As the initial experience on a mobile device is so important for a new player, and because Dofus Touch has such a variety of deep game mechanics, we felt we needed to make some big changes to give more help to new players. A story with higher stakes, new equipment designed for all element types, the ability to try out other classes… We have identified many areas for improvement, and we will use this Devblog to give you a preview of what you can expect to find in the next Dofus Touch update!
So, Why Revamp the Start of the Game?
Great question! And we have several answers. The first is simple: Dofus Touch is growing, with an increasing number of players and a desire on our part to provide a more mobile experience. DOFUS Touch may be six years old, but we still have many plans to develop it further in the coming years. And what better way to take the next step than to start from a solid foundation?
The second answer is more pragmatic. We had already worked on Incarnam in 2017 to introduce the lairs (link to lairs) but after multiple data studies on the behavior of new players, we came to the conclusion that the beginning of the game wasn't adequate. Although the Incarnam area has a unique atmosphere, it proved to be tedious.
Initial work was therefore done with early player data collected over a period of several weeks before we designed the new introduction to Dofus Touch. We wanted to know what worked in Incarnam and what was obsolete. This period allowed us to analyze the behavior of tens of thousands of new players!
These are the areas we looked at:
- The completion rate of the Incarnam area in relation to each class
- The average level players had reached when leaving the area and their play time up to that point
- The last actions done by a player before giving up on the game permanently
- The average play time for the first game sessions
- The last quest objective completed by a player
- The monsters that defeated new players
- …
The findings were clear. Certain quests were boring or hard to understand. Perhaps the best example we can give you would be the quest "Temporary Death". As a reminder, this quest made players die and transform into a ghost before meeting a phoenix to reincarnate. We noticed that many players logged out at this point in the game, never to return.
We learned several lessons from this kind of issue:
- Certain game mechanics were not introduced at the right time, which could be disastrous for the player experience.
- We need to guide new players as much as possible, even if it means holding their hand for a short while.
Other than this type of issue, Incarnam proved to have a big pacing problem for multiple reasons:
- The map was much too big for quests that required a lot of back and forth.
- The area level order was confusing, with adjacent areas sometimes having more than a 30-level difference.
- The area was not up to our standards in terms of story and what was at stake. Although the storyline introduced the Dofus, it did not provide enough emotional highs and lows to keep players engaged.
- The atmosphere was basically too peaceful. The sights and sounds contributed to this feeling, as did the unthreatening monsters.
So, we set about working on each of these issues so that we could offer a condensed and exciting adventure in a new, original and more dangerous area…the Albuera Archipelago! Let's explore what this update has in store for you!
Tell Me What You Like, And I'll Tell You Who You Are
Dofus Touch has 15 classes, and it can be difficult to choose the one that suits you best when you launch the game for the first time. As you know, building your character takes time and ultimately realizing that the one you picked does not suit your playstyle can be a big disappointment. So, we felt it was important to offer a simple tool to players discovering the world of the Krosmoz so that they could settle in comfortably.
We therefore came up with a very short questionnaire (just three questions) to help determine the kind of character that you would like to play. A total of eight classes could be suggested based on your answers. The classes we chose reflect the game's archetypes, namely a "tank", "healer" and "damage dealer" first and foremost.
What if you were a Sacrier and not an Eniripsa from the start?
Goodbye Incarnam, Hello Albuera
As our new game area is an archipelago, we had an opportunity to create multiple environments with different atmospheres and challenges, which adds variety and also a certain pacing during a new player's first few sessions!
You can explore three completely new islands, each with its own unique character.
- The main island is Albuera, and its northern landscapes are snowy with Viking influences. It is inhabited by Forgelance settlers: formidable warriors who wield lances and don't follow the teachings of any god. They are also seeking a fresh start in this archipelago by building a magnificent village. The island is also populated by a variety of wild animals, similar to our bears and eagles.
- As for Belladonna Island, it has a castle and a greenhouse where climbing plants have been allowed to run riot. Belladonna's magic ultimately gave them consciousness, and now they manipulate the island's statues to chase away visitors…
- Kanojedo Island is the area dedicated to the training of Albueran warriors. A specific magic pervades the area, which allows visitors to temporarily transform into a different class. Warriors can therefore improve their knowledge of other classes' magic by fighting Poutch Ingballs or other players if they so wish.
A New Series of Quests for A New Beginning
Your adventure starts after leaving Incarnam on your way to Astrub. Unfortunately, some magical disturbances caused by a battle between Forgelance warriors and mysterious Merkaptans throw you off course, and you find yourself on one of the archipelago's beaches! Ayin Spyr, a seasoned Forgelance who is very keen to solve his colony's problems, accompanies you throughout your adventure to give a helping hand.
In this new area, which you play entirely solo, you can meet and train alongside members of the Spyr clan, or help the Great Jarl Ordyn manage the colony! But lurking in the shadows, the witch Belladonna is shamelessly carrying out her plan to achieve eternal youth, at the expense of Albuera's inhabitants.
Using steady and calculated pacing, we wanted to alternate between combat and calmer moments for the introduction to the world of DOFUS Touch. With busy NPCs adding life to the maps, and rapidly changing monsters and environments based on the island you visit, all the little details have been thought of. Albuera promises to be an epic journey!
Greater Flexibility and Errors Without Serious Consequences
One of the biggest sources of frustration for new players is the fear of making a mistake when allocating spell and characteristic points for their characters. As well as a new tutorial, we decided to improve this by working on the following three areas:
- Equipment
- Two new sets can be acquired during your adventure on Albuera.
- The first is a low-level set and mainly provides general skills like health and damage. The second set provides characteristics in your choice of element (which can be later changed for another element with Jarl Ordyn).
- The way spell and characteristic points are reallocated:
- With the Elite Bonus Pack, we introduced a quick and easy way to change the stats of your characters. We have decided to offer these features up to level 30 as long as you are in the archipelago.
- A way to try out different classes and to change class easily and permanently:
- A new non-instanced Kanojedo will be on a new island in the Albuera area:
- It can be used to transform into another class at level 50, 100 or 200 for free and test it on Poutch Ingballs or in a challenge. These transformations have their own characteristics, so you don't need to have equipment to know how much damage your character will do at this level!
- If there is a balancing update, the Kanojedo can be used to test the changes to a class without needing to create a new character, because this area is open to everyone and has no level restrictions.
- A class-changing sorcerer is also available in Albuera Village and in the new Kanojedo. This sorcerer can transform you into another class at any time and an unlimited number of times. You just need to be at level 30 or below to use these services!
- A new non-instanced Kanojedo will be on a new island in the Albuera area:
With these additions, we hope there will be fewer mistakes made at the start of the game and that you will be happier with the new character you have just created.
Are You Sure That All This Is Worth It?
That's a legitimate question. Saying goodbye to Incarnam is a complex undertaking that carries risks. What would happen if no one understood the point of the game anymore? Or if no one liked the content? We have conducted multiple playtests with different player profiles under so-called professional conditions to see if our decisions were good or not. So, both beginners and experienced players, who were either familiar with Ankama games or not at all, tried DOFUS Touch for several hours while professionals observed! Every reaction, both positive and negative, was recorded, and a detailed questionnaire was completed by the participants at the end of the session.
With all this new data, we were reassured that we had made the right choices, and more importantly, we were able to detect and correct problems that would otherwise have annoyed you when the update went live.
On top of all this, when the update goes live, we will be analyzing key data from the experience of new players so that we can see if there are any recurring problems and correct them as soon as possible.
The Situation With Lairs
Having proven their worth, the lairs currently in Incarnam will remain in the game in a different form. We will share more about this with you soon.
In Closing
That's it for this devblog! We hope you liked it and learned a little more about how we work and what you can expect in Albuera. We're counting on you to give all of the new features a good test during the next beta to help us give Dofus Touch a successful fresh start!