Questions
by Danny "Ralsu" Gourley
style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">
Answers
by Sérgio dos Santos, International Marketing Assistant; Cedric Gerard,
International Marketing Manager;
and Joris Bébin, Community Project Manager
Ankama Games started a new round of Closed Beta testing for
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu, the
spiritual successor to their popular tactical game called
style="font-style: italic;">Dofus, on June 3,
2008. In addition to launching a
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/WakfuBeta">Wakfu beta
giveaway, Ten Ton Hammer was able to interview three members
of the Ankama team to get a feel for the features of
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu.
Q: Please describe the
target audience for Wakfu.
Our core audience for Wakfu
is 12-16 years old. The Wakfu
TV series will start a bit younger, with an audience from 9 years old.
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/34824">
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 150px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/34824/preview">
The art in
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu displays the
anime connection.
Q: Will
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu be
flash-based like Dofus?
With click-to-move controls?
will be encoded in Java. We wanted to provide a new game experience and
the Java technology allowed us to create a great environment where
players could walk around in a Multidirectional Scrolling Isometric 3D
Universe. We decided to keep the click-to-move controls but shortcuts
are available through the keyboard.
Q: Will gamers truly be
able to experience Wakfu
for free, or will it be a subscription-based game? I ask because the
free form of Dofus
seems like a demo with its limits on what players can do.
represents nearly 40 hours of gaming to finish all the quests. It is
more than just a demo; its a free to play version to which players can
always come back and still chat with their friends and play in the free
zone. Were looking to do the something similar with style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu. We want
people to be able to enjoy the game without absolutely having to pay.
Q:
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu is a game.
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu is an anime
show. Can we enjoy one without the other?
players a unique experience, and the opportunity to be immersed in the style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu world by
using a cross-media concept. The game will evolve alongside href="http://serie.wakfu.com/en" target="_blank">the
TV series;
changes in the series will impact on the game. It will be the
opportunity for players to discover new faces of their world, and also
convert animation fans into MMO players. There will be more info on the
series and other secrets in the coming weeks!
Of course players
will be able to enjoy the game without the TV series and vice versa,
but linking the two will enhance their experience.
Q:
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu
will not have non-player characters? Did I read that right? How are we
supposed to know what to do? Tell us more about this innovative
feature.
You read it right. We wanted a game focused on the players. The game
will revolve around players and their actions, and give them entire
freedom and control over their world. Every action a player will make
will shift the balance toward destruction and creation, life and death.
Judging on the Wakfu
status
at any moment, the team will be able to get the meta plot moving, going
from one great piece of the storyline to another, and reacting on
whatever the player will do.
Q:
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu
is using a system where skills can increase in level but characters
never do. How will players increase hit points and skill points to take
on tougher battles?
href="http://game.wakfu.com/en/features/turn-based-combat.html">turn-based
tactical fight system. The experience you gain fighting
tofus, gobballs or href="http://game.wakfu.com/en/wakfu/creatures.html"
target="_blank">any monster will [raise]
your skills. That way, the more you use a skill, href="http://game.wakfu.com/en/features/new-class-spells.html"
target="_blank">the more powerful it will become.
Q: How many players can
form a group? And will there be raid groups?
Sorry but we cant answer that right now. That feature is still under
development.
Q: How much can a player
expect to solo in Wakfu?
The first hours of the game can be played solo. The player will learn
the specific features of his character when totally immersed in the
story of Wakfu. Once the player will have been introduced to the
fighting system and the magic, he'll be able to start the adventure
along with other players. You can also href="http://game.wakfu.com/en/features/crafttinganitem.html"
target="_blank">craft your items by yourself, but
as every MMORPG, youll have to interact with others players to
progress.
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/34825">
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src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/34825/preview">
A party and some
wildlife mingle near a bridge.
Q:
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu
proposes a delicate ecosystem where players can harvest an area until
it's barren. Will it be possible to deplete the entire playable world
of a natural resource?
be very important in Wakfu.
Plants will die if left out without water or constantly harvested,
players will have to reseed, plant trees. The weather will also be a
very important element of the game play.
Players will be able to
virtually burn forests down or decimate whole populations of monsters.
Depending on their actions they will be able to unlock (on re-lock)
dungeons or whole areas of game play. We want them to be responsible
for all of Wakfus
world.
Q: If a given resource
can be
completely harvested into oblivion, does Ankama fear that this could be
a new form of griefing where elitist guilds move quickly to obtain all
of the goods for themselves and create a monolopy?
The game will have a complex political system where elected players
will act as governors on the different islands, and will have to decide
for the future of their islands, and seek the well being of their
citizens. Wakfus
world is
divided into 5 islands, so it would be great and interesting if a guild
could reign on an island. However, having control of the whole world
will be impossible.
style="font-weight: bold;">Q: Conversely, can players
replenish too much of a resource and create a new kind of problem? If
so, what kind?
Resources replenish themselves at a certain rate and auto regulate. For
example, forests will naturally spread in the game but we developed a
density degree for each forest.
Q:
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu just ended
the Closed Beta testing for French-speaking gamers only. How did that
go?
It [went] really well. We have fixed the most important bugs and we are
progressively implementing remaining features.
Q: Based on
style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu's innovation
and projected features, and the experience of the Ankama team, I've
ranked it among the Top
Ten Free-to-Play Games for seven consecutive weeks. Tell
readers why I'm right to do so with a game that is not even finished
yet.
First of all, Wakfus
original universe is up to 12 highly customizable characters.
Furthermore, Wakfu
has a unique turn-based tactical fight system to suit tactics lovers.
Then, Wakfu
is a unique cross media concept and its the only MMORPG with a
storyline this much successfully completed.
Finally,
it will have no NPCs. The game will revolve around players and their
actions, and give them entire freedom and control over their world.
This will provide a new community experience, involving the
organization of a real society.
Q: Anything else you'd
like readers to know about Wakfu?
tell them that were working hard on style="font-style: italic;">Wakfu to provide a
great game theyll enjoy and thank everyone for supporting us.
Thanks!
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Wakfu Game Page.
