Devblog

This probably won’t come as a much of a surprise but... major changes are on their way! This devblog article will give you an overview of the changes that have been undertaken and the reasons that have motivated our choices.Today, you get a sneak peek into the future of Wakfu!A Comprehensive GameOne of the major flaws of Wakfu as it is now is how difficult it is to grasp the concepts.For testers who’ve been with us since the beginning, that probably doesn’t sound right – after all, you’ve been able to wrap your mind around the concepts - but we’ve noticed that beginners confronted to the game mechanics for the first time have a really hard time understanding some of them. You have to admit that being forced to read a gaming manual before even starting to play a game isn’t the most enjoyable thing there is.The problem applies to different gameplay features: map builds, crafts, Wakfu & Stasis, the ecosystem, citizenship, etc.The basic changes we’ve made over the last three months have been to simplify these features as much as possible, the interface and layouts have been changed for everything to work better as a whole and for the feel to be more intuitive.Breta, a breath of fresh airBreta is one of the four nations of the Bonta archipelago. It was thought up to be a welcoming environment to guide players once they come out of Incarnam.Breta, concept art v1It all starts with a newb area, divided into several low levels areas. There’s a village, fields, meadows, ruins and even a Fort and a Prison ... Everything to make a nice starting area for beginners to learn how to play the game in a safe haven, protected inside their nation’s walls.Beyond this point, the players’ exploration will be hampered by aggressive monsters and players with a feel for PvP. Well, I wouldn’t want to spoil anything, so we’ll leave you to explore it!Trade me a CraftUp to now, right from the start all the available professions and a wealth of information regarding crafts was available to you straight away – in all fairness that was a bit too much information to digest all at once.Now, you’ll have to go through a Clan Member in order to learn a profession. They will make sure that you understand the workings of the craft before you can actually move on to practicing that profession.But don’t worry - if you’re fast on your feet and use your brains like you should, you’ll still be able to learn all the professions that you’d like.Wakfu & Stasis Concept RevisedAs I hinted to in the last devblog, the concept of Wakfu and Stasis has changed and is no longer what it used to be.Now, all actions relating to planting (or refurbishing) will be of a Wakfu nature, while all destructive behaviour will be a of a Stasis nature. Wakfu and Stasis become less of an ideology and more the definition of a being. Doesn’t that remind you of anything? One of the oldest mottos of Wakfu was: "Your character will be defined by your actions." Well, that’s exactly what happens here. Your Wakfu or Stasis incline will tell the world if you’re more prone to destroy or repopulate the ecosystem.The state of your personal Wakfu / Stasis gauge will open different possibilities but will no longer make you susceptible to receiving Crime Points.Wondering what the consequences of your actions on the ecosystem will be?Citizens of the World UniteA new gauge has replaced the Wakfu & Stasis gauge that you know. This new citizen gauge shows you your status towards your nation, if you are in agreement or disagreement towards it. The more points you have, the more bonuses and rights you’ll get. Conversely, the further you are along the negative path, the more you’ll be restricted and also the bigger you’ll be on the wanted list.It is not unlike the crime points in many regards.Your actions on the ecosystem will have two consequences: increase or decrease your Wakfu or Stasis state but also affect your citizen gauge - depending on whether or not you follow your Clan Member’s wishes.As for your actions on other territories, they will not be without consequence! They will affect your citizen gauge depending on the relations and treaties between the two governments.Balancing and ImprovementsAs expected, many changes have been made during these past few months - balancing classes, interface changes, general enhancements and the list goes on and on.We’ll tell you more about them in future articles of the devblog in the days and weeks to come.

Hear ye, hear ye! Brave architects of the World 12, the day has finally come!The whole Level Designer team, accompanied by the CCMs, have carefully looked over your entries for the “What a Beach!” contest!Here is our selection of the most beautiful beaches... and the name of the lucky winner!Almost FinalistsThey were chosen by the members of the jury, but have not managed to amass enough votes to enter the top 3. Each will receive, if desired, the forum title of Apprentice Landscaper.Toa-Taou A beach that seems like good fun! It reminds me of old family vacations...Kura: love the idea of the kite. AstarisI like the tower on the beach, easy to see invaders before they land.Pixcraft: A majestic tower which makes visitors want to enter and discover what secrets hide behind its doors! Asquiol Here, there are no frills, it’s a natural beautiful scenery. A wild beach that’s just ready to welcome someone. This is the island where I would like to get lost! It’s simply beautiful! One of my personal favourites!Zidrune: I love the architecture of this little oasis. As they say, simple but effective!Alrik: A small natural lake mixed with sea waves, this is the premise of happiness!JulienChenThis beach has a swamp feel to it, we love the small temple dedicated to Iop on the coast of this wild foggy beach.Alrik: A beach that is almost eerie yet full of mysteries - who makes you want to flip every grain of sand to unearth all of its secrets! It is bold, and I love it!DroidenlamurailleOne of the most original beaches that has activities for every class! I particularly like the octopus volleyball net or the hopscotch for Sacriers Fhenris: Humor and easter eggs, what’s there not to love. I can see you really thought about this to make awesome pictograms! Congratulations.Alex: The hopscotch for Sacrier ... It works, it really made me laugh! LagotarHis awesome creation is full of references to popular culture. But will you be able to find all of them?Pixcraft: How could one not be amazed by that glorious round table? Definitely a place that has made its mark on history and that could not leave historians indifferent. Kura: The beach really tells a story. One could only imagine the quests and challenges that could go on here - and I’m not even talking about all the role-play possibilities. The references to Kaamelot made me laugh, truly one of the best beaches for me.Top 3 Winners:Here are our top three winners, that clearly stand out by the number of votes they’ve received. Each will receive an avatar on the forums with an exclusive title both on the forums and ingame - it will be added with the next patch.Third Place: DarvaniaBeautiful setting even if you did not follow the isometric system too closely!Alrik: a perfect mix between the lush countryside and dry hot sands, heightened by beautiful and soothing colors - and there’s even a waterfall to wash away the sand to boot!Second Place: jrejROSSIMore than a beach, a whole island can be found here. The highlight for me is that it’s has a Wakfu feel to it, even the pictograms that were created by the author give off that impression.Kura: Very nice and nice job on taking into account the constraints of Wakfu. I particularly applaud the creation of pictograms that you’ve drawn yourself. I’d almost want to spend my vacation there, if there wasn’t the risk of being engulfed by the vortex that is. Who knows, perhaps a hidden treasure would make me change my mind... Fhenris: My second favorite, with its created elements - I love this islands!First Place: bocukAnd finally here is our winner! I’m very proud to announce that the winner was from the international community. =) Her 'Starfish Cove' has won the hearts of the judges! This white sandy beach has won victory almost unanimously. This is the beach you will find someday on Wakfu! Maybe in a few weeks, perhaps in a few months (hoping that it won’t be in a few years! ) but it’ll come! Just have to give time to our team of Level Builder to find a suitable environment for it ingame.Fhenris: Very nice choice of colors, original, with homemade pictograms, you are our champion!Alex:Just what it takes, well balanced, even if some guy was laying butt nacked, it’d still be perfect! Alrik: A stellar ocean coast, with a touch of mystery: everything that I like! BenK: it was difficult to pick one of the three... nice job guys, I hope you’ll continue doing stuff as awesome as this! Random BeachesWith over 140 entries, not everyone can get rewards. But here's a quick selection of beaches that have attracted my attention.Thanks to all those who participated!It was really awesome to have the honour of seeing your work! Kura: love the idea of the kite.

Our summer saga continues! Last time you got to meet Adam our lead tester who plays gobbowl ball like no other!And this week we’ll lift the veil of mystery on the Game-Designer profession! Meet Tonio and Zeorus in our new ‘Spotlight’ interview!Zeorus has been our official candy distributor since 2008!(As you can see, the boxes empty out pretty quickly!) Hi Guys! Why don’t you introduce yourself to the community?Hello, my name is Zeorus, I’m 24 years old, and I’ve been working on Wakfu for just over 2 years now.Well, my name’s Tonio. Some people might already know me from the forum or from the last convention. To say a little bit about me, I’m just a normal young man and have been really into computer games since I was a kid. So it was pretty logical for me to combine work and pleasure, which is what I’ve been doing for a while now.Could you sum up your job for us in one sentence?Zeorus : Hmm… that’s pretty tough… My job consists of everything that touches gameplay, rules and balancing the game.Tonio : Come up with the essence of the game and define the game experience for players. I kind of ensure that the game’s going to be funWhat career route did you follow (school, university, work experience etc.)?Zeorus : I have a ‘BAC’ in science, equivalent to a high school diploma. I did a few years of higher studies, went from art to communications, but nothing seemed stick and hold much interest. I was aiming to go back in a different field but got a job at Ankama, almost perchance, thanks to the experience I had acquired through my hobbies.Tonio : I did a Bac ES, then got a degree from Supinfogame, a college in Valenciennes where you can train to become a Game Designer. Moreover, I’d recommend anyone who’s interested in working in video games one day to take a look at this course. It’s not the only way to get your foot in the door, but it is still very worthwhile because the education you’ll get there is of the highest quality.What experience of video games do you have, both personal and professional?Zeorus : My experience was essentially personal before I started working here. I did do a 3 month internship as a tester for mobile games, but as much as that was a good learning experience, it wasn’t really linked to what I do now - which is simply to create.I did on the other hand create a lot of multi-player modules for NWN2 and that’s what I was able to present to Ankama. I’ve always been well into games, and I think that knowledge is what helped me most in doing the job I do today.Tonio : I’ve always been a really keen gamer. I worked briefly at a few game studios before settling at Ankama. I’ve worked as a Tester, Level Designer, Game Designer and an Assistant Producer. So I’ve seen the conception of a game from quite a few different angles, from the point of view of both the developers and the editors.Why did you want to work in the video games industry and, more precisely, why this job?Zeorus : Video games have always been my passion. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do after high school, but I figured that turning my passion into my work was a good idea. And since I’ve always wanted to work in a creative field, and I knew that I loved that from my previous amateur experience, I aimed at being a game-designer.Tonio : It was a combination of wanting to create something that I was passionate about and the desire to leave my own mark on the video game world. I’ve been playing video-games ever since I was a child. It’s always been a passion of mine. I started creating small tabletop games early on. Well, you could say the end-result was a bit lacking, and the balancing was really out there, but I had a lot of fun with it. Then I moved on to modding pc games with editors like the one for Warcraft II. I realised pretty early that creating games was what I wanted to do, and looked up the possible studies I could do in that respect, and that’s how I found out about supinfogame. The role of Game Designer seemed to fit perfectly with what I wanted to do – create something that would make for a fun and original experience. And so it’s very naturally that I turned myself to that profession.Can you tell us exactly what your profession entails?Zeorus : My job has many facets that are all very different and unique. Game-design is basically a mix of a lot of different things. Personally, this is what I take care of on Wakfu:Creating spells, spell description and balancing them.Creating monsters (their spells, balancing their characteristics and spells, setting up their AI, scripting spells).Balancing all the combat bonuses (like equipment and aptitudes).And really being the referent for everything that has to do even remotely with combat (status system, velocity gauge).I also get to do, together with a collegue, all of the documents linked to the game, like for example, documents on politics, professions, the Wakfu/stasis system, the climate, etc. All of those examples we’ve already had to work on and finish, but as with everything in a game, there’s also a constant evolution. What sort of qualities and knowledge do you need to do this job?Tonio : You have to be creative, constantly questioning yourself, be very open-minded and have a generally good cultural background. In my opinion, curiosity is the most essential thing. Creation is born out of inspiration. Apart from that, you have to know how to communicate your ideas to a team: the social aspect is of utmost importance.Zeorus : Having a good imagination and in depth knowledge of video games in general is essential to find the inspiration and ideas needed to create new things, whether it's spells, monsters or even gameplay additions. It’s also important to have a critical mind concerning your own work and the ideas of others. You also need to be a good team player. Knowing how to make compromises between technical/artistic obligations and playability is also key.Could you describe a typical day for us?Zeorus : That really depends on what I have to do that day. But my days can be filled with the following:Meetings and discussions on a gameplay feature (politics, crafts, climat, Wakfu/stasis, etc.)Writing documents in order to store the ideas and information necessary to help guide the developers. Creating, writing down and balancing spells and/or monsters. Scripting spells (that means taking the visual effects, animations and spell effectsand linking them through lines of code to get a visual for every spell cast). What tools (IT and otherwise) do you normally use?Zeorus : I mainly use what we call the AGT (Ankama Games Toolkit). It’s a game editor that was developed internally to enter all of the game data (spells, monsters, items, etc). But I also use, good old Word and Excel to write documents and make balancing tables and the likes.Tonio : Well, off the top of my head: my brain, lots of notebooks to be writing ideas down constantly. In terms of IT, mainly I use the Microsoft Office Suite, so: Word for documents, Excel for listing and organising, then Visio for diagrams.How many people work on your team? What organization is there and what is each person’s role?Zeorus : The game design pole of Wakfu is made of two people. Tonio takes care mainly of all that is ecosystem, crafts, creating items and interface prototypes or ingame systems. As for me, I take care of all that has to do with combat, like I stated earlier. We brainstorm together though and write the documents together. And even if we have our respective fields, we both intervene on the other’s work when necessary, if only to proofread, test or give our opinion.How many projects are you working on?Together : Just the one: Wakfu!Zeorus : and that’s more than enough, I don’t even have enough time to do all that I’d like to do to balance the game for example.What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into this job?Zeorus : Don’t hesitate to do it on a personal level. In creative fields, you need both the practice and the experience, in order to present a good portfolio. It’s as important as studies can be.Tonio : Start familiarizing yourself with ‘simple’ video game creation tools as soon as possible. Simple editors on the same sort of level as those of Little Big Planet or Trackmania are good ones for beginners, I think. Once you’ve mastered those, you can use flash to make games, which doesn’t require much money or special knowledge. “Après Internet” is a tremendous source for learning how to make games, but you must know where to look and above all be able to read English, as most of the reference sites are English language (like www.gamasutra.com for example). Then, there are two ways to get involved: either training (ENJMIN, Supinfogame, etc.) or create a self-taught game and use it to get yourself known.Could you share an embarrassing story about yourself, related to your work?Zeorus : With the amount of numbers and data I have to write down in a single days, it happens that I get lost in it a bit because of fatigue and stress. I’ve had improbable bugs happen more than once, that I couldn’t figure out, that I looked and looked, went to see the developers with, only to find out I had entered something wrong to start with.After a while it becomes almost like a motor habit, and sometimes you’re convinced that you thought of everything but you haven’t. And when that happens, it’s really innerving to have spent so much time on a problem where the solution was obvious. But that’s all part of the game.Do you still play video games when you get home?Tonio : Ah, I have to confess that I’m still a big player, although I’ve become less "extreme" since I got involved in the industry. Maybe one day I’ll get tired of it but not for now.Zeorus : Two weeks ago I would’ve answer “yeah all the time” and not only play but create also, but now certain elements in my personal life have made me take a step back.Do you play the game that you produce?Tonio : Of course! Either locally to test new features or online to get an idea of how the community is feeling. When I do that, I change my nickname so that I can pass unnoticed Zeorus : Testing is really important in my line of work. It is crucial that I test out all that I create, monsters spells and other gameplay features that I have participated in making. So yes, I test a lot internally, and occasional go online from time to time.What’s your favourite game?Zeorus : Never Winter Nights 2 (an adaptation of the tabletop D&D role-playing game)… Deep down, I’m a role-player and adding the dimension of a mutli-player game module to a RP medieval fantastic universe, makes it so that I’ve never gotten weary of it. It is by fr the game that I have played most often and on which I’ve had the most fun. Oh, I also have a soft spot for the Final Fantasy series.Tonio : Oh, it's too hard! There are several so here's a sample: Super Mario Bros.(NES), Street Fighter II (Arcade), Pac Man (Arcade), Star Wars Galaxies - The Beginning (PC) Final Fantasy VI (SNES), Metal Gear Solid (Playstation), Passage (PC), etc.We always here people talking about balancing. Could you explain how you procede? Zeorus : For balacing, my first source of feedback is actually the players. They are the first users of the game and also those who play it the most, also usually their criticism is quite constructive. Obviously, it is not humanely possible for me to test all te combos, builds and possibilities. Also, when you have all of your attention on something, sometime you can miss what’s right under your nose. We don’t always have the time to move back from it to see things clearly. Also, players are often best to find bugs with spell combinations that were not visible at first glance. Also, some spells might look interesting on paper, but aren’t really when implemented. Once again, the players feedback lets us know if the spells are useless or poorly balanced.The process is pretty simple really, once a class has been out for a while (and I have time available, which is rarely the case) I go read the forums to see what the players thing of it. I then analyse it and compare it with my own notes and opinions and do ajustements if I deem them necessary.Have any of the players’ suggestions on the forum already inspired features in the game?Zeorus : Of course, usually about features, ideas on spell modifications and on spell effect....Tonio : The laws, Wakfu, or the creation of Kamas by the players. Quite often we’d already had a similar idea but to see the players suggesting them too is great to see and to see their discussions highlights concerns that we might not have thought of, which is extremely important to us!MMOs aside, what kind of games would you like to work on?Zeorus : My favourite games are RPG so I’d enjoy working on a medieval fantastic RPG. I’d like to work on a game like Dragon Age or something equivalent.Tonio : I am a huge fan of 2D platform games. I would love to revive the genre by adding a musical touch, I also have ideas for a 2D platformer crossed with GTA but don’t tell anyone!We know that the GDs are the game’s celebrities (just behind the animators). Do you lose a lot of clothes at the conventions?Zeorus : ‘Celebrity’ might be pushing it a little! Most people, starting with players, hardly know what game-designers really do. Some believe that we are graphic artists or animators, while others think that we are developers. Some people even think that our job is useless.Tonio : Ha ha! No, for the moment, it’s ok, I’m just bombarded with questions about GD by forum members! But all that’s far from the excitement generated by stars like Xav or Sephy. And that's not necessarily a bad thing: I like my clothes!Honestly, GD is a cushy number! You spend your days playing competitors’ products under the pretext of studying the market and then you nick all their ideas!Tonio : It’s part of the benefits of the job! Seriously though, I play competitors’ games of course but mainly in my spare time. I'm still an inveterate gamer after all.

You wanted to know everything there was about the different positions in the Wakfu team? Here is a series of interviews that should answer most of your questions and give you a glimpse of the world inside the video game industry!Adam, lead tester at Ankama will lead the way!Adam’s desk is frighteningly immaculate - there is only three screens, two keyboards and… a Gobbowl Ball! Which he uses to keep his team in check and make sure that his end of the open space is as quiet as the sea!Hello guys, could you please introduce yourself to the community?! Hello, my name is Adam and I’m the test lead for the quality assurance team.Could you sum up your profession for us?My job consists mainly of managing the QA team and finding bugs on the different ongoing Ankama projects.What is your curriculum (degrees, prior employment)?My studies really have nothing to do with video-games - I actually studied in commerce. As for my previous employers, I worked for Eidos, Ubisoft and many other gaming companies. What experience do you have with video-games, both on a professional and personal level?I’ve been playing games since video games emerged really and have been working in this industry for almost 14 years now.What made you decide to work in the video-game industry and in this exact position?I was lucky to witness the birth of that media and, from an early age, have always been fascinated with video-games in general and all of the possibilities they opened up. The thought of not working in that field was simply inconceivable to me. I didn’t start out as tester but as tech support for a video-game publisher. Soon, there was question of testing the games and since I would usually find untypical bugs, evolving to testing happened very naturally.Can you tell us exactly what your profession entails?My job is to look after testers in the quality assurance team - divide the work evenly among them and solve the different issues that might come up – also and foremost to test the Ankama games.What skills and knowledge must one have to do your job?What the job of tester requires is motivation and a lot of curiosity. We don’t play, we push the game to its limits and that requires a lot of imagination. Otherwise it's like any other job, except that this one requires knowledge of the video game industry. Knowing your field is always an asset.Could you describe a typical day for us?A typical day testing Wakfu? That’s a good question. Wakfu is a very important project for Ankama. Days spent here are usually pretty busy. We test and test relentlessly, we do bug reports, we give our impressions to the Wakfu team (who just love it when we do!). We fight Turtle for him not to erase our characters and more.What tools do you normally use?Our tools? Whoa there are many! We all have both PC and Mac operating systems for one, a bug tracking database, Microsoft’s office suite and some developer tools. In short a lot of things.How many people work on your team? What organization is there and what is each person’s role?In the QA team there are seven testers including myself. Each tester has a specialization depending on the game.We make it so that each tester is unbeatable on one part of the game, that way, if there’s something that’s a bit off, they will detect it immediately. For example, there’s nothing that Meluze doesn’t know about PvP and Necros is usually the mounts expert when there are some.How many projects do you work on?We are currently working on three projects - Dofus 2.0, Dofus Arena and of course, Ankama’s future addition to the family: Wakfu!What facets of your job do you prefer? Which ones don’t appeal to you as much – and why?The job of tester is one that has the advantage of being in contact with almost all services of a production. It’s very motivating and interesting to see worlds come to life and have an active part in it. For the not so pleasant part, I think it would be grinding your teeth and getting stuck on a bug for hours, sometimes days if it’s important. It’s not really enjoyable to be on the same problem for hours on end. But once we figured out how the problem works, it’s pretty rewarding.What problems or difficulties are you usually confronted with?Like with any other profession we are bound to be confronted to hurdles. They can vary a lot though. For example, a bug who didn’t seem important at first, can suddenly take on a whole new when mixed in with another one.What advice would you give those who wish to do this job?First, you have to complete your studies and graduate - Tester is a real profession, remember that. Also, you need to be really passionate and have a good culture of games in general. But first and foremost, you need to be highly motivated. In our field motivation is the main thing that drives us.Could you share an embarrassing story about yourself, related to your work?There’s one that’s actually quite embarrassing and dates back to when I first started my career and was still working as a hotline technician. A woman called and said that she cannot get a picture of the game on her television. I spent about an hour troubleshooting the problem with her, and at some point a bit out of the blue, I asked: “Actually, madam, where are you putting the CD?” And against all odds, she answered “well… in the Hi-Fi Stereo system”. It took me an hour to figure out that that sweet lady was trying to play the playstation game in her stereo… old colleagues still remind me of that incident… I feel shame :'(Do you still play video games when you get home?It would be a lie for me to say no. Yes I play a lot outside of work hours. But my number one priority is and remains my sweetheart. Sometimes after a long day’s work, I no longer want to see a joystick or a keyboard, but this happens only on very few, seldom, occasions.Do you play the games that you work on?Sometimes, but that’s a pretty rare occurrence. It’s better to step back from a project that’s already taking you so many working hours than.What is your favorite game of all time?Oh that’s a tough one… I’d say… the monkey island series, definitely!Is there any truth in the legend that says that testers should hit every wall in a video-game?Actually it’s not a legend, so yes indeed it can be true. These types of tests are called ‘collision tests’ and, depending on what project the testers are working on, they might be asked to do it.And if I may be so bold: what do testers eat? :pBugs, more bugs… candy, coffee and soda.The question that every player would like to know: you really paid to play?Yes, my employers generously give me a salary every month so that I can sit around and play… Of course not!! Testers spend a lot of time skimming through the database and writing extensive reports. It’s true that we’re always logged in, but it’s not to level or whatnot. Our responsibility is to make the game as clean and bug-less as possible. And finally, what message would you like to leave the community?A message for the community? I hope you guys have as much fun exploring the World of 12 as we do! Also, don’t hesitate to give us feedback - good or bad!Happy Gaming!

We know this is a hot subject for you - the amount of feedback alone would’ve been enough to convince anyone that the current Spell leveling System needed to be looked over carefully and it's true that certain aspects of it were in need of a change.We took to heart all of your comments and have come up with a new and enhanced, revised version of the old system that should, hopefully, fix all of the problems you’ve been experiencing so far.Spell leveling systemLet us make a summary of the principal flaws and constraints with the current spell leveling system, shall we? A simple search on the forums should give you an idea of the number of suggestions and complaints that were posted on the subject, also, here's an example of a thread that stirred things up a little.The most recurrent criticism we’ve received is that single-spell builds are more effective than multi-spell ones. To be truly effective in both PvP and PvM, you are forced to concentrate all of your efforts on a single spell, which defies the purpose of strategic play. The multiple spell build is more interesting gameplay wise but at the cost of efficiency.Another problem that was brought to our attention is that the actual system can actually block your character’s evolution - there are no possible rollbacks if you change your mind. If a spell is nerfed and the player decides to change builds, he won’t be able to modify the experience that was accumulated in that spell and we all know that leveling other low level spells is pretty much mission impossible as things are.One of the difficulties we had on our side – and it goes hand in hand with build inequalities – was the impossibility to balance PvM correctly.Really, if you think about it, depending on your build (whether single or multi spell) the damage varies drastically - even for same-level characters. For example, a level 54 could either have one level 100 spell (in a pure single-spell fashion) or 3 level 54 spells… We had to ask ourselves how to possibly make monsters difficult enough for the single spell buffs and easy enough for the multiple spells enthusiasts, and the conclusion we’ve come up with is that, well, it really isn’t possible.The constraints that needed to be respected for the spell leveling system were pretty simple.Your spells level when used in combat - an unused spell will not gain xp. In order to follow your character’s progression, you need an xp gauge telling you how far along you are - there also needs to be a balance between the character’s level and the level of his spells. What modifications have we made to fix these problems?First off, to correct the blocking problem, we’ve chosen to no longer link a character’s xp (leveling-xp) to their spell-xp. At present, character levels have a corresponding amount of xp (i.e. to reach level 10, you need a total of 60,000 spell-xp). As things are, the spell-xp received in a fight is based on the amount of level-xp gained by the character – so a big xp gain will result in a big spell-xp gain. With that system it was pretty much impossible to reorient a build correctly.The only way to do that would be to fight monsters that give you a fair amount of xp, while using your low level spells, but that brings you back the multi/single spell dilemma and makes your character weaker in the long run.To counter this problem, we've modified the way the system works - spell-xp gains are no longer linked to the leveling-xp gained in a fight – they are now linked to the level of the monsters you are fighting. That way, if you wish to level your low level spells, you can proceed to fight low level mobs even if they don't give you any or very little leveling-xp. That way, you can change your build little by little without making your character weaker than a same-level single-spell character.Also, to lessen the difference in power between the single and multi spell builds, we have done two things:we have reexamined the spell-xp curve for one, and have added a new spell-xp bonus based on the number of spells used in a fight.With the present spell-xp curve, the xp needed to reach a level 100 spell is the same as what is needed to reach two level 75 spells. This means that compared to a single-spell build, having a 2 spells build makes you lose ¼ of your spells’ power… I’ll let you imagine the loss with a 3 or 4 spells build.And thus, we have recalculated the curve for there to be only a 10% difference between the two types of builds - a level 100 spell now corresponds to 2 level 90 spells.Let us take a closer look at the xp gained at the end of a fight. Each monster, depending on its level, will give you an amount of spell-xp that will be modified with the new bonus - the same way that the group bonus modifies your leveling-xp. The spell xp received will then be divided between all of the spells used in combat, depending on their usage and their cost (in AP, MP, WP). And so, if you've used a very costly spell numerous times through the course of your fight, he'll take a pretty big chunk of the pie.We have added a significant bonus to the spell-xp gained in combat, to encourage the use of multiple spells. That way, even if a single-spell character is still more powerful than a multiple-spell one, at equal levels the later will have accumulated more spell-xp. It will make it harder to choose between using one spell to be at your maximum potential or using a multiple-spell strategy to be more polyvalent.Finally, to correct the last issue - the balancing problem -we’ve made it so that with the spell-xp received from monsters, character's spell levels should no longer be that much higher than the player's actual level.To sum up the changes:The difference in power between single and multi spell builds has been reduced.There is now the possibility to level new spells no matter where you are in your character’s evolution.We've added a spell-xp bonus when using multiple spells in combat. We hope these changes will meet your expectations and please don’t hesitate to give feedback!

Yesterday all around the world people were celebrating the World Music Day. What better occasion to bring sound to light?After tough negotiations, we managed to obtain a few animations with sound-effects just for you! So turn on your speakers or put on your headphones, because Wakfu wants to be heard! ♫ Let's start out with our friendly Gobballs!And now our Clan Members who are making a ruckus!Fight-oh! Open your ears more than your eyes - this one was done on a test map! You’re probably wondering what we had to offer in exchange for these videos… Well, the Sound Design Team didn’t ask for much, just that you answer a few simple questions on your computer’s audio configuration. That way, they can craft the sound to better suit your needs.If you feel like helping them out (as we hope you do!) click here! ♫Today all around the world people are celebrating the World Music Day. What better occasion to bring the sounds to light?After tough negotiations, we managed to obtain a few animations with sound-effects just for you! So turn on your speakers or put on your headphones, because Wakfu wants to be heard! ♫

Ever since the Dev Hours has come to an end, it’s fair to say that news has been a bit scarce… but that's about to change! Here is a preview of what’s going on this summer!Rebirth of the DevblogLet’s start the festivities with a most welcome event – even with the absence of a patch, the devs have come to bring you fresh new information about the game! Gnat and Zeorus will start the ball rolling next week, with a subject that you’ve long been waiting for: “The Revamp of Spell Leveling”!Ifyou’ve been following the Devblog, you’ll have probably noticed that we’ve added a new category. ‘Behind the Scenes’ is where you’ll find our new biweekly column called “Spotlight on the … profession”This summer saga (that might even continue into autumn) will answer most of the questions you’ve been asking yourself about working in the video game industry. The articles will give you an in depth look at Wakfu’s team members and maybe even eliminate the most common misconceptions about our roles here at Ankama.Fansite ManiaWebmasters, it is time to step into the limelight and make yourselves known!Have you been planning to create a fansite? Have you been juggling a few ideas? Now would be the time to get to work! Starting in August, the best fansites will get their own news post on the community webpage. Blogs, wikis, podcasts, forums… you name it – they will each get their very own 15 minutes of fame!Thoughts and CraftsAre you the type who likes to make headlines rather than read them? Who takes challenges head on, and jumps at the chance of making something with your own hands? Well if you are, boy, do we have something for you! There will be…Not one, but two mini contests on the forums, where you’ll be able to obtain beta access and exclusive avatars to boot. A pretty big crafty contest for all of you creative souls out there, where you will continue to add your own personal touch to the Wakfu game itself. You’ll get all of the information at the end of the month, but until then, here’s a hint: you’ll need a very global outlook to win! And last, but not least, a weeklong in-game event that will require you to sharpen your puzzle solving skills and put on your thinking cap! Be warned, you’ll need astute knowledge of Wakfu to get through! For those of you who shy from a tan and will probably be sitting at your computers this summer, we have a few more things up our sleeves. To make sure you don’t miss anything, don’t forget to follow the news on the official website or check out the devtracker on the Wakfu forums!And for all of you going on holiday: be safe, and bring us back some of that sunshine!!

It wasn’t an easy task to determine the winners of the Create-a-setcontest - we’ve received numerous unique and wonderful artworks, but achoice had to be made. The judges, Sephy, Zidrune and myself, have cometo a consensus.The sets were judged on creativity, originality, humour and coherencewith the Wakfu universe.We’ve chosen the top 3, and have two specialmention categories, one for arsenal, and the other for the Jury’sindividual favorites!We know you’ve waited a long time for this, so here are the results!Top 3 Winners3rd place – Tied: Amaknian Hero SetWho doesn’t love Easter eggs? ApplePear’s simple and funny Zelda inspired set easily made its way to the judge’s hearts! “The Master’s Hammer - It is said that only a true hero may pull the sacred sword from the stone. When you attempted to take it, it remained steadfast in the stone. The stone, however, did not remain steadfast on the ground. "Judges: We loved the funny descriptions, the cape-shield idea, and the leafy twist on a real classic! Well done.3rd place –Tied: Shokanto SetInspired by ancestral Chinese militia armaments, Labija’s set owes its name to the martial art of Shotokan, a style of karate. One thing’s for sure - this set has quite a kick to it! “Armor Back Story - The armor had been lost for over a millennium, few know where it might have been, and only few remember the armor’s past. Those who have seen it, say that sometimes, its former owner comes back to the land of the living to contemplate its beauty.” Judges: We loved the strong feel of the armor and the idea behind it, also how you’ve taken existing elements of the game and transformed them to create a great end-result! Way to go!2nd place: Fish Knight SetSecond place goes to GoldfishGod’s hilarious depiction of a goldfish set! What better way to go fishing undercover than as a giant fish? “Armor Back Story - The Fish Knights were a group of knights who looked to the Eastern martial arts to develop their skills. Seeing that many of the martial arts were based on animal forms, they decided to develop their own style based on that of their local wildlife. As a fishing community, the animal they chose was the fish.” Judges: We loved that it was fun, easily adaptable and that it reminded us of Japanese mascots. We’re looking forward to seeing little fishies walking around! Good job!1st place: Panflutae SetFirst place goes to Everspace’s flute set! These wooden charms charmed all of the judges who voted for it unanimously!“Armor Back Story - This set of wooden equipment was created by a mad musician, and resident lumberjack, who happened to go a little axe crazy. It didn't manage to keep the wood's original shape, but what it has captured is the music that flows through the pipes, and the whisper of the trees that they once came from."Judges: We loved the style, the originality, and how well adapted it is to the game. Sephy can’t wait to make it! Congratulations!And that’s what brings our top 3 to a close! Congratulations to all of our winners! And now for the special mentions… Arsenal Special MentionArsenal winner: The Fish ShovelTwo different fish sets were submitted and we had to choose between them - we opted for the other but still loved Oamoka’s Suspicious Set (especially her funny weapon)! We loved it so much we decided to make a special prize category just for it!“If life gives you lemons, cook them with fish. Everything goes better with lemon!”The Judge’s FavoritesHere are the judge’s individual favorites – apart from the top 3.Sephy’s FavoriteThe Distorted Set made by GoldfishGold was Sephy’s favorite. “Someone, somewhere, got lost... very very lost. But found something as well. And it broke his mind. He's still lost, but the fruits of his new mind have made their way back to civilisation. The objects are generally a mixture of bizarre, alien shapes and unnatural surfaces and materials.”Sephy: I really like it… it’s so conceptual! Love the idea behind it… It inspires me to do something completely different yet similar in spirit. We’ll see what comes of it!Kaoly’s FavoriteThe Scientist Set made by Sargnagel was Kaoly’s favorite! “Scientist Manteau - The usual and well known clothing piece of every Scientist. Keeps your clothes clean while blowing stuff up in the lab.”Kaoly: Love the scientist look! I think you did a good job and would’ve loved to see it ingame, but unfortunately that’s not technically possible. Hopefully sometime in the future it might be. ?Zidrune’s FavoriteThe Alien Set made by MushroomFiend was Zidrune’s favorite!"These shoulderpads aren't compensating for anything I can assureyou. Imagine being crash tackled by one of these suckers... yea thatswhat I though. These pads have a bit of wear and tear but their hardexoskeleton will keep them in good nick for many millenia to come." Zidrune: I had to congratulate you for this set! The conception and realization are very well done! The only thing I find regretful is that it doesn’t fit the Wakfu universe.And with that, the contest results have come to a close, congratulations to all of you!The top 3 will see their sets added ingame and will receive a copy of their own set. Also, as a bonus reward for all 7 winners, you will get to choose between a few ‘create-a-set’ avatars on the forums, or have one made out of your own set!=)Many thanks to all those who participated! You’ve all done wonderful work, we’re just sorry we couldn’t have all of you win.Congratulations once again and see you in the next contest!

As Tonio told you in his Wakfu Dev Hour post, I'll be clarifying what he dealt with in his article this week.As you might have guessed, to not spoil you too much, he was obliged to romanticize things a bit to give it the appearance of a story, but I'll take each point of interest individually and explain things in more detail.Game System:“Growing Monsters”“Recently I managed to unlock the secrets of breeding the creatures in the world of 12, returning the Tofu in the fields to make a peaceful balance.”In order to help you achieve the best ecosystem balance possible, we’ve made it possible to "create monsters" in the last update. We wanted a simple and relatively fast way to allow effective management of the fauna. It is easy to plant Flora resources so we though it made sense to make it easy to create monsters. Note - this is not the farming system, which will come later.The principle is simple: With the help of a trapper (new name for the hunter profession), you are now able to gather "seeds" from monsters in the ecosystem. The screenshot bellow shows you what it looks like.Here are some Vials with an image representative of the monster family in order to identify which species the seed is... you can guess the family for yourself. There are also mixed seed, representing two families from the same area-ecosystem.These seeds allow you to generate a group of monsters containing creatures from the family(ies) concerned. To do this, simply put the seed on the ground... this will create a small mound. After a while, a group of monsters will appear in exactly the same way as for planting flowers and the growing seeds. Here are some seeds that have just been placed on the ground:With the ability to create your own monsters, you become the definitive masters of your ecosystem. This will help you manage to balance family of monsters and you can potentially kill a species if you're not careful.Gameplay : The events in the natural ecosystem“When the balance is perfect and the Wakfu is maintained, a celestial Tofu rides abroad and carefully protect our crops from the swarms that lurk in the doldrums of stasis ...”On each territory, there will be a very specific Wakfu equilibrium for each type of monster and resource. Depending on whether the balance is achieved or not, there will be special events like the arrival of a Royal Tofu in the fields (if balance is achieved) and the emergence of a Putrid Gobball if the Gobballs’ grasslands are exterminated. There will also be events based on the balance of the flora, but I won’t say any more, it's up to you to discover it all in game.Interface : Changes to Ecosystem InterfaceTo make things even more convenient when balancing areas, we've revised the ecosystem interface to make the various environmental indicators more precise. With the new version, you can see at a glance what the balance in an area is like currently, and also, to the nearest ten, how many resources or monsters there are and how more or less are required for the area to become balanced.Gameplay : The will of the Clan member“The world has changed a lot lately - the clan members who were once in the shadows have become more active and insistent when guiding us in our actions. Meeting their demands is often difficult and requires greater involvement in the ecosystem’s management, but it's worth it!”Now, members of the clan want to have a say in what goes on in their territory. Some, usually Wakfu adherents, prefer their territory to be balanced. Others, lovers of Stasis, don’t care about balance and prefer to arrange their territory as they see fit. Each clan member has his/her own will and you can choose to respect that or not. However, a satisfied member of the clan will give his blessing to all players of the nation that controls the territory in question, and the more satisfied they will be, the greater the bonus awarded. Moreover, a satisfied warrior is a loyal warrior – and that will show in combat. A disgruntled member of the clan dissatisfied with the controllers of the territory will be unwilling to defend and vice versa.On each island nation, the clan members will be in agreement with the ideology of the nation Ohm = Wakfu, Mork = Stasis, Emelka / Sevamor = Neutral. On Amakna there is a bit of everything. CMs will therefore be much more difficult to satisfy if they do not have the same alignment as you.The will of the CM is visible in the new ecosystem interface as well as the Wakfu equilibrium. In addition, some CMs are undemanding, needing only 2 criteria to satisfy their wills, while others will be very demanding with 3 or 4 criteria and lower tolerance.And finally, here is a screenshot of the interface. Bear in mind, this is a prototype and not necessarily the final version, it might still change in the future. When you mouseover, the number of monsters / resources present in the area and the numbers required to achieve equilibrium or to satisfy the CM is displayed.