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Hi everyone!

Well... That's it! It's over! The Japan Expo show closed its door and we all came back home, our heads full of unforgettable memories and eyes still sparkling with wonder! For those of you who couldn't come and see us on the ANKAMA stand - as well as for those who actually came, here is a report on this fantastic weekend!
But let's put it back in its context. The Japan Expo is Europe's biggest show for Asian leisure. ANKAMA was there and we had a 250 m² stand especially conceived for the occasion. This report describes the different branches which were represented on our stand so that you can learn more about each of them. We illustrated it with photos and videos for you to have a better insight of the atmosphere that prevailed during the show.

• Making of
• Wakfu
• DOFUS and the lottery
• Dofus-Arena
• Goultard the barbarian
• Cosplay
• Interviews
• Video

We shall first start by presenting you the making of our stand. In this section, you'll discover the installation and preparation of the ANKAMA stand. Our team was on the site as from Wednesday 4th July to set up the stand. Besides you can have an insight of the work provided by our fitters to have such a beautiful stand.
Here are a few pictures:

Our life-size Ogrest was also part of the expedition. A wonderful artwork resulting from a long gestation period!
Lorko explains to us how it's been made:



« The sculpture is made out of polystyrene and resin. It's 7'2 high and 8'8 wide. To paint it, I used huge buckets of flat acrylic blue, yellow, white, black, green, beige and brown paint! But I also used a flat varnish spray, a flask of gloss varnish and paintbrushes of different sizes (1 to 80).

It took me about one week worth of work to come to the result the visitors have seen. Here are the different steps of the creation of Ogrest:

• I first spray-painted a layer of white on the entire sculpture and then I painted a layer of the darkest brown.
• The next step was to lighten Ogrest's skin using the methods known as brushing-off and color washing (the paint is very diluted) on the parts which are the most exposed to light to make the muscle structure stand out.
• Then, for a better general view of the entire sculpture, I put a few basic colors on the hairs of the beard, on the loincloth, the teeth and so on.
• Finally, I had to work on the details like painting the eyes, making the nails dirty... Fortunately I was helped on the last day by a very talented figurine painter, Jérémie Bonamant, allowing me to finish everything on time. We then concentrated our efforts on the finish of the Dofus, eyes of Ogrest, loincloth and tattoos.
• The last thing to do was to put light and contrasts on different parts of it and that's how it's done! »

You finally make it through the entry gates, you're desperately looking for the ANKAMA stand ... and suddenly, here it is! And it's far more enchanting than in your wildest dreams! And now you've got a decision to make: where should I start?

Let's begin with Wakfu and let Reynald talk about it:

« The weekend was intense for the Wakfu team.
We showed for the very first time a demo of our game Wakfu. We talked about it, you waited for it and now some of you have been able to test it! 12 PCs devoted to Wakfu were divided in three little magical areas! With the help of many developers, we have been able to show you a game that surprised you and for which you showed a kind patience when facing unexpected lags... Thank you!

Whether as a Iop, a Cra, a Sram or a Xelor, you are 7 or 77, you could travel up and down the island of Emelka and get a general idea of what Ankama Games' new MMORPG will be like. You have been a little disconcerted by the gameplay which differs from that of DOFUS, but you have brilliantly taken up the challenge of Wakfu.
This game will be very different from DOFUS with more detailed characters, sumptuous settings and a classy interface. But don't worry! Wakfu is neither here to overshadow its little brother nor to replace it..
We will give you all the information you're craving for as soon as we can... But for now, we are very proud to have been able to present you this demo and to have welcomed you on our stand. Thank you for all your comments which will help us offer you an even better game adapted to your expectations! "

Wakfu's Website

Sylfaen explains to us the DOFUS team's weekend:

« These past three days spent presenting DOFUS' new upcoming area: Otomai's island, were not exactly restful but we enjoyed them. From Friday to Sunday, from 10 am till 7 pm, you all took turns at discovering the new areas and creatures that we had prepared for you with love and treachery. And we found it really heart-warming seeing you all so enthusiastic! It's different to witness your reactions live than just trying to imagine them. So, dear players, the experience was very rewarding for our team in every aspect !

This show also represented a chance for us to talk to you and answer your questions the best we could. And that's how we realized that most of you were far more concerned by the changes announced to the PvP or the close combat systems, than by the actual add-ons of the update. All these conversations will allow us to adjust our work and our communication so that your fears will be appeased and your impatience aroused.
We also collected with great pleasure all of your offers regarding in-game moderation. We really wish to thank you all for your involvement in DOFUS, your support and help to make it an even better game!

We are sorry that we didn't get to talk to all individually but quite obviously we wouldn't have had the time! But don't worry! We'll have the opportunity to chat again another time! »

We seize the opportunity to give you the results of the DOFUS Lottery:

A total of 1452 tickets were used over the three days: 431 on Friday, 591 on Saturday and 430 on Sunday.

The following prizes have been won:

- 279 purses of 1,000 Kamas
- 222 candied peppers
- 219 Satanusse's hats
- 164 purses of 5,000 Kamas
- 139 Ross pets
- 109 purses of 10,000 Kamas
- 103 Bilby pets
- 73 Willy Peninzias pets
- 62 Fëanor pets
- 56 Pandawa Cub pets
- 25 Mini Wa pets
- 1 farting sword

The farting sword was won on Friday at 5.47 pm 34s and 246468 millionths!

DOFUS's Website

Bek tells us more about Dofus-Arena:

« It was an intense weekend for the Dofus-Arena League team.
Third tournament of the year 2007 and also the biggest! The Japan-Expo was a promise of intense moments ... and so were they!

The first thing to be noticed is the stand. Probably the most beautiful one that the Dofus-Arena team ever had, with made-to-measure furniture, a lot more space to circulate and help the players, 16 purring machines which worked all well almost without any problem. Both players and spectators really appreciated this as they were comfortable and could really concentrate on the most essential part of the show: the tournament!

The first beta version probably made its last appearance during the show, and experienced players came with their refined strategies that they built over time... Well, that was a great experience!
Familiar faces came back to see us - great players who have already marked the 2006 season, or the online ranking. But there were also new faces ready to prove they could fight just as well if not better.

The organisation of the 1VS1 (Friday) and 2VS2 (Saturday) tournaments on the first beta went off very smoothly.
As luck would have it, the drawing lots resulted in spectacular matches between experienced players from the very beginning of the tournament. And the finals revealed the true players' level, with a special mention for the 2VS2 final during which we saw a strange and rather surprising strategy totally immobilize the opponent one.. We take our hat off to the defeated team which after analyzing the situation admitted that they could not win.
Congratulations to the winners Shaoran for the 1VS1 and to the team Ratastoker -composed of Ratass and Marfimus- for the 2VS2 on Saturday. By the way, all results are available on the site www.dofus-arena.com

The last day was more eventful.
The new version of Dofus-Arena, quite recent, was being presented for the first time in an official tournament. In order to compensate for the few defects - due to its young age, the rules of the tournament have been relaxed, and all players got a prize including the very last one, to thank them for their patience and participation.
We've had a great share of fantastic surprises. Many regular players of the first version, who were there the day before, also had a go at this version, with often much success. But the surprise mostly came from the new players, strangers at that moment, who came to force their way up among the greatest ones. Let me name the young players Realyo and Sebucas as well as the little Isukana, who all probably handle the keyboard and the strategy better than me! They have the makings of champions! And there's also Facipoly, who seemed totally unknown (hiding a great name behind it?) and who dominated the competition being way ahead of the others, and who ended up winning during a great final against Ecarlatte.. Although he was more discreet, the latter managed to triumph over all of his opponents. Of course, sometimes by a narrow margin, but with a team composed of three characters, it is still quite rare among great players.

In any case, congratulations to all the players who came, and all our apologies to those who wanted to participate but couldn't for lack of availabilities. And again, congratulations to the new champions!

Apart from the tournament, the show was also the occasion to make new people discover the game. A general and positive echo of the second beta comforted the team in its choice, even if there's still a lot to be done! But we promised it and we will do our best to quickly make it all nice and efficient! Of course, the main questions revolved around the final release date, but also around the functionalities of the upcoming updates, and some players even seized the opportunity to share their ideas to which we listened carefully.

But our team would have one last tiny comment (complaint?) to make: why none of our players was cosplaying?! Next time, we might end up organizing disguised tournaments in which we will mark the costume just as much as the game!
Joking apart, despite the organisation of the tournament, we've had the possibility to admire all of the DOFUS universe cosplayers going round our stand and we (the Dofus-Arena team) would like to give a special big cheer to all these persons who participated in their own way to the stand. »

Dofus-Arena's Website

Now, let's continue with the secret of the short film Goultard, the Barbarian:


It took us about 3 months to make this short film. but it is worth mentioning that the version the visitors could see in our film theatre was not the final one and that some errors are still being corrected. It was above all a première and we are proud to have shown it to you.

The making was divided in 4 parts:

• Settings
• Flash animation
• 3D animation
• Compositing

Let's keep going with our cosplayer team!

Costumes: checked! Make up: checked! Camera: around the neck! Yeah! We are going to Japan Expo!! An Eniripsa, a couple of Iop, an Osamodas: the team is complete, we can leave!.
During the three days, we have had our daily session of preparation: 2 hours each day!
Two cosplay contests were organised on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th. One took place on our stand where we took pictures of the cosplayers and the other one was organised by Kawaï Attitude on a big stage. (The results are available on the site.)

It was a real pleasure for us to see all the efforts cosplayers put into their costumes ... and the great results! They were all extremely creative and their costumes were a very good likeness. Two cosplayers even came from Italy to be with us! Speaking of which, we would like to thank you all for being with us throughout the weekend and for being such good DOFUS and Wakfu cosplayers! We are quite satisfied of this first contest's results and glad that Ogrest was also there to share this with us!

Do not hesitate to send us your pictures! We will soon put at your disposal an album of the best pictures.

Furthermore, let's not forget that there were 19 graphic artists on the ANKAMA stand, signing their books with beautiful drawings, 19 little agile hands, 95 nimble fingers all ready to make your Ankama Editions books very special! Some authors and graphic artists answered our questions:

Q: How was your weekend? (Your impressions, emotions, favourite things...)
A: For me it was a première!
I always wanted to come and take part in this show as a visitor... And a few years later, here I am, signing books! It was a great pleasure!
The whole team really put a lot of effort into the organisation of the fair in order to have everything go as smoothly as possible. Besides, it was heart-warming to meet our fans and realize how our work is perceived.
It was really entertaining despite the stress considering the event!
If the divinities of DOFUS allow me to do so, see you next year!

Q: How was your encounter with your fans?
A: I made my very first signing session at the "Game in Paris" show, last April.
The fans of the DOFUS universe were very nice and we had already made appointments to meet again at the Japan Expo! They all came back to see me and it was a great pleasure to see them again. I would also like to greet my special little Craette who should recognize herself! I truly hope that the next signing sessions will be as rewarding as the ones I've just experienced! Thank you all!

Q: How was your weekend? (Your impressions, emotions, favourite things...)
A: Very rewarding weekend!
I must admit that I was a little anxious at the beginning because it was my first time as a signing artist in a show, in direct contact with the fans. Considering the experience and the various human contacts, it was very beneficial. Not only was I with talentuous graphic artists but I was also surrounded with fans who probably knew more about the game DOFUS than I do! So a little pressure could be felt from both sides but this is also part of the experience. It's what makes it so motivating!

Q: How was your encounter with your fans?
A: 2) It was very impressive to see the fans of the game spend hours on the stand to have several artists sign their books with great drawings. Some had made t-shirts with images of the game

Q: How was your weekend? (Your impressions, emotions, favourite things...)
A: On the whole, there is only one thing to say: it was too short! When is the next one?

Q: How was your encounter with your fans?
A: It's always a good experience to meet fans during a signing session. It's like a puff of fresh air we get at each show. And here, at the Japan Expo, it's greater than usual. There were a lot more people and they were all fans filled with wonder, happy to meet us and always wanting to know more. So let me ask again, when is the next one?