Haven World

This article is a direct copy of Devblog: Haven Worlds for now.

Will be released in June 2013 according to the Calendar.

Hwexterior — A Haven World as seen from the trade bridges.

As part of our continuing endeavour to give more responsibility to the players, Haven Worlds are soon to make an appearance in WAKFU. Real worlds that can be built and managed, they are a special feature of the MMORPG universe that will demand commitment from the entire community. Let us explain!

When we first announced the upcoming arrival of Haven Worlds, you guys were crazy for them! We've seen and studied your questions on the forum, and I'm going to answer the first few of them here in this devblog. Remember that Haven Worlds will not be brought into effect with the next update, but rest assured that they're advancing right on track! Builders, visionaries and architects, get ready to impress! The arrival of Haven Worlds marks the beginning of the reconstruction era... And seeing as the gods have been malingering since Ogrest's Chaos, it's down to you, the players, to take the World's destiny into your own hands. Do you think you're cut out to get the whole community working together? Put your capabilities to the test!

What exactly are Haven Worlds?[]

Chiefrotceres — The head of the Rotceres.

Haven Worlds are small worlds governed by guilds - with the help of the community, of course. Within these little worlds, everything needs to be constructed, from the ground to the buildings! For this to happen, the guild responsible for the running of a Haven World will have to give the whole community a push in order to erect the most advanced buildings (which will coincidentally be the most difficult to build). They'll have to respond to the players' wishes if they want to succeed in motivating others to work on a Haven-World project! It's a big responsibility that demands impeccable organisation, concise communication with the community and actions in favour of the players... But all will be rewarded by special, unique worlds, created by you guys alone!

How does a Haven World work?[]

A Haven World starts off quite small, covered in grass and inhabited by Rotceres (indigenous creatures to the layman). The head of the Rotceres will be their spokesman and he's the one who'll allow you to create your Haven World as you so desire. Speaking to him will open up the "World Editor", the interface where you'll be able to choose your land types and buildings and really develop your Haven World. But none of this comes for free - the guild that owns the Haven World will have to spend a kama or two if they want to get their building sites in full flow... And given the size of the sites, they're likely to need the whole community to really get it going.

Land types[]

Land types will always be your starting point. There are different types and each one allows you to personalise the area's appearance and brings a certain characteristic. There are land types that allow you to:

Erect buildings
Plant resources (forests, fields or grass - depending on what you want to grow!)
Build a fishing lake
Build mineral quarries
Place monsters
Build roads

Bear in mind that not all land types will be available to you from the beginning. Those that generate higher-level resources require certain buildings to be erected before they can be accessed. You're free to kit out your Haven World however you so wish.

Foundations[]

Once you've chosen the right type of land for your Haven World, it's time to place the foundations of your buildings! Once again, the guild that owns the Haven World will have to cough up some kamas to finance the project. Then, it's down to you to choose where you want to plonk your building. As long as you've got the right kind of land type and enough funds, you're free to do whatever you please!

Buildings[]

Hwbuilding — A building under construction.

Now let's talk buildings; this is when the Rotceres come into play! These small creatures are building beauties, site superstars, construction connoisseurs! They'll take care of actually erecting the buildings, but you're going to need to provide them with the right resources to make that possible. There'll be a Rotceres chest on site, which, with the help of the whole community, you'll have to fill up!

Anybody can enter a Haven World, so call on all the folks you know to club in and get that construction site progressing as fast as possible! For those that own the Haven World, it's in your best interest to listen to the players and plan the development of your world in such a way that they can participate. After all, you don't want them to abandon you now, do you...?

Then, it's just a question of time... The Rotceres will devote themselves to erecting your building. A building site may, therefore, be under construction for anything from a few hours up to almost a week. What? Don't you know that Bonta wasn't built in a day?!

For example, in order to build a Rotcere Hayrack, which will reduce the construction time of other buildings by 10%, you'll need to gather 2,400 units of Thatch, 2,400 Logs, 2,400 Stones and 600 Tofu Seeds before you leave the Rotceres to their work for 96 hours. As it stands, the numbers haven't yet been confirmed so are subject to change, but hopefully you can get some kind of idea. The new resources will be integrated into the game at the same time as the Haven Worlds.

Prerequisites and building order[]

Not all buildings will be available when you first create your Haven World. Options will open up to you as you progress with your constructions. Basically, certain buildings will act as prerequisites for others.

Players might be familiar with some of the buildings, such as Zaaps, Markets and Taverns, but we've also added some new ones. They'll allow you to access more evolved buildings, or buildings that offer bonuses to the Haven World and the characters that visit it.

For example, the Tavern will unlock the "Rotcere Hayrack" building, which will reduce the time it takes to erect your buildings. The Windmill will increase your chances of planting seeds in the fields and will reduce growth time. In short, you'll be able to develop the buildings that you have already constructed, improving or enlarging them.

You'll have to make your decisions carefully and tailor your Haven World in the right way if you want to get your hands on the more advanced buildings!

All for one and one for all[]

It's pretty simple: players that don't own a Haven World will be able to benefit from its advantages without having the responsibility of managing it, and without having spent a kama on building costs! Haven Worlds are open to everyone, so you can benefit from the XP bonuses granted by their crafting machines, use their PvP arenas to organise your own tournaments, or visit varied ecosystems grouped together all in one place... as long as the owning guild has developed them, that is! The help of the whole community is needed in order to develop a Haven World, so the owning guild should be at the ready to respond to your needs. I repeat: Haven Worlds are community projects. Any guild that insists on making all the decisions alone will quickly find themselves faced with large inordinate construction sites.

Why is there a limit on the number of Haven Worlds available?[]

At the beginning, the number of Haven Worlds will be limited. There are several reasons for this:

First of all, on a technical level, integrating too many Haven Worlds in one go risks overloading the servers. We would rather implement them gradually (I mean, we're talking about little worlds here!).

The nature of Haven Worlds also calls for a limitation on number... These are community spaces that require the contribution of all players in order to develop. Having too many Haven Worlds at the same development stage competing against one another would only slow down global site progress.

How to become a Haven World owner[]

Each Nation has a limited number of Haven Worlds available to it. To obtain a Haven World you'll need to be part of a guild of level 10 or higher* and be ready to spend a few kamas. Each guild can own just one Haven World.

When the system is launched, 15 Haven Worlds will be available from the trade bridges of each Nation, with 60 Haven Worlds available in total.

We have prepared the purchase system in such a way that becoming a Haven World owner is fairer than just "first come, first served". The Haven Worlds will actually be auctioned off. We're currently working on defining the exact amount that bidding will start at, as well as how exactly it'll work so that the procedure is as fair as possible. To facilitate the purchase of a Haven World, guilds will have access to a new rank which can be attributed to several guild members, enabling them to bid on behalf of the guild. That way, you can always be sure to have a guild member available to snap up a bargain! We'll communicate the time and date that the auctions begin in advance so that you can organise yourselves accordingly. Also, we're working on a way to prevent inactive guilds from taking advantage of Haven Worlds to the detriment of others, as well as a system that will allow you to sell your Haven World on. Once this first wave of Haven Worlds has been put in place, we're hoping to add to them regularly, allowing more and more guilds to become owners. We've limited the number implemented at any one time to be able to moderate a steady global Haven World development.

The arrival of Haven Worlds means that you, the players, have all the elements at your fingertips to create your own areas in game. We'll provide the tools; you provide the work. We're looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

* this is not a verified prerequisite as some guilds owning a Haven World are below level 10. (some as low as level 3)

Useful Videos[]

Videos related to the Haven Worlds.