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Is RuneScape Too Old?


Lt_Wolfe

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Hello everyone, I'm Lt Wolfe. I've been playing RuneScape on various characters ever since June of 2003. When I was playing the game, partyhats were in the single digit millions, santa hats were just 200,000gp, and masks were under half a million gold coins. No one had hit the max overall yet, and the overwhelming majority of players were below level 90 combat, if not below 80 combat. Needless to say, times were different. Everybody knows about the nostalgia of yesteryear, but I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about what we came to RuneScape for, and what we are now doing.

 

I don't know about all of you, but when I came to RuneScape I was looking for a game that would give me something to do every single time I logged in. I wanted something immersive, something I could really get into. I wanted something that would be exciting and new, challenging and bold. I met great people, and never was very good at all of the skills, but I liked training them because it was what I liked to do. It was different, as all games are when they first start out. What did you expect from the game those first few weeks?

 

As well, it was more about the adventure of it all, and the excitement. I didn't know everything, and I was glad that I didn't. I wanted to explore it all myself. I wanted to do everything I could and still know that I had only explored half of the world. Now, that feeling is gone. Regardless of the community, that feeling of freshness is gone. Now, it seems that the game is about money and exploiting things in order to get ahead. To succeed, you need to level. To level, you need to make money. I understand, it could all be avoided by doing everything by myself and avoiding trade, but even back when rares were only 200,000, it seemed like it wasn't all that terrible. Have we met that evolutionary split in the road that all games must face? When did it become about money more than anything else? How can we get that "new car smell" back into the game? What can we do to not only stop the experience from becoming boring, but what can we do to bring back that feeling we first had when we logged in?

 

So here's the real discussion: what did you expect of the game when you first started out? What did you want, what did you think, what was fun for you? Now compare that to today. What are you doing on a normal day today? What feelings do you have for the game now, and what feelings do you have when logging in? How does that compare to when you were first starting your adventures in RuneScape?

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I started playing a few years back (the day after Farming was released - 2006, maybe?) after a friend recommended it. I was simply blown away; the possibilities, even as F2P, were staggering.

I just remember trying to be self-sufficient; I mined and mined and smithed and smithed until I could make my own steel armour..it was brilliant. As I started playing more though, I slowly started becoming disillusioned - if that's the right word to use - about it all. I took many breaks, for many months, and then decided to start again with a new character.

 

I found the same thrill again - but this time round, there was Hunting and Summoning, and so much more to the game. I started playing again with the same fervour, but it's slowly losing its shine again. I don't want this to happen; I quite like having something completely unrelated to everything else I do to concentrate on. I want to find the same ol' spark again.

 

TL;DR: RS just held infinite possibilities for me - with big weekly updates, there would be something for me to do from when I started playing until, well, forever.

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That "new" car smell for a video game....

 

In my opinion, that has more to do with just being young, and playing a NEW game. The "new car smell," if you will, of a video game fades once you play it enough.

 

No matter how big the game seems, you will always be able to beat it. Unless the game developers develop the game faster then you can beat it...

 

But that would suck too imo. Plus, it'd probably be too costly.

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Well if it bothers you that the game is more fun now, then you can go cry in a corner. :shame:

your article was the equivalent of a circumcized porcupine

The only thing wrong with it is the lack of a percentage for when you need to stroke it.

 


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Like you, I expected something new to do every day - but as you proceed through the game, many skills and activities grow stale. I think it's just the lack of content for people with higher levels that made me quit. I wanted something to fill those long summer evenings after I'd be hanging around with friends all day. I enjoyed woodcutting and firemaking. It took a long time for that to get boring.

 

On a normal day today, I'll visit TIF, probably open up Photoshop or browse through Facebook. My general consensus of the game is that of an activity that I find incredibly boring now. When I log in, I just can't be bothered to do anything. Compared to a couple of years ago, the game just seems bland.

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first starting out is like "whoa thiers magers rangers and warriors walking around everywhere" "whoa u can talk in this game" i started in like may 2006 and tbh besides the tradelimits/wild and ppeople in f2p not running around with skulls on thier heads leading to the wild...nothing much has changed yeh u have to play for hours and hours just to gain a level but thats how all games are or else everyone would beat it in a month..

 

thier is always a point where u realize enough is enough that time came shortly after 138 combat for me.....had 80 all skills and 11 99s and didnt know if i wanted to put in the hours for more...took 3 months off came backand finished 2 more 99s but there wasnt the excitement there still...took more months off and came back.....got 99 summoning but college was starting and i didnt want to nolife to much then so i basically quit until later came back got 90 all and a quest cape and questing really brought back the adventure part of rs because its not neccessary to devote hours and hours to rs for questing...

 

new content such as surge spells extreme pots and living rock caverns cursesand icestrke made the game more exciting and i was storming through all 99s

 

current day:dungeoneering is pretty fun and kinda gave the new car smell for me it doesnt feel like a grind to get lvls at all for me and im motivated by the overall ranks..if i get bored of it i just camp dboots or something

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On a normal day today, I'll visit TIF, probably open up Photoshop or browse through Facebook. My general consensus of the game is that of an activity that I find incredibly boring now. When I log in, I just can't be bothered to do anything. Compared to a couple of years ago, the game just seems bland.

 

This. I found myself logging in, scrolling through my bank for 5 minutes and then getting bored. Nothing excites me at all about RS anymore, even the latest fairy quest isn't enough to tempt me back.

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On a normal day today, I'll visit TIF, probably open up Photoshop or browse through Facebook. My general consensus of the game is that of an activity that I find incredibly boring now. When I log in, I just can't be bothered to do anything. Compared to a couple of years ago, the game just seems bland.

 

This. I found myself logging in, scrolling through my bank for 5 minutes and then getting bored. Nothing excites me at all about RS anymore, even the latest fairy quest isn't enough to tempt me back.

 

When thsi happens i let my members run out, then i go crazy over someething else like *cough*school, or something. Then when i come back in a month or two, i get exited over the new things, rant about the old days, get killed by a chicken and then start playing again cause i remember how fun it is.

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I started around August 2005, sometime after Farming was out. I didn't really know what to expect, I remember starting out bashing Goblins, then working on Mining and Smithing. The fact that there were so many different skills was fun to me. I remember the day I got members, I started by pickpocketing up to about 5 Thieving then I went off and did Druidic Ritual. Fast forward a bit, and I rememer getting 60 Attack for a D Long and 43 Prayer for Protect Melee on the same day. At that point I knew that the doors to many quests had been thrown open. Sometime later, I discovered Runecrafting and Barrows, and used those as my main moneymakers. I had also discovered Slayer and used that as my primary combat leveling method.

 

Going into 2007, I had respectable RC and Slayer lvls as well as a Green Mask and Santa. I soloed a D Chain worth 15m at the time and used that to get my Prayer up. Then when Dark Bows came out, I had already rushed to 90 Slayer, and used the money from 5 Bow drops to get 99 Prayer(D Bones were about 1.3k ea at the time). Upon getting 99 Prayer, I chased level 126 via Slayer. GWD came out when I was 124, and I tried soloing for a few hours and got owned. Then I read about the Zammy safespot and started soloing him. Sometime later, a safespot for Bandos was revealed, and I used that to get 2 Bandos Plates, selling one to get a DFS. I got my level 126 October 2007. I soloed a 22m Sara Sword with the 1 kill a trip melee method, and even soloed a 120m Armadyl Hilt December 2007.

 

Then, Summoning comes out, and I instantly want the new level 138. Slowly, but surely, the game had turned into a quest for more and more power in PVM for me. I remember rushing my Herblore up to get the new Overloads. It also turned into a quest for more and more money and rares. I now kick myself for not buying a bunch of 10m Green Masks for instance. A typical day for me in the game now is spent either doing solo PVM, merchanting, or doing something that will make me more powerful in PVM such as getting Dungeoneering up for a Chaotic Weapon.

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4x Phat owner: Blue, Green, 2x Purple

 

3100+ GWD bosses soloed.

Solo GWD Drops:

5 Bandos Plates, 4 Bandos Boots, 3 Bandos Hilts, 2 Arma Helms, Arma Skirt, Arma Plate, 3 Arma Hilts, 4 Zammy Spears, Steam Staff, 15 Sara Swords, 6 Sara Hilts, 29 Shards.

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I quit this game for 3 years due to personal reasons and the fact that Runescape was on it's way downhill...

 

Now I play the game to try to catch up with what's happened these past 3-4 years, but it's not the same at it was on Classic and early RS2 when you had that Free Trade system going on. And of course, the famous high level players you used to run into that were well ahead of everyone else.

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So here's the real discussion: what did you expect of the game when you first started out? What did you want, what did you think, what was fun for you?

 

I just wanted a game to play in my free time.

As I progressed I found my success made me hungry for glory and that sense of eliteness.

 

Now compare that to today. What are you doing on a normal day today? What feelings do you have for the game now, and what feelings do you have when logging in?

How does that compare to when you were first starting your adventures in RuneScape?

 

Once I reached the pinnacle, I found that Jagex no longer supported me.

There was no end game content, my combat was stuck at 126, and over the years many more people became maxed so I was no longer elite.

I just played castle wars for years and I have quit on and off and tried other games.

Nowadays I am back to finish what I started. I am skilling so to speak.

Some parts of the game bring nostalgia and comfort, others are new and somewhat foriegn.

It angers me when old parts of the game are written over to make things attractive for new players. (think hp update)

Exclusive Legacy Mode Player

 

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He just successfully trolled you with "courtesy" and managed to get a reaction out of you. Lol

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i started in 2003-2004 and i loved it. i thought rsc was the greatest game ever and would skip school just to sit at home and play it. i literally considered my friend on rsc to be my best friend and would love just hanging out at falador bank where a bunch of us would show off our costumes (full black and a santa with red cape was mine).. i never had p2p in rsc and i didn't care because i still had so much fun. i used to actually make legit trips back and forth to karamja fishing lobsters and i didn't mind that because i did it more for the exp/to talk to people at the dock, then for the money. i remember making certs etc, actually doing a quest without a guide to do it all for me. i loved merchanting all day just to make 50k and when i could finally afford a green mask for 200k i was stoked. i think the game lost a lot of what it was and now there is just to much going on. jagex ruined it with the rwt, economy, the wilderness (i used to get such a rush just me and a buddy going to runite rocks in wildy and when we saw a level 100 my heart would start to race lol) or just walking around castle watching all the low level pkers. sure, there was autoers, but never as much as they have now in rs2. i actually remember people using the crafting guild as a primary source of income!! i would love to be able to play rsc again, but i feel like it's to late and wouldn't be the same feel as it used to be with all of my friends gone and all of the bots.

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Back when I started, the world seemed so big. Now its not anymore, but im fine with that. :P

Its just like when you live in a little town, then move to the city. Everything seems loads bigger. Before you moved though, you thought your town was big.

 

I still play Runescape because I enjoy it and think its fun.

 

If your looking for new explorations into a new area though, id suggest daemonheim.

I can guarantee you when you start out dungeoneering you wont have the slightest clue what any items are. (Kinda like when you first started playing Runescape)

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The thing I liked about Rs when I started playing was the massive multiplayer part. You're essentially playing together with so many players that it was like a world of its own. The thing that kept me playing was probably the competitive part: I made some friends and we started training skills so we would top eachother in the highscores.

 

Good times :thumbup:

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Runescape is still the same game its always been.

 

the game hasnt changed much, but the players have.

 

This is a good point. I guess like most games, there is a limit to how long you can play for. This limit varies for people, and it is often extended by the release of new content. Sometimes you jsut reach that limit, and once you get over the game, you don't go back. I don't really think I have the desire to play anymore, there are always goals you can set your sights on, but whether you can be bothered going through and achieving them is another story...Personally, I can't find the time and desire.

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Good point Ring_World. Yes, the economy and combat is much more controlled than it used to be but there's also so much more to do. Generally when you are exploring a game for the first time it is more of an adventure as everything is new and the unknown can be very exciting. It's easy to think that changes to the game have made it lose its mojo, but in many ways it is just your familiarity with the game which makes you lose that sense of adventure. Plus when you're older you perhaps don't quite have the same feelings of wonderment as you once did, e.g. Christmas is no longer as exciting.

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I share the same sentiment as Ring_World does; I've definitely grown over the last seven years from playing RuneScape. Back then, I was a teenage-something or other with a vivid imagination, and RuneScape was a world that held infinite possibilities.

 

As you grow up, the game takes on a different meaning than it did in years back. I think that's all it boils down to, really.

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...Alright, the Elf City update lured me back to RS over a year ago.

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I do think we've come to a point where money is very important in-game. I'm not sure about back then but I've heard stories about people persueing a certain amount of wealth. The game's always been about money, now there's just more ways for the not-so-lucrative player to get it. So now everyone focuses on gaining wealth, instead of just playing because they don't know how to make money.

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Part of the reason I'm not as wild about WoW is I don't know WTF to do. I don't care too much about exploring...

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The thing I liked about Rs when I started playing was the massive multiplayer part. You're essentially playing together with so many players that it was like a world of its own. The thing that kept me playing was probably the competitive part: I made some friends and we started training skills so we would top eachother in the highscores.

 

Good times :thumbup:

 

yeahhh end of 'pking was the reason i quit, mage bank with td on weekend nights was some of the best gaming fun ive had

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in the old days i used to be able to come on with decent skills and items and go hold my own in pvp. now its like i have to spend soooo much time preparing for pvp situations that its not worth it. the quest to be as efficient and as powerful as possible hinders the overall experience for me. example: i enjoy farming but now the scroll of life is out. so i have to get like 60 dung (and complete FT3) before i can enjoy farming again. although i enjoy the game the preparation and road to elite status is not much fun (better than some games). the only fun i get from runescape anymore is safe pvp situations, fletching, and ruining peoples days (eg- stealing kills, setting up hunting traps in front of fmers, killing players using brawlers)

[size="5"][font="Georgia"][b]Staking:[/b][/font][font="Palatino Linotype"][color="#FF0000"][/color][color="#FFFF00"][/color][color="#00FF00"] 4+ mil[/color][/font]
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I feel the game is as challenging as it was (or even more).

 

Back in the days, I'd mine in rimmington, smelt in fally, smith at Doric's house and sell to general store for money. Rinse and repeat.

 

After that a few days, I realised that it was much faster using a bank (Didn't know about the banks in Falador), and just selling steel bars to people, instead of general stores.

 

I eventually got a few hundred k's, and was able to buy a zammy helm, and eventually a guthix kit. I felt like a succesful, rich person (rs-wise)

 

 

 

Today, I slay a task/rc for a few hours, get 400-900k/h, see the millions in the bank, with a green number and 3 digits. Not enough to buy me what I'd like, such as prayer or herblore.

 

From successful/rich with 300k or so, I became low-average with 100M.

 

 

 

In the future, I guess I'll have a billion or so, and yet more stuff that'd still be out of reach for me. It's a never-ending circle.

 

 

 

That's what kind of bores me as of now. The cost of things becomes exponentially harder to reach the higher you get.

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well, its about 9 years old and I think thats pretty much "old" to me imo. we've gone from DeviousMUD to rs2 to HD and.....

actually we just went from runescape to rs2.. devius mud was just a minor game andrew developed that had a little bit to do with runescape and HD is just a graphical update to rs2.

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Yes... Since coming back in 2009, after the whole HD feel wore off (after about 2 weeks), I've felt RS needs a giant new continent with cities/towns that are worth staying in or being around. I'm just sick of Varrock, Falador, Catherby, etc.

 

But it's really driving my web development hobby right now so I'm at least getting something out of it. ;)

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