Runescapes End?

[Everyonedies]

@ Ring

 

3 years ago there were loads more bots and gold farmers than you can witness today. The player base from 3 years ago was inflated and cannot really be compared truly.

@Ring No, English is my first language, I just fail hard at using it properly over the internet. I was just wondering if your information was fact or conjecture. I hope my wording didn't make it seem I was being facetious. I agree Runescape will be around after WOW loses its fan base.

[Skeptical]

I very much doubt that Jagex is going to let RS die anytime soon: it's still amazingly popular, with a loyal (paying) fanbase.

 

If they came out with something more popular, maybe they'd kill it/let it die off, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

[Roz]

I very much doubt that Jagex is going to let RS die anytime soon: it's still amazingly popular, with a loyal (paying) fanbase.

 

If they came out with something more popular, maybe they'd kill it/let it die off, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

But just how many stupid updates can Jagex make before the loyal fanbase decide; enough is enough?

[Komatose]

It will only end when the profits decrease. No company is going to lose money just so hardcore fans can enjoy new updates, or possibly even host the servers. Money rules all. A few more updates of the PvP/Dungeoneering/Trade Limits quitting scale and JaGex is done.

[Bearded Phil]

I think it will live on for many years, as JaGeX is now making events in real life to make RuneScape big news now.

 

With Jagex hosting real life events now, it seems Runescape has more life than ever. I don't expect it to fully die down within a decade, barring a huge shift in the gaming market or stupid decisions made by Jagex.

 

Just because there is a real life event doesn't mean there will be anybody going to it.

 

You have got to be one of the most cynical posters on these forums. Who wouldn't want to go? If I lived in the London area I know I would go.

 

You get to meet the creators, see a bunch of concept art, in person Q&A, get to talk about runescape with people who aren't little kids.

 

Plus they're gonna be serving drinks which sounds great to me :thumbsup: With any luck they'd be RS themed too ( I want to try a real Greenman's Ale)

 

On topic:

 

Most of all the reason why RS will be around for a while have already been stated but I'll just throw in my two cents and agree that it will be bearing some catastrophic event like:

 

1. jagex makes a better game/source of income

2.Another game comes out that draws massive amounts of RS players away.

3. Some update jagex makes and refuses to budge on makes MASSIVE people quit for good

4. or (god forbid) something tragic happens like Andrew passes away, becomes a vegetable or something terrible like that.

[jsboutin2]

I very much doubt that Jagex is going to let RS die anytime soon: it's still amazingly popular, with a loyal (paying) fanbase.

 

If they came out with something more popular, maybe they'd kill it/let it die off, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

But just how many stupid updates can Jagex make before the loyal fanbase decide; enough is enough?

 

Last stupid update being???

 

Dungeoneering is a pretty nice skill, and, which is better, not just a grindfest.

Constitution update didn't change anything.

I don't think any recent or not-so-recent update was bad enough to make me hate that game.

[atestarossa]

I very much doubt that Jagex is going to let RS die anytime soon: it's still amazingly popular, with a loyal (paying) fanbase.

 

If they came out with something more popular, maybe they'd kill it/let it die off, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

 

But just how many stupid updates can Jagex make before the loyal fanbase decide; enough is enough?

 

 

I think what's important is that there will probably not be like that. Jagex have to something really, really wrong to make people say that enough is enough and leave. And through the history of rs, the only time that have happened in any bigger scale was in december 07 after the anti-rwt measures came. It's just us on a rs forum that is used to hear how every new update sucks that think that the downfall of a game will come because all this stupid updates destroyed the game.

 

But the persons that described the different stages of an mmorpg got it quite right.

Firstly, the game must look promising for newbies. It's hard to make thing worse here, but it must be compared to other games. How do you get persons to hear about the game, try it out, and give such a good first impression, that they continue to play.

 

Second, the players shouldn't get bored. This is where people leave, not because of a few stupid updates. If people end up without things to do, they will eventually quit. This is why essentially every online game updates their game, to keep on their players. This should include fun "past-times" in the game, and goals to set. If you don't have both, then people will probably leave.

 

 

What I think runescape have done so well, is that the balance between these have been very good, which have made it the game it is today. Many game producers just focus on one of these factors, in the belief that it will be enough.

How long runescape will last? I probably think that we are on the peak of players right now, unless something happens (which is kind of the thing about the future, of course) We will probably have runescape in 2015, but smaller than today, probably with a lot of higher leveled players, and few lower ones.

When the game have too many higher leveled compared to low, then it'll be interesting to see how the economy ends up, who is going to do the grunt work?

Anyway, after 2015, I'm not too optimistic about the game. There's something about the coding of rs too, that just get more and more complex with its age, which makes bigger updates hard.

Rs will probably, because of this lack behind in whatever new stuff comes into the game branche. Or so I think.

[i_D_r]

There's a trajectory that MMORPGs typically follow. At first, the player base grows, as more players are attracted to a new and interesting game. During this phase, development is focused on attracting as many new players as possible, by giving them a vast and complex world to do stuff in. Eventually, however, population growth stops. From this point onward, development is focused on getting the people who are already playing the game to keep playing - the developers will release ever-more difficult bosses to fight, they will release better equipment for players to earn, they will increase level caps, etc. Nobody can stay interested in the same game forever, though, so the game's player population will shrink, as these old players get bored and leave, one by one. Finally, subscription fees no longer cover the costs of hosting and development, and the MMORPG is no more.

 

Runescape's population is no longer growing, and Jagex knows it, which is why they're making frantic maneuvers like putting "true skill mastery" for dungeoneering at level 120. This is an attempt to keep their old players grinding away at a near-impossible goal, and paying their subscription fees, for many months to come. However, that's not to say that Runescape is at death's door. Runescape actually enjoys several unique advantages that serve to extend its lifespan. For one, Runescape caters to a niche market by being, essentially, a highly advanced browser game. This game is very hardware-friendly, it can be played from just about anywhere, it's easy enough to learn, and you don't need to make any commitments to begin playing it. (To start playing WoW you need to buy the game data, and pay a hefty subscription fee; to play Runescape, you can just go to www.runescape.com.) These factors make Runescape attractive to the casual player - it's kind of like Habbo Hotel with monsters. Another thing that has helped to extend Runescape's life is how it has vastly changed in content, gameplay and style multiple times during its lifespan. (Compare the early forms of RS Classic to what we're playing now.) This has meant that, when one generation of players starts to get bored with this game, Runescape becomes another game, capable of attracting a new generation, or a different niche of players, allowing the cycle of growth to begin anew.

 

Runescape will eventually end, of course, because all things do, but I can guarantee that it won't end just because Jagex gets bored of developing it. The only sensible thing for them to do, business-wise, is to keep developing Runescape until it's finally no longer profitable, and it will only stop being profitable once the majority of the player base leaves. Note also that, if the majority of the player base has left by the time Runescape is ended, odds are that you'll have left as well, which means that the death of Runescape won't be something that concerns you. You'll probably be playing something else by then.

 

Although I agree with most of what you're saying, I don't entirely agree with you concerning the updates to keep people playing. It's simply the case that there are now very few possibilities for additional updates that Jagex could add to the 'newbie phase' of the game (Iddeson made sure of that), bar the generalised ones which potentially cover the entire game and will take many months/years to develop. They've just added NPC voiceovers to the Unstable Foundations quest a few days ago, and it's going to logically follow that they add NPC voiceovers to more beginner quests and areas and beyond. Graphical updates are also of a similar vein, but I don't think we are going to see another RSHD for a long time yet.

 

I believe that if Jagex keeps on working on getting rid of the misconception that RS is a game for children (RuneFest is a good breakthrough here), they might find a bigger, more mature audience and Runescape will continue to grow.

 

Wow, two of the best posts I have read in a while. Totally agree with everything. Just want to voice my opinions.

 

I think the constant rehauls for the beginning of the game allude to few things:

 

Although Runescape is a niche game, Jagex still must keep up with all of their competitors' products; they try to by adding voice overs and redoing graphics; making the game feel "epic". Albeit the voice overs and epicness are only a sort of initially tantalizing rhetoric, it really does help open a new market. I seem to know tons of gamers that only went hardcore within the past 5 years and I'd say most likely correlated things such as better graphics and voice overs. It just helps make the initial forthcoming to the came much more accessible.

 

To illustrate, think about the same people playing an RPG nowadays, crammed-full of voice overs might not of been interested in the genre when, let's say, Chrono Trigger or FF3 came around ....

 

Also, Jagex did a wonderful thing by streamlining the playing process; adding a demo version to play instantly was ingenious. Not only are they trying to tap new markets with the aforementioned features, they have realized the cumbersome aspect of signing up for anything DOES push away some potential customers as well. If they like it, they can sign up later.

 

These things, among others, including the obvious easy-access of Runescape, will merit many more lively years to come.

[SwreeTak]

21st December 2012.

True. Runescape won't end until the real world does, or something very, very dramatic happens.