Fey_Warrior

I recommend players check the GE again... A friend and I checked what's they're selling at... and I've had one listed at max price for over an hour now. They're no longer selling at maximum price in the GE, but for around 15,813 GP... and possibly may start selling at market price (GE) and lower. It may be that the so-called 'merchant clan' leaders have dumped early already, and the rest have only just caught on...so it seems unlikely, if the buy-out-all pattern doesn't resume, the 'predicted price' was not only a myth or overly confident but possibly a blatant lie to the members of these groups.

What I wish though is for players who support different Fansites to be supportive of the whole RuneScape Fansite community rather than being advocates of one or another site: * General > Fansite support information * Quick find code: 14-15-436-58600794 I won't express and opinion about this other than the fact that if I saw a problem with either Tip.It or the other Fansites I do have accounts on, I'd raise it with the owners/administrators of the site first rather than posting things that could potentially damage the reputation of that Fansite. Thankfully though most players have been great and not sought to bring others down in order to elevate those they prefer. That's one reason why I've not specifically mentioned any sites regarding this issue, as I realise that sites can change, and things have improved in general with this initiative, which has been great to see. *sighs* ~ Fey

The white-list of fan-site that can be named on the RuneScape Official Forums (RSOF) is here: * General > Fansite support information * Quick find code: 14-15-436-58600794 This list was added on the 12th of May on: * Page 26 of that thread Of course sites listed will be ones that make all efforts to remove and combat Terms of Service breaking material, while sites that don't obviously will not be getting listed. It's possible that a site might be removed later if problems arise that can't be solved, or if it falls into the wrong hands, but those issues will be dealt with privately by Jagex, and hopefully there'll be a place to report such issues confidentially soon, that don't involve public disavowal that we've seen on that sticky since the white-list was added. This should encourage more fan-sites of the calibre of Tip.It to flourish. Sites that promote cheating/exploits and support RWT/Hack-sites may find it difficult to get listed, unless they're prepared to address any issues that Jagex may raise with them. Hopefully more sites follow Tip.It's example, which to my mind has been a solid one over the years I've been a user of this fan-site. ~ Fey edit: one too many uses of the word 'hopefully' - fixed.

This is why the RSOF won't get updates given the member response to a recent poll: * Community > Polls > Poll Archive > Forum Focus (21-Jan-2009) Members with their low, and decreasing forum usage (ever since the GE update), plus their responses to polls like this, have expressed to Jagex they don't want their member dollar being spent on updates for the forums. Yet the complain about the RSOF not being attractive enough and lacking interesting features. So obviously they're giving Jagex contrary messages: they want updates to the forum, but they don't want their membership dollar spent on updating them? So when Jagex decides it needs to do something about the under-utilisation of the forums, in order to justify giving them more funding, the response is sadly as contradictory. This is what blows my mind here since it does not make sense to then protest against a measure to increase forum usage, by the way of bringing on board F2P users, who do come with funding: * http://www.marketwire.com/press-release ... 48054.html * http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/featu ... 017/?biz=1 * http://www.developmag.com/interviews/20 ... -RuneScape Being the most searched for and visited MMO site on the web (yes, even more than WoW) potentially makes the 'free' game of RuneScape a very large share of that 600 million (USD) spent in the online gaming market. And given Membership fees make a maximum of around 60 to 66 million (USD), there's a definitely potential that as the rated No. 1 MMO the loins share of that 600 million is going to Jagex, making F2Ps contribution likely self-funding if not a net contributor to RuneScape as a whole. Sadly it seems the message Members are sending to Jagex, is don't want anything but a few crumbs spent on the forums, but in a twisted irony now they don't want anyone else using them either? Crummy huh? So if these disgruntled Members to either succeed in driving the new F2P users or getting Jagex to remove them, any funding part of a funding pie that may have come with F2P user will evaporate leaving members with their crumbs in tact. So the result may again be there is little or no development funding allocated to updating them, and the RSOF will wallow as the most underutilised and least updated 'member' features. It's clear example of not wanting something, unless someone else wants it; then when they get it back, they toss it in the corner again :wall:

I feel some users here might be interested in reading a response I posted to a discouraged F2Per, who like many on the forums may have been browbeaten into believing they don't have a place on the forums, and sadly might not use the chance to improve things RuneScape which Jagex wanted them to do. I'd like to say that isn't the case. The argument that F2P doesn't pay for itself, let alone wouldn't pay it's way handsomely on the RSOF is a misleading one I've attempted to debunk here: * Forum Feedback > Avoid Spam by F2P * Quick find code: 28-29-75-58659538 While I'm not 100% on the details, the fact is that the channel advertising deal with Jagex *is* a substantial one, and in these hard economic times when fewer might be likely to find the money for an online game in increasingly tight budgets, the F2P side of RuneScape could become an even bigger earner for Jagex. Sadly, there are Members on the forums who don't read the MMO Industry News, and aren't aware of just how valuable the F2P player is to Jagex, and that's more than likely why Jagex has added forum access given Jagex wants to promote and improve it's free game. Please don't let the short-sightedness of a few disgruntled members, stunt the game, and as a result potentially harm both the growth of F2P and Member games.

While Mod MMG hasn't promised anything (nothing I can discuss here anyway) he seems to be inclined into improving the usefulness of RuneScape Forums, given they're now the major channel for delivering a lot of Customer Support since the previous CEO removed the "Other" query option. You might want to read this thread here: * Forum Feedback > Free 2 Play on forums * Quick find code: 28-29-986-58651538 (see my response on Page 5 Post 10) ...where I posted a response in more detail about that Elishot 8-)

Sadly all my old friends have moved onto other games and now all would be F2P, if I invited them back to play. Hopefully if even the improvement Jagex suggests happens and more updates occur for F2P that will mean they can get a few more things in a year for non-Members; it won't be a lot but hopefully it'll be something more every so often. While F2p will never be like Members, which is premium content, it may be just enough to keep players interested in the free game. Jagex has said it recognises that F2P is not just a demo, but a legitimate part of RuneScape in itself. Hopefully they're able to resolve any issues with 'animated' banners seriously affecting F2P performance without causing a great loss in income from F2P Worlds. That might mean players won't go out of their way to break Rule 15, meaning even more funding for F2P updates. So hopefully with a few more updates, F2P becomes more popular, and this funds the advertising stream even further. It will be hard for F2P to get more though given F2P is supporting something like 5 times the numbers of members. Overall RuneScape is meant to have over 6 million active players - but the Advertising from F2P Worlds has to support all those services (hardware, bandwidth & support staff) for over 5 million players which doesn't leave a lot, I imagine, for funding F2P updates by development staff, especially in these tough economic times. A good tip might be then: is to ensure you & your friends have computer systems (for those who can afford them) that is capable of running the Advertisements, since for every player that blocks them that's another player who then needs to join to make up for the resources that aren't being funded. I'll see what I can do personally about getting the Advertisements fixed so the Flash Ads can stay on low-detail (since I know that's hard on even my Pentium 4 Laptop in High Detail mode - it's video card is only an older Intel Chipset). A further tip might be: To take the time to report those advertisements that do slow your system down; which I used to do a lot even as a member, but I've been too busy recently to spend much time on F2P worlds. I used to visit them a lot when bot-hunting before bots became so rare I couldn't find them any more :P More players enjoying the game & the community is hopefully what this change heralds though, and the Free Game, may be just what keeps RuneScape growing while some other more expensive MMOs might lose subscription numbers. Cheers, ~ Fey

Don't pay no heed to those who post with unreasoned prejudice. By unreasoned, I mean those who simply flame. There may be some who may not like the change and you may have to enter into a discussion with them as to the actual benefits this may end up bringing to members by this inclusive policy of Mod MMG's. Those players can be talked around if you are patient enough. Just keep a steady hand and don't let yourself be baited into flame. We volunteer mods there may be small in number but we do have the support the greater majority of the RSOF posters, who are in fact welcoming F2P posters. The few who are resentful and act-out are only going to end up not being able to post themselves and may also cause problems for their in-game accounts if they persist in being abusive (thank the RuneScape gods for Rule 14!) ~ Fey

Some good news: They've put Game Feedback's icon back, and moved the *new* Rants to the bottom of the Feedback section. This obviously means Game Feedback is here to stay \ A small victory for those RSOFers who actually want to post in a forum where the quality of ones feedback is important. In other news though: the *new* Rants is also here to stay by the looks of things, and given Game Feedback is the place Jagex wants players to post well managed & detailed threads on solutions to in-game problems, the *new* Rants is relegated to being a forum for venting about anything and everything in RuneScape that ails a player. So when posting in the *new* Rants, it's best to be prepared for spammy responses, flame and the like. And the necromancy used on it has other consequences, that while immune to most normal moderation (so threads will flow freely but rapidly without any rhyme or reason); so you also won't be able to ask for or get much help from mods unless you have a seriously evil or vile poster on your thread. Those who wish to engage in severe vileness should be warned though, given that forum is being managed directly by Jagex staff (volunteers avoid it now), any vileness will be dealt with harshly. I might remark though, that the a lot of the threads or posts that you now see in the *new* Rants, if they're posted elsewhere on the RSOF will: either be locked, hidden or if not totally against the Code of Conduct, moved to Rants. So the *new* Rants style posting won't be allowed elsewhere on the forums. I guess every RuneScape related site, including RuneScape itself has to have it's Rants forum.

Sorry to disappoint you but things have changed drastically for volunteer forum moderators on the RSOF (and there are very few Player Mods that are Dual Mods who can help with them too) so that's why there's little or no moderator action to help in the *new* Rants. The *old* Compliments forum was flawed, in that the FSR didn't allow, nor did it encourage useful feedback, since anyone disagreeing with a Compliments thread was essentially breaking the rules. It was nigh a useful forum except for cookie threads, and really is no different from the 'Jagex Lite' forum you can now find on the Fun Orb forums. It served little or no purpose for getting useful player feedback. Essentially the old rants was transformed, thanks to the help of a lot of players on threads like these in Forum Feedback, into the Game Feedback forum. It was entirely possible to post compliments to Jagex, and complain about problems still, but the format of the forum encourage posters to take responsibility for their own threads. Good threads were rewarded with Jagex staff posts responding to the feedback, as well as the fantastic threads being stickied on a weekly basis. Overall Game Feedback was beginning to work fine, as far as the players who posted there were concerned. The Game Feedback forum, was created by players for players. It was (and still is for the time being) a great place to have a balanced discussion about in-game features. You were now allowed to disagree freely with another players idea (unlike in the *old* Compliments), and it was encouraged to enrich threads with different points of view, be they a compliment or complaint about features in RuneScape. The forum thread on which players worked with Jagex for over a year to build Game Feedback into a forum that resembled some of the better forums on fansites, for posting quality was here: * RuneScape Forums > Forum Feedback > Merging the Opposites * Quick find code: 28-29-511-48687964 Now the *new* Rants allows basically anyone to post without giving a thought for why they're posting other than that they're annoyed by something: * Home > News List > Rants forum returns The problem with this is that a growing number of regular posters who still cared about the RSOF now see a huge spam issue developing, but they've received no Jagex staff feedback on their concerns. So as for it opening up communication with Jagex, as far as the regular RSOF player community is concerned, the jury is definitely still out on whether this was a good thing or not. One thing is for sure, I'm not sure the Tip-It community would appreciate Jagex over-turning their efforts, if you all had spent over a year on creating a forum you wanted to post in, like Game Feedback. It was players, working together with Jagex staff & volunteer moderators there, who created what had become a viable feedback forum. It had a lot less spam than the *old* Rants or *old* Compliments forum put together. Game Feedback was working, and required a lot less moderating than the *old* Rants did. Worse, Mod MMG had called all those players that participated in that project of buidling a decent forum for feedback, 'stupid'. There's a lot of livid players on the RSOF; good players who dedicated a lot of time to building viable posting communities, that those forums may risk losing to fan-sites, if Jagex isn't careful. I'm sure you all know the RSOF has lost too many good posters as it is...so it can't afford to lose more over this issue. ~ Fey

I'm not sure what I can say about this change. The only hope is that players who want things changed speak up otherwise there's little volunteers on the RSOF can do about the new Rants.

That's precisely what some I know have done. The article's author also has has point regarding the low-cost nature, and lower hardware requirements of RuneScape. Having been a subscriber to more expensive MMO's. I know to be competitive in those games one has to pay extra not just for higher speed connections (faster than typical DSL) in order to reduce latency, but special proxy services as well, if one wants latency in the low 200 ms times. This is the case for those who don't live in the US, or on continental Europe where most of the other Major MMOs host their servers. I know I've given up hope of being viable in PvP in those games given my 400 > 1600 ms latency in those games. Add to that constant hardware upgrades to accompany not only expansion packs but patches; and often these costs are in addition to subscription costs. As well as RuneScape, players, and parent's of players can also now pay a discounted fee for FunOrb, which potentially with RuneScape could be a good value all-in-one package for online gaming. Couple that with the much lower over-heads one could presume accompany the lower-requirements for RuneScape's servers, and lower support costs. And unlike other MMO's RuneScape makes a lot of use of volunteers from the player base itself, to help ensure issues of personal safety, account theft & gold farming and other distruptive game-play are kept to minimum. This means they can spend more on game-development and updates, in a time if people do look at cutting entertainment costs, some of more expensive MMO's might be facing a dearth of funds to expend in each area. Although, if it what some are saying here turns out to be true, because MMO's in general are quite inexpensive in comparison to other forums of entertainment, the MMO industry in general may be a part of the computer entertainment industry that don't suffer the same kind downturn as seems likely to happen to the rest. Cheers, ~ Fey

Ditto. I wouldn't play RuneScape if it became merely another chore. This is why I'm doubtful I'll get any 99s any time soon. I've enough chores and obligations in 'real-life' that already consume large parts of my day. Although if a goal or achievement feels rewarding it might be worth a little dedication, but it's still only a game, and shouldn't become a job or like passing an exam or getting a qualification or degree. And if I just happen to get a 99 that I've found is fun along the way to getting it...then great. As a player commented in the game today at the GE: "Capes just aren't special any more" I don't think it's because more players have them that they're not so special any more to some out there. I suspect it's when some pare-down process of getting capes through mind numbing grinding; rather than seeing them as an end point as they were intended to be; that's made playing the game for those players, simply another chore. I prefer to let myself get distracted and have fun where I find it... and any level, feature or skill I gain along the way there is a bonus; and it actually feels more fun that way. There's been other MMOs I've played where one has to level-grind continuously to be able to play with friends/family and they've simply ceased to be fun. It's that grind that steals the joy and causes more stress...more if than if I weren't to bother at all; so I've stopped playing them as a result. I've come back to RuneScape time and again, because I feel I can truly play it how I like and when I can, without feeling pressured to do this or that thing first. Cheers, ~ Fey *still growing potatoes after all these years*

Aspects of the game I try to ignore? [*:s1x8nfxe]None. I'd like to sample all aspects of the game one-day, though that may take years. Parts of game-play I ignore? [*:s1x8nfxe]Only those who do not consider others: i.e. rude, inconsiderate or abusive players. ~ Fey * still busy growing potatoes after all these years*

I've tried out the Demo & Sandbox mode (good if you're not in the mood for multi-player). Sandbox is good for trying out strategies, like sending in fast units then a pack of Necromancers after. I've found range units such as mages are excellent counters to helper units (Druids, Monks, Necromancers) too. In the battles I've simulated, Zamorak beat both Guthix and Saradomin using the Necromancer Strategy. The lesson from the Sandbox is...don't let Necro's get near the site of a recent battle. Crush them with range unit before they can mobilise another army on your flank! Cheers, Fey Edit: And yes...it's the first game on FunOrb that's had me contemplating Members there (and given RuneScape Member's get a discount it's not all that expensive either).