Hi. My wizard is Eric Skywraith (level 37 Storm Wizard), but in real life I raise three children with my wife, and in my free time I am a graduate student studying how and what people learn in and from video games.
In the year or so that I have been playing, I have learned that: --most players are very helpful and friendly --my eight year old is a very good teacher when it comes to this game --figuring things out is fun
Do any of you wish to volunteer what you have learned from the game, and how you learned it?
From this game, I have learned a lot on how others work and how to work with them. I have viewed the different roles that individuals take when it comes to a battle, which defines personality in a sense. I have watched people be forced into a role, and others doing their own thing. I can actually relate some of it to the actual world around us. Somewhat amazing how similar a game can be to real life. ~Shannon Skybreaker
Hi. My wizard is Eric Skywraith (level 37 Storm Wizard), but in real life I raise three children with my wife, and in my free time I am a graduate student studying how and what people learn in and from video games.
In the year or so that I have been playing, I have learned that: --most players are very helpful and friendly --my eight year old is a very good teacher when it comes to this game --figuring things out is fun
Do any of you wish to volunteer what you have learned from the game, and how you learned it?
Thanks.
gillisr (Eric Skywraith)
Hi again. I saw this post on one of the fansites at wizard101central.com asking the same question:
Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but here are some of my observations:
1) Anybody can play as a male or female wizard. Obviously a female wizard is not necesarily a girl gamer. Lots of people choose opposite sex avatars. BUT... as a vast generalization there is a better chance that a female wizard will be more helpful, cooperative, and play nicely. A wizard that is troublesome is usually a male wizard. Interesting?
2) I find it much easier to hatch my pets with strangers using my friendly looking ice wizard (female, level 15, wears white & blue) vs my death wizard (female, level 85, wears black). Same pet, doesn't matter. Dress for success?
3) My wizard gets plenty of gifting requests when I wear fancy non-crown outfits from the bazaar. If I wear crumby outfits absolutely nobody asks for gifts. First impressions do make a difference!
well one time I teleported to Drangspyre from a friend at a low level and found out I had to fight people with 1000 health and their not even bosses! And now I finished Dragonspyre with no problem!
I'm not sure if this was "your" post or not. Thought you might be interested...
Thanks! I will check out that link. And, no, it wasn't me. I am new to this forum business. (Well, back in the day of phone modems and text bulletin boards, I knew my way around one or two boards...Atari 520 and 1040, anybody?. Now, not so much)
Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but here are some of my observations:
1) Anybody can play as a male or female wizard. Obviously a female wizard is not necesarily a girl gamer. Lots of people choose opposite sex avatars. BUT... as a vast generalization there is a better chance that a female wizard will be more helpful, cooperative, and play nicely. A wizard that is troublesome is usually a male wizard. Interesting?
2) I find it much easier to hatch my pets with strangers using my friendly looking ice wizard (female, level 15, wears white & blue) vs my death wizard (female, level 85, wears black). Same pet, doesn't matter. Dress for success?
3) My wizard gets plenty of gifting requests when I wear fancy non-crown outfits from the bazaar. If I wear crumby outfits absolutely nobody asks for gifts. First impressions do make a difference!
These are really some interesting points about perception. Since I picked up my grandson's account and therefore his male wizards, I noticed some interesting things like that too.
On the male wizards, other players both male and female, seem to expect a lot more from him. He gets comments like "is that all you have?" when he casts a lower damage spell (he is Level 64).
On the female wizards that I created on his account, other players tned to be more protective of them. They jump in right away in duels (which I strongly encourage whenever I am playing), and they are usually amazed or almost in awe when the girls cast a strong spell. They get comments like "nice shot", "nice spell", etc.
And sometimes the male wizards are much more aware of clothing and items. One time two male wizards joined my female in a duel, and one of them commented to the other ... "hey, isn't she wearing the same robe as you, but her's is white?". And the other didn't comment, just frowned. I thought that was funny.
There are a lot of good comments here in feedback. Hope you get lots more.
Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but here are some of my observations:
1) Anybody can play as a male or female wizard. Obviously a female wizard is not necesarily a girl gamer. Lots of people choose opposite sex avatars. BUT... as a vast generalization there is a better chance that a female wizard will be more helpful, cooperative, and play nicely. A wizard that is troublesome is usually a male wizard. Interesting?
2) I find it much easier to hatch my pets with strangers using my friendly looking ice wizard (female, level 15, wears white & blue) vs my death wizard (female, level 85, wears black). Same pet, doesn't matter. Dress for success?
3) My wizard gets plenty of gifting requests when I wear fancy non-crown outfits from the bazaar. If I wear crumby outfits absolutely nobody asks for gifts. First impressions do make a difference!
I'm an elderly woman, and I've been playing for about a year and a half. I play solo and only have random contact to other players, mainly because I'm not a native English speaker. I started out with several male characters, but at some point I made a girl wizard. I was so surprised of the difference in how others reacted to her. She got a lot of compliments for her looks, and she couldn't walk out the door without someone coming up to chat and ask for friendship. Many young boys wanted her to be their girl, which was something I found very hard to handle. I didn't like her overly feminine look, and I always chose clothes that wasn't too tight, to make her look less sexy. When she was level 36, she couldn't take it any more, and left school to go back to earth. Now I have six male wizards, and they are all thriving. Others treat them with respect because of their skills and demeanor, and no one seems to care how they look.
From this game, I have learned a lot on how others work and how to work with them. I have viewed the different roles that individuals take when it comes to a battle, which defines personality in a sense. I have watched people be forced into a role, and others doing their own thing. I can actually relate some of it to the actual world around us. Somewhat amazing how similar a game can be to real life. ~Shannon Skybreaker
Interesting! How do people get forced into roles? I usually only battle with my son as an ally, so he is the "go for broke" one and I try to have a little strategy. It turns out, though, that he knows more about the enemies and his own spells, so there is strategy in his "go for broke" style.
Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but here are some of my observations:
1) Anybody can play as a male or female wizard. Obviously a female wizard is not necesarily a girl gamer. Lots of people choose opposite sex avatars. BUT... as a vast generalization there is a better chance that a female wizard will be more helpful, cooperative, and play nicely. A wizard that is troublesome is usually a male wizard. Interesting?
2) I find it much easier to hatch my pets with strangers using my friendly looking ice wizard (female, level 15, wears white & blue) vs my death wizard (female, level 85, wears black). Same pet, doesn't matter. Dress for success?
3) My wizard gets plenty of gifting requests when I wear fancy non-crown outfits from the bazaar. If I wear crumby outfits absolutely nobody asks for gifts. First impressions do make a difference!
I never thought about the different gender roles. That is really interesting.
Now, to reveal the levels of my ignorance, what are gift requests? I know I can swap things with other players, but no one has ever asked me to give them a gift.
These are really some interesting points about perception. Since I picked up my grandson's account and therefore his male wizards, I noticed some interesting things like that too.
On the male wizards, other players both male and female, seem to expect a lot more from him. He gets comments like "is that all you have?" when he casts a lower damage spell (he is Level 64).
On the female wizards that I created on his account, other players tned to be more protective of them. They jump in right away in duels (which I strongly encourage whenever I am playing), and they are usually amazed or almost in awe when the girls cast a strong spell. They get comments like "nice shot", "nice spell", etc.
And sometimes the male wizards are much more aware of clothing and items. One time two male wizards joined my female in a duel, and one of them commented to the other ... "hey, isn't she wearing the same robe as you, but her's is white?". And the other didn't comment, just frowned. I thought that was funny.
There are a lot of good comments here in feedback. Hope you get lots more.
I guess I do too much individual questing (may be a function of when I get a chance to play). I need to start paying more attention to the gender of the wizards around me. I didn't realize that being male or female made such a big difference (in the game ).
I'm an elderly woman, and I've been playing for about a year and a half. I play solo and only have random contact to other players, mainly because I'm not a native English speaker. I started out with several male characters, but at some point I made a girl wizard. I was so surprised of the difference in how others reacted to her. She got a lot of compliments for her looks, and she couldn't walk out the door without someone coming up to chat and ask for friendship. Many young boys wanted her to be their girl, which was something I found very hard to handle. I didn't like her overly feminine look, and I always chose clothes that wasn't too tight, to make her look less sexy. When she was level 36, she couldn't take it any more, and left school to go back to earth. Now I have six male wizards, and they are all thriving. Others treat them with respect because of their skills and demeanor, and no one seems to care how they look.
Wow. I will have to create a female wizard to see what happens. Do you think you can tell if a female wizard is being played by a male or a female real world person?
Also, I was very surprised by the appearance of the Headmistress in Wisteria. Her dress reminded me of Shirley Jones playing Marian the Librarian in the movie, "The Music Man", but her, umm, "assets" surprised me.
Well one thing I have learned especially from the dungeons is to have patience. I also like seeing how other players relate to eachother and help out. I have learned though that not everyone is helpful and met a few that were downright mean. I have also learned that you can't be too old to have fun with this game. And it is interesting how gender plays a role in the game.
Well one thing I have learned especially from the dungeons is to have patience. I also like seeing how other players relate to eachother and help out. I have learned though that not everyone is helpful and met a few that were downright mean. I have also learned that you can't be too old to have fun with this game. And it is interesting how gender plays a role in the game.
lvl 49 life
I have not run into any mean wizards. Are they in a particular world, or all over?
I have not run into any mean wizards. Are they in a particular world, or all over?
It was only two people that were mean and I met them both at the commens in WC. Everyone else I have met has been super friendly and helpful. I was just surprised by those two individuals comments.
It was only two people that were mean and I met them both at the commens in WC. Everyone else I have met has been super friendly and helpful. I was just surprised by those two individuals comments.
Thanks. My children play this game, so I am trying to find a balance between being laissez faire and over protective. They are old enough that talking about inappropriate behavior when it happens is probably more effective than trying to completely screen it from them.
that there is a WIDE range of gamers playing and that it's possible to have fun playing with any of them. that there is a WIDE range of gamers playing and that it's possible to hate playing with any of them.
that there are a lot of "elitists" out there that can be very mean spirited towards others.
that some of the kids playing are very bright and articulate.
I guess I do too much individual questing (may be a function of when I get a chance to play). I need to start paying more attention to the gender of the wizards around me. I didn't realize that being male or female made such a big difference (in the game 