ZAM Gets Details on Wizard101's Gardening System
This article originally appeared on ZAM on Nov. 30, 2010.
A new gardening system just debuted on the Wizard101 Test Realm, so Editor-in-Chief Darryl Gangloff went straight to KingsIsle Entertainment to find out what this feature will add to the game.
The Wizard101 Test Realm opened last night to add a surprising new feature to the game: Gardening! Once the update hits the live servers, players will be able to grow plants in their dorm rooms and castles for the chance to harvest all sorts of items, including reagents and gold. Young wizards will need to nurture their plants in order to climb up the 10 ranks of gardening, which will give them access to more gardening equipment and spells.
We wanted to get more details on the new gardening system, so we went straight to Vice President of Marketing Fred Howard and Public Relations Director Benjamin Conrad for some answers. Keep reading below for some in-depth information about gardening in Wizard101!
ZAM: Can you give us some more details on the gardening system that's coming to Wizard101?
Fred Howard: We're pretty excited about the launch of the whole new gardening system. We've looked at the popularity of gardening, whether it's on casual gaming sites or Facebook, and it's certainly something that a lot of casual online gamers really enjoy. We're excited to launch it in Wizard101, but with its own flair and a consistency that fits our brand style, sense of humor and interaction. It's something you really can't do in a 2D game or a casual Flash-based game.
On the simplest level, Wizard101 players will be able to collect seeds and plant them in their castles and dorm rooms. It's actually going to be the first time players can cast spells out of combat because players will use spells to water their plants, draw sunlight to their plants and defend their plants from critters that could attack them.
It's a pretty robust system. The plants all have their own personalities. Our plants represent some unusual characters. We have King Parsley, which is a dancing stack of parsley. We have a wide variety of funny and engaging plants. As you level the plants up and grow them, they actually all have their own personalities. They interact with players and the environment, so plants will behave differently depending on what other plants are around. It's a pretty fun and deep system that players will have to figure out. Do baby carrots like being planted next to King Parsley or not? How do they react to other products and housing items located next to them?
Benjamin Conrad: As Fred mentioned, it's a very deep system. There are 10 different levels of gardening mastery that characters will be able to train up through. Beginning at level 12, players will be able to explore the gardening system and tend to their plants and harvest the results. They will gain experience and work their way up through the beginning levels of gardening all the way up to becoming grand master and earning all of the skills and privileges associated with it. Also, one of the really interesting things about this system is you can grow these amazing gardens in the most epic fantasy castle, but players who don't have an epic castle can buy a pot and grow one or two plants in their dorm rooms. It's a system that's really been designed to be open to all of our players and to give them different ways of exploring Wizard101.
ZAM: It almost sounds like a mini-game players can focus on when they're not leveling their character.
Howard: That's a great way to think about it. It's sort of a 3D environment game that players will be able to participate in and get rewards. As plants grow and level up they will give players loot, whether it's gold, potions or some Treasure Cards.
ZAM: Will players have to upkeep their plants regularly?
Conrad: Plants will have needs that must be met, which includes things like music, pollination and water. If you're not taking care of a plant, it will enter a wilted state. You'll have to invest a little more time and energy in reviving it. Even if you're left it for a very long time, there's the option to, for a certain amount of energy, revive the plant back to a seed and continue with it. That's the best part about gardening; if you tend your garden, you'll get experience. Your plants grow from seedlings into mature plants, and then finally into this ultimate stage of development called an elder plant. When your plant has reached the elder plant stage, you can harvest it one last time for a bigger than normal reward.
Also, it's interesting to see players come into their castle or dorm room and see plants with enormous amounts of personality. They have animations, they turn to face you, and they have sounds associated with them. It will be a brand new experience to go into your house and see your garden family.
ZAM: How many plants will there be when the system launches?
Howard: There will be 18 species of plants.
ZAM: You had mentioned there will be 10 levels of mastery. What are some of the perks of getting your mastery level all the way to the top?
Conrad: Like any part of Wizard101, as you progress through the ranks you gain access to higher level abilities. For example, there are pests in the game that you have to defeat in order for your plants to mature. As you go through the levels, you gain access to higher level pest-fighting spells. This is just one example. As you get higher, you go from having pest-prevention spells that defeat pests to spells that prevent them from ever coming around. Those are the kinds of perks you get by gaining mastery.
ZAM: How will players go about getting seeds? Will some be rarer than others?
Howard: There are definitely different levels of plants within the game. It follows a lot of our other systems. There will be seeds that are dropped in the game, and players will be able to buy seeds with gold. There will even be some very rare seeds that you can buy with Crowns or find as drops. There is a wide variety of ways to collect seeds.
ZAM: The gardening system is now available on the test server. Do you have an estimate of when it will launch in the live game?
Howard: It should go live pretty soon. We're hoping early December, but we want it to be completely polished and balanced and ready to go out. That's why we use the test server.
Conrad: One of the remarkable aspects of this update is it comes on the heels of the last huge update we launched for Wizard101, which is the new world of Celestia.
Howard: We're pretty proud of launching the system so quickly after we came out with Celestia, which is essentially our largest build ever. I think it shows how focused and dedicated we are to bringing new content to our players.
A new gardening system just debuted on the Wizard101 Test Realm, so Editor-in-Chief Darryl Gangloff went straight to KingsIsle Entertainment to find out what this feature will add to the game.
The Wizard101 Test Realm opened last night to add a surprising new feature to the game: Gardening! Once the update hits the live servers, players will be able to grow plants in their dorm rooms and castles for the chance to harvest all sorts of items, including reagents and gold. Young wizards will need to nurture their plants in order to climb up the 10 ranks of gardening, which will give them access to more gardening equipment and spells.
We wanted to get more details on the new gardening system, so we went straight to Vice President of Marketing Fred Howard and Public Relations Director Benjamin Conrad for some answers. Keep reading below for some in-depth information about gardening in Wizard101!
ZAM: Can you give us some more details on the gardening system that's coming to Wizard101?
Fred Howard: We're pretty excited about the launch of the whole new gardening system. We've looked at the popularity of gardening, whether it's on casual gaming sites or Facebook, and it's certainly something that a lot of casual online gamers really enjoy. We're excited to launch it in Wizard101, but with its own flair and a consistency that fits our brand style, sense of humor and interaction. It's something you really can't do in a 2D game or a casual Flash-based game.
On the simplest level, Wizard101 players will be able to collect seeds and plant them in their castles and dorm rooms. It's actually going to be the first time players can cast spells out of combat because players will use spells to water their plants, draw sunlight to their plants and defend their plants from critters that could attack them.
It's a pretty robust system. The plants all have their own personalities. Our plants represent some unusual characters. We have King Parsley, which is a dancing stack of parsley. We have a wide variety of funny and engaging plants. As you level the plants up and grow them, they actually all have their own personalities. They interact with players and the environment, so plants will behave differently depending on what other plants are around. It's a pretty fun and deep system that players will have to figure out. Do baby carrots like being planted next to King Parsley or not? How do they react to other products and housing items located next to them?
Benjamin Conrad: As Fred mentioned, it's a very deep system. There are 10 different levels of gardening mastery that characters will be able to train up through. Beginning at level 12, players will be able to explore the gardening system and tend to their plants and harvest the results. They will gain experience and work their way up through the beginning levels of gardening all the way up to becoming grand master and earning all of the skills and privileges associated with it. Also, one of the really interesting things about this system is you can grow these amazing gardens in the most epic fantasy castle, but players who don't have an epic castle can buy a pot and grow one or two plants in their dorm rooms. It's a system that's really been designed to be open to all of our players and to give them different ways of exploring Wizard101.
ZAM: It almost sounds like a mini-game players can focus on when they're not leveling their character.
Howard: That's a great way to think about it. It's sort of a 3D environment game that players will be able to participate in and get rewards. As plants grow and level up they will give players loot, whether it's gold, potions or some Treasure Cards.
ZAM: Will players have to upkeep their plants regularly?
Conrad: Plants will have needs that must be met, which includes things like music, pollination and water. If you're not taking care of a plant, it will enter a wilted state. You'll have to invest a little more time and energy in reviving it. Even if you're left it for a very long time, there's the option to, for a certain amount of energy, revive the plant back to a seed and continue with it. That's the best part about gardening; if you tend your garden, you'll get experience. Your plants grow from seedlings into mature plants, and then finally into this ultimate stage of development called an elder plant. When your plant has reached the elder plant stage, you can harvest it one last time for a bigger than normal reward.
Also, it's interesting to see players come into their castle or dorm room and see plants with enormous amounts of personality. They have animations, they turn to face you, and they have sounds associated with them. It will be a brand new experience to go into your house and see your garden family.
ZAM: How many plants will there be when the system launches?
Howard: There will be 18 species of plants.
ZAM: You had mentioned there will be 10 levels of mastery. What are some of the perks of getting your mastery level all the way to the top?
Conrad: Like any part of Wizard101, as you progress through the ranks you gain access to higher level abilities. For example, there are pests in the game that you have to defeat in order for your plants to mature. As you go through the levels, you gain access to higher level pest-fighting spells. This is just one example. As you get higher, you go from having pest-prevention spells that defeat pests to spells that prevent them from ever coming around. Those are the kinds of perks you get by gaining mastery.
ZAM: How will players go about getting seeds? Will some be rarer than others?
Howard: There are definitely different levels of plants within the game. It follows a lot of our other systems. There will be seeds that are dropped in the game, and players will be able to buy seeds with gold. There will even be some very rare seeds that you can buy with Crowns or find as drops. There is a wide variety of ways to collect seeds.
ZAM: The gardening system is now available on the test server. Do you have an estimate of when it will launch in the live game?
Howard: It should go live pretty soon. We're hoping early December, but we want it to be completely polished and balanced and ready to go out. That's why we use the test server.
Conrad: One of the remarkable aspects of this update is it comes on the heels of the last huge update we launched for Wizard101, which is the new world of Celestia.
Howard: We're pretty proud of launching the system so quickly after we came out with Celestia, which is essentially our largest build ever. I think it shows how focused and dedicated we are to bringing new content to our players.