Tip.It Times: 19 April 2009

[n_odie]

Time for a new release of the: >>>Tip.It Times!<<<

 

 

 

When replying please make sure to clarify the article you are replying to! Thanks!

 

 

 

Enjoy the articles!

 

 

 

~odie

[Kenshinjapan]

Interesting read. I only read the first story and I can say that I enjoy solo killing more. Although groups are more safer, I still enjoy the freedom of working alone whenever I work. Very well written, keep it up.

[Hawks]

The Guest Article by Altricious was my favorite article, I find that I am becoming more interested in articles that don't deal directly with RuneScape, as I don't play it as much as I used to. The one on the Development Diaries was also pretty interesting.

[SanNo1]

I liked the first one. Didn't expect one so soon, I just read the previous one today :

[demonsbane37]

One thing i like about bosses is just the feeling of single-handedly killing a 600+ monster.

 

also, i agree that they are a good way to have fun with freinds, at least i beleive it said that in "tug of war"

 

i quit reading fictional ones :|

 

 

 

i realy enjoyed all of the dev diarys so far, not just the fairy one, i dont see why there are so many "omfg epic failz" and crap like that.

 

good read overall.

[wab]

first article - i agree with every word in it.

 

 

 

second article - all right...but...i waited for the start of explaining the background to end and...we got his opionion that jagex do all what he said earlier. in 1 sentence "jagex promise that...and i think they do" -.-

 

 

 

third article - very nice point of view on runescape i never saw. it dose have the option to be multi player or single player...you can do the whole game without hearing single time the world 'noob' if you want...hmmm....

 

 

 

forth article - meh i don't read any fictional ones

 

 

 

did you know - :o :shock: these gets better every time...seriously i'll buy this bracelet just for weilding now at start of each castlewars game :lol:

 

 

 

overall good tip.it times as always ;)

[Armadyllo]

Re: Tug of War

 

 

 

By focusing on releasing monsters that are better killed by groups, Jagex is encouraging team-based playing rather than single-player activity. It makes sense: this is meant to be a massively multiplayer game, so they'll want to cater to multiplayer activity.

[Earth_Poet]

Tug of War was a really interesting read. I tend to prefer solo monsters myself.

 

 

 

Diaries of Development:

 

 

 

which reminds me of how they used to be back in Runescape Classic, where youd often find Andrew or Paul in game talking to players about what they think of updates.

 

 

 

You've honestly been playing that long, huh? Early, early Classic days. Anyways, I think most players are getting frustrated with the slowdown of updates. It's late April and we've so far had 3 quests, 1 minigame, and 1 Distraction and Diversion. My expectations are on something real big coming this summer now, because the beginning of this year has been dreadful. I appreciate that Jagex is being more opened, and I understand not wanting to corner yourself into a release date with BTS, but there's a reason why we have deadlines. It's the same reason you have one yourself at the Times. It's because if you didn't have a deadline, nothing would ever get turned in and nothing would ever get released.

 

 

 

As an adult over 30 myself, How I Came to Play Runescape was an interesting read. I sorta stumbled on to the game myself as well, and I enjoy it for the same reasons she does.

[Gandorf61]

Tug of War was an interesting read even though I'm not into Boss Monsters much.

 

 

 

Diaries of Development pretty much summed up most of my opinion and How I Came to Play Runescape was an excellent read.

 

 

 

The Did You Know's are making my time on RS so much better. I'll never play Castlewars without the bracelet now.

[Phixcire]

How I Came To Play Runescape. im 29 been playing about 4 years husband introduced me after the other games we were playing either crashed and burned or shutdown why i still play hard to say one its far to addicting

[Dalcyte]

1st one was a good read. I kept expecting there to be a real opinion in there but there really wasn't (until the end). It was really just pointing out a fact about the tug of war, which is something i've never thought about too hard. So it was nice. But when the opinion did come, i do agree wtih it. I think there needs to be a new solo-able monster, while I do like monsters that are too difficult for people to solo. I like the fact that runescape can still humble people, no matter how hard we train.

[Smackapotato]

I liked all three articles this week. There was a nice selection and they were all interesting to read.

 

I especially enjoyed the third article and reading about an adult view on the game.

[bedman]

There is certainly no trend towards non soloable monsters, since they recently added tormented demons which are atm the most profitable solo-kill monsters.

[Poppet]

I liked all three articles this week. There was a nice selection and they were all interesting to read.

 

I especially enjoyed the third article and reading about an adult view on the game.

 

 

 

So close there are four articles.

[Dragons_Might]

Articles a good read, as always.

 

 

 

Additionally, I hate to be a douchebag here, but am I the only one who notices that the random fact part is consistantly wrong/has an error? I'm not saying 100% of the time, but a pretty good amount theres some error in it. (On this one, it says it gives a 10% damage bonus against flag wielders, when its 20%) Yea I know someones going to complain that im whining about something stupid but Its just something I've noticed

[AxiSyn]

all the factual ones were good reads, good points

 

the only boss i've tried to solo was KBD and have done rather well with it, just tryin to find a worl w/o people and crashing or being crashed is the downside to any boss hunt be it solo or team

 

the development diaries were kinda nice and id rather have a better idea of whats goin on with the game, moreso now that I'll be leaving to navy boot camp on the 5th of may and wanna know what content i would see before i left and what i would miss out on etc, but if mod mmg and others will be more open about some things ingame and Jagex as a whole does things better because they don't feel as rushed then that's all for the better right?

 

And yes I'm a 24 y/o male who is married and has a 3 y/o daughter and some of my friends in game do kinda mess around with me about bein older as well as other people kinda give me looks irl when i tell them i play runescape, but its a fun game, much cheaper and has better options imho then WoW with all the skills and everything so thats my 2 cents

[Naive]

As always I love reading the fictionals, keep up the good work Necro :thumbsup:

[la la la]

The first one was a great read, and I fully agree with the direction bosses are going.

 

 

 

However, I disagree with the talk about tormented demons, as they are easily solo-able. That's just a little example I disagree with, though... still a good article.

[waheera1]

An interesting bunch this week. As usual, here's my weekly review!

 

 

 

Tug of War:

 

 

 

This wasn't a bad article, but it was far too long. It didn't have the substance to merit its length and could easily have handled being a couple of paragraphs shorter. Other than that, not bad at all!

 

 

 

Diaries of Development?:

 

 

 

Suck-up any harder and you'll have Jagex' brains coming out of their [wagon]... I couldn't help thinking this was one rose-tinted viewpoint that missed the bare facts for the sake of MAJOR brown-nosing. To my mind, BTS was far more open in that whilst it did restrict things to the strict timetable imposed on their developers, we always knew at the start of each month what was coming out. Later ones also included hints of future updates and the Chaos Elemental letters also give massive spoilers where future updates are concerned. As a result the development diaries seem to me to be just a way of dodging deadlines and releasing tiny amounts of relatively insignificant information. I'm not that fussed if BTS doesn't come back, but Jagex never mentioned the axing of weekly updates with their removal of BTS...

 

 

 

I believe someone already mentioned only 3 quests, 1 minigame and 1 d&d... Strange form of progress... Anyone else wondering why Mobilising Armies is 1/3 of a year late, with no mention of it in any of the diaries so far? Call that open? Sod that.

 

 

 

How I Came to Play Runescape...:

 

 

 

I enjoyed this one rather a lot, and as an older player myself I can certainly appreciate the parallels. Nicely written, succinct, and with a pleasing conclusion.

 

 

 

One small point though, Miniclip wasn't the only reason the player base has become less friendly. In the micro-community of Runescape, real life society still has an impact.

 

 

 

Rat Kings:

 

 

 

Again Necromagus, the standard is much improved on the first chapter of the series! :-) Taking some interesting turns along the way here, I'm interested to read where you plan to take us next!

 

 

 

That's all folks!

 

Back next week!

[Ravenkana]

An interesting bunch this week. As usual, here's my weekly review!

 

 

 

Tug of War:

 

 

 

This wasn't a bad article, but it was far too long. It didn't have the substance to merit its length and could easily have handled being a couple of paragraphs shorter. Other than that, not bad at all!

 

 

 

Diaries of Development?:

 

 

 

Suck-up any harder and you'll have Jagex' brains coming out of their [wagon]... I couldn't help thinking this was one rose-tinted viewpoint that missed the bare facts for the sake of MAJOR brown-nosing. To my mind, BTS was far more open in that whilst it did restrict things to the strict timetable imposed on their developers, we always knew at the start of each month what was coming out. Later ones also included hints of future updates and the Chaos Elemental letters also give massive spoilers where future updates are concerned. As a result the development diaries seem to me to be just a way of dodging deadlines and releasing tiny amounts of relatively insignificant information. I'm not that fussed if BTS doesn't come back, but Jagex never mentioned the axing of weekly updates with their removal of BTS...

 

 

 

I believe someone already mentioned only 3 quests, 1 minigame and 1 d&d... Strange form of progress... Anyone else wondering why Mobilising Armies is 1/3 of a year late, with no mention of it in any of the diaries so far? Call that open? Sod that.

 

 

 

 

 

Rat Kings:

 

 

 

Again Necromagus, the standard is much improved on the first chapter of the series! :-) Taking some interesting turns along the way here, I'm interested to read where you plan to take us next!

 

 

 

That's all folks!

 

Back next week!

Pretty much my sentiments. But I do have some stuff to add.

 

 

 

On Tug of War:

 

You forgot to mention, when discussing the Corporeal Beast, the Tormented Spirit. This is crucial as said Spirit drops the same items, with lower frequency, and is solo-able.

 

 

 

Diaries of Development:

 

What you neglect to mention are the lack of substance of both quest diaries. Here's what we have to date from those two:

 

Number one, I've started getting ideas for a new Dwarf quest. It's gonna have the same elements of previous quests in the series, but beyond that I'm unsure.

 

Number two, there are going to be several more in the series and the next one's gonna focus on Captain Whatshisface.

 

Also, it took two months since the announcement of creating the Diaries to actually releasing them.

[warlordsagan]

Hopefully they release more group or partner based quests soon, I always had fun with those. And thanks for the part about the castle war bracelets I didn't know that, although I haven't played it in ages.

[DarkDude]

 

Suck-up any harder and you'll have Jagex' brains coming out of their [wagon]... I couldn't help thinking this was one rose-tinted viewpoint that missed the bare facts for the sake of MAJOR brown-nosing. To my mind, BTS was far more open in that whilst it did restrict things to the strict timetable imposed on their developers, we always knew at the start of each month what was coming out. Later ones also included hints of future updates and the Chaos Elemental letters also give massive spoilers where future updates are concerned. As a result the development diaries seem to me to be just a way of dodging deadlines and releasing tiny amounts of relatively insignificant information. I'm not that fussed if BTS doesn't come back, but Jagex never mentioned the axing of weekly updates with their removal of BTS...

 

 

 

I believe someone already mentioned only 3 quests, 1 minigame and 1 d&d... Strange form of progress... Anyone else wondering why Mobilising Armies is 1/3 of a year late, with no mention of it in any of the diaries so far? Call that open? Sod that.

 

 

 

 

We've had 2 months without BTS and 2 months with, each of the two sets of months have had roughly the same number of updates. Jagex late last year I believe it was that they'll be cutting down the number of updates and we shouldn't expect them every week, on top of that they've said this year will be an upgrade year. You've stated all the content updates but decide to ignore the other upgrades the game has undergone in that time including a few engine changes. Sure the amount of content so far this year has been disappointing, as has the content itself but it didn't come as a surprise if you'd paid attention to what Jagex have been telling you.

 

 

 

Even with BTS we'd still not know why Mobilising Armies has been delayed and it's not the sort of thing that Development Diaries are about, I really think you're missing the reason behind them and are thinking of them as a straight replacement for behind the scenes which they're not intended to be.

[acenator]

All three articles (the fictional piece doesn't count in my book) were well-written and a nice read. Even though I would like to see some more controversial topics addressed (debating is fun :twisted: ), this week's articles were great. Good job to all the writers.

 

 

 

As for the "Did you know," I was surprised to see that there. I thought it was general knowledge that CW bracelets were a must-have for any (serious) Castle Wars player, but I guess it wasn't, so good job on telling those that didn't know.

[jettrider]

In my opinion, the development diaries so far have been worthless. If you compare them to the Impetuous Impulses or Summoning ones, they have next to no interesting information in them.

[waheera1]

":3gi60a7h]

 

Suck-up any harder and you'll have Jagex' brains coming out of their [wagon]... I couldn't help thinking this was one rose-tinted viewpoint that missed the bare facts for the sake of MAJOR brown-nosing. To my mind, BTS was far more open in that whilst it did restrict things to the strict timetable imposed on their developers, we always knew at the start of each month what was coming out. Later ones also included hints of future updates and the Chaos Elemental letters also give massive spoilers where future updates are concerned. As a result the development diaries seem to me to be just a way of dodging deadlines and releasing tiny amounts of relatively insignificant information. I'm not that fussed if BTS doesn't come back, but Jagex never mentioned the axing of weekly updates with their removal of BTS...

 

 

 

I believe someone already mentioned only 3 quests, 1 minigame and 1 d&d... Strange form of progress... Anyone else wondering why Mobilising Armies is 1/3 of a year late, with no mention of it in any of the diaries so far? Call that open? Sod that.

 

[/hide]

 

We've had 2 months without BTS and 2 months with, each of the two sets of months have had roughly the same number of updates. Jagex late last year I believe it was that they'll be cutting down the number of updates and we shouldn't expect them every week, on top of that they've said this year will be an upgrade year. You've stated all the content updates but decide to ignore the other upgrades the game has undergone in that time including a few engine changes. Sure the amount of content so far this year has been disappointing, as has the content itself but it didn't come as a surprise if you'd paid attention to what Jagex have been telling you.

 

 

 

Even with BTS we'd still not know why Mobilising Armies has been delayed and it's not the sort of thing that Development Diaries are about, I really think you're missing the reason behind them and are thinking of them as a straight replacement for behind the scenes which they're not intended to be.

 

 

 

Perhaps my comments were unclear, but what I was actually disputing was the claim that the game is becoming more open. Admittedly my frustrations at the lack of significant game material are also quite clear in my comments above, but that wasn't intended as the crux of my response.

 

 

 

As for your response to my comments:

 

I'm aware of all of the points you make, as I make a habit of reading any important news on the Runescape main page. To my mind a large number of game improvements have been along the lines of tweaking head-shrinking hats and other graphics, including a few new useful options such as the leprechaun noting, and 2 massive glitches. Obviously this is a snapshot intended to illustrate my disappointment, so no need to worry about disputing the factual accuracy of that statement. As was discussed regarding a previous Tip.It Times, minor upgrades making a minimal difference to gameplay do not attract customers, nor especially mollify many existing ones.

 

 

 

On your final comment in paragraph 1: just because they said updates would be less frequent etc doesn't make it acceptable for the few releases we've had to be of poor quality. As an analogy: would you take that same viewpoint with someone who said "I'm going to shoot your [Mother/Father/Boyfriend/Girlfriend/Brother/Sister etc]" and then did, just because they'd warned you beforehand? Clearly not. Jagex have an obligation to its consumers to deliver good quality updates as they always used to be able to, otherwise those same consumers will end up off their "investors" list... That I'm afraid is a fact, and one that will become increasingly dominant if Jagex perpetuate their "Year of rubbish releases". Whether the updates are every week or every month, the less frequent the releases, the greater the importance for them to be good quality.

 

 

 

As for Mobilising Armies, I don't expect a development diary to explain why it's so late in its release, but surely if the game is now as open as the author suggests, we should know something about it... Maybe development diaries were not intended as a direct replacement for BTS, but the reality is that since we now have no other way to find out about future releases many people have been heavily disappointed with the new and haphazard diaries. I have yet to experience first hand any of the hollow promises Jagex gave on being open.