It's a new year and a tenth missive, as luck would have it! We're going to rise to the occasion by unveiling a little more about our plans for 2018. Happy reading!
This Year's Theme
The team chose 2018's theme! It will form the pattern of all this year's updates, at least in terms of changing and adding content, and the various in-game events (whether PvM or PvP).
The question now on everyone's lips: What is this famous theme?
Well, you'll find out over the coming months and updates! How cruel… *diabolical laugh*
Keep an eye on our various media and announcements if you want to gather clues, little by little. Moreover, the first one was in the latest Gamakna, and, since we're nice, we'll give you a reminder of it here, along with how it's developed through our genius illustrator Maba's sketches!
We will be using this image to dress up our various media channels throughout the year!
Rest assured: You won't have to wait long to find out more in the next major update! Speaking of which…
A Shadow Hangs Over the Millicluster
Through this letter, the advisor of our good King Allister (where would we be without him?) announces the next major update's flavor!
When will the update be released?
The next major update will be released in March, which is incidentally when a first strange event is taking place in the World of Twelve, through small, brand new event-based content.
What will this event-based content provide?
This content will be spread out over several points throughout the year and will let you find out more about 2018's theme.
This time, there's no new zone; however, you will have the chance to face new monsters and craft a new level 170 set (Earth/Strength)!
This is our way to introduce the theme of the year as we wish to give it a good foundation. As you will see in a future article, history takes a significant place in DOFUS and DOFUS Touch!
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Why is there a militia here?
What else will there be in the update?
Other new features and improvements are planned for the update, but you'll find out more about that in due course! Development is still ongoing, and we prefer not to make any promises we might not be able to keep.
We wouldn't want to spoil any surprises now, would we? (Even if the community managers have all done their best to do so!)
In particular, we took advantage of this update to work tirelessly on our first inter-server tournament. Let's hop to it!
First Inter-Server PvP Tournament
A few weeks after the March update, we're planning on launching the first DOFUS Touch inter-server tournament.
This tournament is connected to the background of this year's theme.
How will the tournament unfold?
A dedicated server will be set up for the tournament, with the new PvP zone we told you about several weeks ago. The new maps in this area will be accessible on your home servers once the tournament is over. After that you will have plenty of time to host your own fights!
What's more, a small part of this zone is used for the three ongoing and upcoming community tournaments on Oshimo, Terra Cogita, and Herdegrize! Alright then, a little map spoiler:
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The Rogue map was used for the first time on Herdegrize's Astral Cup
These three competitions are carefully organized, allowing us to adjust how we do, while offering you a little warm-up and some fun on your server.
Who can participate and how?
Although we haven't had the opportunity to organize any on the three other servers – Brutas, Grandapan, and Dodge – they may still be part of this first inter-server tournament!
Each participant will have to register with one of their existing characters on the official servers. A minimum level (to be determined) will be required to ensure the quality of participants.
For example, if you want to play an Iop on the tournament server, you would need to register with your Iop (making sure that it has reached the required level). This will avoid players who participate with a class that is unfamiliar to them.
Another rule we would like to have is to limit particular classes to a team. From our first community tournaments, we limited the following classes to one per team: Sacrier, Eniripsa, Xelor, Osamodas and Feca.
For the next tournaments on Oshimo and Terra Cogita, we will test the rule used at DOFUS' 10 Year Tournament, namely limiting certain pairs on a team. Here's a sample list:
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We will decide on a later time which rule would be viable and interesting.
For this first official tournament, we're sticking with a 3v3 format, which has proven effective on the PC version, but also in DOFUS Touch, with the community tournaments that are becoming more and more numerous!
What about level, equipment and the rest?
All participants will be at the same level during the tournament (only on the dedicated server, of course!), Ievel 200.
A cache of equipment will be made available to you, including pets and mounts. As for smithmagic, it will not be available on this server, but a +1 AP/MP/Range bonus will be applied to each character.
It will be possible to change your equipment between each fight.
All spells will be maxed to level 6. As for the characteristics, everyone will have 101 points in each basic characteristic in addition to the 995 basic points. You will also have unlimited resets.
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The waiting area between matches
We think putting everyone on an equal footing is imperative in order to include as many participants and spectators as possible for this first inter-server tournament. However, we are not closed to the idea of organizing a tournament of the same kind where each person brings their own equipment. It's a way of challenging players who always optimize their character a little more day by day!
That's it for the first few bits of information; as for the rest, you'll have to wait a little longer to find out more. We reserve the right to modify some of these points before the actual tournament and we will be listening to your comments and suggestions!
Economy Balancing
2018 will also be the opportunity for our game designer [Yawn] to adjust your servers' economies, which aren't in the best of shape! There are too many kamas in circulation, certain resources are losing value, Marketplace prices are plummeting… There are so many things we'd like to work on!
[Yawn] will tell you more about it.
Why are you intervening in the economy?
We addressed the subject of the economy last year, when we removed kamas as rewards for repeatable quests (Captain Amakna, Dopples, etc.) with the aim of limiting kama creation. This year, we want to continue doing so as a way of stabilizing the economy. In other words, we're trying to get as close as possible to an equilibrium where kamas created by the game (quest rewards, monsters, achievements, etc.) do not exceed (at least not by much) kamas that are destroyed (banks, Zaaps, Marketplaces, etc.).
We would like to remind you that this equilibrium is important, because it ensures the very value of the currency and encourages exchanges.
What will be the first change?
For 2018, the Almanax will be our top priority in this series of economic measures, because it is currently the greatest in-game source of kama generation.
Just to remind you, every day, the Almanax offers a quest asking you to make an offering to that day's Meridia.
When these quests were created, their aim was to encourage players to try some new content every day and to vary their activities. Above all else, the rewards provided (whether kamas or XP) were intended to reward this effort. For all practical purposes, this series of quests is now the main in-game source of kama creation.
This is because even if you buy resources, the money from that transaction is not destroyed - it is merely transferred to another player. Rewards in kamas, on the other hand, are created out of nothing, injecting a huge quantity of currency into the game on a daily basis. That's why we've chosen to concentrate on this point in particular. You'll find out more about this in the coming months, but rest assured, the requested items will stay the same.
What's next?
Quite clearly, the Almanax isn't our only target this year. In the game, there are many things responsible for too many kamas being generated, and just as many ways to destroy them in order to restore balance.
To name just a few of them, merchant modes, the prices NPCs pay for items, achievements, and ethereal weapons are all levers that can be modified in order to alleviate the economic imbalance.
The Shop in 2018
In mid-December, we launched the in-game shop's Prestige category, which enticed a great many players. We intend to expand it with all kinds of items for the start of each month, starting from February.
On that subject, in early March, the first Prestige pet will arrive and our team has decided to get you to vote for its bonus and food from our predefined list. We're counting on you!
vote for the pet bonus
As indicated in the devblog above, Prestige items will be merely cosmetic or will have an equivalent (in terms of bonuses) in the classic shop, or even right in the game.
Regarding this famous classic shop, we will continue to rotate items every week.
Tell us what you'd like to see on sale this year in the comments!
What else for the rest of the year?
We've already said too much! Not yet? Well here's some more!
Seasonal Content
Saint Ballotwine, Vulkania Island, Horrib Isle, and Kwismas Island will also be back in 2018; we won't rule out making a few changes and additions to some of these zones.
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Time to get some sun on Vulkania Island!
Social Features
This year we would also like to make life easier for guilds. First, the recruitment channel (/r) will no longer be by zone, similar to the newbies channel that is now accessible from anywhere in the World of Twelve.
We hope that this will facilitate in the recruitment of guild members but also in groups for dungeons and the like. We will be keeping an eye on the flow of messages in this channel to see if the change is working as intended.
We are also looking at the directory of guilds and alliances.
Finally, we also plan to study features like "messages of the day / message of guilds or alliances" based on your feedback.
End of Year Content
We will celebrate the end of the year with a new feature that is both significant and unprecedented! This one proposes a competitive and multi-level PvM content and winds up the theme of the year.
Sharpen your combat prowess by facing new monsters in order to unlock various items and equipment.
You will learn more throughout the year, stay tuned!
Possible New Content
We have plans to add more content, new lairs? Or new areas like Horrib Isle? Or zone extensions? Nothing is final yet, so it's hard to tell you more. What PvM content would you prefer to experience?
Is that it? Not at all, but it's too early to reveal any more details.
We'll continue to work on the game's ergonomics, fix various bugs, and intensify our fight against modified clients, bots and kama trafficking.
That's it for the first details we can currently give you about 2018!
Behind the Scences of DOFUS Touch
[Ziphlot]'s Spot
Introduced in the article about what lies behind community management, [Ziphlot] has indeed learned his way around it alongside [Nyom]. Here he is to tell you more about his arrival on the team!
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My arrival at Ankama has been very eventful! Actually, I came here the day before the Kwismas beta, with its whole changelog and changes that affected the game. You could say I was thrown in at the deep end.
As for my duties, they're now well defined. Hunting bots is one of my priorities and, in that regard, I work with the moderators and partly manage the team along with [Nyom]. (On that subject, if you want to lend us a hand in the anti-bot fight, please read this post to find out how to report them in mere seconds!)
But he does give me some freedom, don't get me wrong!
I'm autonomous when it comes to community events and I take care of the Game Masters. As a reminder, they are volunteers on an equal footing with moderators, so be cool with them. I manage the small team currently made up of [Morre-Jivant] and [Malvadar-Jandric]. Together, we review your proposals. Please contact me if you have any ideas: I'm all ears!
Moreover, some of you didn't wait for me to give you the green light, because I'm already working on some event projects involving them. Very soon on the forum, you'll be able to find how to go about suggesting in-game events to me.
Otherwise, more generally, I received a warm welcome, and I'm really happy to have joined the DOFUS Touch team. I hope I'll live up to your expectations and that my work will stand out to you in the future!
After [Okajin]
As we already told you in the last missive, [Okajin], our (former) tester, left Ankama in December. The DOFUS Touch team's testers are helping us out while we wait for a new recruit to join us and get trained to work full time on DOFUS Touch.
Incidentally, hiring an extra server developer to help [Bob] out is progressing well, as our team in Japan has started on a few interviews.
The Staff: Seasoned Players or Just Noobs?
Some members of the team, such as [Yawn], [Bob], [Ziphlot], and [Nyom] (quadruple finalist of the Goultarminator – no, just kidding) have been playing DOFUS for several years, so DOFUS Touch doesn't hold any secrets for them, and they are always thrilled when there is new content to discover!
The other team members started playing the game when they arrived on the project, and regularly play together. We think this is necessary so we can best understand the features we'd like to develop, identify ergonomic problems, and so on.
Over 2,000 words… It's already the end of this tenth missive! As always, feel free to leave us your reactions and questions below in the comments section. We take the time to read them all and to reply to as many of you as possible!
