blackrazor

I like the basic idea, here's my take on it: Most monsters (including humans) would remain type neutral. Some monster would have an elemental type, for example: Earth: Moss Giant, Green Dragon, Zombie, Skeleton Air: Black Dragon, Ghost, Lesser Demon, Greater Demon, Imp Fire: Fire Giant, Red Dragon Water: Ice Giant, Blue Dragon, Ice Warrior Smithed weapons and fletched bows (no dragon, quest, or barrows stuff) can be enchanted with an element, by combining it with the corresponding earth, air, fire, or water talisman. Mages can use their elemental spells for the same elemental advantage, naturally. Air attacks do 50% extra vs. water, 50% less vs. air, and normal to earth and fire. Fire attacks do 50% extra vs. earth, 50% less vs. fire, and normal to water and air. Earth attacks do 50% extra vs. air, 50% less vs. earth, and normal to fire and water. Water attacks do 50% extra vs. fire, 50% less vs. water, and normal to air and earth.

I think this could be cool, but also I'd like to see: A spade must be in inventory, in order to bury bones. Bones can only be buried in the ground. Not on any artificial surfaces like building floors and ships. Bones should be able to be offered to altars for bonus xp, I like that, too.

EDIT: This topic was discussed in great detail, including a very lucrative financing option for Jagex (co-branding), so they would have financial incentive to implement these sorts of updates. Afterall, bottom line, money makes the world go round. Jagex needs to earn more from ASP, for them to be motivated to do more. And solutions to that were discussed! The discussion took place on the last three pages of a now locked topic, starting here. Please have a look, as these same discussions are very relevant to this thread, as well. Balance for ad-sponsored servers ================================ In the old Runescape, the classic Runescape, play was balanced. Although features have been added for the newer ad-sponsored Runescape over the years, some of these have actually eroded the balance, making the ad-sponsored servers feel more like a demo, instead of the free standing (albeit inferior to members) game that it once was. I would imagine that the sponsors who underwrite the banner version of the game wish for customer retention, in the same manner that Jagex wishes it for their premium version of the game. Here are some basic issues that I have seen creeping into the ad-sponsored version, that undermine its quality. You can't go 10 paces in an ad sponsored world, without clicking on something that responds with "you need to be on a member's world in order to do this". Are the sponsors aware that the game which they underwrite is infested with such clever mechanisms to encourage the playerbase to move to a member's world, where the sponsor will have no banner, and thus no revenue potential? Is Jagex aware that these little ploys make the ad sponsored player feel like they are playing a demo, instead of a free standing (albeit inferior to members) game? I recommend that if Jagex wants to create more skills, more quests, more content for its members version, then it should place such things in the members portion of the map. There is ample space there. We ad sponsored players don't need our noses rubbed in it. Now I know that some clever person will respond with: "Jagex does this to encourage people to play members, since Jagex gets more money that way." Well two things. One, neither you nor I really know how much money Jagex actually receives from a player that watches those banners for 20 or 30 hours a week, compared to the $1.16 per week ($5.00 / 4.3) they receive from subscriptions. I know that some companies offer free (lower quality) internet, or other rewards, based on being able to bombard you with ads whilest you partake of their service. Ad sponsored services underwrite network television, many sporting and cultural events, and heavily trafficed websites, too, so please don't assume that there isn't real money there, assuming the numbers of customers are large. And Jagex does have the required numbers, I believe. It may well turn out that a player watching banners for 30 hours a week actually generates more gross revenue for Jagex than that $1.16/week subscription, but that heavy bandwidth use erases the net profit for both member and non-member in that situation. Perhaps Jagex only really makes money off of members that pay their sub fees, but that play very little, such as under 8 hours per week. Remember that hours played costs Jagex in bandwidth and in potential customer support issues. And point two regarding the above, Jagex has a responsibility to the companies paying money to Jagex for their banner display service (ad sponsored servers). Jagex also, indirectly, has a responsibility to the players who watch those ads. Without us ad sponsored players, there would be no banner revenue stream for Jagex, and their current business model would collapse. So if Jagex wishes to give us an inferior version of their game, fine. But it should still conform to minimum standards of enjoyability, sustainability, and retention. The sponsors footing the bill should demand it. So, as a general principal, ad sponsored players should have access to a balanced game, that while perhaps inferior to the member's version, is still self-supporting and free standing in its own right. These are some skill and item changes that I propose, in order to achieve this goal: 1) Open up the chaos rune temple to ad sponsored play. Allow the ad sponsored monsters (lesser demons, etc.) to drop the chaos talisman on ad sponsored worlds. Add chaos runecrafting and chaos tiaras to the ad sponsored runecrafting skill. The logic here is that members magic is already orders of magnitude better, with ancient magics, god spells, battlestaves, uncraftable bloods, and craftable deaths. So giving ad sponsored players uncraftable deaths, but _craftable_ chaos, is a necessary thing to allow ad sponsored mages to sustain themselves, and still does nothing to undermine the basic superiority of the member's features in both runecrafting and magic. 2) Add green dragons to ad sponsored servers. Allow ad sponsored crafters to make green dragon armor. Ad sponsored range allows us to wear green dragon armor. It is rediculous that we cannot hunt it, nor craft it, in order to support ourselves. Members servers still get snakeskin, and red, blue, and black dragons and armor, so no danger of undermining members, either. 3) Upgrade ad sponsored server range to yew bows and rune arrows. Remove maple bows. We have yew trees. We have rune rocks. We have rune mining and smithing. We have range. So it makes sense that we would have yew bows and rune arrows, too. Members still get magic bows, crystal bows, darts, javelins, throwing axes, throwing knives, barbed bolts, ogre bows, cannon, and barrows ... so really no danger of undermining member's range, either. We ad sponsored players shouldn't get maple bows, since no maple trees grow on our servers. 4) Add arrowhead smithing to the ad sponsored servers. Arrowhead creation is an important tool to generate cash for smithers. It's an important cash sink to the game as well, since arrows generally get consumed, instead of being high-alched. If ad sponsored uses arrows, then we should be able to make the arrowheads to support ourselves, as well. 5) Add the fletching skill to ad sponsored servers. It should be limited to bows that have the corresponding trees on ad sponsored servers (ordinary, oak, willow, and yew). Also limited to arrows that have the corresponding rocks on ad sponsored servers to support them (bronze, iron, steel, mithril, addy, rune). Fletching was promised years ago, back in classic runescape, before members services were even implemented. If there is one new skill needed on ad sponsored servers, it would be fletching, since rangers need this, in order to be self-sufficient. Members still get agility, thieving, farming, slayer, herblore as exclusive skills, plus more things to do in most other skills, so the attraction of members for skilling should not be significantly impacted by this proposed change. 6) Remove maple bows from the range stores. Add yew bows, instead. It should match with the trees we have in ad sponsored play. 7) Increase bank space by 3.5 full rows, so that there is room for proper skilling and rare collections, for the serious ad sponsored player. Additions to skills, random event rewards, holiday event rewards, and more complex gameplay have added the need for bank space over time. No need to squeeze ad sponsored play into a situation where they must choose to forgo options available to them, because of insufficient bank space. Members still get much more bank space, so those going for the ultimate in storage needs will still find membership very attractive. Lets keep the ad sponsored worlds consistent, sustainable, self-supporting, and balanced. Please. Do it for the sponsors. Do it for the players. Do it for the great concept of this game, that was founded 5 years ago. Please. EDIT: I believe that ad sponsored player accounts with all of: 1+ years age, 1000+ skill total, no black marks should get posting privileges on RS official forums. Jagex can benefit from the input of experienced and well behaved players, whether they pay a monthly subscription, or not.

Actually, yes they can. The fan sites base their operation on the copyrighted intellectual property of Jagex, i.e. the rules, mechanics, and layout of Jagex's Runescape product. That being said, it is another question entirely to what extent these requests are enforceable, and how wise (or unwise) it would be for Jagex to pursue this course. Again, Jagex does have the right to tell even paying members how to use their service. They can try to restrict the way members complete a quest, if they feel it is in the game's (or general playerbase's) greater good. Heck, they can tell you how to do it, simply because they feel like it. There are no "bills of rights" for players, and consumer protection vs. EULAs and TOS is thus far a very murky area. That being said, it would be unwise for any company to embark on a path that risks angering their paying customers, obviously. And restaurants can and do restrict how you may dress, where you may sit, and even enforce basic rules of civil conduct and table manners.

Well Eeeeediot, I see your point of view. Many MMO game companies have stopped making these kinds of puzzle quests altogether, because they cost a lot of human resources to do well, and only a very small percentage of the playerbase is interested in actually solving them without a spoiler. On the other hand, it is Jagex's intellectual property. I suppose they could go "hog wild" and try to ban all external fan sites that relate to their content, if they feel that their own site provides all the information that they wish to have available to their playerbase. I.E., in a worse case scenario, they could contact all the fansites' ISPs, and order them to remove material that references their copyrighted property. I'm not saying that this would be a smart move for Jagex, but then again, not all companies do smart things all the time. So I guess it could be worse. Still, Tip.it has been here for ages, and is probably the most respected fansite, especially for users that have been around for 4+ years. I'm surprised (and saddened) that you guys don't already have high level regular contact with Jagex's top people (i.e. the Gowers, or their top underlings). If you don't by now, then I guess that doesn't bode well for the future. If I were you, I'd be equally worried about the fact that any player who recommends Tip.it to another player, while within Runescape, is liable to be banned for advertizing other web sites. The fact that Tip.it and Jagex have never even negotiated such basic cooperative reciprocity (after so many years) is a sign of either way too little communication, or a fan site working hard based on a game company that tolerates them, but doesn't really want them around.

Hi Duke :) Very interesting topic. I liked the way you came up with your estimates, very creative mathematical analysis. Even if the estimates are off, they do show a basic trend which I think is correct, that cash is entering the active merchanting economy much faster than it is exiting. This puts high inflationary pressure on those few items in the game whose numbers are not also increasing at similar rates, i.e. rares. For those of you saying this is only a game ... very true. But it's also a virtual world, and serious studies in law, economics, sociology, psychology, ethics, and politics are beginning to look at virtual worlds as interesting places to do research. So there is merit in these discussions. Here is my idea to drain the economy: Jagex should implement a lottery that pays out every 24 hours. Tickets cost 100K each. Players can buy as many tickets as they desire, subject to their available cash, of course. Each day, one ticket is selected as a winner. That ticket automatically turns into ONE of the old tradable rares, or one from a list of new ones. The other tickets vanish from player inventories, and the lottery is reset for the next day. I know that Jagex has the code for this sort of thing, as similar mass item transmutations were put in place for the past Easter event, with the rubber chicken and Easter chocolates. Here are some examples of potential lottery winnings: cracker party hat (any color) halloween mask (any color) santa hat pumpkin easter egg disk of returning .... and some new ones .... dunce cap party hat (orange, black) zorro mask heart-shaped box of chocolates Note, there should be server-wide messages as the lottery runs, and winners should be announced in the MOTD. This will add hype to the whole lottery thing, and get lots of players involved and excited, in all likelihood.

Well, I believe that Jagex looks at the advantages of keeping a substantial free game in two ways: 1) It's a form of advertising for their product. Sure, there are development costs; but, that is underwritten mostly by the development costs of the member's version. It also costs bandwidth, but that is partially underwritten by piggybacking on the member's bandwidth and by ads (some of which are quite invasive, and will load your system with unwanted cookies and spyware if you're not careful). Now, I'm sure that F2P does not pay for itself, but it's cost is reduced by the above. The remaining cost is probably seen as cost-effective advertising by Jagex. Now points have been made about the players that "mooch" forever, and never join P2P, or that P2Pers are paying unfairly for F2P to exist. Well, that's a business decision that Jagex has every right to make. When a company pays 1 million dollars for a 30 second ad spot on the superbowl, not everybody reached automatically goes and buys the product. And the costs of the ad are still passed along to those loyal customers that were already buying the product before the ad ran. Perhaps Jagex feels that running these free servers, in their current state, is a better way to gain customers than the alternative forms of advertising that are available to them. 2) The free servers build community. Many P2Pers have stated a real dislike for the F2P worlds, and the mooching, begging, scamming scum that inhabit them. Yet many P2Pers profit from the F2P worlds, as a place to buy and sell, pk with less expensive items at risk, mine rune, show off their P2P goodies, or to go back to for a while, when their P2P subscription runs out, and they need a break from the game for a bit. Sure, item spawns could be adjusted, and stores on P2P could be made that would sell in bulk the same items that F2Pers provide (yew, iron, steel, coal, gems, hides, silver, gold). But, tinkering with that wouldn't be as simple as has been stated. First of all, you lose the human interaction so vital to MMORPG when you instead interact primarily with stores. Also, thanks to store camping, the stores would either be mostly empty of the items that P2Pers need, or the items would simply flood and depress the market .. depending on the store respawn rate. Keep in mind that raw materials are often bought in the 1000s or 10000s by serious players, and those players desire a quick dependable supply, such as what is currently available from F2P suppliers. Now certainly, some P2Pers prefer to get their own, or to buy from other P2Pers, and that is their right. The cool thing about RS, it that there are different ways to achieve your goals, depending on your personal tastes, style, and efficiency.