Feb 9 2009: The Future of Runescape

[Wilmot]

LOL at TET getting all work up that jagex are moving in on their patch. People don't go to your events to fuel your ego, though it really sounds like that's why you do them ;/

 

 

 

Jagex interacting with the players is a great thing. It's what got lost with rs2. One of the best things about classic was you would see J mods about on a pretty regular basis, including Paul and Andrew, and you really got the impression they were not some distant mysterious force. You felt an update happened because they played the game and thought, 'hey, this'd be cool', and I think rs2 has lost that.

 

 

 

F2P does need a bit of work. I've been playing very casually lately and stopped p2p, and I can say f2p does feel very slow and boring when it doesn't need to be. For example, drop a few specials onto rune weapons and the yew short, add a few dungons, make rings f2p and a few other little things and you make f2p a much much better game.

 

 

 

Again, this guy really sounds like he knows what he's upto.

[Bloodkay]

Wonderful to see some changes that will be for the better. Especially for F2P. I'm quite content to see that it was officially addressed as "isn't merely a demo". That should put a sock into everyone's mouths who've been constantly defending that point. I'm also immensely happy that they actually said that money isn't their number one goal, and so they're removing the video adverts =D

 

 

 

Amazingly, I'm surprised to see not that many threads on the RSOF complaining about F2P for something or other...

[The_Gabe]

I like this guy already.

[Danqazmlp]

I personally don't believe any of it.

 

 

 

To me its jsut a regular introduction by staff, he probably had a list of things to 'tick' off while writing it (no offence to MMG if it wasn't like that)

 

 

 

Its too scripted imo.

[Jard_Y_Dooku]

Mod MMG is awesome, let's hope he realizes it's been long enough since we need MOURNING'S ENDS PART III and MYREQUE PART 5 and RISE OF THE RED AXE PART 3.

 

 

 

Lol looking through and saw evil mum ra

 

 

 

"Hey Mark,

 

Would this be the reason you have been following around fansite event teams? In an effort to steal our thunder persay? To create your own events in competition to ours, even though we were first? That is honestly what it seems like to me. I'm not particularly as upset about this as some of my other team members that I lead are, but generally we view it as competition, and not the good kind. You may have had fun at our events, and I'm not going to deny anyone access to our events, but can you please clarify that this is not the reason you have been following us for a good month now? This really is a concern of our team members. While I do hope that you guys all learned what you needed to learn while following us and other fansite event teams, I also hope that you do things your own way, and do not follow our exact pattern to hosting events. We pride ourselves on it's event quality, and quantity, and we don't particularly like to feel like we were researched for your gain. As leader of this events team (along with 3 other people), I feel obligated to ask you this.

 

 

 

thanks for listening,

 

evil_mumm_ra "

 

 

 

Also, where is a answer page with some answers/questions. Just wondering

 

 

 

LOL. Deny a JMod access to events in RuneScape. Good luck.

[Smackapotato]

This sounds great, I'm looking forward to having him as CEO this year =]

[Bauke]

 

LOL. Deny a JMod access to events in RuneScape. Good luck.

 

Lmao, that's pathetic.

[DragnFly]

Hi Everyone,

 

 

 

I'd like to introduce myself to you all. My name is Mark Gerhard and I am the new CEO of Jagex, the makers of RuneScape. I have been fortunate enough to have worked at Jagex for some time now and consider us to be first and foremost a games developer. Were driven by teams that not only care passionately about games but also actively enjoy playing the games we create. We are going to be making a number of improvements to the game, I'm also keen to clear up a few misconceptions about RuneScape at the same time and I also believe there are a few things we have done wrong in the past that I want to apologise for.

 

 

 

To start off with, we want to be more open and listen to our players. Some of you may consider Jagex a secretive and closed-off company which isn't how we want to be perceived moving forward. Unlike most other companies, it just isn't our style to spend our time self marketing or shouting about how great we are, we prefer to just get on with it and make cool games, but that doesn't mean we don't listen to what you have to say.

 

 

 

A good example of this is that a lot of free players told us they found our video adverts before the game annoying to the point it was putting them off playing, so we've scrapped them with immediate effect. We now appreciate that it can be frustrating having to sit through a video advert when you just want to play RuneScape, so we have to put our hands up to admit we made a mistake and say that we're sorry. To be completely candid with you, video adverts generate significantly more revenue than other adverts, but as one of our fundamental philosophies is that having fun is more important to us than making as much money as possible, we have removed video adverts from the game.

 

 

 

We are also planning to change the way we communicate with you. We are going to be bringing back Development Diaries but making them more regular and focused on some of the different projects we're currently working on for you. These will replace Behind the Scenes, which we have found a creative constraint on our developers as the promised content has to come out as communicated in order to avoid disappointment and prevented us from surprising you with better or different content. It has also led to compromises in quality that we've not been happy with and, most importantly, pieces of content being released which you, our players, have not enjoyed as much as you should. A side benefit of this is that we'll be releasing more content which will be a complete surprise to you, so keep your eyes peeled for updates!

 

 

 

We'd also like to clear up a few issues surrounding the free game. RuneScape is different from all other MMOs in that the free game has an epic amount of content (we'd estimate over 2,000 hours worth to get all your skills up to 99 and complete all the quests) and isn't merely a demo for the members version. If anything, we see the members version as an expansion pack for those that really love the game and we feel both games are substantive in their own right. I want to apologise for habitually over-promoting the benefits of membership to our free players. I strongly believe if you love the free game you will equally love the members content and that is sufficient promotion to me. If you can't enjoy the free game in its own right then we're not doing our jobs properly. We will continue to improve the free game and, crucially, make it as fun as possible because we know that this is the way that everyone first discovers RuneScape.

 

 

 

We also have a long-term commitment to improving all the aspects of the game from overall graphical enhancements through to new gameplay mechanics.

 

 

 

Another thing that has cropped up in recent times, which we'd like to clear up once and for all, is the common belief that RuneScape is a game aimed at kids. This is absolutely not the case. We can see how this view has fostered, however, thanks to our over-zealous chat filter, Quick Chat worlds, dumbing down of certain bits of humour and storylines, as well as certain areas of the game like the Stronghold of Security, which do provide solid security advise but perhaps come across as a little condescending to the vast majority of our older players. I unreservedly apologise for this and to rectify this we have already removed a number of words from the chat filter and are currently working on reviewing and amending any content we feel is too kid-focused.

 

 

 

RuneScape benefits from one of the most diverse player demographics in the industry and is truly reflective of the worldwide population. As a responsible company we have had to comply with certainly regulatory obligations to ensure online safety for any younger players and as a result we introduced Quick Chat for players under a certain age, but this was to meet our legal responsibilities rather than who the game is designed for, its probably also worth noting that we have a total of 4 Quick Chat worlds in a total of 165 RuneScape worlds. As I said earlier, we are gamers at heart and we try to design games and content which we ourselves would enjoy playing. Im an active RuneScape player and Im ever so slightly over 21

 

 

 

We are also committed to working with our fans in the RuneScape community to make the game a more enjoyable place to be. We will be running community events, tournaments and JMod participation in-game to provide more support to you and make RuneScape an even better place to be.

 

 

 

To kick things off in this new era of openness I'm going to be answering your questions. For the next week we will open a thread in the News and Announcements forum for questions, and in a weeks time I will post answers to a selection of your questions. So please feel free to drop-in and ask a question or tell me what you think of the game.

 

 

 

Have fun!

 

 

 

Mod MMG

 

Jagex CEO

 

 

 

Pretty heavy stuff here. Welcome Mark! Even if you are using Mod Luke's username.

 

 

 

ITT:

 

-No more f2p video adverts

 

-No more Behind the Scenes

 

-More Development Diaries

 

-f2p isn't a demo (wait whut?)

 

-f2p will be improved (omg phreeloadurs lulz)

 

-Runescape isn't aimed at kids (huh?)

 

-KID FOCUSED CONTENT IS BEING REMOVED, HALLELUJAH!

 

-Community events, tournaments, and Jmods in-game. OMGWTFBBQ

 

-Thread where you can ask the CEO of Jagex questsions, AND GET THEM ANSWERED.

 

 

 

I'd just like to reassure there are still of course going to be lots of members updates.

 

 

 

Mark is referring to our desire to make sure the free game doesn't feel like it is 'just a demo', by making sure it is a complete self-contained game in it's own right.

 

 

 

I totally support that as an aim. It's not meant to be a demo, it's meant to be an in incredible free game, which people can enjoy for as long as they like.

 

 

 

However we're still going to do lots of members updates as well.

 

 

 

It's more about making sure the free game feels self contained and 'complete', and doesn't say "you need to be a member to do that" continually, than it is about just giving everything away for free which obviously wouldn't work.

 

I think I'm in love.

 

 

 

First off, its nice to actually hear the CEO openly admitting, and apologizing for, many of the past mistakes. Usually whenever Jagex messes up, atleast in recent history, they have a habit of acting as if they have not.

 

 

 

Next, being more open with players was long overdue. Being a player back from 2001, I remember when they actually use these forums and chatrooms. While I doubt it will reach that level of community participation again, I do hope it will be an improvement over how things run now. Presently, getting the attention of Jagex is about as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

 

 

 

Replacing the Behind the Scenes with Develops Diarys could be interesting. It sounds like a compromise between complete mystery, and the complete giveaway that the Behind the Scenes was. I kind of missed seeing surprise updates, so I think this could also be positive.

 

 

 

I'm glad to hear F2P is getting alittle more attention and that this "its only a demo" crap is being addressed. I started this game long before there was a members version, and recently spent some time on F2P while waiting on my payment to be received.

 

 

 

Less emphasis on children? All I can say is ABOUT TIME. This is long overdue. Seriously, if you have looked many of the updates from roughly 2006 onwards, the amount of handholding from Jagex has been flat out rediculous. Hopefully this will lead to relaxing some of the rules as well, such as actually allowing us to exchange email/IM information without fear of being banned.

 

 

 

Finally, community events, Jmod participation and answering our questions certainly is the type of involvement I would like to see out of Jagex.

 

 

 

Overall, I'm pleased with the announced changes. =D> I hope they can truly live up to them.

[Chained_life]

Jagex and Runescape seems to be getting an Obama-like figure from MMG, good luck too him. \

 

 

 

Except he actually has experience in his own field. :lol:

[champion]

Jagex and Runescape seems to be getting an Obama-like figure from MMG, good luck too him. \

 

 

 

Except he actually has experience in his own field. :lol:

 

The last thing we need on this thread is a political argument.

 

 

 

I'm pleased with the announced changes, except for the no new BTS's.

[BabyPunchers]

F2P is still a demo. :P

[money123678]

I must say, It does sound pretty cool. Looking forward to getting the surprise updates, hopefully it'll put less pressure on the Jagex team, therefore letting the updates have less bugs in them. I am also pleasantly surprised with the direct answering of questions through the forums, although it is very unfortunate how much of the community is handling themselves (it isn't really that much of a surprise though).

 

 

 

I'm curious to see where he'll go to improve the Free-to-play game.many people do view it as a demo (myself included until now, I'll admit) and so I'm curious on how he'll update free-to-play without many of the current members getting to angry. Many members will get angry, just look back just about every bank update, when they added bounty hunter, adding the duel arena, ... etc. Hopefully the community will become a bit older and not have as many get upset, and those that do will be calmed by more mature friends.

 

 

 

Overall I'm really looking forward to the next year or so, seeing how things change, and how things move. (and of course figuring out whats goes in those empty mining and runecraft skill screen's :thumbsup: )

[3PointMan]

Am I the only one incredibly disappointed?

 

 

 

- No update today :?

 

 

 

- I think he's feeding us crap through a straw.

 

 

 

- None of his ideas please me at all.... :|

[Madmanpur3]

Am I the only one incredibly disappointed?

 

 

 

- No update today :?

 

 

 

- I think he's feeding us crap through a straw.

 

 

 

- None of his ideas please me at all.... :|

 

I love the contradiction within your statements. You're upset about not having an update today (because they have trained you/us to expect them) yet when they say they aren't going to give a behind the scenes anymore (aka no more 'here's what you can expect this month') you say that doesn't please you?

 

 

 

With no more BTS, there will be no more expecting certain updates to occur in a set timeframe, thus no more being disappointed about not getting an update.

[BabyPunchers]

Am I the only one incredibly disappointed?

 

 

 

- No update today :?

 

 

 

- I think he's feeding us crap through a straw.

 

 

 

- None of his ideas please me at all.... :|

 

 

 

The first post on the thread(by a Jmod) says that this is NOT the update for the week and that they should have the update hopefully tommorow.

[BlackKingX]

Not very happy about BTS going away. Although I am pretty happy they're bringing back DD's. On one hand BTS told us everything that would happen(and in many cases we were able to prepare for some quests just from what the BTS vaguely mentioned.). But with Development Diaries we'll get pretty pictures..

 

 

 

They better have multiple DD's a month!!! Not monthly or bimonthly. I also hope they don't do what they did last time with Development Diaries where they said they'd make them often but after the first few they completely forgot about them.

[Exposed]

Um, has anyone done any research on this dude?

 

 

 

Google his name, or simply type it into the address bar... he seems to have his own self titled website: http://markgerhard.com.

 

 

 

VERY interesting...

[bluehooloovo]

Um, has anyone done any research on this dude?

 

 

 

Google his name, or simply type it into the address bar... he seems to have his own self titled website: http://markgerhard.com.

 

 

 

VERY interesting...

 

 

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's completely unrelated to the Jagex Mark Gerhard. ;)

[BabyPunchers]

Um, has anyone done any research on this dude?

 

 

 

Google his name, or simply type it into the address bar... he seems to have his own self titled website: http://markgerhard.com.

 

 

 

VERY interesting...

 

 

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's completely unrelated to the Jagex Mark Gerhard. ;)

 

 

 

 

 

I find it funny that your name is Exposed and your first post is stalker-esque.

 

 

 

 

 

:P

[Sanitys_Requiem]

A new road, and a new car. Let's see where this takes us. :

[Deacon]

Am I the only one incredibly disappointed?

 

 

 

- No update today :?

 

 

 

- I think he's feeding us crap through a straw.

 

 

 

- None of his ideas please me at all.... :|

 

 

 

Yet more sour grapes from the TET members?

 

 

 

Look, we get it. You feel that someone has stolen your grand idea of hosting in-game events (as if nobody had ever done that kind of thing before you).

 

 

 

Cry me a river, build a bridge and get over it.

[BabyPunchers]

Am I the only one incredibly disappointed?

 

 

 

- No update today :?

 

 

 

- I think he's feeding us crap through a straw.

 

 

 

- None of his ideas please me at all.... :|

 

 

 

Yet more sour grapes from the TET members?

 

 

 

Look, we get it. You feel that someone has stolen your grand idea of hosting in-game events (as if nobody had ever done that kind of thing before you).

 

 

 

Cry me a river, build a bridge and get over it.

 

 

 

I haven't seen anything about that in his post. :shock:

[Zaaps1]

F2P gets official forums? Please? :pray:

 

 

 

On the other hand I may not want it, I rarely used it in members anyway.

 

 

 

I'm interested to know exactly what they plan to do. Jagex has my attention.

[deathfish27]

I wonder if the community events they mentioned will be something like the way funorb has modwars? Funorb's j mods seem much more in touch with the community and games of funorb than runescape's,but it might only be because it is a smaller and newer game site with less players.

 

Overall, the future looks bright!

[Kimberly]

I would like to point out the similarities between this apology for the past leadership (or "administration" if you will) by a new CEO and how things will change on RS...

 

 

 

 

 

...and the apologies made by USA's current President for the previous administration and what will be changing from now on.

 

 

 

I don't know. I laughed a little when I saw the (nonrealistic) correlation. Thought others might too.