There's an interesting discussion going on in another forum that I thought was intriguing. I ended up looking into the issue a bit further, and this is what I came up with. This is just a copy of my post in that discussion, and if you'd like to see the entire discussion check out the PigPen. While the perspectives over there are interesting, there aren't many active members on those forums. Some bits may seem out of context, as it was just a reply to another's thread, and I realize there are many discussions regarding this topic, however most discuss the impact they have on players, rather than the impact the game (and more specifically, its developers) can have on them. Regardless . . . what do you guys think? ----- When you take a step back to actually look at the problem, the way it presents itself in Runescape is rather unique when compared to other MMOs. Typically, in nearly any respectable title in the genre, you'll find that the issue is outsourced labor playing the game to eventually sell the game's currency for the buyer's dollar, euro, peso, etc. It's a very simple business model, and that's what makes it so effective -- somewhat dated estimates place the industry's weight in China to exceed 100,000 employees, and more recent estimates place that number ten times higher. But what makes Runescape such an attractive target? Well, there are a number of reasons, but the two that I feel most important are: [*:28079o7m]Runescape doesn't even contribute to these numbers, as nearly the entire process is automated. Runescape is a simple game. It has to be, since it's played in Java. Sure, the design behind it is brilliant, and certainly unique; created with Jagex's own proprietary software, it stretches the platform to its limits, but the point is that those limits are very well defined. The models are designed with a simple color palette and low polygon count in mind, which makes it very easy to automate the process via simple color recognition scripts. This news isn't surprising to anyone who has played the game to any extent, but I think it's the main reason behind the inflation we've seen in the number of accounts which are created. One person with knowledge of dynamic IPs, a browser, and motivation can be just as successful as a small outsourced company fielding a physical location and several hundred teenaged employees, without the risk of losing anything but time. This contrasts very brightly against aforementioned small businesses which have everything to lose. Businesses which have to consider profit margins against predicted loss via account bannings, and this is also why these established "gold factories" will typically target larger games, in which they can net a higher income for their product. After all, the risk of losing from their initial investment to something that they can't control, such as account closure, will always remain relatively the same: you might as well profit as much as possible to offset the potential of the situation going awry, and this isn't the game to do that in. Don't believe me? Read this article. It's a very entertaining blog and definitely worth your time. However, to highlight one of the more relevant bits: And, because the punchline's the best way to make an impression, Granted, this is a very extreme example, and your average Runescape entrepreneur isn't going to be nearly as successful -- more likely he won't be successful at all -- but it's an interesting insight into how the business works. [*:28079o7m]Understaffing I think if you really take a second to gather some perspective on the issue as a whole, you have to look beyond the game's mechanics and into the heart of it -- its creators. Jagex's official recruitment promotion for graduate students sells itself by stating, "ARE YOU INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR ONE OF THE MOST CUTTING EDGE COMPANY IN THE UK TODAY?". Well, all grammatical errors aside, I think the header's a bit misleading. If Britan's technical schools send their most advanced graphical designers to a job which specifically deals with low-poly graphical design, and feels that it's the dog's bollocks, I'm concerned. Don't get me wrong, though, I'm sure the spiel's effective. After all, its target audience is graduate students, and everyone knows graduate students are both desperate to pay off student loans and have an equally dire need for experience. Personally, I feel that MMOs such as Blizzard's flagship World of Warcraft are to the genre what liberal arts are to general education. They're much more literal and concise, whereas Runescape's quite the opposite -- it attracts people because of its abstract nature. The game doesn't follow the playstyle structure of nearly every other western MMO, and certainly not that from which western MMOs are derived from: their Korean counterparts. Generally, I think you'd find that most people play Runescape for its gameplay and accessibility (e.g. virtually no system requirements, and a very simple pick-up-and-play mentality) rather than its technical prowess. Let's see how Runescape measures up to that juggernaut we're all familiar with in regard to this particular issue. It's all too common that you see comparisons between the number of people playing WoW and Runescape. But why, then, is the problem much less significant in WoW and the campaign to remove the nuisance so much stronger over there? Yes, that's approximately 2300 employees in customer support for the MMO juggernaut. Granted, you're talking billing, technical, and in-game support. Additionally, that number likely encompasses web developers and network administration, but Jagex's ~300 includes all of that and development/executives; their support and development seemingly split nearly in half. This explains not only the poor customer support, but the slow development cycles. I would presume that the speed at which Jagex works isn't limited by their efficiency, but rather the number of minds they have at their disposal. Of course, according to the most recent press releases, Blizzard currently fields 9 million subscribers, whereas Jagex has 5.4 million active players, as of 2007, 960,000 of which are paying subscribers (also, an irrelevant, but interesting tangent: note that in 2006 those numbers were: 4 million free players and 600,000 subscribing members, with 2007 subscription predictions exceeding 750,000 -- they've obviously surpassed their goal, why is their employment number still hovering around the 300 mark? Is it due to the increased free players, thus increasing bandwidth costs and nullifying income increases? It's certainly a difficult business model to work with.). The difference between these two games, however, is obvious to anyone who's played either for a short period of time. One includes free in-game real-time support that's relatively timely and guaranteed. Another's is via short, restricted written messages that, more often than not, result in an automated response. I'd guess this is due to strain on employees' ability to meet quotas, given the amount of misuse the system sees (we again arrive at the notable difference in these two games' target audiences), however I don't want to make any generalizations. The problem could originate in many different places, but this is the most obvious reasoning. That said, a poll of over a thousand people taken on one of WoW's most prestigious forums shows that over 25% of that community has, at one point in their time playing the game, purchased WoW gold -- and these are some of the most level-headed and reasonable people playing MMOs currently. Now, take a moment to think about the differences presented between these two games. In WoW, you'd have to go to a third party to purchase your gold, which is usually farmed in its raw form within the game. This makes the entire process very discreet, aside from the in-game means of advertising these companies use. In Runescape, while the same occurs and ultimately funds the entire process, the raw goods must first be converted to gold. Unlike WoW, this occurs through the community, not through a static NPC, which means that the entire process changes from being unobtrusive to your average player's day-to-day playstyle to blatantly affecting the economy and the inflation therein. In the end, there are a few realizations to be made. Even if Jagex's goal as a company is to promote a small, tight-knight group of employees, and even if training those prospective employees takes an extended period of time to teach them how to become efficient in using in-house developed software, the problems that this game has are deep-rooted ones. If they're to be solved, drastic changes need to be made, which is entirely different from Jagex's typical strategy of patching the holes. To me, it just feels like Jagex never really made the transition from "two brothers on a computer" to "multi-million player video game corporation". The point I'm trying to make here is that this situation's wholly out of the player's hands, whether it's an individual or a coming-together of a large community. Protests receive attention, of course, but just like the US's upcoming 9/11 general strike, it won't change the underlying issue. Just like that strike, in which hundreds of thousands of people will likely participate, it'll end up changing just as much as the 25+ gasoline strikes we've had in the US over the past two years. What's that, you haven't heard about these strikes? Exactly. Something needs to happen at the development level if this problem's to be rectified, and it's simply not. Am I saying that the problem will never be fixed? No, of course not, I imagine progress will be made. But do I think that the problem with be solved entirely, and in good time? I'm afraid I've cast my doubts on that after having tried to understand the methodology behind the company. Hrm. I'm glad I'm going into medicine rather than business/law. :wink: ----- Anyway, first post here, and while it's just a segment of my thoughts on another forum's discussion, I imagine I'll be sticking around, so nice to meet you. ^_~
