me

>>>Split Personalities - Chat Censor (Catherby Curmudgeon)<<< Jagex have made plenty of statements on RuneScape's demographic... And in terms of where they intend to go look no further than the July 2008 interview with Andrew: More long-term Andrew said back in June that "another graphical update may well be in the works in another four years" (other quotes about RuneScape's future posted here).

If you are bothered about RSC history then your first action should be to find the many resources already available to help inform people. We didn't get our third game server until the 25th of May 2001. The item bank wasn't launched until the 26th of July 2001. It replaced a money-only bank. IIRC they had no significance, as they were merged before they were used. Read viewtopic.php?f=28&t=724510 That option wasn't introduced until the 28th of February 2001.

Interesting interview. I wonder what the next book will be called...

I thought they were doing it for MechScape (which is targeted at people in their 20s) but maybe that's because I'm MechScape-obsessed.

The Jagex mods I have spoken to (including in real life) all say the same thing: they do NOT used automated software, but they DO make their decisions QUICKLY. According to them most decisions only take a couple of seconds. Feel free however to argue that there aren't enough CS to allow them to spend a sufficient time on each decision.

I think its for MechScape, since they want to attract older people to it.

Making RuneScape accessible through a web browser. It may seem obvious now, but it was new at the time. Andrew got into MUDs because he could play them on the College computers which didn't allow you to install software, and took this concept to the next level by making a graphical MUD which you could play on any computer without installing and have access to your own account. That achievement gave them a unique position in the market which ultimately resulted in the game's success.

Making people think of more secure passwords is a good thing. I hope they don't get too many 'I forgot my new password' requests, tho. It is interesting that the post was from Andrew himself. I doubt it still is, but it used to be plaintext: From: [email protected] Sent: Thu 5/24/01 4:08 PM To: ***@hotmail.com We're sorry you forgot your RuneScape password Your current password is: *** ------------------------------------------------------- You are receiving this mail because a password reminder was requested from our website. If you have received this in error then please disregard it. Receiving this message does not mean you have been added to a mailing list. We do not send unsolicited e-mail.

Or they are retaining them to work on ThirdScape.

When asked where Jagex would be in a year back in July 2008, Andrew Gower stated: "We will always focus on improving RuneScape and adding more depth to it. That said, a year from now, I would expect more of a focus on multiplayer and teambased gaming. We believe that players would benefit from more social content, and we have some great ideas for this. You won't have to be in a clan to do any of this either - we have plans for match-making scenarios where you could meet other players and team up with those that you like. We see RuneScape as a forum for people to meet and get to know each other". In the same interview he also said "Our aim is to not abandon our older games and their fanbases in any way, which is a real test when you consider that we still cater for their older computers" and "we are obviously going to keep focused on RuneScape it's our priority to keep updating this massively popular game" (source).

In 2001 chasing a guy and he kept going from server 1 to server 2 but obviously there were only 2 servers so we followed him We got him to Al-Kharid,where he bought a kebab to try and heal his health. It turned out to be a a dodgy kebab and therefore was his undoing. No, I take that back. I preferred the short period where they implemented the restricted vocabulary, where anything you said could converted to the nearest 'acceptable' word. LMAO->Man; Bluerose13x->blurite13 I; Gower->Power; George->Forged; Bill Clinton->I'll Listen; Sunjon->Summon;. Or maybe the day Asgarnia came out. That was fun.

It could happen, but they have registered *a lot of domains* and trademarks (including a logo) for MechScape, and are still using the name. So it is not just a code name (like Whistler or NextScape). Of course they could always have a last-minute change of heart, but they probably see the -Scape association with RuneScape as an asset not a liability. Thanks for the whole marketing perspective, tho.

Likely to hire? They already have. As I stated in my article on MechScape they likely have around 40 people working directly on MechScape (around 20 in graphics, 5 in quality assurance, 13 in content development, a website designer and the Head of MechScape). Rarely has a month gone by when they haven't been advertising for some position on the MechScape team. Of course they'll need to get more customer support too.

I don't see how another company could make more money from RuneScape than Jagex who have the expertise, the brand, the tools and the infrastructure.

I thought it was for the Phoenix familiar, but you're right! That's obviously a sailing cape he's wearing alongside his sailing helm and sailing staff.

* He said in 2007 that it'd be the main investment focus (as in have the most money chucked at it). * He said in 2008 that it'd be supported _at least_ for another five years (it can still be main investment focus for first 4 of those years... no contradiction). * He said later in 2008 that it had 10 years of good growth. This means one can assume they will keep it going for at least another 10 years, which does not contradict it being the main investment focus for 5 years from 2007 and *at least* have 5 yeas support from the earlier 2008 statement (no contradictions). * He does not say that RuneScape will be shut down after 10 years, or that RuneScape will be the main investment focus up until the 10 year point. He does not even specifically say it will not be their main investment focus after 5 years from 2007. * They intend to continue developing RuneScape for more languages and to enter new markets. * Jagex did recruit some people from the RuneScape teams to work on MechScape, but a lot of the people were specifically hired to work on MechScape and wouldn't have been hired otherwise (same with FunOrb).

People outside the EU get the prospect of import duty instead of getting VAT on it.

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7757854.stm

http://www.jagexstore.com/contact_us.php states that the Jagex store is taxing people in the EU at the UK rate of 17.5%, but Alistair Darling temporarily reduced VAT to 15%. Were the prices reduced when the change occured?

It has been that way since around August 2008. If you go to MechScape.de it also redirects you to the non-existent http://www.mechscape.com/l=1/

I don't still have the URL so I can't check this, but from my memory there was a link to a [LikelyScam] site so unlikely to be from Jagex and the fact that it was asking for u/n and pass makes it look very suspicious - if I made a mistake then I apologise. The only Jagex video I know of is the E3 one. Feel free to discuss this with me via PM or on MSN.

Can't remember who posted it, but I seem to remember that they had a postcount of around 1200 so I don't think it was toast who originated it.

Yes, it definitely seems like Jagex aren't going to give up on RuneScape any time soon. I've updated my article to warn people about scam sites - I'd forgotten that people were still so trusting.

^ Note:Above post by GaVaTi was deleted because he also quoted another post which was to a scam site. Remember: Do not enter your RuneScape login details to anywhere except RuneScape/FunOrb/Jagex/MechScape.com. There are no legitimate 'beta sites' however genuine they may look. Anyway, back to your statement. While not in my article, Iddison did also say "we've got a lot of people over 40 playing Runescape; we have whole families playing the game. We have granddads and grandmas meeting their siblings, nieces, and nephews within the game. We want to appeal to the whole. For anyone who wants to play RuneScape, there's something in there for them" (source). So yes, you are right in that they are trying to go for broad appeal with RuneScape which could mean that they don't have things which they would otherwise have - but that doesn't necessarily mean they aren't putting their best effort into it or that they don't care about the game. As with The Simpsons the game is aimed to appeal to a large audience, and it achieves this by working at many levels - but it is still the case that if you want something more mature then you'd have to go for something which isn't aiming for broad appeal (like MechScape for example).

I missed it from the article but the iPhone is actually mentioned by Jagex: "Identifying opportunities in existing markets and in new technologies (e.g. mobile phone, iPhone, etc) in order to augment the player base;" (source). I've updated the article to include that titbit of information :)