Wizard 101: Part 1. The FAQ's Just the FAQs, ma'am
Okay, as I told Laridian, I figured I'd offer up the Wizard 101 perspective on the Kings Isle games because it's my personal preference of the two for the City of Heroes refugees to go alongside her Pirate101 experiences.
First off, the comparisons, here. I borrowed DVandom 's little Template to answer the basic questions compared to CoH. If there's interest, I'll post more, here.
THE BASICS
What is it called?
Wizard 101
Where can I get it?
Pretty obvious site is pretty obvious! https://www.wizard101.com/
What genre?
Fantasy, Family game. Think Hogwarts with the label removed.
What OS will it run under natively?
It was created for WIndows, first, but also runs on Mac
Does it have any exceptional requirements for hardware?
Nah, it's a pretty simple tech game. Less than a gig of RAM and 1 GHZ CPU.
GETTING STARTED
What trial/free options are there?
It's F2P, so that's pretty much THE trial.
Is there a cost to start other than subscribing?
No fee upfront. Just make an account and fire it up!
How much is subscription?
6.95 a month. There's also a special discount if you subscribe to both Wizard 101 and Pirate 101
Is there a long-term free/premium way to play?
You can play free for a moderate amount of time but you'll start running into zones that are locked out. Which is highly annoying.
How does free/premium compare to subscription? i.e. What are the primary reasons to go VIP?
As stated before, there are several zones locked out to Free-2-Players. That is one of the benefits of the subscription. Also, the chat restriction limits you to extremely filtered chat or the little pre-made pull down tabs. The filters are substantially reduced when you subscribe and select the chat restriction lift... Still can't swear, though. Ohnoz!
CHARACTERS
Does the game enable altitis?
Yep! There's 9 schools of magic and you can mix and match them with secondary schools pretty extensively. So you might have a bit of freedom there.
How flexible is the costuming system, and is it tied to stats?
It's a gear based system so your appearance is going to be pretty 'mish mash' like most gear based systems. However, the upside is you can combine favorite pieces of gear with stats from a lesser appearing gear and make something more suitable. Also, you can dye your clothing to match for a small fee from the dye shop in the Shopping District.
How flexible is the skills/powers system?
You're limited to the powers that come with your primary school choice and you'll stick with those all the way up your levels. However, you can also choose from the other 8 schools as a secondary class-set.
Powers come from the cards that you place in your decks. This is where the flexibility comes in. A bit like Secret World, you have a whole array of spells and you can sift them into your card deck as you desire.
The combat system relies on these cards to cast your spells and the weapons you arm. (I've only seen wands, myself, but I have seen higher up weapons including bows and swords and such as far as I'm aware.)
What is the balance between innate abilities and gear?
Your skills are fairly static with your class, however you can boost some stats with the gear you choose. Also, boosts and power ups come from the cards you select for your decks.
Are there supergroup-analogues, can you build bases for them or for individual characters?
There are Clans but I haven't done anything with this so I don't know how extensive they are handled. There IS however player housing. You start off with a Dorm that you can decorate and outfit with furniture you've earned through Booster decks (you can buy with Crowns) or items you can buy off the Crown store, individually. You can promote to a bigger plot at level 12. There's various types of housing available from cloud castles to little forests to pirate cove islands.
Are there global identities?
No. In fact it's difficult to find your friends unless you have contact with them outside of the game where you can exchange Friend codes so you can add them and chat over Group chats. It's... quite inconveniencing. Seriously! I warn you now, this is one of the more frustrating systems in this game!
What, if any, connections are there between servers?
The servers are more of a guideline, really. It's more like instances like Champions and you can move between them to play with your friends.
GAMEPLAY
How much grinding will I have to do just to play the game?
I'm still pretty low level and I will admit it does seem like the leveling is a bit slow. It could be simply because I am very casual. So I suspect it can be a bit grindy. That said, the questing is fun and amusing so I haven't really minded it, so far.
Is there any aspect that's more grindy than others?
The crafting seems a bit grindy and a little slow to gather components.
How customizable is the User Interface (arranging items, macros and binds)?
What you see is what you get. No macros or binds that I've seen... You CAN change screen resolution, though. And windowed mode. :-|
How much content is instanced versus sandbox?
The combat is mostly over-world but is easily bypassed with instanced boss fights. That said, it feels fairly Sandboxy-Themepark. There's plenty of starter zones to play in for questing. There are also enjoyable mini-games/puzzle games for your pets and yourself.
How easy is it to find rest points between encounters?
VERY easy. Every zone has walking paths/sidewalks along both sides that you can run along to restore your health from the passing health/mana sprites or avoid combat.
How much content is accessible to solo play?
I've only found a couple of bosses that gave me a bit of a challenge but otherwise the game is pretty solo-friendly.
What's travel time like, and is it easy or hard to find your destination?
It's just running from zone to zone. This is substantially reduced by mounts that you can earn from higher boss rewards or rent for durations or buy with Crowns off the Micro-trans shop.
What does endgame play involve, and how quickly can it be reached?
I honestly don't know as I'm relatively slow leveling and haven't gotten there, yet.
What help is available if you get stuck (either due to bug, or due to not knowing how to proceed in a mission)?
Haven't needed to use a GM, yet, or report a bug. So I haven't any idea.
Is there PvP, and how pervasive is it?
There is PVP although best i can tell, it's an arena based system versus 'running along getting pounded on the head by a passing 'other side'. Otherwise I haven't any idea. I don't PVP.
Is it more Cryptic (MMOs should be hard work) or more Paragon (MMOs should be fun)?
I'd say it's closer to Paragon, designed for fun and amusement. There is gardening and housing and mounts and there seems to be a bit of a social gathering place for the people in the common areas.
SOCIAL
How friendly is the playerbase to newbies?
People aren't REAL chatty in the game but this is likely due to the restrictive chat, although the people who CAN chat have been pretty friendly.
How friendly is the playerbase to old hands?
I haven't noticed.
Are there any notable issues with "non-traditional" players (anyone but straight cismale 15-25 year olds, or who has special medical or psychological needs)?
I have been reading articles on this game from AARP. The game apparently appeals very strongly with the 50+ crowd for the plain and simple reason it's relatively easy to learn and is not twitch-based. So it's easier, I feel, for non-traditonal players. Also the gender situations are pretty neutral. You don't have this sense that it's targeted at 'straight white males'. Although I have found it a little annoying they have gender roles with colors. (I can't give my boy pink colorations. Which annoys me a little.)
How easy is it to find Pick-Up Groups, and what's the quality of them?
VERY easy. In fact the combat mechanics are pretty much designed for PUGs. If you hop into a combat situation with others, most times people don't seem to mind you're there, and you'll get a mob that will hop in to join to equalize 'one opponent for each'. When the battle's done, everyone goes on their merry way.
Does the existing playerbase accept casual players, or is there pressure to take the game seriously as if it were a job?
I have seen nothing that suggests the playerbase is "TEH HARDCORE" it all seems pretty laid back and easy going when I've ran around.
Are there any servers with particular reputations to either seek out or avoid?
No servers. Just instances.
Are there any servers with high concentrations of City of Heroes players?
See above.
How strong is the community support, compared to things like Titan Network?
Haven't seen anything like this.
MANAGEMENT
How well does the help/GM system work?
Haven't needed this, yet. So I can't say.
Does staff have any biases to be wary of?
They're biased towards families/kids? I guess? IE you're not going to get away with creepy, pervy things like you can in TSW or Second Life.
To what extent are microtransactions (like Paragon Points) used purely as a way to soak players for money?
I haven't felt particularly FORCED into microtransactions outside of the zone blocks. But everything else is more 'ooooh that's shiny!' versus you're going to suck if you don't have the microtrans stuff.
Are there notable bugs or kludges that can negatively impact the play experience and that management is slow to deal with?
None that I've seen, the game pretty much moves and flows like clockwork.
Is the official support (FAQs, wikis, etc) any good? List the address of either the official wiki or the most prominent unofficial wiki(s).
I've found this Wiki to be pretty useful! http://www.wizard101central.com/wiki/Main_Page As well as the forums. and the players guide! https://www.wizard101.com/w101playersguide
First off, the comparisons, here. I borrowed DVandom 's little Template to answer the basic questions compared to CoH. If there's interest, I'll post more, here.
THE BASICS
What is it called?
Wizard 101
Where can I get it?
Pretty obvious site is pretty obvious! https://www.wizard101.com/
What genre?
Fantasy, Family game. Think Hogwarts with the label removed.
What OS will it run under natively?
It was created for WIndows, first, but also runs on Mac
Does it have any exceptional requirements for hardware?
Nah, it's a pretty simple tech game. Less than a gig of RAM and 1 GHZ CPU.
GETTING STARTED
What trial/free options are there?
It's F2P, so that's pretty much THE trial.
Is there a cost to start other than subscribing?
No fee upfront. Just make an account and fire it up!
How much is subscription?
6.95 a month. There's also a special discount if you subscribe to both Wizard 101 and Pirate 101
Is there a long-term free/premium way to play?
You can play free for a moderate amount of time but you'll start running into zones that are locked out. Which is highly annoying.
How does free/premium compare to subscription? i.e. What are the primary reasons to go VIP?
As stated before, there are several zones locked out to Free-2-Players. That is one of the benefits of the subscription. Also, the chat restriction limits you to extremely filtered chat or the little pre-made pull down tabs. The filters are substantially reduced when you subscribe and select the chat restriction lift... Still can't swear, though. Ohnoz!
CHARACTERS
Does the game enable altitis?
Yep! There's 9 schools of magic and you can mix and match them with secondary schools pretty extensively. So you might have a bit of freedom there.
How flexible is the costuming system, and is it tied to stats?
It's a gear based system so your appearance is going to be pretty 'mish mash' like most gear based systems. However, the upside is you can combine favorite pieces of gear with stats from a lesser appearing gear and make something more suitable. Also, you can dye your clothing to match for a small fee from the dye shop in the Shopping District.
How flexible is the skills/powers system?
You're limited to the powers that come with your primary school choice and you'll stick with those all the way up your levels. However, you can also choose from the other 8 schools as a secondary class-set.
Powers come from the cards that you place in your decks. This is where the flexibility comes in. A bit like Secret World, you have a whole array of spells and you can sift them into your card deck as you desire.
The combat system relies on these cards to cast your spells and the weapons you arm. (I've only seen wands, myself, but I have seen higher up weapons including bows and swords and such as far as I'm aware.)
What is the balance between innate abilities and gear?
Your skills are fairly static with your class, however you can boost some stats with the gear you choose. Also, boosts and power ups come from the cards you select for your decks.
Are there supergroup-analogues, can you build bases for them or for individual characters?
There are Clans but I haven't done anything with this so I don't know how extensive they are handled. There IS however player housing. You start off with a Dorm that you can decorate and outfit with furniture you've earned through Booster decks (you can buy with Crowns) or items you can buy off the Crown store, individually. You can promote to a bigger plot at level 12. There's various types of housing available from cloud castles to little forests to pirate cove islands.
Are there global identities?
No. In fact it's difficult to find your friends unless you have contact with them outside of the game where you can exchange Friend codes so you can add them and chat over Group chats. It's... quite inconveniencing. Seriously! I warn you now, this is one of the more frustrating systems in this game!
What, if any, connections are there between servers?
The servers are more of a guideline, really. It's more like instances like Champions and you can move between them to play with your friends.
GAMEPLAY
How much grinding will I have to do just to play the game?
I'm still pretty low level and I will admit it does seem like the leveling is a bit slow. It could be simply because I am very casual. So I suspect it can be a bit grindy. That said, the questing is fun and amusing so I haven't really minded it, so far.
Is there any aspect that's more grindy than others?
The crafting seems a bit grindy and a little slow to gather components.
How customizable is the User Interface (arranging items, macros and binds)?
What you see is what you get. No macros or binds that I've seen... You CAN change screen resolution, though. And windowed mode. :-|
How much content is instanced versus sandbox?
The combat is mostly over-world but is easily bypassed with instanced boss fights. That said, it feels fairly Sandboxy-Themepark. There's plenty of starter zones to play in for questing. There are also enjoyable mini-games/puzzle games for your pets and yourself.
How easy is it to find rest points between encounters?
VERY easy. Every zone has walking paths/sidewalks along both sides that you can run along to restore your health from the passing health/mana sprites or avoid combat.
How much content is accessible to solo play?
I've only found a couple of bosses that gave me a bit of a challenge but otherwise the game is pretty solo-friendly.
What's travel time like, and is it easy or hard to find your destination?
It's just running from zone to zone. This is substantially reduced by mounts that you can earn from higher boss rewards or rent for durations or buy with Crowns off the Micro-trans shop.
What does endgame play involve, and how quickly can it be reached?
I honestly don't know as I'm relatively slow leveling and haven't gotten there, yet.
What help is available if you get stuck (either due to bug, or due to not knowing how to proceed in a mission)?
Haven't needed to use a GM, yet, or report a bug. So I haven't any idea.
Is there PvP, and how pervasive is it?
There is PVP although best i can tell, it's an arena based system versus 'running along getting pounded on the head by a passing 'other side'. Otherwise I haven't any idea. I don't PVP.
Is it more Cryptic (MMOs should be hard work) or more Paragon (MMOs should be fun)?
I'd say it's closer to Paragon, designed for fun and amusement. There is gardening and housing and mounts and there seems to be a bit of a social gathering place for the people in the common areas.
SOCIAL
How friendly is the playerbase to newbies?
People aren't REAL chatty in the game but this is likely due to the restrictive chat, although the people who CAN chat have been pretty friendly.
How friendly is the playerbase to old hands?
I haven't noticed.
Are there any notable issues with "non-traditional" players (anyone but straight cismale 15-25 year olds, or who has special medical or psychological needs)?
I have been reading articles on this game from AARP. The game apparently appeals very strongly with the 50+ crowd for the plain and simple reason it's relatively easy to learn and is not twitch-based. So it's easier, I feel, for non-traditonal players. Also the gender situations are pretty neutral. You don't have this sense that it's targeted at 'straight white males'. Although I have found it a little annoying they have gender roles with colors. (I can't give my boy pink colorations. Which annoys me a little.)
How easy is it to find Pick-Up Groups, and what's the quality of them?
VERY easy. In fact the combat mechanics are pretty much designed for PUGs. If you hop into a combat situation with others, most times people don't seem to mind you're there, and you'll get a mob that will hop in to join to equalize 'one opponent for each'. When the battle's done, everyone goes on their merry way.
Does the existing playerbase accept casual players, or is there pressure to take the game seriously as if it were a job?
I have seen nothing that suggests the playerbase is "TEH HARDCORE" it all seems pretty laid back and easy going when I've ran around.
Are there any servers with particular reputations to either seek out or avoid?
No servers. Just instances.
Are there any servers with high concentrations of City of Heroes players?
See above.
How strong is the community support, compared to things like Titan Network?
Haven't seen anything like this.
MANAGEMENT
How well does the help/GM system work?
Haven't needed this, yet. So I can't say.
Does staff have any biases to be wary of?
They're biased towards families/kids? I guess? IE you're not going to get away with creepy, pervy things like you can in TSW or Second Life.
To what extent are microtransactions (like Paragon Points) used purely as a way to soak players for money?
I haven't felt particularly FORCED into microtransactions outside of the zone blocks. But everything else is more 'ooooh that's shiny!' versus you're going to suck if you don't have the microtrans stuff.
Are there notable bugs or kludges that can negatively impact the play experience and that management is slow to deal with?
None that I've seen, the game pretty much moves and flows like clockwork.
Is the official support (FAQs, wikis, etc) any good? List the address of either the official wiki or the most prominent unofficial wiki(s).
I've found this Wiki to be pretty useful! http://www.wizard101central.com/wiki/Main_Page As well as the forums. and the players guide! https://www.wizard101.com/w101playersguide