Last Wednesday, we announced that Gift Points would no longer be issued as of February 22^nd, a decision that quickly set the forums alight – and that’s putting it mildly! I thought I’d take a moment to speak to you about the reasons why we made this choice, what the implications are, and above all, to reassure you!

Let’s start with a brief recap about what Gift Points are and how they came about.

How Gift Points came about:

When we launched the Ogrines service, we wanted to provide asystem that would put buying Ogrines and buying a subscription on an equal footing.

At first glance, subscribing with Ogrines might not seem cost-effective. For example, a one month subscription costs €5 (or 3,000 Ogrines), but the minimum amount of Ogrines you can buy using your bank card is 6,000, or €10.

However, although you’ve paid twice as much, you get triple the benefits – a two month subscription and associated subscription gifts, as well as Gift Points and the associated reward from the Gift Points section of the website.

At the time, our objective was clear: we wanted to support the launch of Ogrines, and the most direct way of doing that was to reward the purchase of Ogrines.

What about the situation now?

It’s been more than 2 years since the Ogrines system was created, and it has been accepted by the majority of players. Even new players now subscribe using Ogrines (over a third of new subscriptions, excluding “mule” accounts), and with good reason, because Ogrines let you access more and more things. The Kama Exchanges are full, and new services have appeared, like server transfers and being able to restore a deleted character etc.

The MMOG market has also changed: two years ago, “points” were only found in Asian F2P MMOG, to be spent in item malls, little appreciated by Western players. Now, more and more MMOG use them, such as Flyff,  EverQuest 2 (and very soon EQ1), Age of Conan, Aion and All Point Bulletin. In a slightly different way, there’s also League of Legends, whose success has largely contributed to the development and understanding of the system. And of course, let’s not forget Xbox Live.

So, how do Ogrines fit in all this? We want our players to continue to benefit, which means no longer rewarding how much money you spend, but how many Ogrines you use! The Kama Exchange remains a unique element of DOFUS, and we are one of the few MMORPG where users can exchange Kamas and Ogrines with each other at rates they set themselves.

Two years ago, a player exchanging their Kamas for Ogrines and then subscribing with them wouldn’t have received any gift in return. From February 22^nd, the player will receive a subscription gift as if they had paid with a credit card (for example). We want to ensure that players who use the Kama Exchange (and they are often experienced players) benefit even more, given that they are the ones keeping the Exchange alive.

Ogrines have become a payment method in their own right, which is not only proof of their maturity, but also their success.

What happens now?

So, we’ve made it clear that Gift Points will be going the way of the dodo, but how will it happen?

If you buy Ogrines from February 22^nd 2012, you will no longer receive any gift points. However, the gift section of the website will remain open and any gift points that you still own will remain valid: you just won’t be able to get any more.

The gift section will eventually close later in the year, more than likely this summer. Whatever happens, we will keep you updated, and give you plenty of warning.

To infinity and beyond!

To end this Devblog post, let’s look to the future: what new things can we expect for Ogrines in 2012?

We’re currently preparing a new interface for the Kama Exchange. It’s taken a while, but we wanted to be sure that the result would be as simple and efficient as possible. Incidentally, the new Kama Exchange will be accessible from a web browser, so you’ll be able to manage your offers and keep an eye out for bargains at any time, without having to launch DOFUS!

New DOFUS services will also be making an appearance. This time, we’re going to give guild leaders the opportunity to change their guilds’ names and emblems.

And there’ll be a few other things, but more about them another time!

Until then, happy gaming!