> This is a somewhat random post to talk about Runescape and its creator, Jagex.

 

> It has come to my attention that Runescape and Jagex are growing so fast that they have reached a stage they can, even with its lower graphics (for now - let's wait for the next generation of RuneTek), compete, head to head, against other major MMORPG's, like the infamous WoW, Everquest, EVE, SWG, and some others.

> First: Both WoW and RS have an extensive amount of gameplay incrusted on the game. Many quests to do, and many activities to do both solo and group. But, WoW requires a mandatory subscription, it requires a somewhat powerful computer and graphics card, and it's a little harder to master (believe me. I've played WoW, and I got confused with the interface - and I wasn't using any interface mod). RS is simple, yet complex. You just need to click and it'll do what you need it to do. You don't have to use hotkeys, combokeys or layers and layers of information.

> Runescape is also newbie friendly. When I played EVE or WoW, every initial quest (which mostly involved courier jobs) ended with "For more information, access WoW's/EVE's website". RS summarizes everything you need to know to play the game withing the game itself.

> Now, here's an arguable feature. Take a base unit of space on all games. On RS, let's call it a god dungeon. On WoW, let's call it a raiding spot, and on EVE, let's call it a star system. How many players actively interacting with each other you got on those places? On RS I'd guess 7 or 8, if a group is raiding the dungeon. On WoW, about the same, less if a lower levelled raid, and on EVE, you'd be surprised to see more than 8 people gathering around toghether if not for a war. Now, why is it arguable, you ask? Simply because of the space each game offers. Since RS offers less geographical space, it'd be obvious the "player density" would increase.

> Now, about the companies:

> JaGeX is now reaching the initial stages of becoming a full-grown company, like Blizzard, LucasArts or Sony (the MMORPG section only of those, of course). First, because JaGeX offers much more player support and player-company interaction than those do. JaGeX is much more transparent than the others and apart from actually entering the company's bulding and accessing their systems, you can see pretty much what happens in there. They release periodic blogs on what's going on behind the scenes, and they give feedback on players opinions, even if there are only a handful of players claiming it (handful as in 50~100 plus).

> Not enough, JaGeX has been considered one of the best companies to work on England (related to gaming and computer techonolgy). Happy employees work better, resulting on what you see at www.runescape.com. According to what you could see when the machinima contest winners visited JaGeX's HQ, the environement there is light. They can have breaks to actually play the game they work on, or any other game as well.

> JaGeX also cares for their stuff too. You probably have heard the news about the britishman arrested for stealing Runescape accounts, right? That shows JaGeX is not interested exclusively on money, but on providing a safe and secure environment for us to enjoy and play.

 

> Now, you ask: "OK. What do I have to do with this?"

> I promptly reply that: What I'm saying is that Runescape and JaGeX are indeed growing and they look they'll become one of the biggest names on the MMORPG community, and we should be proud to be part of it. So, Runescape players, FunOrb players, Jagex employees and everyone related, you should feel proud to be part of something that big. In a few years, JaGeX might become a huge company (might not, if they decide to keep a low profile too), and maybe, on those Game Con(vention)s around the world, JaGeX might be there, with a stand, with actors wearing barrow armours, while advertising new content with 3D CGI-made movies for fans that came from another country to see it. Who knows?

Well, it's already a big name in the MMORPG business. Runescape already holds the Guinness World Record for the most popular free RPG, and Jagex is pretty much the king of browser-based gaming right now.

 

Also, what's up with the >'s?

How long have you been playing runescape? I'd like to argue the opposite of your point, from seeing jagex/runescape operating seven years now. From rs1 to the launch of rs2 runescape experienced huge growth. It averaged low thousands being online at once during its first few years, gradually growing until about 2004-2005 where users online at once actually plateaued and the rate of growth stagnated. Over the past few years I haven't played but every time I check the amount of people playing at once it still floats around the same number.

 

A few years back it had its best selling point: a browser based free game that didn't require much comp power to run. It was the only game of this type, and it didn't have many other MMORPG's to compete with. Now there are several larger games that offer much more than rs does. And if you argue that jagex doesn't compete with companies that sell software, then compare it with the already saturated free-in-browser game market. Although it probably is the best amongst other offerings out there, there just isn't much room for serious expansion.

 

Rs is a gateway game and more serious gamers move on shortly to purchase games like WoW and less serious gamers soon get bored of rs. Runescape won't be going anywhere anytime soon. It's very successful in it's niche area and has delivered more than any other in-browser game. But unless jagex decides to start guerrilla marketing I see no reason for the popularity of rs to explode. Why wouldn't it already when it was better positioned 1-5 years ago?

> If JaGeX keeps their promise of bringing a new graphical engine, and keep bringing new content, they'll attract more and more players. Currently, what most brings RS down, compared to other MMORPG's is indeed the graphic engine, which is restricted by the browsers and java engines. But when JaGeX starts developing content to be used with DirectX, (and maybe have a bigger "Recommended Settings" at their website), Runescape, and JaGeX's other creations will get the attention of more and more players. This is what happened when RS1 went to RS2, and when RS2 when HD. On both occasions there were booms of new players and new contents, which we might expect when RS goes DirectX.

 

> About the ">"'s, it's just something I like to use to "personalize" my posts :)

Rs1 had peaks of about 75k if I remember right. That was 5 years ago, I don't remember exactly. Compare rs1 to the high definition runescape we now have. That's a massive graphical leap. Even if they made an update analogous in magnitude, the fact remains that from rs1 to the current population, the rate has not increased by much. I wouldn't expect much to change so long as jagex doesn't advertise at all. It will still grow, just not by much. Although I'll say I do think they have a lot to work with and I am surprised they haven't advertised much because I have seen advertisements for other inferior browser games similar to runescape.

> It has come to my attention that Runescape and Jagex are growing so fast that they have reached a stage they can, even with its lower graphics (for now - let's wait for the next generation of RuneTek), compete, head to head, against other major MMORPG's, like the infamous WoW, Everquest, EVE, SWG, and some others.

 

Runescape has more paying members than Everquest. Runescape has over a million paying subscribers, while back in 2007 Everquest reported about 175,000 and dropping. Even back in 2007, Runescape makes more than Everquest in revenue. Eve Online carries 300,000 subscribers, making Runescape still more profitable. Star Wars Galaxies only holds an estimated 20,000 subscribers, although Sony has refused to release numbers. Star Wars Galaxies has 12 servers, and most are dead. Star Wars Galaxies has not been a major MMO since about 2005.

> It might be because Runescape trusts its advertising to the current players.

> You may remember when JaGeX advertised Runescape on Miniclip... The horror....

> Since JaGeX might be a little more resilient on advertising on other websites, they do it on different ways:

> They get Guiness Records, they bust people for stealing accounts, thus rendering international indirect adverstising (as well the player-to-friend ads too).

> JaGeX is a small company and it can't maintain a gigantic game. Yet. JaGeX is growing and, step by step, it'll become a MMORPG giant.

> Mark my words, about a year after RS goes DirectX, JaGeX will advertise Runescape back again (hopefully, not on Miniclip :D)

Accessibility. Affordability. Reliability. Originality.

 

Key words that have contributed to RS's success.

 

Some of the gameplay is decent, but meh, a lot of it is terrible and poorly thought out.

 

But RSers put up with the bad to put up with the cool niche of it.

 

It's similar to other MMORPGs but yet in a way different ball park. Hard to compare it to them.

Rs is a gateway game and more serious gamers move on shortly to purchase games like WoW and less serious gamers soon get bored of rs. Runescape won't be going anywhere anytime soon. It's very successful in it's niche area and has delivered more than any other in-browser game. But unless jagex decides to start guerrilla marketing I see no reason for the popularity of rs to explode. Why wouldn't it already when it was better positioned 1-5 years ago?

 

This point is good, and I'm going to expand on this and what you stated before.

 

Runescape is Different to other games. It is an easy to access browser game, that people can play in their spare time to relax. It's not complicated, and it's not fast. It succeeds in this category, and I think this is where it should stay.

 

People whining about graphics updates and attempting to see Runescape compare with WoW is stupid. They are different games, and if RS ever attempts to match WoWs gameplay, it will fall short every time. Just be happy that it's different, and for that it's good.

 

A point I always use when comparing Runescape to most other MMOs is, Runescape is for the uncompetetive chilled people who want to kill spare time or relax, everything else is for those with a more serious nature who wish to utilise their skills.

 

Please avoid the common statement "Runescape has come a long way" blah blah blah. Sure it has come a long way in terms of active users, but understand it has always been a great game. And if it sticks to it's category it always will be. You'll find if it tries to expand too much or leave it's boundaries, it will be less great than what it once was ( This point has been said many times, and the optimum year of Runescape has argueably passed, although personally I think Jagex can bring it back if they listen to the smart community for once ... )

> It might be because Runescape trusts its advertising to the current players.

> You may remember when JaGeX advertised Runescape on Miniclip... The horror....

> Since JaGeX might be a little more resilient on advertising on other websites, they do it on different ways:

> They get Guiness Records, they bust people for stealing accounts, thus rendering international indirect adverstising (as well the player-to-friend ads too).

> JaGeX is a small company and it can't maintain a gigantic game. Yet. JaGeX is growing and, step by step, it'll become a MMORPG giant.

> Mark my words, about a year after RS goes DirectX, JaGeX will advertise Runescape back again (hopefully, not on Miniclip :D)

 

1. Runescape is still being advertised on Miniclip.

2. They are already advertising on addictinggames as well, and maybe others but I don't know for sure.

3. I wouldn't call Jagex a small company, they do have hundreds of employees...and yes it can maintain a gigantic game (They have been doing it for years no? And it just continues to get bigger?). Jagex already is an MMORPG giant with over 135 million accounts for Runescape..

4. You have no idea what you are talking about. Runescape will NEVER go to DirectX... Firstly there curently is no bindings for DirectX in Java. I believe there was a project for using Direct3D in Java, but last I heard they discontinued it in 2006. There is JOGL though, but I don't know if that runs on other platforms. That brings me to my last point: DirectX is only for Windows, so even if they could go to DirectX, there goes anyone with other playtorms then Windows.

As has already been said, Runescape won't start to use DirectX due to the Java platform i'd presume.

 

They're already using the JOGL library though! :^_^:

They are working on a directX implementation actually.

 

Development is still continuing; another member of the Game Engine team has just commenced work on the DirectX RT5 implementation, and we have several awesome features in the pipeline.

 

Thats from the Runetek5 Dev blog.

 

4. You have no idea what you are talking about.

 

Neither do you. :-P

They are working on a directX implementation actually.

 

Development is still continuing; another member of the Game Engine team has just commenced work on the DirectX RT5 implementation, and we have several awesome features in the pipeline.

 

Thats from the Runetek5 Dev blog.

 

4. You have no idea what you are talking about.

 

Neither do you. :-P

 

Jagex saying that they're working on something and it actually coming out are two very different things. If they're going to implement Directx in Runescape, they're going to have to write the bindings themselves as, already said, development on such a project ceased back in 2006.

 

Jagex also said that they were working on Player owned shops back in 2004, when in a later Q&A they said that the shops have been postponed for years because they were impossible to implement at the time, and are still impossible to implement now. Just because they say they're working on something, doesn't mean it's going to come out.

The main reason why Runescape is so popular that it won the Guiness World Record for most popular MMORPG, is that it is mass-advertised in sites such as miniclip, and it is easy to use on a browser.

 

Though, Runescape is different in a way that it does not actually have the "competitive" aspects. The only ways of which Runescape is "competitive" is the highscores, and PvP events. It mostly appeals to casual players, as I've noticed (hence the young age group).

 

Oh and by the way, whether a game is good or not, it all boils down to what you think.

They are working on a directX implementation actually.

 

Development is still continuing; another member of the Game Engine team has just commenced work on the DirectX RT5 implementation, and we have several awesome features in the pipeline.

 

Thats from the Runetek5 Dev blog.

 

4. You have no idea what you are talking about.

 

Neither do you. :-P

 

Jagex saying that they're working on something and it actually coming out are two very different things. If they're going to implement Directx in Runescape, they're going to have to write the bindings themselves as, already said, development on such a project ceased back in 2006.

 

Jagex also said that they were working on Player owned shops back in 2004, when in a later Q&A they said that the shops have been postponed for years because they were impossible to implement at the time, and are still impossible to implement now. Just because they say they're working on something, doesn't mean it's going to come out.

 

 

Game Engine and content development are rather different, Game Engine can do what they want whereas content have to wait for the Game team to add the ability to do certain things. In theory the GE is a modern uptake (with the current caps) of the player owned shops, and I remember a few mods saying so when it was released.

 

They wouldn't be carrying out work if they did not do any previous research on the subject. Just the OpenGL implementation took over a year of research before they started.

 

But back on topic, I was correcting that it is possible as opposed to who said above would never happen.

> Runescape is not mass-advertised. The only place I know it's advertised is Miniclip (and they don't actively advertise it. It's just there, somewhere on their game list).

> As for DirectX implementation, it might even be that JaGeX doesn't fulfill the promise and forgets about it, but until they say so, we are to suppose they are working on it.

> Although JaGeX did killed a few projects they wanted to work on, they kept on going with many others, like free/member bank spaces.

> As bored said, Game Content and Game Engine are two different things. The game content is (usually) updated twice a month or maybe thrice. The Game Engine is updated once a year, which shows they are completely independent (they even have different teams working on them).

> We are not (should not) compare Runescape to WoW, EVE, SWG or EQ by comparing individual components. Each game is bound to hold the top place on a specific component. No way we could compare RS's graphics and movement control to EVE's, and no way we could compare EQ's storylines to RS's ones. But on overall, RS reaching the other MMORPG's.

They are working on a directX implementation actually.

 

Development is still continuing; another member of the Game Engine team has just commenced work on the DirectX RT5 implementation, and we have several awesome features in the pipeline.

 

Thats from the Runetek5 Dev blog.

 

4. You have no idea what you are talking about.

 

Neither do you. :-P

 

I said currently they don't have any DirectX bindings for Java. They don't. I never said it wasn't possible or that they weren't working on them. I just find it very weird that Jagex would try to make their new RuneTek Engine based on DirectX, which only runs on Windows. The whole thing about Runescape was that you can run it on Mac, Windows, etc. DirectX would make it no longer multiplatform.

> Runescape is not mass-advertised. The only place I know it's advertised is Miniclip (and they don't actively advertise it. It's just there, somewhere on their game list).

> As for DirectX implementation, it might even be that JaGeX doesn't fulfill the promise and forgets about it, but until they say so, we are to suppose they are working on it.

> Although JaGeX did killed a few projects they wanted to work on, they kept on going with many others, like free/member bank spaces.

> As bored said, Game Content and Game Engine are two different things. The game content is (usually) updated twice a month or maybe thrice. The Game Engine is updated once a year, which shows they are completely independent (they even have different teams working on them).

> We are not (should not) compare Runescape to WoW, EVE, SWG or EQ by comparing individual components. Each game is bound to hold the top place on a specific component. No way we could compare RS's graphics and movement control to EVE's, and no way we could compare EQ's storylines to RS's ones. But on overall, RS reaching the other MMORPG's.

If this is meant to be a list, try using

• tags and putting a [*] for each item in the list. No need to use that > thing in front of every line...it looks weird.

 

We can easily compare Runescape to other games. For example, Runescape and WoW are similar in that both have large game worlds with lots of backstory, grind-based leveling, boss monsters (although WoW's are far more sophisticated), noncombat skills (although Runescape's are far more sophisticated), a large base of players, item trading, spellcasting, familiars you can summon to aid you in combat, and so on.

 

There are many fundamental differences, but they're far from incomparable.

I said currently they don't have any DirectX bindings for Java. They don't. I never said it wasn't possible or that they weren't working on them. I just find it very weird that Jagex would try to make their new RuneTek Engine based on DirectX, which only runs on Windows. The whole thing about Runescape was that you can run it on Mac, Windows, etc. DirectX would make it no longer multiplatform.

Hmm if you say so...

Runescape will NEVER go to DirectX...

 

 

D3D has its advantages over OpenGL as its part of DirectX whereas OpenGL is graphics only. Not only that it also has better support for Ati cards too.

It would not be based on Direct3D, more as an extension based on OS that would allow multi platform, but also allow the extra features the API has over OpenGL on win machines. Also Win OS still has a 91% market share of client internet usage.

> The ">"'s are a personal feature of my posts. They're there, otherwise it's not my post. ^_^

> Of course, DirectX might be single plataform, but then they'll have it available separately and with the requirement: "Requires Windows XP or higher. Then we'd have a SD version, a HD version and a DX version, which we could choose from. No worries about that.

> Also, they are Java experts. If someone can come up with a DirectX/3D system for Java Engine, they are the ones that are gonna do it.

From what i know, Runescape has never been mass advertised. The only specific advert I can remember was on a very old version of the sun java website around the download area.

 

The majority of Runescape's advertising comes from word of mouth, usually within schools, where people will play in school, or tell their friends.

From what i know, Runescape has never been mass advertised. The only specific advert I can remember was on a very old version of the sun java website around the download area.

 

The majority of Runescape's advertising comes from word of mouth, usually within schools, where people will play in school, or tell their friends.

 

Runescape was actually advertised on miniclip for a long time. It was number 1 on their games list, and i remember banners or something on the miniclip homepage.

I remember reading from Edge magazine or somewhere that Jagex has noticed that their players feel like RuneScape is a hidden gem in the Internet, therefore they only use guerrilla marketing tactics.

From what i know, Runescape has never been mass advertised. The only specific advert I can remember was on a very old version of the sun java website around the download area.

 

The majority of Runescape's advertising comes from word of mouth, usually within schools, where people will play in school, or tell their friends.

 

Runescape was actually advertised on miniclip for a long time. It was number 1 on their games list, and i remember banners or something on the miniclip homepage.

Didn't they also advertised it on Addicting Games?

 

Also, imo, Jagex shouldn't have mass advertised on those sites. Let the kids type in and bookmark runescape.com by themselves.

> Currently, Runescape's advertising has been:

1. Listed on Miniclip's game list, but no active advertising by Miniclip, nor Jagex.

2. Listed on AG's game list, but no active advertising by AG, nor Jagex.

3. A German TV ad, that I believe was only an experience Jagex was making, to advertise the german version.

4. Player-to-friend advertising (the one they most rely upon).

5. Twitter & Youtube accounts.

6. I remember seeing a YT video where Jagex had a stand on a games convetion just to talk about Runescape and the upcoming futuristic MMORPG (which changed name thrice already)

 

> That is not what I'd call "active advertising". I'm yet to see a Runescape banner on google.ads :)