Runescape Exposed - Article

[qeltar]

 

So in other words, agree with your views or we have no common sense, decency and honesty.

 

 

A bit oversimplified, but pretty close, yeah.

 

 

Anyway if Jagex sold the license to the book and an independant author wrote it, Jagex aren't really involved.

 

 

Jagex has already said that they were intimately involved in the project.

 

 

Anyway Yes Jagex sold the liscence however they never indicated an age range so they cannot be blamed for 8 year olds buying that "guide".

 

 

Again, complete nonsense that only someone who knows nothing about book publishing would write.

 

 

 

~q

[qeltar]

That's a very good idea, qeltar.

 

 

 

 

Then start doing it.

 

 

 

And to get back on topic: if you really think Jagex had nothing to do with the writing and marketing of that book, you know absolutely nothing about publishing.

 

 

 

~q

[WookieeMania12]

I don't need to read this article but I decided to anyway.

 

 

 

There is NOTHING in there about player mods or forum mods or the fact that luring has been banned for months at the time of this article. However rude the players of F2P are, I quite agree with that as I've seen it several times. But not ALL players on F2P are like that (unfortunately the guide never says this). Some players (a lot actually) at least log off to take a break.

 

 

 

Again, nothing about player mods or the fact that some players are mature and it mostly focuses on the immaturity generation.

[paulyts50]

I don't need to read this article but I decided to anyway..

 

 

 

There are 2 articles...part one and part two and ultimately Qeltar made Truthscape which is the guide for parents or players wishing to learn more about the game.

 

 

 

There is NOTHING in there about player mods or forum mods or the fact that luring has been banned for months at the time of this article. However rude the players of F2P are, I quite agree with that as I've seen it several times. But not ALL players on F2P are like that (unfortunately the guide never says this). Some players (a lot actually) at least log off to take a break.

 

 

 

Charles does state that player mods have little power and that J mods are not in the game enough to make a presence and none have a significant impact on the game. The few good and honest players are far outweighed by the beggers and scammers and other ne'er do wells. The Runescape parent guide and knowledge base does not touch upon the negative aspects of the game and so, Charles has exposed the underbelly.

 

 

 

Luring had not been banned for months. It was as Charles stated. Shortly after the first expose was up, Jagex changed their decision. The fact that the second article was about to expose luring and that the Truthscape site was about to come online rattled the cages. (I also credit dedicated parents and players who kept the pressure on Jagex in a non- moblike manner)

 

 

 

to quote Charles in part 2:

 

 

 

"Fortunately, on March 29, 2007-over five weeks after the initial decision, but only three days after the publication of Part 1 of this editorial-Jagex pleasantly surprised me and the other ethical players of RuneScape. The company reversed their February decision and made luring into the Wilderness illegal"

 

 

 

Again, nothing about player mods or the fact that some players are mature and it mostly focuses on the immaturity generation

 

 

 

That was the intention...to focus on the immature who may not be ready to play the game. Did you know I met a 5 year old playing? She really didn't belong in the game, now did she?

 

 

 

I am not sure why you are emphasizing players mods. They really have no teeth and most just play the game and do not report much of what they see or hide with friends. They are not paid and thus you get what you pay for. Player maturity is not how player mods are chosen. It is the cleanliness of their own game play. Choosing forum mods is a much better system in that they can see the kindness , helpfulness, maturity and grasp of the English language. After all, I hear an 8 year old was chosen as a player mod. Maturity and ability have nothing to do with the player mod choice.

[Kiriyama]

Pauly, if you focus on the immaturity of players then all you'll get is negatives.

 

 

 

Charles/Qeltar's article is purely biased, heck I know player mods ingame, great for asking questions.

[paulyts50]

Pauly, if you focus on the immaturity of players then all you'll get is negatives.

 

 

 

umm did you actually read the 2 articles? The point was that the immature, young and vulnerable should perhaps not be playing. It also tells parents the complete information so they can make informed decisions.

 

 

 

Charles/Qeltar's article is purely biased, heck I know player mods ingame, great for asking questions.

 

 

 

Indeed it is partial, but not unfair. Everything he wrote is factual. He is writing an expose as a parent and player... not a fairy tale. Jagex's parent guide is purely biased. It contains little about the actual game and veers toward the 'educational' aspects of the game, which are miniscule at best.

 

 

 

The player mods who answer your questions are nice people, so that's good you found a rare friendly mod. I had 8 player mods on my list and all were great because I only had good people on my list, yet I still think the basic player mod does little and can do little to police runescape.

[Kiriyama]

Yes there is abusive mods, however all the mods I've met are helpful, even the ones who aren't on my friends list.

 

 

 

Only Mod I disagreed with ever is the one who told me to stop using the wall glitch as it was bug abuse, but not by Jagex's definition.

[Spy13]

Sadly, the kids feel their parents should educate them and the only way for them to get ahold of things like this, currently, are through the kids. [generally]

 

 

 

It puts us at a standstill of major addiction and unnoticing.

[br34d]

i know im going to get flamed and such. but this is the debate club... i am 14, i play runescape. if i had to guess, i would say well over half of the runescape population are people under 13. if JAGeX only wants to protect the welfare of children playing the game they should step up their blocking type thing ( cant think of the right words ) to prevent children under 13 from playing. i couldnt care less if a child who was under 13 and was *not intelligent* enough to not know to not give out personal information, they dont deserve to use the internet for any means. "click continue if you agree to the terms and conditions" it clearly states that you have to be 13 or over to play the game. to those little kids listen? no. do the parents step in to stop them? usually not. the part i hate the most is members who confess to being 9 years old. if i could i would ban EVERY SINGLE PERSON who confessed to being under 13. but i guess thats why i will never become a moderator for runescape. children need to learn, and if learning means the hard way ( use your imagination ). i know that somebody will say "oh br34d, you are a heartless person" i will not care. im at the point where every game that i turn to, has little kids ( halo 2 on x-box live, halo 1 on the pc on the internet, runescape, and the list goes on ). "oh br34d, do you have no life?" yes, its a life of gaming. "br34d, why do you ask yourself questions in 3rd person?" because im insane. thats what i think about little kids. nobody will read this whole thing, but i believe that i have made a somewhat valid point.

 

 

 

i went extremely off topic ( i think ). but yeah..

 

 

 

thank you..

[Hi9im8Here7]

It's in the interest of money that Jagex advertises to kids under 13.

 

 

 

Technically, I don't believe Jagex isn't doing anything wrong when they publish an 8+ BOOK about a 13+ GAME.

 

 

 

Still, it's morally wrong since they're number one goal is to deceive parents into letting they're kid play runescape (especially when you consider how bad the ppl are in f2p. If you don't think they're bad, go to the karamja fishing dock in a free world).

 

 

 

Even if parents have the common sense to check out the game, they'll probably stop when they read that stupid parent's guide.

 

 

 

They tell us the game's for all ages even know the terms and conditions clearly state that "if you are under 13, you must not play this game"

 

 

 

I find it funny that Jagex says that luring is not in the spirit of the game when they do it themselves. :?

[BloodArgon]

Female players in RuneScape are subjected to nearly continuous harassment by the testosterone-overloaded teenaged hornballs who comprise the bulk of the game's players. This includes lewd comments, and being constantly asked if they "want a boyfriend." Many girls resort to playing as male characters just to keep their sanity.

 

 

 

Thats a little extremist, and sexist?

[gameboypen]

The amount of parents which simply don't care what their child is doing is growing and thats not a good thing. Parents should read the advice Jagex and other game labels give. MA 15+ means 15+!

[Hawks]

Okay. Ranting time!

 

 

 

1. Picture #9 is in the Party Room, and the caption says: "RuneScape has play-versus-player environements such as "The Wilderness" where many players battle one another for precious items and wealth. "

 

 

 

THIS PICTURE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WILDY!

 

 

 

2. "In RuneScape, however, the phrase has taken on a life of its own as a generic insult - you can be called a "noob" for doing almost anything, which really annoys younger players."

 

 

 

THEN DON'T PLAY!

 

 

 

3. "This emphasis on practicalities also means that children playing the game are not taught much of anything about morality, beyond doing whatever is selfishly beneficial."

 

"There are no consequences for walking into a town, for example, and just slaughtering every townsperson you find; in most places cutting down a guard in front of another guard won't even cause the second to take notice."

 

 

 

THIS IS A GAME! IF YOU CAN'T TELL BETWEEN REAL LIFE AND A GAME, DON'T PLAY!

 

 

 

4. "Some consolation can be found in the fact that after a creature is killed, it will reappear ("respawn") a few moments later, which some players use to assuage their guilt. But does this just cheapen the concept of death further? And is a 10-year-old really mature enough to know?"

 

 

 

10-YEAR-OLDS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO PLAY THIS GAME!

 

 

 

5.

 

"Just some of the examples of common behavior here:

 

 

 

People who befriend new players and convince them to team up to go PKing. The older player then backstabs the newer one and kills them. This is called "luring" and is legal.

 

Another type of "luring" involves predators who tell players trying to sell items that they want to buy them, then trick the seller into the Wilderness where the seller is killed. Unbelievably, Jagex recently made this form of deliberate deception legal in the game-despite it contradicting the company's own rules-and then told PKers but refused to inform the potential victims! We will discuss this issue much more in Part 2.

 

Large teams, called "clans", roam around the Wilderness attacking single adventurers and killing them. For example, 20 on one slaughters are not unheard of-yay, what fun! Sometimes clans will engage in luring by lying to a new member by saying they are accepted into the clan, then double-crossing them in the wild.

 

Players who exploit problems with the game engine to allow teams to gang up on a single victim, even in areas intended only for one-on-one combat."

 

 

 

THIS IS WHY JAGEX HAS THE "WILDERNESS DITCH" AND THE SIGNS THAT WARN YOU ABOUT THE WILDY!

 

 

 

Here is exactly what the sign says when you try to cross the Wilderness Ditch (I couldn't get a screenshot):

 

"If you go any further you will enter the Wilderness. This is a very dangerous area, haunted by ghosts! The further north you go, the more dangerous it becomes."

 

The Wilderness Signs say: "Danger, Wilderness up ahead! Almost certain death!"

 

 

 

6. "Another issue is character imbalance. The Wilderness is designed so players can avoid unfair fights, but RuneScape's combat system favors highly-tuned "killing machine" characters made by experienced players. A new player who is level 50 could end up fighting an experienced PKer whose character is also level 50 but far more powerful. The new player would have no chance."

 

 

 

The way the combat system works is based on the combat stats! If you are a 50-lvl pure ranger, you are a match for a 50-lvl melee pure in the RS combat triangle!

 

(unless, of course, one has lots more money that the other. then they are only different by equipment!)

 

 

 

7. "Not only will a new player who enters likely die and lose most of his items, he will also usually be verbally abused as he dies. Many PKers are proud of this taunting, and think it's funny that their victims get upset."

 

 

 

NEW PLAYERS GO INTO THE WILDY UNDERSTANDING THIS! PKers ARE PLAYER KILLERS!

 

 

 

8. "And it gets even worse. Jagex deliberately adds game content that forces or encourages regular players who do not want to PK to go into the Wilderness. For example, there are quests and skills that require entering the Wild. With these actions, Jagex ensures that PKers have easy prey, at the expense of decent players who just want to have fun and have no idea what they are getting themselves into."

 

 

 

THERE ARE NO F2P QUESTS THAT REQUIRE GOING INTO THE WILD. WHEN YOU DO A QUEST THAT REQUIRES GOING INTO THE WILD, YOU SHOULD BE A RELATIVELY HIGH LEVEL! THAT'S COMMON SENSE!

 

 

 

9. "Some players can't make money fast enough playing the game, so they turn to "merchanting," which is the RuneScape term for buying and selling items to try to make a profit. Imagine that instead of killing monsters and doing other fun activities, kids are standing around in trading areas engaging in arbitrage of imaginary items. Many young players get exasperated trying to earn the money they "need" for one of these rares, and end up quitting the game - or more often, resorting to scamming or cheating."

 

 

 

THIS IS THEIR CHOICE! THEY CHOOSE TO BUY AND SELL ITEMS!

 

 

 

10. "Jagex makes a half-hearted effort to educate gamers about this, encouraging them to maintain a "healthy gaming lifestyle," but they impose no limits on how long a player can be online. The company says it doesn't "encourage people to play for more hours than is reasonable." They never say what they consider "reasonable" to be, however, which gives both new players and parents little guidance. There are gamers who spend upwards of 60 or more hours a week playing the game... and some a lot more than that. Some players have been known to play nearly around the clock except for short naps."

 

 

 

AGAIN COMMON SENSE! DON'T PLAY IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHEN TO STOP!

 

 

 

11. "Many of the best items in the game can only be obtained by killing monsters or engaging in activities that have a random reward. In essence, players are gambling that the time and gold they spend will pay off with a handsome payout. For example, an activity called a "treasure trail" can end with rewards worth only a few thousand gold, or an item worth over 100 million. In a new minigame called Barbarian Assault, the only way to get the best rewards is to engage in gambling - the game even shamelessly calls it "gambling.""

 

 

 

THIS GAME IS FOR 13 AND UP! IT'S JUST THAT- A GAME. DON'T PLAY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO RISK THIS!

 

 

 

12. ""If You're Too Stupid To Realize It's A Scam, You Deserve To Get Scammed.""

 

 

 

THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE MOST SCAMS ARE SO OBVIOUS!

 

 

 

13. "The targets of scams justifiably feel angry and hurt, and also upset that they were never warned about potential scams before they started playing."

 

 

 

IF YOU'RE TOO DUMB TO SEE A SCAM, YOU SHOULDN'T BE PLAYING!

 

 

 

14. "Getting scammed and then being told it is your own fault can be devastating to a child."

 

 

 

THIS GAME IS FOR 13 AND UP!

 

 

 

15. "Potentially worse than being scammed out of an item is having your entire account stolen. Some real low-lifes spend their time trying to trick players into revealing their passwords or downloading malicious software that can steal login information. They then "hack" into the account and transfer all valuable items to their own characters, or just sell the account. Players routinely spend months or years developing a character and earning items, then log in one evening and find it all gone."

 

 

 

JAGEX WARNS YOU ABOUT THIS: THEY TELL YOU THEY DON'T BLOCK YOUR PASSWORD!

 

 

 

THIS WHOLE PROBLEM IS CAUSED BY THE PARENTS! THE PARENTS TEACH THE KIDS WHAT'S OKAY AND WHAT'S NOT!

 

 

 

Thank you for your time. I would welcome comments about my response.

 

(LOL, after ranting, I like to be polite!)

[Hawks]

i know im going to get flamed and such. but this is the debate club... i am 14, i play runescape. if i had to guess, i would say well over half of the runescape population are people under 13. if JAGeX only wants to protect the welfare of children playing the game they should step up their blocking type thing ( cant think of the right words ) to prevent children under 13 from playing. i couldnt care less if a child who was under 13 and was *not intelligent* enough to not know to not give out personal information, they dont deserve to use the internet for any means. "click continue if you agree to the terms and conditions" it clearly states that you have to be 13 or over to play the game. to those little kids listen? no. do the parents step in to stop them? usually not. the part i hate the most is members who confess to being 9 years old. if i could i would ban EVERY SINGLE PERSON who confessed to being under 13. but i guess thats why i will never become a moderator for runescape. children need to learn, and if learning means the hard way ( use your imagination ). i know that somebody will say "oh br34d, you are a heartless person" i will not care. im at the point where every game that i turn to, has little kids ( halo 2 on x-box live, halo 1 on the pc on the internet, runescape, and the list goes on ). "oh br34d, do you have no life?" yes, its a life of gaming. "br34d, why do you ask yourself questions in 3rd person?" because im insane. thats what i think about little kids. nobody will read this whole thing, but i believe that i have made a somewhat valid point.

 

 

 

i went extremely off topic ( i think ). but yeah..

 

 

 

thank you..

 

 

 

*grins*

 

You should look at what I wrote, br34d!

[Hawks]

If you really want a laugh or whatever, you should read the forums on their site. There's a few mentions of Tip.it and other stuff.

[RU_Insane]

it clearley says that you need to be at least 13 years old if you want me to spell it for you here it is thirteen ok this guy that wrote that is a idiet

 

 

 

The word is "idiot". :roll:

 

 

 

And if it's for those over thirteen, why is it being marketed towards pre-teens?

 

 

 

~q

 

 

 

Your assumption that the game is being marketed towards kids is fallible. You based your assumption on the fact that Jagex marketed the book towards preteens before the 13+ age rule was released, so what you are saying here is flawed.

 

 

 

Jagex realizes that there are, in actuality, people under 13 playing the game, but they said cannot enforce the 13+ rule.

 

 

 

This is a loophole that Jagex has managed to slip by with ever since the underage rule was introduced by Jagex, so when Jagex says it's a game for all ages, in actuality, it's true, because a good amount of players in RuneScape under 13 played before the rule was enacted.

 

 

 

Notice that Jagex cannot physically do anything about this, so why are you going around saying Jagex is aiming the game to preteens, when in-fact, they're not? Jagex will keep updating the content for its 13+ players, not little kids.

[foodmanfood1]

we cannot stop small children from lying about age to play nor can we stop STUPID parents from letting their children play either.