Tip.it Times 24 January 2010

[Mirror]

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!

[Maleficus1055]

The second article is the most true thing i've ever read about Runescape.

[Mischlings]

The second article is the most true thing i've ever read about Runescape.

 

I have to agree with that. Sometimes I wonder why I don't have my stats as high as I want and then I realize that I've taken breaks, there have been times that I've said other things are more important than this game (they are, trust me), and I always come to the same conclusion as that in the article. It's all about choosing what to do.

[Gandorf61]

Completely agree with the second article. While luck affects some things such as drops, you have the choice to be there and have that luck. How much I level up is based solely on my motivation and all I have to do is put a bit of effort in.

 

As for the first article (Going a little backwards here :P) I understand what the author is trying to say but I personally have no problem with it. As long as it stays out of Runescape I think it's perfectly fine to have in other games they publish. Besides they have to make money someway and I just can't see how membership for War of Legends would work.

[ductran1989]

Both article are pretty good to me. The 2nd one stand out the most, luck has nothing to do with getting high level. Everyone get the same exp per fish, what matter is the "how fast did you get it."

First article amazed me, for I have no clue that Jagex planned the in game selling. If they plan to do that, I guess it's only because of business.

[xxshady]

First article - Sorry, but micro-transactions have nothing to do with RWT. Literally nothing. Connecting the illegal purchase of in-game items from other players to the publisher of a game offering in-game bonuses for money is ludicrous.

 

Second article was very well written though.

[wab]

1st article: I agree with him, while at same time that's their only choice. WOL membership would never work there, and a game have to make money somehow...or it would have none reasons to exist...

 

2nd article: Agree with every single word, a very good article this time :grin:

[Askthedude]

1st article

As I understood it, Jagex was only publishing the WOL game due to their experties in Java, so really if the developer decided they wanted to include the option to buy ingame items Jagex really doesn't have a lot of choice about it.

 

Totally agree with the 2nd article.

Edited January 24, 2010 by Askthedude

[Assume Nothing]

The first article I just scrolled through and didn't find worthy of reading. Hypocricy (sp?) happens to the best of us, Jagex is a company after all. A company out to make money.

 

The second article I found pretty interesting, it was long but brings out a pretty valid point. Luck and hard work is two different things. There are so many simple, english words that gets misused, and it happens ALOT in runescape.

[Jehosaphat]

First article: I don't play WoL, and have never heard of a "microtransaction" before, so...... no comment.

Second article: Oh how true.

[SirTommy2005]

After reading the 2nd article, I'm thinking silly pures.

[Maxingmck]

the did you know failed

[jedisquire]

I will say what many have said before, the second article was correct. I must add this though a little luck is added, drops and the like, and the lower level players do not have the same ability to gain money or levels as the high level players.

The author gave me the impression that no matter what your level in RuneScape is you have equal opportunity, this is not true. A Fledgling will not have the pleasure of hopping between cities, chopping trees with ease, or snagging a shark. But the opportunity to gain those abilities are the same, that point he made clear. In a way the newcomer has it easier. Think of a poor player that got 99 prayer before the ecofungus or alters came out.

[Swiller2]

Both very good articles. The points made in the second article couldn't be more true. Well done :)

[Opieous]

The 2nd article is very well written. And pretty accurate too but luck is also important, I am saying this because i never had any... 70 Slayer... the only drop was a D'med... I actually trained WC essentially a moneymaking skill to buy my whip and guthan's and other stuff just because of my luck. I do agree its what you make of yourself and that its the effort you put in that matters but luck is also an important factor.

[wioneo]

The second article was without a doubt the best article that I have read from the times, and I don't really agree with the first article, but I need to go "read" a book and "study" so i'll leave it to someone else to list the reasons why.

[atestarossa]

The second article is a good written one, with a interesting point of view.

Although it in rs, compared to in the real life, rs players starts more on equal, and have the same chances as everyone, seen from the perceptive of the game.

 

But the author was barely touching the subject of how the real life affects rs. (although this was done jokeful, when naming the somali child, that didn't have a chance to play rs.

 

But I believe that this is a more important point than it was pointed out in the article. How busy we are, what economical status we have, what our age is, where we live, expectations from others, and a lot of different things affect our chance of being on rs. One key word here is time. Rs is very time consuming. Very much so. If I want to get that 13m xp in, say fishing. I must devote my time for that. But the time I have, and the author have, may differ a lot. It's not like all of us have a God given, say 5 hours a day to use on runescape. So our potential of what we can do with the time we can use differs a lot.

 

Secondly, it is interesting to look at how knowledge about the game is "given" It isn't so that it just flows in, linear, from when you start playing. Instead it moves more in steps, or perhaps more exponentially. Anyways, the point is. When you first stumble over rs (assuming that it is your first mmporg, as others would have affected your way of thinking a bit), you won't know much about the game, and the first exploring will take a lot of time. So, at first you will have very limited knowledge. The next part would be perhaps, when you suddenly understand how you can use a bank to train your skills more efficiently. You don't have to burn every load of wood you chop. You can instead bank and sell them. After that, the next step, or one step after a while, would be finding fan sites. The knowledge base has done this easier though. But now you've found a way to be told how to do stuff. At this point, you won't know the best ways to make money, but you'll have a much better understanding of runescape as a whole. Up to this step, is a place where many players loose interest in the game. Of course there's a lot more steps, and they come faster and faster, or so I belive. (therefore the kind of exp. learning i spoke of.)

 

In this aspect of knowledge, of course, maturity and age will probably affect a lot as well. Players that get stuck on earlier levels of what I tried to explain generally are younger. Or so I believe.

 

 

But back to the article. The point you raise is very good. And if two people have the same knowledge and free time, then everything that differed the rich player with a lot of 99's from the begging level 15 in Varrock, would be what they decided to do. But as long as there are other factors that can affect this, then it would be wrong to say that the newb in question just have made the choise to be poor. He may just have not known that he could make that choice. That's perhaps why richer people is looked at as "lucky", as well. Because it all becomes so overwhelming.

[Giordano]

Well I see someone's a classical economist! :razz:

 

About the Second article: The only problem with moneymaking in RuneScape is your attention span. Excluding merchanting/investing, I couldn't mine 50k iron ore or cut 50k yews... Once I crafted about 17k nats throughout a month and almost shot myself. :---)

 

But still very true.

[BioMilitant]

Only read the second article.. to the author: EXCELLENT article, and so very true. I hope to see more of your work around here!

[Zachneap]

War of legends isn't a real time strategy game...

 

It may be strategical and in real time but that does not mean it is real time strategy.

 

Much like in halo you play the role of a super soldier turning a war around that does not make halo a role playing game.

Or the inclusion of chess in runescape does not make runescape turn based.

[Sir_Squab]

The first article: it was actually stated in the past that Jagex wasn't so dead-set against RWT in other games, just mainly Runescape.

 

Second article: You've forgotten one big thing: knowledge. The best way to train skills, most effecient, good ways to make money (for example, Kingdom. You need knowledge OF the kingdom, as well as how to use it. Aka what product.) Or, what is truly the best way to GET charms?

 

And as someone else so thoughtfully pointed out, time is a large factor. The stereotype that the best playerer(s) of RS live in their parents basement and play RS all day....is not entirely without a grain of truth, to say the least.

 

1st article

As I understood it, Jagex was only publishing the WOL game due to their experties in Java, so really if the developer decided they wanted to include the option to buy ingame items Jagex really doesn't have a lot of choice about it.

 

Totally agree with the 2nd article.

 

Ahahaha yeah, funny....WOL is actually, I'm pretty sure, erm, a FLASH game. Yeah.

 

Jagex has also said, long before I heard of War of Legends, that the concept of Jagex not selling in-game items or whatnot...They said that was how they (Jagex) felt towards Runescape (I really wish I could source this, I really do) but are not against making other games where you pay for items.

[Troacctid]

Glad to see that people liked my article! :D

 

 

But I believe that this is a more important point than it was pointed out in the article. How busy we are, what economical status we have, what our age is, where we live, expectations from others, and a lot of different things affect our chance of being on rs. One key word here is time. Rs is very time consuming. Very much so. If I want to get that 13m xp in, say fishing. I must devote my time for that. But the time I have, and the author have, may differ a lot. It's not like all of us have a God given, say 5 hours a day to use on runescape. So our potential of what we can do with the time we can use differs a lot.

Technically, this sort of variable only affects the economic viability of the choices involved. We all do have a God-given 24 hours a day to spend as we wish. Most of us are going to be sleeping, working, going to school, and so on for the majority of that time, because that's simply a much smarter choice than playing Runescape for 12 hours a day. But theoretically, you could alter your schedule to play more Runescape if you felt it was really important--it may not be a good option, but it exists.

 

However, setting that aside, I find it's usually more appropriate to discuss time spent on Runescape separately from time spent outside of Runescape; that is, character development ought to be measured based on the time displayed in the Adventurer's Log, not the age of the account. Under that criterion, real-life situations more or less become a non-issue.

 

Oh, and the existence of limited moneymakers, particularly Miscellania and farming, takes off a lot of the pressure to spend hours grinding for money. I've made the vast majority of my fortune that way--it probably takes less time out of your day than, say, checking your Facebook or channel surfing would. You could spend half an hour a day online and still be richer than somebody who spends hours but doesn't bother increasing their wealth.

 

Secondly, it is interesting to look at how knowledge about the game is "given" It isn't so that it just flows in, linear, from when you start playing. Instead it moves more in steps, or perhaps more exponentially. Anyways, the point is. When you first stumble over rs (assuming that it is your first mmporg, as others would have affected your way of thinking a bit), you won't know much about the game, and the first exploring will take a lot of time. So, at first you will have very limited knowledge. The next part would be perhaps, when you suddenly understand how you can use a bank to train your skills more efficiently. You don't have to burn every load of wood you chop. You can instead bank and sell them. After that, the next step, or one step after a while, would be finding fan sites. The knowledge base has done this easier though. But now you've found a way to be told how to do stuff. At this point, you won't know the best ways to make money, but you'll have a much better understanding of runescape as a whole. Up to this step, is a place where many players loose interest in the game. Of course there's a lot more steps, and they come faster and faster, or so I belive. (therefore the kind of exp. learning i spoke of.)

 

In this aspect of knowledge, of course, maturity and age will probably affect a lot as well. Players that get stuck on earlier levels of what I tried to explain generally are younger. Or so I believe.

Yes, that certainly is interesting. In fact, it could probably be the subject of another article on its own. And it's a fair point. My perhaps-conceited hope is that the reading of my article will in itself bring the less-informed players up another step or two. :-w (Although they'll need to have already found Tip.It, haha.)

 

Only read the second article.. to the author: EXCELLENT article, and so very true. I hope to see more of your work around here!

You should subscribe to my blog then. ;) </shameless plug>

 

But yeah, it seems I've been pretty well-received, so I may do another one at some point.

 

About the Second article: The only problem with moneymaking in RuneScape is your attention span. Excluding merchanting/investing, I couldn't mine 50k iron ore or cut 50k yews... Once I crafted about 17k nats throughout a month and almost shot myself. :---)

Well, attention span is really just another choice. You choose to vary your activities because you find it more fun that way. And of course, there's nothing wrong with that at all. (By the way, if you have a short attention span, I'd highly recommend farming. It's amazing money.)

[Tim]

Only thing I ave to add to the 2nd article is if you played before December 2007 your friends could also give you money, destroying the "equal footing" part. though nowadays its true and balanced.

 

Plus people like me can't sit there doing ONE THING for 3 hours, heck I can't last 2 hours before going outside and yelling into a pillow at how anyone can have such attention span.

[jettrider]

First article seemed senseless to me; I didn't get the impression that the author really had all his facts in line.

 

The first half of the article discussed measures used in RuneScape to prevent RWT, a completely irrelevant point.

 

The middle bit seemed to be about Jagex's past policies, which were again related to RuneScape. The bank space for security key was a legitimate point made but it was unfortunately the only one.

 

And the author just seems not to know how war of legends works. You can buy items that will increase the rate at which you can build things and level up your skills. In order to take advantage of this you must be at your computer all day switching to building new things. You cannot buy more resources directly - they still cost gold, which you cannot buy. Meanwhile the free-to-play person simply sets up his building orders and leaves their computer. The difference is that the person using Jagex's service is spending more time AND money, and the other person is spending neither time NOR money. Point is: to take advantage of the stuff you buy you have to spend more time anyway, which will give anyone an advantage. Why haven't you written articles about how RS is not fair since not everyone can play for the exact same amount of time per day? And when it finally comes to battle in WoL, you cannot buy anything to help you out.

 

More stuff about RuneScape...then this:

 

Whether you choose to look at micro-transactions as a form of real-world trading or not, the only hair that’s really being split here is whose pocket the money ends up filling. And in the end, I guess that’s enough to convince anybody to abandon their beliefs.

 

This is utter nonsense. Jagex is publishing this game FOR another company (it isn't even in Java), and if you had played the game you would have seen that it is filled with small glitches and spelling errors that are typical of a newly made game. I'm not sure if Jagex bought the rights to the game outright or simply took a cut, but unless people start seriously using JCredits, I'm betting it's not Jagex's pockets that are filling up. Jagex has been asking players for months what kind of payment option they would prefer, and this whole article was written using ONE legitimate pretense - that the game does in fact support microtransactions.

[Troacctid]

Plus people like me can't sit there doing ONE THING for 3 hours, heck I can't last 2 hours before going outside and yelling into a pillow at how anyone can have such attention span.

But again, even with a short attention span you can farm, buy out the stocks of profitable shops, and manage your kingdom, which on their own should be enough to make you pretty wealthy. I financed about 90% of my Bandos Godsword with just the money I made from a few week or so's worth of that kind of thing.