Dofus

DOFUS
Studio	Ankama Games
Erstveröffent- lichung	September 2004 (French) September 2005 (English) July 2007 (German)
platform	Windows (98, XP, Vista), Mac OS , Linux
genre	MMORPG
Game mode	Multiplayer
control	Keyboard , mouse
medium	Download
language	French , English , German , Spanish , Portuguese , Italian
Age rating	PEGI
information	Total players: 25,000,000

Dofus is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game launched in September 2004 by the French developer Ankama Games . It has more than 25 million users worldwide, some of whom use the paid, expanded game world and functionality. The technical basis is Flash , which means that the game can run under various operating systems.

Dofus has received several awards. After the success of Dofus, initially limited to French-speaking regions, international versions followed in 2005 (a version in German has been online since July 11, 2007), an eleven-volume comic series with a total of more than 700,000 copies sold and the tactical online fighting game Dofus Arena (2006). Wakfu , also published by Ankama, is a sequel set 1000 years after Dofus.

Game flow

The aim of the game is to get 6 stolen dragon eggs, so-called dofus, back. You start as a follower of a deity (see classes) in Incarnam, a plateau above Amakna, and develop further through the experience you gain in countless battles. The character level represents a measure that characterizes the development. Various spells, depending on the character's class, are unlocked at certain levels. Initially you start with three basic spells. Through quests and battles, the experience points (EP) are increased and with an exponentially growing EP limit you reach a higher level. The currency in Amakna is Kamas (k). 1000k correspond to 1kk, a common connotation in trade. A large number of items and resources can be obtained by winning battles and practicing professions. Unlike many other online games, kamas are a seemingly inflation-free commodity that can be exchanged for items over the long term without losing value. This fact is primarily due to the difficult conditions of cheating in Dofus. After leaving Incarnam you travel to Amakna, more precisely to the neutral city of Astrub. From there there is still a lot to discover ...

Classes

A character's class determines their role in battle as well as their outward appearance.

Crâ

Archers. Use bow and arrow for long range attacks.

Ecaflip

Gambler. Your attacks are low-level luck and can be either very dangerous or harmless. The exception are the intelligence ecaflips, which are not dependent on luck.

Eniripsa

Healer. Can strengthen allies and weaken opponents.

Enutrof

Treasure hunter. Take treasures and riches from the defeated opponent.

Féca

Defensive mage. Use protective shields for defense. Their strength lies more in repelling and avoiding damage than causing it, but they can also do a lot of damage when dealing with sticks and their Glyph of Inferno.

Iop

Paladins . Deal high damage at short range.

Osamodas

Summoner. Call in friendly creatures to aid them in battle.

Pandawa

Animal warriors. Are important supporters who weaken the opponents and position them tactically. They only reveal themselves to subscribed players.

Sacrier

Barbarians and vital melee fighters who get stronger when they take blows.

Sadida

Voodoo magician . Plant people with magical dolls who sacrifice themselves for their masters.

Sram

Assassin . Set traps for the opponent and can double up and become invisible.

Xelor

Time wizard. Reflect damage and paralyze the enemy.

Cutthroat

tactical bomber. Place targeted bombs, reinforce them, and then use combos to cause high area damage.

Masquerador

Unpredictable warrior. You can choose between three masks that offer you different tactics to adapt to the respective situation.

Steamer

Technomage. Resembles a diver and can set up three different towers to control the combat map

The official release date of the Masqueradors and Cutthroat was April 5, 2011; the steamers were playable for everyone from July 27, 2012.

The twelve (now fifteen) classes were mostly named after the developers' inside jokes , e.g. B. Eniripsa is an anagram of aspirins .

A nice feature of the Dofus classes is that you can choose the color scheme of the characters yourself. Each class has five color sections that can be freely chosen and nuanced.

What changes in color depends on the class. With a female Feca, you can change the hair color, the color of the dress and the color of the shoes and dress straps, while with a female Sadida you can change the skin, hair and bikini color. In this way you create your own character on the outside and identify yourself better with him.

Characteristics

Each character has the same characteristics, which elements are assigned to. The skills that cause damage are supported by appropriate characteristics.

• Vitality : Vitality (VIT) increases the player's life points (LP). As a rule, for one character point invested in VIT, the player receives 1 VIT and thus 1 LP. Exceptions are sacriers, which per char. in VIT 2 VIT and thus 2 LP.
• Wisdom : Wisdom (WIS: "wisdom") increases the amount of XP a player receives per battle, as well as the amount of reflected damage and the resistance to AP and BP theft (AP and BP are explained under Combat System) .
• Strength : Strength (STR) increases neutral damage, as well as that of the element earth. In addition, the player's load capacity increases (measured in pods).
• Intelligence : Intelligence (INT) increases fire damage, the effectiveness of healing spells and the strength of shields.
• Luck : Luck (CHA: "chance") increases water damage and for every ten points in CHA also by one felt point (PP: short for "prospecting"). PP increase the probability of receiving rarer items and resources after a successful monster battle.
• Agility : Agility (AGI) increases air damage, the chance of escaping from monsters standing in the immediate vicinity (or preventing them from escaping) and the chance of landing critical hits (crits).

jobs

In addition to the classes, players can also choose and learn professions in order to collect materials, manufacture objects and earn virtual money (so-called "kamas"). They are divided into collecting and craft professions. Collective professions are also able to process resources to a limited extent. So a farmer can z. B. also process grain into the associated flour, which is then processed by the baker.

• Collecting professions
  • Alchemist
  • Farmer
  • Miner
  • Fisherman
  • lumberjack
  • Hunter
• Craft trades
  • Alchemist
  • Ax smith
  • Hobbyist
  • baker
  • Archer
  • Dagger smith
  • Fish maker
  • Hammer smith
  • jeweler
  • Shovel smith
  • Shield smith
  • butcher
  • cutter
  • Shoemaker
  • Swordsmith
  • Staff carvers
  • Stick carver

What is remarkable about professions is that it is difficult to make money without a profession and to buy items that are essential for progressing in the game. This is a parable of the values ​​of today's society, wanting to provide work in order to guarantee a higher standard of living.

Combat system

The combat system is turn-based. Each player has 30 seconds to make their move. It is possible to fight PvM (Player vs. Monster) or PvP (Player vs. Player). You either compete against so-called monster mobs, i.e. groups of monsters, or challenge other players.

In battles you have 6 action points (AP) and 3 movement points (BP) available as a basis in each round. There are items that give additional AP and BP, but also some that subtract AP or BP. From level 100 you get another AP. The battle field is the map on which the battle started, but without the players and monsters who are not participating in the battle.

At the beginning of the fight, the players choose their starting positions, which are arranged differently from card to card. The map is rasterized and with each CP you can move horizontally or vertically one space. Skills / spells and attacks with the equipped weapon require AP.

For subscribers it is possible on many servers to choose an alignment, i.e. to become Bonta (angel) or Brâkmar (demon). With one alignment you can aggressively attack players of the other alignment or neutral players without needing their consent to fight. On neutral territory, neutral players who are attacked are given a Lvl 100 (sometimes Lvl 50) guard for defense. Alignment allows characters to use certain advantages or grant access to certain areas, such as the Zoth village or the village of Pandala. This feature was activated on the German server "Nehra" on February 8, 2008.

It is also special that practically none of the characters is overpowering due to a balanced skill balance. The combat system and the skills of the individual classes are designed for team play.

Guilds

Regardless of their character class, alignment and character level, players can form groups and guilds. This enables the group members to exchange ideas or to fight together against opponents. Each of the guilds is unique and has different functions and skills.

Word games in class names

As already mentioned for the classes, the names of some classes go back to programmers' word games. Usually they can only be read backwards and then make sense, for example Enutrof (= Fortune (French: luck)), Sram (= Mars), Osamodas (= Sado-Maso ), Sadida (= Adidas ), Xelor ( = Rolex ), Eniripsa (= Aspirine ), Crâ (= Arc (French: bow)) and Ecaflip (= Pilface = Pile ou Face (French: head or tails) after which one of their attacks was named). In addition, in the German, but especially in the English version of Dofus, a large number of non-player characters are named with puns and name modifications. For example, “Sha Kwira”, the name of a fighter in Incarnam alludes to Shakira , “Tek Abir” the landlord in Astrub is a play on words. ("Take a beer": English for "take a beer".)

Awards

• 2005: Edge Internet Game of the Month
• 2006: Audience Award at the Independent Games Festival
• 2006: "Best New European Studio", Ankama is one of the finalists of the "Develop Industry Excellence Award" (Brighton, UK)
• 2006: “Prix Média Jeunesse” (prize for media for young people) during the “Salon de l'étudiant” (student fair)

Dofus 2.0

Dofus 2.0 is a graphical and technological update for DOFUS. First and foremost, the DOFUS 2.0 project is a graphic overhaul of all game graphics. Every map, object, character, monster in the game has been redesigned and implemented in the game. The client was completely rewritten, and the client-server interface was revised and optimized by the development team. This new version was released on December 2, 2009.

Adaptations

A manga- style comic book about the game is already available in English, Spanish and French. A German version was published in April 2009. The title is "DOFUS Monster: The Black Knight". When purchasing this comic, the player will receive a scratch card with a code for the Ankama lottery site. The player enters his login data and the number code on the card. He then receives a virtual weapon, the tormentor, with which he can equip his character in the game. With it he can transform himself into one of the five black knights, who have 5 new spells and offer a new gameplay: the red knight flame, the green knight leaf, the white knight cloud, the blue knight drop and the most dangerous and most wanted black knight Knight, shadow.

Server fusion

On May 2nd, 2017 the new server "Echo" was created, the following old servers are now part of Echo:

• Rushu (int)
• Rosal (int)
• Solar (int)
• Aermine (int)
• Zatoïshwan (int)
• Shika (int)
• Dark Vlad (nl)
• Ereziah (it)
• Nehra (de)
• Padgref (ru)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Source: Press release
2. ↑ Company profile at jeuxonline.info (French)
3. ↑ Bruce Woodcock gives about 500,000 paying players for April 2008 on mmogchart.com.
4. ↑ The developer's page lists the following awards: Audience Award and Best Game at Flash Festival 2004 ( Paris ), Audience Award and Best Game at Flash Forward ( Seattle , USA ), Winner of the Audience Award and finalist for the Grand Prize and the Graphic Prize, respectively Innovation at the Independent Games Festival 2006, Prix ​​Média Jeunesse (Youth Media Prize) 2006 (Paris)
5. ↑ Official online shop ( Memento of the original dated June 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at jeuxonline.info (French)  
6. ↑ Statistics ( Memento of the original from February 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ In No. 151, July 2005
8. ^ IGF 2006 Finalists and Winners. ( Memento of the original from June 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. igf.com  
9. ↑ official press release
10. ↑ Ankama Shop

Web links

• official page
• German Dofus Wiki at wikia.com
• Interview with Ankama developer Thomas Bahon. gamasutra.com, February 14, 2006. (English)
• Rob Purchese: Dofus hits UK Milestone. eurogamer.net, June 1, 2007. (English)
• Erwan Cario: Un "Dofus" de fous. In Liberation , July 8, 2006. (French)