Schools
The spells of the inner or internal schools focus their energies on channeling your own power, drawing on your life force to create what you need. Each school has its own particular method of doing such, but each one is fed by an internal force.

School of Myth (Mind)
“To control the Future, one must look to the Past.”
Myth is imagination. The power of the mind, and everything it can create, drives the Myth Arts. It is illusion, dreams made real. If you can conceive it, you can bring it forth, bring it to life. Beware, though, for when your imagination becomes too fanciful and whimsical, the things you dream of escape your control and run wild. Wizards of the Myth School, known as Conjurers, use Naming to summon beasts of legend by memorizing and calling out their True Name. Myth dwells between Fire and Ice, for that is where the shadows lie, and myths are the shadowy forms of thought made real.

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Magic in Wizard101

There are six main schools of magic and a meta-school that modifies the use of the other six. The three external schools are Fire, Ice, and Storms, and they relate to the ancient Titans that ruled the world in the Days Before (dragons, giants, and tritons). There are three internal schools, Myth, Life, and Death, which encompass the internal powers of the mind, body, and spirit. The school of Balance blends all of these. Each of the six major schools exhibits a feel and philosophy, in rhythm with its own nature. In addition, each of the three inner schools dwells in the midst of two outer schools, drawing some small part of themselves from those framing forces.

Outer Schools

The spells of the outer or external schools focus their energies on somehow requiring other beings to serve you or do your bidding. Each school has its own particular method of doing such, but each one needs minion creatures to be effective.

School of Storms (Invention)

"That which can be imagined, can be achieved."
The Storm Arts are all about creativity. They represent that Eureka! moment, that spark of inspiration, the happy serendipity of catching lightning in a bottle. Those who embrace the School of Storms, known as Diviners, are driven by the thrill of investigation and discovery, the joys of invention and ingenuity, the power of creating and building. The drawback to such pursuits is the tendency to get lost in the maze of one’s many thoughts, to face the chaos of a myriad of decisions and unable to move forward with a single choice. Diviners utilize Verses to charm, enthrall or hypnotize creatures to aid them. The Storm Arts find their roots in the power of the majestic Tritons, the race of Titans that ruled the seas in the Days Before.

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