http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a3e9ed54-a1e6 ... 07658.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Battle begins for online role players

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Chris Nuttall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Published: October 26 2008 22:00 | Last updated: October 26 2008 22:00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

World of Warcraft is under attack. The 3m US players of the online warfare game, populated by monster-baiting characters, are being outnumbered by an army of 4.5m amassed by an independent video game developer from Cambridge, England.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Runescape, a game that, like Activision Blizzards WoW, has skill-building quests and conquests, has been developed by Jagex. Unlike WoW, which is sold as a boxed product in shops and requires the download of large software files, players need only a web browser to get started on Runescape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jagexs game has been a hit among younger audiences that cannot afford a subscription and are often using older computers that are unable to run PC games with high-end graphics. The comparatively simple business model has been so successful that bigger players want to emulate it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sony Online Entertainment has decided to take the plunge. Others on a similar path include Nexon of Koreas MapleStory, exported to the US, and Electronic Arts Battlefield Heroes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weve spent a lot of money investing in this space because we think its potentially the largest [market] there is, says John Smedley, the Sony divisions president. Jagex built a great business model and its actually one were copying with Free Realms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr Smedley hopes his children will switch allegiance from Runescape to Free Realms, the competitor being developed by Sony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Were going after the same market 12-year-old boys and girls. Theyve built up a great user base by having a fun-to-play game thats quick and easy to get into on any computer, he says.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sony is a past leader in online role-playing games with its EverQuest title, first released in 1999. Its financial muscle and established infrastructure make it a formidable opponent for Jagex.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sony have got a massive marketing budget, admits Geoff Iddison, Jagex chief executive. But gamers can look at us and see how deep Runescape is there are thousands of hours of gameplay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By depth, he means the vastness of the online world that has been continually expanded over the past seven years and the range of activities that have been built up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both Runescape and EverQuest have their roots in the multi-user dungeon games first developed 30 years ago. These games originally consisted of typed descriptions of creatures and objects with players text-chatting with one another and inputting commands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Gower, co-founder of Jagex, was an avid text-based MUD player as an undergraduate in computer science at Cambridge University, where he began to code Runescape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fact that text-based MUDs could be picked up where you left off on any computer appealed to him. He built Runescape on the same principles but using the Java language to allow it to run in a regular web browser and enabling 3D graphics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jagex has grown to be the UKs biggest independent games developer, employing about 400 people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The company has remained private and is cagey about its financial performance but the chief executive says Runescape has attracted 135m registered users over its lifetime, with on average 6m people a month playing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its a very understated, rapidly growing business and were very proud of it, he says. Were extremely profitable, the margins are very good and were growing at 35 per cent a year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Runescape makes most of its money from the $5-a-month subscription a significant number of players are prepared to pay to get access to new quests, equipment and areas of the game. Free Realms plans a similar model although Mr Smedley sees the selling of virtual goods as being the most profitable avenue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Were shooting for tens of millions of players, were aiming very high. Im betting virtual items is where the real money is, perhaps 80 per cent of revenues, he says.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Jagex to maintain its momentum, Mr Iddison is exploring new markets and products. French and Brazilian versions will launch soon and Mechscape, a science fiction game that will run on the same platform as Runescape, will be released next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are forever looking over our shoulders to make sure we are staying ahead of the game, he says.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So Sony is wanting to emulate RuneScape, but going the micropayment route Jagex were thinking of for ThirdScape possibly.

Makes me proud to be a 'Scaper =D>

There's just something special about runescape that makes you wanna come back for more.. I don't think any other gaming franchise could duplicate it :

But WoW has over 9 million subscribers world wide! Here it only mentions the 3.5 millions U.S. gamers. It says Runescape has 4.5 million players, but many of them come from Britain. Some come from Germany. And of that 4.5 mil only about 1-1.5 are paying members. Remember: They are not in possession of all the facts.

yeah, but runescape has something like 180m accounts created, and it has like 9 or 10m active accounts, meaning they log on at least once a month. wow would be a lot more popular than it currently is if it could offer a free version, but runescape is in a somewhat different category than wow. runescape is just top of the line in it's category, and wow is top of the line in boxed installable games with subscriptions. nothing is going to take either one down soon.

Hmm, Brazilian is coming out, I'm sure everyone knew about the French version but Brazilian is cool.

No lie, WoW is much more fun that Runescape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just recently converted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:wall:

Copycats ftl. :thumbdown:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though its funny how loads of people say runescape is bad, then suddenly people start copying it. :lol:

There's just something special about runescape that makes you wanna come back for more.. I don't think any other gaming franchise could duplicate it :

 

 

 

If they're going to be selling items, people are going to get bored and quit fast. IMO this project is going to trip on the starting blocks.

Sony's game will fail. They'll try to make a similar game with different features so they don't come off as a duplicate of Runescape, and will run out of ideas and crash. They'll get a few thousand curious players who will try it out, then will walk away from it and back to runescape. Sony will have to be really creative to beat Jagex on this one, although I probably shouldn't underestimate such a massive company.

its articles like this that really make a loyal 'scaper proud

 

There's just something special about runescape that makes you wanna come back for more.. I don't think any other gaming franchise could duplicate it :

 

 

 

If they're going to be selling items, people are going to get bored and quit fast. IMO this project is going to trip on the starting blocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totally agre. Unless they mimic runescapes payment system of incredibly good 'bang for your buck' at such a cheap price for their game, and leave out microtransactions then it will certainly fail. And it looks like they won't be doing as i say at all, so you can see the result. The problem with microtransactions on a cheap game like runescape is that to make it competetive to runescape items would have to be sold dirt cheap, but that would also mean that much of the core elemtns of the kind of game would be ruined. If they think a WoW copy but with an engine that will rune in a browser will work they are mistaken.

The fact they are going with micro payments for 80% of their revenue is fail... :shame: One of the main reasons Runescape is so popular is that you pay $5 a month and get a chance to have the very best items in the game (excluding prior untradeable holiday items). Very few games that allow you to buy the best items with real money last simply because it's no fun. A lot of MMO's are all about working towards that awesome item and the sense of accomplishment when you get it. Sony's greed will get in the way of their game being a hit.

Wow. 12 year old kids? This game is going down the crapper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and Sony can go and [bleep] themselves if they think anyone's gonna actually play their game. I also smell a lawsuit.

Browser based is soooo win. I would hate to buy the game just to pay more each month.

Copycats ftl. :thumbdown:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though its funny how loads of people say runescape is bad, then suddenly people start copying it. :lol:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ya, its kind of odd how that works out. :-#

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I still love RuneScape, I have played WoW, but I say RuneScape has much more, indepth and better skills and quests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can't wait til MechScape though, depending if its anything like RuneScape, and is good, I might switch. :P

Sony's game will fail. They'll try to make a similar game with different features so they don't come off as a duplicate of Runescape, and will run out of ideas and crash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lol, do you realize which company you're talking about? It is Sony, the big japanese electronics company that made the playstation 3, the blue-ray, and is basically one of the leading company in electronics. They will succeed. And their game should be pretty good too.

Hmm, Brazilian is coming out, I'm sure everyone knew about the French version but Brazilian is cool.

 

 

 

No. Having a Brazilian version of RS is one of the absolute worst things that could ever happen to the fanbase. Brazilians are pretty much about as cool as the macroer Korean gold farmers from a few years ago. If there's anything I despise about online foreigners it's Brazilians, they are constantly annoying; do you like seeing "jajajajajajajajajaja" on your screen?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OT: This is cool I never knew RS was that awesome. I mean I knew it has the best 3-D graphics for a Java-based game but dang, didn't know they grew at 35% a year...that's cool cuz they can hire an awesome graphics team, more staff to make quests, more brains involved means better ideas to keep RS great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope Sony massively fails with "Free Realms" just like how they massively failed on that overpriced pile of worthless garbage blu-ray player that also happens to play games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just my 2 cents.

Nothing will ever be able to emulate what Runescape has to offer. No matter how hard they try to mold it after RS, nothing can come close enough to beat it out. It's been around far too long with far too many loyal (and addicated) players, myself included.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

I think being able to buy your way through the game will have huge negative affects on the game.

 

 

 

I have a feeling it will be compadible with the ps3 which will bring in some users. The problem is runescape is so big it'll take alot of time and money to catch up, probably making users pay for that gap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the person complaining about brazilians, im sure there not all that way, not to mention they will have there own servers.

I think what dragged players to rs is that you can't buy your way to the top with rl money. (not officially anyway.) There are numerous mmos that prove just that. Though if sony is trying to imitate rs than that means rs is gaining some credibility in the gaming world.

 

There's just something special about runescape that makes you wanna come back for more.. I don't think any other gaming franchise could duplicate it :

 

 

 

If they're going to be selling items, people are going to get bored and quit fast. IMO this project is going to trip on the starting blocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My thoughts exactly.

Shame on Sony -.- :shame: Go copy Mario or something.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thumbs up for Jagex though :thumbsup: They've done fantastic even though they still have a long way to go :

 

 

 

(I hope Sony's copy game gets RWT big time so they can close in 6 months after release ;) )

Sony will not beat RS. I would gladly put my RS account on it. Sony are used to 30 hours of gameplay then never touch it again. RS is thousands of hours of gameplay that you have to come back to more and more. Guaranteed that the Sony version will be A LOT more repetitive than RS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and I think my mum knows the writer of the article, she used to work for the FT :thumbsup: