WhiteHorn Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Jagex's Runescape is one of the most popular MMOs in the world. And it is certainly the most popular browser-based MMO, with over 165 million subscribers signed up to date and in the region of 105 million active players currently spending (often inordinate amounts of) time on the game. MechScape is currently the codename for the company's forthcoming game, another Java-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the company's proven, incredibly stable and secure proprietary technologies used by RuneScape. Jagex has already said that MechScape will target a slightly older demographic to RuneScape and while concrete detail on the game is still thin on the ground fans are predicting real-world trading in an online and hugely in-depth space/sci-fi themed MMO. TechRadar caught up with Jagex's Chief Executive Officer, Mark Gerhard, at this month's Develop Conference in Brighton, who gave us a fascinating insight into the background of this leading British games developer, in addition to a glimpse of where the company is aiming to go in the future. Before joining Jagex as CTO in February 2008, Gerhard previously worked as the Principle Security Architect for the UK's National Lottery. His engineering background and IT security knowledge has clearly set him up for steering the hugely successful company into the future. Principally a tech company The company also recently hired Sensible Soccer developer Jon Hare as Publishing Director a clear indication that it plans to engage more with the (more traditional) games publishing sector in the future. "I think of Jagex first and foremost as a tech company," Gerhard told TechRadar. "We have millions in our community and as a result there is always a subsection of any community that is 'unsavoury' and we are getting in the region of 200,000 denial of service (DoS) attacks a day," he reveals, clearly proud that Jagex's servers are among the most secure in the world. "Jagex uses a secure system, built from the ground up. We've written all the code in-house. It has to work. The game has 105 million active subscribers. And of course, it is 24/7," Gerhard explains. "Runescape has the second biggest public forum on the internet, with around 2.8 million posts a week," explains Gerhard. "Yet we host that [forum] on a machine with around 1GB of RAM which you probably couldn't even sell for £50... because our technology is that good." The entire game of Runescape is server side, with the game running on machines with ultra-low bandwidth (down to 28k) and, as a good idea of the level of traffic Jagex is dealing with, the company receives around 85 BILLION page impressions a day. "Bear in mind that we do this with running costs that are sub £1 million a year," says Gerhard. "Which, if you compare it to something like Age of Conan which has costs in the region of £250,000 or World of Warcraft with costs in the region of £500,000,000 per year, puts things in perspective Our running costs are effectively 1/500 that of WoW! "It is because we use all of our own technology in house," he adds. "We don't use any standardised middleware." So what's new? What's next on the horizon for Jagex? Codename MechScape: public beta The first major project already under way is the casual and free games over at funorb.com with more classic games promised along the lines of the aforementioned Sensible Soccer and "popular RTSs, strategies and other games featuring new mechanics," says the Jagex CEO. "FunOrb is something of an R&D bed for us." The real news that the 100 million plus Runescape players out there are gagging to know more about is when they will finally be able to play 'codename MechScape'. Gerhard remains resolutely quiet on detail at this point, merely reminding TechRadar that "Andrew [Gower Jagex Founder] has been writing games since he was seven! The initial public beta of Runescape was launched in 1999 and in 2001 Jagex was formed." The Jagex team are clearly proud of the fact that they have had to do little active marketing or public relations since that time, purely because Gower's games have done the business themselves. The players have effectively done the marketing job for them so there was no real need for traditional publishers or PRs or any paid-for marketing because the word-of-mouth was that good. As well as making (hugely) appealing fantasy MMOs, the company also appears to be doing something right about its staffing. "For 95 per cent of our staff, Jagex is their first job," says Gerhard. "We have around 400 permanent members of staff right now, which can go up to around 450 around crunch time, with freelancers." And hardly any of those staff ever leave, it would seem. The company also takes on around 80 work placements each year, offering twelve months of intensive training for the candidates to learn to work with its proprietary infrastructure. So Jagex is clearly do a number of things right. And it will be exciting to watch as the company's latest MMO tears up the internet later in 2009 (on which note, watch out for news on the forthcoming closed beta test for Jagex's 'codename Mechscape' right here on TechRadar very soon indeed). Or if you fancy a gander at Runescape head over to the site and sign up for a quick go on the world's leading browser-based MMO. (It's free, but beware, you might become VERY addicted...) Found via Twitter as you may have noticed. It seems that RS is not as expensive as we used to think, and player advertising is enough for Mechscape to be recognized at the day of its release without even one pound/dollar spent :) If there are 1000000+ members paying $6 a month and Runescape costs less than 1000000 pounds a YEAR... where are my 20 weekly updates, Jagex? :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonni Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 and we are getting in the region of 200,000 denial of service (DoS) attacks a day holy [cabbage] Yet we host that [forum] on a machine with around 1GB of RAM which you probably couldn't even sell for £50 I don't care what people say about jagex, they know what they're doing alright dedicate your idle computer power to a scientific project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demby123 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Old news? :| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x_bow80 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Wow. 200,000 DoS attacks a day :shock: And i cant wait for the "Codename Mechscape" beta 99 Pics - Range, Defence, HP, Attack, Magic, Strength, Cooking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonni Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Old news? :| no A Tech Radar interview with Mod MMG which we think you will find interesting reading: http://[Censored - Don't use a URL shortner]/oKUHE. Ajd less than a minute ago from web dedicate your idle computer power to a scientific project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteHorn Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 Old news? :| I haven't seen it discussed on these forums and it's clearly an interesting read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauts Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Seems like a lot of fictional number to me.. Any person with even a little IT knowledge knows how wrong he is. 55th to 99 runecrafting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demby123 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I know I read that exact article in general discussion or mechscape boards. Have'nt seen it in its own thread though if thats what your after. EDIT:http://forum.tip.it/viewtopic.php?f=284&t=802828 Nothing wrong with this though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a_bert Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Seems like a lot of fictional number to me.. Any person with even a little IT knowledge knows how wrong he is. Yes. Besides which, in the region of 105 million active players currently spending (often inordinate amounts of) time on the game. (May 2008) including 8.5m active accounts/month (5m every fortnight) Source:http://www.develop-online.net/features/203/IP-profile-RuneScape Yes, the develop-online article is from May 2008, but is it at all realistic that the game has gained around 90 million more players in a year? No. Additionally, with over 165 million subscribers signed up to date around 1m premium subscriptions (paying roughly £3.20/$5 a month) While I appreciate this was at this specific time, I think Gerhard has mixed up "subscribers" with "accounts". 2008: RuneScape reaches 120m total account registrations. Jagex launches casual games portal FunOrb An extra 45 million accounts signed up in a year is a little more realistic. 'Tis I, 'tis Vindice, 'tis I! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earth_Poet Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 A post was already made about this interview on Friday in the Mechscape forum. http://forum.tip.it/viewtopic.php?f=284&t=802828 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiJay Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Additionally, with over 165 million subscribers signed up to date around 1m premium subscriptions (paying roughly £3.20/$5 a month) While I appreciate this was at this specific time, I think Gerhard has mixed up "subscribers" with "accounts". I just highlighted the key word you were missing. Nothing wrong in what he said. [404] Signature not found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSBDavid Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Additionally, with over 165 million subscribers signed up to date around 1m premium subscriptions (paying roughly £3.20/$5 a month) While I appreciate this was at this specific time, I think Gerhard has mixed up "subscribers" with "accounts". I just highlighted the key word you were missing. Nothing wrong in what he said. Suscribers can just mean accounts that sign up to play the game. Premium suscribers pay for more content. [software Engineer] - [Ability Bar Suggestion] - [Gaming Enthusiast] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opeious Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Seems like a lot of fictional number to me.. Any person with even a little IT knowledge knows how wrong he is. Yes. Besides which, in the region of 105 million active players currently spending (often inordinate amounts of) time on the game. (May 2008) including 8.5m active accounts/month (5m every fortnight) Source:http://www.develop-online.net/features/203/IP-profile-RuneScape Yes, the develop-online article is from May 2008, but is it at all realistic that the game has gained around 90 million more players in a year? No. Additionally, with over 165 million subscribers signed up to date around 1m premium subscriptions (paying roughly £3.20/$5 a month) While I appreciate this was at this specific time, I think Gerhard has mixed up "subscribers" with "accounts". 2008: RuneScape reaches 120m total account registrations. Jagex launches casual games portal FunOrb An extra 45 million accounts signed up in a year is a little more realistic. Liar Liar pants on fire! Barrows Drops:....................................................Dragon Drops:...............Other Drops: Dharok: 2 Helms, 1 Top, 2 Legs, 4 Axes.......................2 Claws Split..................1 Bandos Tassets Karil: 1 Coif, 1 Top, 2 Skirt, 2 Crossbows......................3 Plate legs...................4 Berserker RingsAhrim: 3 Hood, 2 Top, 3 Skirt, 1 Staff..........................2 Plate Skirts.................2 Warrior RingsVerac: 1 Helm, 3 Tops, 2 Skirts, 1 Flail..........................1 Med........................1 Archer RingGuthan: 2 Helm, 5 Tops, 1 Skirt, 0 Spear.....................1 Shield Half.................1 Seers RingTorag: 2 Helms, 2 Tops, 5 Legs, 1 Hammer....................4 Hatchets..................1 Missed Divine Sigil (was at bank -,- fml) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mervinator_9 Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Im not really a very tech savy person but the fact the forums are hosted on 1GB of RAM is insane is it not? Im pretty excited for Mechscape, It seems to be building up steam nicely. Theres a fine line between not listening and not caring,I like to think I walk this line every day. Pinning blame on Jagex is like trying to put pants on an old man. You both know he needs them, but he'll just keep dancing around, avoiding them at all costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chained_life Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 heh, 85 million hits per day? How many unique? They probably make millions just in ad revenue \ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3hitm4g3u Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 It'd be cool if mechscape was runescape in the future. Like, what we're doing now is ancient lore in that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonni Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 It'd be cool if mechscape was runescape in the future. Like, what we're doing now is ancient lore in that game. full rune will become 4th age melee armour! I'm rich! dedicate your idle computer power to a scientific project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master_Smither Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I read this already but it's still interesting. Click for My Blog670th to 99 Smithing July 21st, 07 |743rd to 99 Mining November 29th, 07 | 649th to 99 Runecrafting May 18th, 08 | 29,050th to 99 Defence October 20th, 08 | 20,700th to 99 Magic November 8, 08 | 47,938th to 99 Attack December 19, 08 | 37,829th to 99 Hitpoints December 24, 08 | 68,604th to 99 Strength February 4, 09 | 27,983rd to 99 Range February 9, 09 | 9,725th to 99 Prayer June 8, 09 | 6,620th to 99 Slayer December, 12 09 | 4,075th to 99 Summoning December, 28 09 | 3,551th to 99 Herblore February 24, 10 | 3,192th to 99 Dungeoneering November 11, 10 | 146,600th to 99 Cooking December 29th, 10 | 11,333rd to 99 Construction June 7th, 11 | 16,648th to 99 Farming August 1st, 11 | 19,993th to 99 Crafting August 2nd, 11 | 89,739th to 99 Woodcutting Janurary 1st, 12 | 55,424th to 99 Fishing May 9th, 12| 60,648th to 99 Firemaking May 12th, 12 | 16666th to 99 Agility May 17th, 2012 | 24476th to 99 Hunter June 1st, 2012 | 57,881st to 99 Fletching June 1st, 2012 | All 99s June 1st, 2012 | 3183th to 120 Dungeoneering July 24th, 2012 | 2341st to 2496 Total level July 24th, 2012 | Completionist Cape July 24th, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunokiller Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I don't understand why MMG is so proud of the runescape forums. They don't even have a quote or report post function :thumbdown: My blog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omali Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 It'd be cool if mechscape was runescape in the future. Like, what we're doing now is ancient lore in that game. It could be set in an alternate future where Guthix reawakens to another God War, destroys the world (as in the edicts) and recreates it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonni Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I don't understand why MMG is so proud of the runescape forums. They don't even have a quote or report post function :thumbdown: maybe that's just it - simplicity is the best weapon. A certain other simple, large and well visited messageboard comes to mind when I say that. dedicate your idle computer power to a scientific project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunokiller Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I don't understand why MMG is so proud of the runescape forums. They don't even have a quote or report post function :thumbdown: maybe that's just it - simplicity is the best weapon. A certain other simple, large and well visited messageboard comes to mind when I say that. Because having to post on a special thread to notify a mod is so much better than simply clicking on a report button. My blog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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