Monday, December 12, 2011

Wizard101: Lore potential? Wizard101: Origins!

Hey all!

Wow! It's been awhile since my last post and I am sorry for that. It's been a busy month or so first off SorceressMiklai - my dear love visited me for Thanksgiving and stayed with me for 3 weeks. It was simply amazing and it was such a great experience to have her in my neck of the...erm....cactus. I don't think Sorceress will mind that I say this but she isn't accustomed to large families nor gatherings and it was a dream for me to see her finally get her wish if only for awhile fulfilled by being in a family - all our craziness and bickering included.


 Anyway this post is about something I have always been interested in: Lore. Ask any of my friends in KT and they will tell you of how I annoy them (Jk!) with my constant deciphering of Wizard101's lore as well as other games. (I'm looking at you: Pokemon and Elder Scrolls) I've had countless discussions with Ronan Dawn, Luke Goldhorn, and many others. All these discussions lead me to believe in one absolute truth: there is no established lore in Wizard101. I know what your rebuttal is going to be of course there is established lore.

The creation of the Spiral and all it's inhabitants are skeletons of stories at best. The books in game only provide basic overlays of past events that have shaped the great worlds of The Spiral. What we need is a chance to see what REALLY went down back then. I don't know about you folks but I'd love to see stories on how the Dogs and Cats of Marleybone became civilized. I'd like to see the wars past that shaped Dragonspyre into a militant power before the Dragon Titan came. I WANT to see the stories of past emperors who fought the ancient Oni demons.

There is signs of hope however. Zafaria is one of the first worlds I seen where the story is based on what happened. Morganthe at one point ruled Zafaria or at least it was a seat of her power. It took the Council of Light as well as the People of Zafaria to stop her. The new animated history quest paints a picture (literally) of this past conflict foreshadowing her return to Zafaria. This is great it is old and ties into the new. The past directly telling a story to the present about what was and what can be once again.

I'm not asking for KingsIsle to establish lore like Elder Scrolls a series that prides itself on it's expansive lore so large I've only seen one other series with such a large volume of lore and that's the epic fantasy the Lord of The Rings. All I am wanting is a definitive story or collection of stories. Recently the Elder Scrolls employed Author Greg Keyes to write 2 novels to Re-establish the world of Tamriel after the Oblivion Crisis.  Yes they are game novels.  Darn good ones too as they tell of a chaotic time after the Oblivon Crisis where the Empire is crumbling, Vvardenfell has been destroyed, and murder is everywhere. (Books are intended for adults)

What Keyes did for the series is refreshed the palette of the TES universe while using established lore from previous games to tell a compelling story. What if KingsIsle contracted someone? To write a series of novels?
Wizard101: Origins! A comprehensive series on the chaotic times that shaped The Spiral. I'm not asking for books like Keyes' novels but a dang good set of stories that make us cry, hate, and love characters past that helped craft this amazing world. I want to see younger Morganthe and Merle. Perhaps we can see the old kings and queens of Zafaria as they fought for their lands.


All of these are just wants of course but maybe one day.....my dream will come true until then I will remain vigilant and hopeful. For The Spiral!


Until next time your friend,
Alric Ravensinger

1 comment:

  1. I would really like to see books on the Titan War as well as a thorough in depth analysis on the different schools, focusing on how the school was made, different wizards and witches who used the school, how it has progressed, what lands they trace their lineage to, etc. I think this is a great idea, and KingsIsle should really look more into this.

    The only really tough thing to do would be to appeal to a huge band of readers. You'd have to appeal to the young AND the old, the regular gamer AND the hard core lore based gamer *cough* ;). This isn't me saying its impossible to pull off such a tremendous feat; it'd just be a big hurdle in their way. Maybe they could make two versions; a "Lighter" one which doesn't cover as many details and a "Heavier" for older players who really would like some lore backround. :)

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