Heya all :) I've decided to post some thoughts on the Update, and what they hold for the future of Runescape. This is also posted on the official forums, so in case you want to look it up, the QFC is 14-15-631-54786021. I'm hoping this isn't seen as a Rant, but if it is, so be it :? I know the organization is somewhat lacking, but what you see is what you get ;) (Also, it's a bit long :XD: ) That's right everyone! It's been decided that, along with other ingame updates, Runescape, instead of being an MMORPG, will be a single-player RPG with an online chatbox! Talk to your friends! Skill! Go crazy! Have fun out there! That is essentially what has happened to Runescape recently. It has turned from being a healthy, growing, evolving MMORPG to a single-player game. I believe that it is now fully possible that, at the beginning of your Runescape career, to turn off all chats, trades, and assists, and become a fully functional member of the community. Player-player interaction is, for all intents and purposes, dead. Why trade face-to-face when there's the Grand Exchange sitting there, a cold, lifeless machine, doing all the work for you? It's not like you'll get a better deal outside of it! Why go on a KQ trip when, if one of you gets a dragon chain drop, the other person gets nothing from it, unless they're happy with 3k? Why go if you know that if you die, your friend will be left to fend for himself while tending your gravestone until you can run back? (More on this later) Why fret about PKing when there's Bounty Hunter, a new minigame that perfectly captures the feeling of being teamed within seconds in the wilderness? Even if you want to go to Castle Wars, you don't need to interact with anyone else on your team, the game would be just the same with NPCs, right? ...But here is where you run into a snag. Doesn't it make perfect sense that you could make a game like Castle Wars PvC? The game itself wouldn't change practically, right? Of course! The AI is written, the update made. You run to the base, grab the flag, and are felled by a Zamorak Mage. But is it really the same? Does it truly capture the essence of Castle Wars? Player-player interaction can never be replaced by NPCs. The wilderness as it was was a humming, live place. If you went into the wilderness, there was a constant fear of a rogue clan, a sudden teleblock, the swish of a dds. If Jagex felt it needed to be shrunk, all's well and good. But the one thing that you cannot do is replace it with NPCs. They can nowhere near replicate the experience of the wilderness as it was. It doesn't matter if they can teleblock, snare, or hit into the 40s. They will never run after you with the same hell-bent aggression that a lone PKer would. The non-Pking wilderness is now an inconvenience on the map. You run, you avoid the revenants, you get the job done, run out, and continue on playing. Where's the adrenaline rush that was felt as a PKer followed you through all levels of the wilderness, and you barely making it out? It may be felt temporarily when you get too close to a revenant, but who cares? You eat a lobby or two to regain your health and continue on down your way. In Bounty Hunter, you have a designated target. If you want to run free as you did in the wilderness, you're penalized. And here's a perfect quote, said just as I'm writing this: "I even wore this to rc in the abyss lol" They're wearing zammy dhide top and bottom, ranger set, fury, and a fire cape. There's no danger. You see a revenant, you tele with the mage faster. The wilderness has lost its intimidation. It has lost its life, in both the figurative and the literal sense. And what of trading? If you never hit a trade button in your life, you can now buy, sell, and, to a *very* small scale, merchant for money. Couldn't the Grand Exchange just as easily be based on random generation of deals? You offer up a dragon dagger for 25k. 5 minutes later, a dice is rolled in your favor, the dagger disappears from the game, and you get your 25k. Practically, this would never work, but from the viewpoint of the average player on the exchange, is it any more than this? Is there someone on the other side? Can you see someone yell "Ty!!!!", while enthusiastically wielding their first rune scimitar? Or dragon armor? Or party hat? Recently, I saw someone trading a black boater for a black mystic robe bottom by the grand exchange. Intrigued, I decided to buy the bottoms and make the trade. I get them instantaneously, and go to trade the player, only to realize that he must be putting the boater in the grand exchange. Discouraged slightly, but still wanting the boater for some odd reason, I go and offer the medium price for one on the exchange and put the bottoms up for resale. Two seconds later, I get the boater, for the minimum price. A few seconds later, I see the same person yell "Selling black boater minimum price on exchange!" I smirked as I saw him stop and walk back to the Exchange, picking up his cash. He had no way to know it was me, and I didn't know it would be him, but it made it so much better. That is the experience that's lost. Remember drop parties? Sometimes small, sometimes large amounts of people celebrating an achievement, or just doing it out of boredom? They're a thing of the past. If you want to have a fun time with friends through a decent sized drop, you have to invite hundreds of money-mongers with you. Two days ago, a friend of mine went to a party where 3 of his friends all achieved 85 slayer. There were drops, and he received around 100k's worth. Under the new system, that would be nearly impossible. Not only would you have to compete with 200 other players for the drops, but why would they bother if they know that will happen? You don't always want 200 people to come to a celebration meant for just you and a group of friends. It really and truly takes the meaning out of it. Friendships. I think that these are the things that are most affected by the updates. If your friend needs a quick 100k to get on his feet, wouldn't you give it to him? If your friend died and lost his items with you, wouldn't you give them back, free of charge? If you get bored and go try to pk each other, don't you give the items back? If a friend wants you to charge their glory because they haven't/can't do Hero's, wouldn't you? Have you ever exchanged gifts with a friend? Gone drop hunting, and split the profits? None of these are practically doable anymore. All you can do is talk. If a friend dies and loses his items in an accident, what can you do? Say "Oh, I feel sorry for you", and then walk off, holding your godsword and santa high in the air? What else is there to do? A friend of mine recently lost her full dragon in an accident, and she was devastated. A group of friends and I teamed up to raise the cash to buy her a new set. Come January, all we could offer is condolences and "*hugs*". Summoning. Perhaps one of the most anticipated updates for a while, doesn't it make sense that Jagex'll hype it like there's no tomorrow? It does, but not specifically for the reason you may think. The trading update will come into effect in early January, correct? Guess what? So does Summoning. Is it any more than a bribe? Was making duel arena f2p any more than a bribe? Were the bank spaces? Perhaps. Although summoning, at least, holds another claim to infamy. Earlier, I talked about KQ trips. How will drops be distributed throughout a group of 3 players? If one gets a d chain, can the others do nothing but drool in envy? After that, I talked about the replacement of real players with NPCs. Anyone getting the connection? Player interaction, dealt another blow by summoning. Why work together with other players to kill the KQ if only one can get the drop, and you can summon NPCs to help you? Again, it's the experience of killing it (Not exp. experience, either). Do you think you'll watch your creature's health bar with as much anxiety as you did your best friend's? Can you revel in the spoils with an NPC? I'd have to guess not. Do you remember the section in the Summoning Development Diary on dialogue? How Jagex worked so hard to give each familiar their own unique chat? Somewhat like a real player would? Obviously, this is the greatest stretch I've made so far, but it's there. In the Development Diary for RWIT, there's the list of old features and what they've been replaced by. I find that there is just one single fault to this list. It needs the following addition: "Players: See All Previously Mentioned." These updates will not kill Runescape, only the experience of being in a living, breathing MMORPG community. It's lifeblood will be drained away, and replaced by computers. Is this a good thing? Is it a bad thing? It's all a matter of opinion, and requires thought on the reasons you play Runescape. Do you play for solo fun only? Interact only with other players when you need to buy/sell something, and even then, only sparingly? Then this update won't change anything for you. Were the updates necessary? Most likely. Were they a tad drastic? Also likely. But, as I said, this isn't about the update, rather the effects on the ingame experience. These updates are completely remaking the feel and look of the game. The last time something this big happened was the release of Runescape 2. How's about a "stay in" option like there was in Classic? =D> I'd take players over computers any day, personally. I found this quote to be quite suitable to current events, and was lucky enough to run across it the day of the update: Thanks for reading :
