I was induced to join the site because of this week's first article on combat levels. I was a little disappointed that nearly the entire analysis of the new system was on the value of the surface numbers. None of the gameplay and game design arguments put forth by Jagex were addressed. There was also no discussion about testing the system in the beta and whether the changes made a noticable difference to gameplay. Numbers are just that, numbers. Personally, I don't care whether I am level 200 or level 138. The point is whether the game remains fun and playable. As such there is no reason one way or the other that Summoning, Prayer or Constitution should be part of the equation, except we have all grown so used to it. It is true that the system is not meant to reward pures, and perhaps there will be a number of paid subscriptions that become redundant. Jagex seems to have already made their response to that with an increase in paid extras within the game. They will replace the minority of players with multiple combat accounts with a minority of players who like spending extra on cosmetic changes and wheel spins. I'm guessing their profits will go up, relatively speaking. No offense, but an analysis of the new combat system that basically concludes "it doesn't feel right to me" doesn't do the changes justice.
