I been in the beta for the last couple weeks and have had a lot of fun. I really like Wizard101 and my entire family (all five of us) really got into it. How many games immediately appeal to both young and old(er), male and female demographics? Kingssisle has done really well in that regard! Unfortunately, I think there are some issues with the game and I really dislike the pricing model.

Issues:

1) Grouping - the inability to have a consistent group is real hassle - if I want to group with my family, we all just have to follow each other around and jump in to battles.

2) Grouping - you can't lock down a circle so that nobody else can join. How many times have I fought a battle and had the monster down to a sliver of health , or I'm at a sliver of health, when suddenly one or more players jump in, extending my fight and either killing me or forcing me to stay for several extra rounds when I'd rather be doing something else. Fleeing battle isn't an option, because you lose your XP and mana for doing so. So, it's either stay and hope you survive, flee or die and lose everything anyway. Furthermore, I've been seen scenarios where 3 players will jump into a battle, pulling in three additional monters, then all three leave, letting you stay to die or flee! That sucks. If it bothers me as an adult, imagine how it will bug a kid! If a player brings in a monster, then the player leaving should dispel the monster...

3) Chat - I added my oldest daughter as a friend. In order for us to chat back and forth, we have to click the text chat link in the friend's list every time. - That's a pain.

4) Chat - no dedicated groups mean no dedicated group chat.

5) $10/month might be livable for a single account for somebody who's really into the game, but--in general--I think the price is too high for what is, ostensibly, a kid's game that doesn't have major features like dedicated groups, guilds, crafting, item-trade, etc... Also, this is a game that appeals strongly to families, but there's no family plan (there are master accounts where I could control access to the game for my entire family, so there's already a launch pad for family plans). That seems very shortsighted of the publisher. I might pay $25 - $30/month for my entire family to play Wizard101, but I won't pay $50.

7) This game CANNOT be considered F2P. Kingsisle stating "Wizard101 is free-to-play" is misleading, in my opinion. I consider Wizard101 to be a subscription-based game with a non-expiring free trial. In addition, there's the option to purchase Crowns for cash (a microtransaction fee). Crowns can then be redeemed at in-game vendors for special items. If the items are as good as they were in beta (the items I bought for crowns were far, far better than ANY item I had yet found or been rewarded in game) then this means even subscribers will still need to pay additional cash if they want the best items.

8) You have to subscribe to use text chat (assuming you're old enough to use that feature) or to post on the official boards? That's ridiculous, IMO.

I think Wizard101 is a great game and lots of fun. I would subscribe for my entire family, even with the game play issues above, if the price point were better or if there was a discounted family plan. Without pricing changes, however, I won't. King's Isle could get some money out of me, but now they'll get none...