Tip.It Times: 1 Feb 2009

[Psycho_Robot]

Am I the only one confused by this passage from the first article:

 

 

 

My expectation and contention (and please feel free to argue) is that over the next few months we will see a moderate decline in subscriptions, along with a shift in player demographics. Older players (like yours truly) certainly will not stop playing, because other forms of entertainment would be both less satisfying and more expensive. Younger players, on the other hand, will be victims of their place in the family food chain, and in tough times will see their say in the matter taken from them. RuneScape will also likely GAIN overall market share against competitors, as those same youths can make a better argument to retain their five-dollar subscription (or comparable price) than their WoW playing counterparts, who currently tax their parents at a more noticeable rate.

 

 

 

Not to rag unnecessarily on the article, but it seemed to me that this passage was saying that there will be a "moderate decline in subscriptions" and at the same time "RuneScape will also likely GAIN overall market share". Aren't those mutually exclusive? :-s

[Racheya]

Kinda bummed that America was the only one talked about in the economy article. It would have made a lot of sense to talk about the British economy too as that would be more likely to directly effect JaGex, though the player base is more likely to be effected by the American economy so yeah. Interesting article though that made some good points. I myself am questioning if I can afford £3.50 a month for what is essentially a luxury. I am hoping to see JaGex get through this crisis though, I can see it managing and even more probably, gaining more members as the WoW players all start turning up in Lumbridge.

 

 

 

The God Wars article was definately interesting. Reading about Bandos made me lol because my friend read out the Goblin book thing with it in over Skype to me and it was just hilarious.

 

 

 

Anywho, nice Tip.It Times as usual :thumbsup:

[Mercifull]

Odd article to talk about possibly losing subscriptions in the econmic downturn. Research suggests that spending on games actually is INCREASING in the reccession as people spend their time and money at home rather than going out. Last year there was 23 per cent increase on the previous 12 months for computer game sales. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... 105098.ece

 

 

 

Apologies for The Sun as a source but I couldnt find the article i wanted to link to on the BBC.

[Fey_Warrior]

RuneScape may or may not lose subscribers, but it doesn't need to lose people (and people are what makes an online community worth having). It can be played for free, after all, if you don't mind adverts. Some people subscribe and unsubscribe frequently according to what they can afford.

 

 

 

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

[omriariel]

I really liked the one about the econimic crisis. Well done =D>

 

 

 

I thought it would be nice if u added about the grand exchange and the economy in runescape. It's quite facinating how there is a huge economy in well, an online game.

 

 

 

The god wars was interesting and the writer must have a alot of knowledge and writing skills. It was very clever and planned out nicely. You also used the term "mobilizing armies". Are you trying to hint that the new minigame will be out this? \

 

 

 

 

 

"Say no to signatures"

 

"Signatures = Spam "

[Earth_Poet]

I thought it would be nice if u added about the grand exchange and the economy in runescape. It's quite facinating how there is a huge economy in well, an online game.

 

 

 

The Times kinda beat that one into the ground when the Grand Exchange first came out. IMO the economy was more interesting prior to the heavy restrictions that came out with the Grand Exchange. The trade limits tend to hamstring the economy and bottleneck everything up.

 

 

 

amnother issue is that the money within united states had to go somewhere... someone has to ghas it... it didnt just burn up in flame one day... i think that someone is sitting ona nice pile of cash enjoying himself.... its prob more than 1 but thats the prob... the rich are greedy.... like scrooge.... they tend not to give there money away... they save and save nd save and enver spend... as a resualt money is not circulated and theres less for everyone else to have. we dont just print off free money.... new money yes but not extra.. the new stuf replaces the old... gets shredded and incinerated.... never to be seen in a cash register or bank again.

 

 

 

It's kinda hard to make out what you are saying with the typos and excessive use of ellipsis, but I think you are saying that the money has to be somewhere and that it didn't just burn up in smoke.

 

 

 

That's pretty much what it did, Phox. Actually, the money never existed to begin with. Everybody was trading loans backed by mortgages on the prospect they would make money. It turned out to be garbage.

 

 

 

If you are interested you should check out "The Ascent of Money" sometime. It's an interesting look at the history of economics and how we managed to get ourselves in this recession today and why we did it.

[lamarpig]

It seems that everyone is talking about the new articles? Why not look back on the old ones?

[Kimberly]

It seems that everyone is talking about the new articles? Why not look back on the old ones?

 

 

 

Erm, because this is the discussion thread for the articles released on Feb 1st, 2009?

[Killiecrankie]

The first "economics" article was rather good and perhaps has been a little harshly treated by some. If you ever have the misfortune to study economics you will hear the old joke "if you laid every economist in the world end to end, they wouldn't reach a conclusion."

 

The author cannot be definitive, that is not the nature of the beast.

 

And yes RS *can* have fewer subscribers but a greater market share.

 

He/She may have concentrated on the US, but the global situation was touched upon and I suspect the US provides the vast majority of players.

 

The one unmentioned and vital element is Jagex's own financial position, and how they react if they too are suffering. If a five dollar subscription becomes ten, then players will leave. If staff cuts are made to save money, standards will suffer and doubtless players will leave. Personally I would quit if the number of "worlds" was reduced so I had no choice but to play along side one thousand others...sorry but I do not like 'crowded' worlds. Finally may I agree with the poster who suggested five dollars was *not" hardly anything. In harsh times many people need every dollar, pound or euro they can get.

[bbq45]

"Is The Shift Coming?" was a very interesting article, yet they hardly touched on other international economies. Americans are not the only people who play runescape, after all! What about England's recent bank nationalization due to the Labor party, or the recent economic collapse of Sweden?

 

:ugeek:

[mmmcannibalism]

"Is The Shift Coming?" was a very interesting article, yet they hardly touched on other international economies. Americans are not the only people who play runescape, after all! What about England's recent bank nationalization due to the Labor party, or the recent economic collapse of Sweden?

 

:ugeek:

 

 

 

Well either

 

 

 

a. the writer was american so he had a better backing

 

 

 

b. it is fair to say the american economy strongly influences the world so it serves as a good enough example

[Witherslick]

yah RS is stable. plus all the "smaller" people who play on members worlds are bratty kids whos parents attend to there every whem.