Tip.It Times Presents: RuneScape: A game for the young?

[avatar1358]

I am 40 year old man and I love playing Runescape when I get time away from all my other family duties. I think there should be games for adults and younger kids alike, Disney has an online game for younger kids. But the problem lies in two areas, one being money, as Runescape draws alot of money for its creaters and how much is enough. More players equals more money, bottom line, thats why there in business. Don't like capitalism or how it's conducted, don't play RS, find another game. Second is this namby pamby Politicaly correct world we live in, were everyone is offended by words such as "NOOB". My son is seven and I teach him that words are harmless and only have power if you give them power. It starts with being a parent and watching what your kids play, watch, say and load up. that includes RS and if it was too ruff for him I wouldn't let him play. In America we have freedoms that alot of other countries could never imagine and slowly they are being stripped away and RS is one example of political correctness. Part of having freedoms is having the bad with the good, so if you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen!

[goosey134]

I find this article however well written to be utter rubbish.

 

 

 

It is based on the over populated view that the community has had some sudden crash. The community is barely altered all the way through rs, sure f2ps community has died but so few of these "kids" become p2p tomakemuch difference.

 

 

 

People just notice now and the RSC players are so reminiscent about the good ole days they make it out to be better than it was.

 

 

 

As for the pre-teens its utter rubbish again, sure there are SOME,but since you have to be 13 (12?) to make an account the community is not made up of all largely kids now. Personally I have only come across 3 players under 15 in my time on rs.

 

 

 

As for it being "easy" anyone can claims its easy if you sit here and use tip.it for every last quest and skill bit of info going. Try doing something for yourself and see how easy it is.

 

 

 

It was no easy task for me and around 9 other players on RSOF one morning to figure out the ghostly robes after discovering the first ghost. It tooks as several hours to solve the clues and realise there was 3 routes.

 

 

 

It was no easy task for anyone who did me2 before the guide came, anyone who knows me knows how good i am at puzzles and it took me 8 hours to solve.

 

 

 

Even quests as low as medium difficulty require a good amount of skill and game knowledge to do without a guide, as you actually have to deduce what to bring where to go etc etc.

 

 

 

ROFL! Do you have any idea how ridiculas this sounds, is their some sort of electro-shock thing programmed into the keyboard that stops 12 and under players from selecting 13+? not last time i checked...

[goosey134]

 

How is Jagex violating its own principles?

 

 

Mainly by claiming that those under 13 are not allowed to set up new accounts while simultaneously marketing the game towards those same children. This makes their "no under 13" claims little more than lip service to appease their lawyers. They are encouraging children to lie in order to sign up for the game.

 

 

 

Then there are other areas.. such as claiming parents should be responsible for their kids' gameplay but providing them with virtually no tools to help them do so; saying they greatly value an online presence when J mods are scarcer than hen's teeth; and a lot more.

 

 

 

~q

 

 

 

 

 

SAYS YOU, with your self-claimed CYNICAL mind. They are no more actively advertising the game at pre teens than at people aged 60-70, show me some proof, other than a picture of a guide from 5 years ago, which has an age description of 7+ (or w/e), because thats no proof at all . I'm sure WOW/Guild wars/any other game ever is this socially responsible and creates 'tools' for parents to monitor their childs activity. SHUH(this means yeh right!!!!!). Seriously its a game with almost no marketing (read NO MARKETING) and yet you are saying its 'TARGETED' at kids, thats not a strong arguing point.

 

 

 

The problem i REALLY have with this article is not the content of the article but the responses to it from people like you, making ridiculous, unsubstantiated claims and then going omg the community suxors. [bleep] and moaning like 4 year olds about a poor community is the definition of irony, and thats all 99% of the posts on this thread are. I put it to you we have seen the dark side of Runescapes player base on this thread, from the ex-player who 'suddenly realises' the game sucked and can't compare to w/e flash in the pan game they found this month and can't help but tell everyone who plays RS that they are losers and playing a crap game, to the people who play going 'omg haxors, community blows its like Jagex really wants kids to play it r a fact based on how stupid everyone is and young, unlike me who r smart'. Thus endeth the tale.

 

 

 

"They are no more actively advertising the game at pre teens than at people aged 60-70, show me some proof, other than a picture of a guide from 5 years ago, which has an age description of 7+ (or w/e), because thats no proof at all ."

 

 

 

1- Miniclips

 

2- child aimed books buy a child aiming at author(cant think of anything better but you know what i mean)

 

3- child oriented game magazien articles

 

etc.

 

 

 

and whens the last time you saw a great big runescape designed computer cozy at a knitting be, or a runescape fan club run diner? never, runescapes not advertized for people over the age of 25 really, you dont see runescape articles on tsn or martha stuwert to advertise to older people. you see it on kids websites and books.

[P_E_N_N_Y]

Ok where is all this preteen stuff coming from? a preteen is someone who is NOT a teenager (that seems unclear to some, as does the fact that [developmentally delayed]s will be [developmentally delayed]s no matter the age), they have to blatently lie to create an account which puts it down to them no matter where jagex advertises the game.

 

 

 

I've been playing on and off for over 5 years, and the doom-merchant views expressed by the author are not shared by all of us from the days of classic, me and a friend have played since then and greatly enjoy everything new and laugh at our superiority over the masses,

 

 

 

Sure the community was better back then, but not that much, personally i don't value the community above the game, people will always spoil it and in my experience i've seen that it's the younger teens who take care of that while the preteens wander around die and give up at level 10. That's just what comes when things develop, how many people honestly think that the game would be better if it remained the same for 4 years? i don't, i'd much rather stay off f2p and ignore the occasional noob.

[qeltar]

 

Ok where is all this preteen stuff coming from? a preteen is someone who is NOT a teenager (that seems unclear to some, as does the fact that [developmentally delayed] will be [developmentally delayed] no matter the age), they have to blatently lie to create an account which puts it down to them no matter where jagex advertises the game.

 

 

And Jagex encourages them to lie by getting them interested in the game and then forcing them to lie in order to sign up.

 

 

 

Jagex really doesn't give a fig about what age players play the game. The "you must be 13 or over" stuff on the website was almost certainly put there by their lawyers in order to comply with COPPA laws. (Look them up.) It lets Jagex pay lip service to the law while continuing to make money from kids who are under 13 and sign up anyway.

 

 

 

Why? Because it's easier and they make more money this way. And making money is pretty much Jagex's primary concern.

 

 

 

berbatovsky, like so many other rabid Jagex defenders, is in flat denial. So are the people who "don't see" the significance of this. It's not just "one book" it is the OFFICIAL Runescape guide. They very clearly went out of their way to ensure that as many kids as possible would find out about it and buy it.

 

 

 

Runescape deliberately targets children using the book, the cartoonish appearance of the game, the free version, the ease of access using any browser and more. It is played in schools and libraries, and in many cases parents cannot even find out when their kids are playing it.

 

 

 

Jagex doesn't care about any of this. They just want their money.

 

 

 

~q

[topbanana30]

very true im only lvl 87 (yes im a noob go me wooo) n i got 170 quest points. this is stupidly proves the point of no skill required to play runescape, because the quests i have done have taken next to no skill whatsoever. i noticed this after id done shilo village eadgars ruse and nearly completed recipe for disaster witch is arguably the hardest quest in the game... pfft not really just requires you to have alot of time on your hands n a hefty few mill :wall: :shock:

[highlanders]

qeltar, stop calling people who disagree with you mindless defenders of jagex. It's just annoying and untrue, as far as I know your not in people's heads now are you? You don't know, just shut up. Has it crossed your mind that they're arguing with you because 1. they don't agree with you 2. you keep flamming everyone no doubt they flame back, duh.

 

 

 

Maybe you get so flammy in internet debates because you have a huge ego, and internet debates is all about ego after all. Maybe you're brain is simply programmed like that, to be a annoying, untalkable to, pain in the derrỉ̮̬̉re.

 

 

 

If you act like that in the real world, you will probably have lots of karma to pay for at the end of your annoying little life.

[dom_adams]

totally agree we need more chalenging updates and less noobishly stupid ones that are to simple to do the stronghold of security is so simple my hamster probably could do it

[swordb88]

i wrote a rant about under aged players. Many people responded+agreed with what i had to say.

 

 

 

 

 

good article =)

[qeltar]

highlanders, it's really very simple. When presented with clear evidence that Jagex is marketing the game to children, some people just hand-wave it away and say, "oh that doesn't matter" and then ask for the same evidence again.

 

 

 

That's denial.

 

 

 

Most of the people who argue with me do so because they have Jagex on some sort of pedestal and can't stand anyone presenting valid criticisms of the company. That's fine, it doesn't change anything any more than your insistence on following me around attacking my posts all over this forum. Enjoy yourself. :)

 

 

 

~q

[highlanders]

How is one single book proof of that? It doesn't show a tendency. Besides, that book has so little impact, nobody buys it, it hardly factors in the Rs population growth.

 

 

 

And how can you know if people put Jagex on a pedestal or not? You're not in their heads. As far as I'm concerned, I debated with you before because I didn't agree with your article not because of jagex, that's just a stupid assumption. I spend my haft my time critising Jagex, lol :P Maybe you have to realise this has to do with you, your article, jagex has nothing to do with this. You're not in people's heads, you don't know what they think, or why they do what they do. It's completely stupid to assume they debate with you because they love jagex, maybe it's you and your article they don't like. My god, your brain works like that of a child. "If they're against me, they're automatically with the people I'm against". No sorry, that's not how things work.

[qeltar]

How is one single book proof of that?

 

 

Already explained numerous times.

 

 

 

It is the only official RuneScape book that Jagex has published, and they chose to use a leading children's author and children's publisher to put it out. The entire book (I have a copy, do you?) is oriented to the pre-teen set. It is sold through school book clubs.

 

 

And how can you know if people put Jagex on a pedestal or not?

 

 

It is very obvious from their refusal to look at the evidence rationally.

 

 

 

As for the rest of your post, I'm not reading or responding to your juvenile insults. Please try to stay on topic.

 

 

 

~q

[highlanders]

My "juvenile insults"? :lol: You make me smile qeltar, because everytime I tell myself; go, take a chance, try to see if it's possible to talk reason into this weirdo, and everytime you prove yourself all over to be a narrow-minded, impossible person to talk to, let alone debate. You're like a scratched tape repeating over and over the same scratch. Thanks for entertaining me. :P

[qeltar]

 

My "juvenile insults"?

 

 

Yes, such as the following, right in this post:

 

 

weirdo

 

...

 

narrow-minded, impossible person to talk to

 

...

 

scratched tape repeating over and over the same scratch

 

 

 

 

I'm glad you find flaming me to be entertaining.

 

 

 

The subject, however, is Jagex's emphasis on targeting its game to children despite its claims that it is not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

~q

[highlanders]

Haha, you quoted my last post, you said that before, so find proof before. :lol: Duh.

 

 

 

Besides, they're not insults, they're my conclusions. Insult = to hurt. Conclusion = conclusion.

 

 

 

I said stop calling other people mindless jagex lovers if they don't agree with you because it's not true. Then you go off subject, and you start repeating the things you repeat over and over on every thread. :lol:

[Dragon_lord]

This has been one of the best and most truthful Tip.It Times yet!

[qeltar]

 

 

 

~q

[StGerolf]

I have problem with people who think that their way of playing is the one. I haven't known RuneScape Classic, but as far as I can puzzle it out, it was more fighting. If that is the case, good work underage kids, because I hate that kind of games. I have played some of these games and was bored of them pretty fast, even with a good community. I am 36 and by no way underaged, and I prefer the wide variation of stuff there is now. I prefer the humor of Jagex more then blood and guts. I can live with the way the demons are dieing, I would quit the game faster if I had to watch them splashing to the wall 165 times or more.

 

 

 

If you have online friends, those friends are aging with you, and are developping other interests, so I assume that some of the problems you have with the missing of your friends is just those friends (and you) aging.

[berbatovsky]

No further proof has been offered after i enquired about it 2-3 pages ago, so i'm ending my involvement in this thread because i'm not going to argue the same points over and over again as its tedious, one more time however: 1 piece of literature does not prove that Jagex is targeting young children, despite qeltars insistance that Jagex are money grubbing bastards who are tryiong to exploit the weak and innocent. Seriously do you work for another MMORPG company? because you sure are spouting a whole lot of bile at Jagex for no apparent reason.

[Craven_Image]

Good article even though there were quite a few grammatical errors.

[robson67]

There is the thing from Scooby Doo in runescape, After you complete the Lost Tribe quest and talk to Sigmand a few times in H.A.M headquarters he finally saids "And i would have got away with it to if it weren't for that meddling traveller." That's not going to make me quit i thought it was funny cos i used to be a good fan of Scooby Doo when i was younger. and also, quite a lot of mature players come in from miniclip myself including.

 

 

 

PS: sorry if any1 else has put it on here i wasn't bothered about reading the whole lot

[qeltar]

 

No further proof has been offered after i enquired about it 2-3 pages ago

 

 

Ignoring pertinent evidence proof that has already been supplied and just demanding more is intellectually dishonest.

 

 

1 piece of literature does not prove that Jagex is targeting young children

 

 

It does when that "1 piece of literature" is the official guide to the game, and is the only book Jagex has produced, and it is written for kids and marketed directly to them.

 

 

 

And all the attempts to deny it won't change that -- attempts that never explain WHY Jagex did this if they are NOT targeting children.

 

 

 

So why did they do it?

 

 

 

~q

[StGerolf]

I know it is different for players who are playing the game longer, but I have know the game as it is now, and never found it to much directed to the young. It is not the only thing which is as idiot-proof as possible, and you don't need to be a child to be idiot. Besides, it is to the members to determin some of the content of the game, and young children are less likely to buy a membership, normally spoken members should be older then free gamers.

[no_way2go]

and also, quite a lot of mature players come in from miniclip myself including.

 

 

 

PS: sorry if any1 else has put it on here i wasn't bothered about reading the whole lot

 

 

 

Mature and miniclip doesn't fit in one sentence...

 

 

 

Nuff said :ohnoes:

[snowboardninjas]

It is totally true. I am not a scammer and have never been one. But scamming is part of life. In real life, and in runescape. Jagex has spent half a decade trying to rid their game of scammers and cheaters. When i got scammed a santa hat i was sad, but it gave me a lesson to learn. How are we supposed to learn anything without anything to learn from?

 

 

 

For Example, anyone remember DURIAL321? he was banned for being smart. He glitched runescape and created the falidor massacre. Some people might not know what this is but basically he went around killing everyone in falidor. I think that he should not have been banned....it was pure genius. I'd like to see the man who wouldnt take advantage of that situation. So i totally agree with this.

 

 

 

Yours Truly,

 

Anonymous