Diary of a Wizard™ - A Wizard101 Fansite & Community » News

Wizard101: Celebrate Wizard101 UK’s 1st Birthday w/Prizes & Event!

Fallon Shadowblade — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:32:46 +0000

It’s almost been ONE YEAR since Wizard101 teamed up with GameForge and Wizard101 UK opened it’s servers to players! Diary of a Wizard would like to honor this milestone with lots of prizes & a spectacular holiday event! We are teaming up with Mason Swiftblade from ‘The Life of a Wizard‘ (W101UK Blog) to bring this celebration worldwide! KingsIsle has donated TONS of prizes to giveaway!

Prizes:

100 Marleybone Car Housing Items
50 Royal Attire w/500 Crowns for Stitching
50 Carnival Attire w/500 Crowns for Stitching
25 Spider Golem Pets

NOTE: Prizes will ONLY be redeemable on Wizard101 US servers. The codes will not work on Wizard101 UK’s servers.

Carnival Attire

Royal Attire

Spider Golem Pet

You can help honor this very special birthday by dressing in your finest Marleybone gear all week long! The contest begins now and will end the day of our Holiday Event 12/16.

StormyWiz Holiday Party/Wizard101 UK Birthday Celebration

December 16th at 8PM (EST) until….

You can RSVP here: http://my.diaryofawizard.com/events/stormywiz-holiday-party

And click below to learn more about the contest!

Wizard101: Chrismoose Mount Released to Raise Money for Children’s Charities!

Fallon Shadowblade — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:06:01 +0000

Happy Holidays from Wizard101!

PLANO, Texas, Dec. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — As the weather outside turns frightful, Wizard101 is spreading winter warmth by kicking off 12 days of holiday events and surprises. To give this celebration a little more juice – Wizard101 is starting off with a charity moose!

“Over the last two years, KingsIsle and the Wizard101 community have raised over $180,000 for children’s charities in Texas and around the country,” said Elie Akilian, chairman and CEO of KingsIsle Entertainment.

“This year, with the launch of a festive Chrismoose mount, we plan to raise another $50,000 to benefit two extraordinary Texas organizations.“

The Chrismoose charity mount will gallop into Wizard101‘s in-game Crown shop on December 9th and be available for a limited time. The charity mount will support two organizations devoted to helping children: the Austin Children’s Shelter located in Austin, Texas, and Children’s Medical Center at Legacy, a pediatric hospital located in Plano, Texas.

Additionally, from December 9 until December 21, each day KingsIsle will unveil new ways to celebrate the season. There are many surprises planned, so be on the lookout for:

Discounts on a variety of popular in-game items

A slew of giveaways and some special celebratory offers

A holiday-themed creative poetry contest

New festive items and special surprises

About KingsIsle Entertainment, Inc.

KingsIsle Entertainment is a developer and publisher that specializes in creating high-quality massively multiplayer online games which provide entertainment for the entire family. Wizard101, KingsIsle’s flagship property, received the Parent Tested Parent Approved Media Seal of Approval in 2009 and has been recognized by the National Parenting Publications Awards. Wizard101 was named Best MMO of 2010 by Beckett Massive Online Gamer Magazine, Best Family MMO of the Decade by Massively.com and the #1 Best Family Game of 2009 by MMORPG.com. The company’s experienced and creative team is raising the bar in online entertainment by offering products with rich storylines, friendly navigation, top-quality art and fully-voiced characters. KingsIsle is headquartered in Plano, Texas, and has a development studio in Austin, Texas. For more information, please visit www.kingsisle.com.

Wizard101: Zafaria Goes Live with Latest Update!

Fallon Shadowblade — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 03:35:35 +0000

The latest expansion from Wizard101 will hit the live servers sometime tomorrow morning! KingIsle Entertainment has been working hard on Zafaria, the 8th world in the Spiral. This update will bring us a new jungle themed land, new mounts, new pets, new rank 9 spells, LEVEL 70, and much much more! Be sure to login tomorrow to see the story unfold as we get closer to meeting the Umbra Queen, Morganthe!

w00t!

Wizard101 Announces New World Zafaria & Level Cap Increase!

Fallon Shadowblade — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 01:41:14 +0000

KingsIsle Entertainment has announced Zafaria, the 8th world and latest expansion for Wizard101. The storyline will continue into a jungle-themed world that will give us more about the Umbra Queen, Morganthe. With this new expansion, wizards will be able to advance from level 60 to 70 and gain powerful new Rank 9 spells (you can preview some of the new spells in the video below). The content is expected to go to the test servers this month. We hope to see the expansion release by the end of the year.

Headmaster Ambrose also released a statement regarding the new world:

I’ll soon be calling those of you who are level 60 to come to my office in the Commons as soon as you can! We have a small crisis which I hope you can help with. It involves travel to the world of Zafaria. I was there, long ago…

..but beware, while it is a lush and vibrant land, Zafaria was once the home of Morganthe and even still her agents sow the seeds of chaos. As war threatens to sweep over the grasslands and penetrate deep into the jungles of Zafaria, Morganthe plots to recover the heart of her lost power, and fulfill the words of the prophecy.

Wizard101 will also be releasing Grub Guardian, a new mini-game where you can level your pets while you play on the web or mobile device.

A new minigame feature known as Grub Guardian will be launching in tandem with the new update. Grub Guardian is a tower-defense-style game which, will be available for web browsers and eventually, Android and iOS mobile devices. The game will allow players to link to their Wizard101 accounts, which will enable them to play the game using their in-game pets. As players progress in Grub Guardian, their pets will reap rewards of experience and increased attributes. KingsIsle hopes this will allow players to make progress within the game even if they are away from their computers or simply short on time.

Source: Massively

New Areas
Baobab
The Central Marketplace of Zafaria
The Savannah
Open grasslands and hidden dens
Zamuda
A great wooden city in the Zebra Empire
Stone Town
Capital of the Elephant Nation
Drum Jungle
Ancient ruins hidden behind the lush canopy of an overgrown jungle

Earlier last month we were given another preview of Zafaria with the release of the Super Bundle, available at Gamestop stores. My husband and I were lucky enough to add this to our arsenal. The cards come with a Great Hornocerous mount that can seat 2 players! The grand Sun Palace is a perfect spot carved out in the jungle just for you. It is certainly one of my favorites out of the Bundle cards.

Daily Gifts from the Giant Gorilla

Fallon Shadowblade & Angus Soulfist

So are you excited for Zafaria yet? I know we are here. Kudos to KingsIsle Entertainment & Wizard101 for the amazing new content! I can’t wait for the test realm to open. w00t!

Sources: Wizard101, Massively, IGN, Massive Online Gamer, MMORPG.com

Wizard101: House-a-Palooza Life House Winners!

Fallon Shadowblade — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:52:09 +0000

We had a tremendous turnout for the House-a-Palooza event! Thanks everyone!

And the winners are….

George Williams
Scarlet Dawnheart
Lola
Anna Shiels Aina
Maddie Facchina
Jenn Zheng
Drew Bierle
Shelly Tamez
Mark Melvin
Richard Rittierodt
Andrea Knox
Lacy Warren
Sydoni Elloy
Angie Bruneau
Luke Peterson

All winners have been contacted! Congratulations! Please enjoy your new Life House courtesy of Wizard101.com!

Wizard101: House-a-Palooza Life House Contest

Fallon Shadowblade — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:29:46 +0000

CLICK IMAGES ABOVE TO GO TO CONTEST PAGE!

Contest Ends: August 22nd, 2011 at 11:59PM.

HOUSE-A-PALOOZA

Starting August 12th through August 23rd, save up to 50% OFF Housing Items in the Crown Shop!

Houses and Housing Items are up to 50% OFF!

Over 50 new housing items added to the Crown Shop

Get a free housing item when you log into the Wizard101 game

Fansite contests, code giveaways and more!

contests.diaryofawizard.com

Community Watch: Being Social & Polite!

Fallon Shadowblade — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 19:42:39 +0000

Hear No Evil. See No Evil. Speak No Evil.

I have struggled with even mentioning this today. After waking up and checking my favorite social spots this morning, I was horrified by many posts on a certain Book of Faces…..

I have seen many members of this very community spew vile words of hate, intolerance and out right violence.

Just because you have the right to voice your opinions, doesn’t mean that you should. There are many ‘kids’ on this ‘book of Faces’ that have chosen to walk down a path of pure angst. I beg all parents of any children that play this game (or any other!!) to check in on your children’s social networks. You might be surprised by the amount of information they are giving out (“Hey txt me! Here’s my cell number….”). You might be even more surprised by the intolerance or hate in their words. I personally have seen these kids turn on each other like rabid dogs and bringing others in to the mix just to fuel the fire. I have had to experience the foulness of children speaking like grown adults using every curse word they know. It really has become too much. I hate seeing certain parts of the community treat each other in such a horrible way.

Some kids/teens have the wrong idea that just because it’s the internet that they are free to say whatever they want. Sure you CAN. But SHOULD you?

Cyberbullying, instead of happening face-to-face, happens through the use of technology such as computers, cell phones and other electronic devices on social networks and websites around the world.

Examples of cyberbullying include:

Sending hurtful, rude, or mean text messages to others

Spreading rumors or lies about others by e-mail or on social networks

Creating websites, videos or social media profiles that embarrass, humiliate, or make fun of others

Bullying online is very different from face-to-face bullying because messages and images can be:

Sent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year

Shared be shared to a very wide audience

Sent anonymously

Effects of Cyberbullying

Research on cyberbullying has found that students involved are more likely to:

Be unwilling to attend school

Receive poor grades

Have lower self-esteem

Have more health problems

Be Smart Online and Texting

You can prevent cyberbullying by being careful of what you do:

Always think about what you post or say. Do not share secrets, photos or anything that might be embarrassing to you or others. What seems funny or innocent at the time could be used against you. You do not have complete control over what others forward or post.

Set privacy settings on your accounts. Make sure that you are only sharing information with people you know and trust. Pay attention to notices from social networks, because sometimes privacy settings change.

Make Cyberbullying Stop

If you or someone you know is being cyberbullied, know that it does not have to be this way. There things you can do to help you and your friends:

Talk with someone you trust. Talking to someone could help you figure out the best ways to deal with the problem. Reach out to a family member, friend or another adult that you trust.

Do not respond to cyberbullying. Sometimes people post or text teasing or name-calling to get a reaction. If someone has posted or sent a message that could be hurtful to others, refuse to pass it along or respond to it.

Keep evidence of cyberbullying. Record the dates, times and descriptions of instances when cyberbullying has occurred. Save and print screenshots, e-mails, and text messages.

Block the person who is cyberbullying you. Many websites and phone companies let you block people. Also, cyberbullying may violate the “Terms and Conditions” of these services. Consider contacting the service provider to file a complaint.

Report the incident to your school. They may be able to help you resolve the cyberbullying or be watchful for face-to-face bullying.

Ask for help. Sometimes, talking to a counselor or health professional can help you get through the emotional effects of bullying.

What Parents Can Do

Although it is difficult for you to monitor your children at all times, it is extremely important to pay close attention to possible cyberbullying incidents involving their children, especially if their kids are younger. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) gives parents control over what information websites can collect from kids.

Help Kids be Smart Online or While Texting

Here are some things that you can do to help prevent cyberbullying.

Communicate with your children. Set up a daily time to check in with your son or daughter, and listen to any concerns about online activities that they are involved in. Talk specifically about cyberbullying and encourage your children to tell you immediately if they see or experience cyberbullying.

Be aware of where your children go online. Familiarize yourself with the technology they are using.

Develop and enforce rules. Work together and come to a clear understanding about when, where, and for what purpose phones and computers can be used. Develop clear rules about what is and what is not appropriate online. Decide on fair consequences and follow through consistently.

How You Can Help

If you know or suspect your children are being cyberbullied, take quick action.

Talk with your children. Do not just ignore the bullying problem or hope it will go away. Tell your child that you are concerned and that you’d like to help.

Tell your child not to respond to cyberbullying. Responding can sometimes make the situation worse.

Empathize with your child. Tell him or her that cyberbullying is wrong, that it is not their fault, and that you are glad he or she had the courage to tell you about it. Do not assume that your child did something to provoke the bullying. For instance, do not ask things like, “What did you do to aggravate the other child?”

Work together to find solutions. Ask your children what he or she thinks can be done to help, and reassure him or her that the situation can be handled and still keep them safe.

Document ongoing cyberbullying. Work with your children to record bullying incidents. Write down what happened, where, who was involved, and when it occurred. Find out how your child reacted and how the students bullying, bystanders, and adults responded.

Block the person who is cyberbullying your children. Many websites and phone companies let you block people. Cyberbullying may violate the “Terms and Conditions” of these services. Consider contacting them to file a complaint.

Contact law enforcement. Police can respond if the aggressive behavior is criminal. The following may constitute a crime:

Threats of violence

Taking a photo image of someone in a place where he or she would expect privacy

Harassment, stalking, or hate crimes

Obscene or harassing phone calls or text messages

Sexual exploitation

Extortion

Be Persistent. Talk regularly with your child to see whether the cyberbullying has stopped. If the bullying persists or escalates, you may need to contact the appropriate people again or talk with an attorney. Don’t give up.

source: http://www.stopbullying.gov/topics/cyberbullying/

My suggestion:

If you want to continue behaving in such a despicable manner, PLEASE feel free to leave our community!! Don’t hide behind pictures from our beloved (KID-Friendly!) game or with names of characters from Wizard101. I would say that’s FALSE-ADVERTISING. When someone ‘friends’ a member of this community on other social networks, I would think there is a certain expectation of that person being friendly and polite as they would be in-game.

Sorry for all this today guys! I really needed to get it off my chest. I really care about you all and it tears me up to see some people acting foolish.

Thanks for reading,

Wizard101: Magic in the Making – W101 hits 20 millions users!

Fallon Shadowblade — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 15:45:49 +0000

Unique Visitors to Wizard101.com Grow 196% Year-Over-Year

PLANO, Texas, July 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — KingsIsle Entertainment’s popular online game Wizard101 will reach 20 million registered users this week. The total does not include registrations for the game’s localized European editions, which are now available in the UK and Germany.

“More than two years after launch Wizard101 continues to grow at a rapid rate,” said Elie Akilian, chairman and CEO of KingsIsle Entertainment. “Millions of Wizards have explored the secrets of the Spiral and thousands of families have been brought closer together by playing Wizard101.”

As evidence of the game’s growing popularity, the number of unique visitors to Wizard101.com continues to increase every month. Third-party reporting services such as compete.com and comScore highlight the site’s continued growth, specifically:

According to internal reporting tools, the number of unique visitors to Wizard101.com increased approximately 196% from June of 2010 to June of 2011.

As of June 2011, Web analytics firm comScore.com ranked Wizard101.com among the top 180 Websites in the United States (as measured by unique visitors).

In June 2011, approximately 12 million unique visitors viewed the site over a 30-day period.

“While it’s exciting to reach 20 million registrations, we consider the growth of monthly unique visitors to Wizard101.com, now at nearly 12 million, to be the more meaningful measure of success,” said Fred Howard, vice president of Marketing at KingsIsle Entertainment. “Our current level of traffic suggests that Wizard101 has become one of the world’s most popular online destinations for kids and families.”

Congratulations to the entire KingsIsle crew

for such an amazing accomplishment!! w00t!

Ravenwood Ball & Birthday Bash, Prizes and Livestreaming!

Fallon Shadowblade — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 22:52:53 +0000

Make sure to catch the LIVE Ravenwood Ball Pre-Party/Party broadcast by Kevin Battleblood!

Watch live streaming video from xfire_kevinbattleblood at livestream.com

The event of the year is finally here! Wizards from all over the Spiral are joining together to celebrate the 2nd Annual Ravenwood Ball & Birthday Bash!

I must say this past month has been a rollercoaster ride of awesome. Besides all the fun party stuff, there is a matter of LOOT to be handled!

Ravenwood Ball & Birthday Bash Giveaways!

Screenshot Contest

Take lots of screenshots! Choose one epic screenshot from Ravenwood Ball and send it to ravenwoodball @ diaryofawizard.com
Group shots are great!

Prize: Win 1 of 10 Prizes!

Epic Bundle Gift Card (5000 Crowns, Massive Fantasy Palace, Swift Gryphon Mount, Mystery Dueling Pet (Fierce Hound), Prestige Outfit (Hat, Robe, Shoes), Ancient Spear of Power, Mini-Game Housing Item
5000 Crowns
5000 Crowns
Snow Ram Mount
1000 Crowns
1000 Crowns
Key Limes Plant & 2 Energy Elixirs
1 Death Scarab Pet
Summer Dragon Pet
Summer Dragon Pet

Oh my look at the clock, I think it’s time to PARTY!! I am on my way out to Ravenwood and I hope to see all of you there!

Wizard101: Ravenwood Ball Week 1 Winners & New Contests for Week 2!

Fallon Shadowblade — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 03:46:45 +0000

We had so many great entries this week for our Ravenwood Ball contests.

Thanks to all who entered!!

Poster Contest (Click the pictures to view Full Size)

1st Place Winner of an Epic Bundle Gift Card

John Spiritshade from Ambrose2Zeke.com! Woohoo! Congrats John!!

2nd Place Winner of 1 Sea Turtle Mount & 1 Summer Dragon Pet

Jennifer Dreamsinger aka @AwesomeBlizzard Congrats Jennifer!!

3rd Place Winner of 1000 Crowns

Elite Wizard from http://elitewizard.blogspot.com Congrats!!

Here’s a brief slideshow of them all! Thanks for all your hard work guys!

Ravenwood Ball 2011

ConnectX Contest - 1000 Crowns – Congrats Tatiana Shadowflame!!

Facebook Contest - 1000 Crowns – Congrats Blaze Shadowhorn from mywizard101site!!

Twitter Contest – 1000 Crowns – @troop1028 - Congrats David!!

I can has Blog? – 1000 Crowns – Congrats Diana Wildheart!!

Prizes include:

2 Epic Bundle Giftcards – Massive Fantasy Palace (sponsored byWizard101.com)

16 codes for 1000 Crowns (sponsored by Wizard101.com)

Pet Pack (sponsored by W101pets.com)

Mystery Prizes (sponsored by RavenwoodRadio.com)

Summer Dragons & 1 Death Scarab (sponsored by Petnome.com)

5 KIFreeGames.com codes (sponsored by The Necromancer’s Epitaph)

2 Sea Turtle Mounts

New Sponsors & Prizes!

Prize: Key Limes Crowns Plant & 2 Energy Elixirs

Sponsor: Alric Ravensinger & The Raven’s Vault

Prize: Snow Ram Mount

Sponsor: Kelsey Fireheart & StarsoftheSpiral.com

Prize: 3 5,000 Crown Gift Certificates

Sponsor: John Lifeglen & The Wizard101 Bloggers’ Club

Now on to this week’s contests! Since this is a short & busy week for me, with my young wizards getting out of school, field day, ice cream parties and getting them ready for vacation at Grandma’s…..we will just have 4 contests. Let’s save all the BIG loot for next week!

Contests Week 2

#1 - Become a member of Diary of a Wizard ConnectX & update your status on ConnectX profile with the following: “I just entered to win 1000 Crowns for The Ravenwood Ball!”

Prize: 1000 Crowns will be given to ONE random member of ConnectX that has the above phrase in a status update (anytime from 6/6/11 – 6/12/11)

#2 – Follow us on Twitter! Go to twitter.com/diaryofawizard

Tweet the following: “I just entered to win 1000 Crowns from @diaryofawizard! http://j.mp/iErTN1 #wizard101 #ravenwoodball #week2”

Prize: 1000 Crowns will be given to ONE random person that tweets the above message. YOU MUST FOLLOW US TO WIN!

The Twitter task must be completed by 11:59PM Central Sunday – June 12th, 2011. Winner will be announced on Monday – June 13th, 2011.

#3 – Like us on Facebook! Go to facebook.com/diaryofawizard

Post the following message on your Facebook page: “I just entered to win 1000 Crowns from diaryofawizard.com! Like them on Facebook for a chance to win in this week’s Ravenwood Ball contest!” Feel free to tag us in the post by using the “@” symbol when you type diaryofawizard.com!

Prize: 1000 Crowns will be given to ONE random person that the above posts the above message. You MUST “Like” us on Facebook to win.

The Facebook task must be completed by 11:59PM Central Sunday – June 12th, 2011. Winner will be announced on Monday – June 13th, 2011.

#4 – I can has Blog? – Write a blog post or article about The 2nd Annual Ravenwood Ball & Birthday Bash.

Leave a comment here (on this post) letting me know you wrote about the event. You MUST include the link to your post. Your post must be original.

Prize: 1000 Crowns to ONE random person that has completed this task.

The “I can has Blog?” task must be completed by 11:59PM Central Sunday – June 12th, 2011. ALL links will be verified. Winner will be announced on Monday – June 13th, 2011.

Again, congrats to all the winners this week! And thanks to EVERYONE for helping us celebrate our 2 year anniversary!

Best Wishes,