Is RS Dying?

[Freakyhair]

Ok so basically I've been playing this game looong time. Since free trade was cancelled I slowed down my playing and pretty much stopped within the last year.. But then my brother told me it was returning! so I've been on for the last few days, and to me it seems that RS is dying and this is a latch ditch attempt to save it.

 

I remember there was always a fairly equal spread of levels and skills, but in the last few days I've noticed that the majority of players seem to have been playing for years, most people under level 100 seem to be skillers. Almost EVERYONE has skill capes and that means that almost everyone has played ALOT of RS. My brothers also told me that even staple items are fluctuating in price most of the time. Now I got 99 fletching before auto fletch and that was over about 6 months. Over that 6 months the price of bowstrings did not change one bit. The proper price (buying bulk) was 100 per. Now I've just looked at bow string prices within the last 30 days and its dropped 100gp!! Maybe that's because of the trade announcement (I don't know when that was) but I think its because of the terrible state of economy. Now that's a fairly bad sign to me. Same with a shark, you look at the fluctuation over 180 days of one of the most staple items in the game. They used to be 1-1.1k and stayed like that for at least a year or two, maybe 3. Now in half a year they have gone from 750-1.15k and everywhere in between.

 

So much of the game is completely outdated now and you need to grind so much to get standard gear that new players are being put off. Now for a MMORPG to be in good health you need all levels of players, RS is definitely becoming a top level heavy game and that will kill it if it carries on.

 

With trade and wilderness being restored hopefully the item prices will level, but I think that botting, goldfarming and goldbuying is going to come back with a vengeance which will impact on prices negatively. Maybe over time it will right itself. But I dunno, this feels like the beginnning of the end to me.

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but it definitely feels like it to me, what do you think?

 

EDIT:

 

Graph showing that visitors are in decline..

 

 

http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/runescape.com

[Bladewing]

the game is not dying

 

your interest in the game is dying

[CharlieBrown]

More money within the game means higher fluctuating prices.

 

It doesn't mean the game is dying; and it's much, much easier to get 100 + combat these days compared to when you remember.

 

Rose-tinted glasses will never fade.

[Hegelstad]

It just reincarnated!

[Hajutze]

Oh Jebus ... I'm starting to think RuneScape is a phoenix ... it "died" so many times in the last years I can't even count them ... but hey .. it's still running and escaping.

[gremmy]

the game is not dying

 

your interest in the game is dying

 

this

[Freakyhair]

Oh Jebus ... I'm starting to think RuneScape is a phoenix ... it "died" so many times in the last years I can't even count them ... but hey .. it's still running and escaping.

 

 

Obv its not gunna actually die, but as a fun game. Loads of old MMORPGS are dead now, theres may still be 50k people who play but the game is broken, obsolete and dead.

 

Alright maybe its because I'm an old player and I remember the good old times and all that crap, but there are so many parallels in the game now, uber rare drops being worth nothing and really commmon drops being worth loads (respectively).

 

I mean I'm sure its not just me and that there are hardly any new players compared to veterans. If that carries on the game will die, you need noobs for a game to work i swear.

[Serpent Eye]

No.

 

 

Also, you really don't think there are a lot of new players playing RuneScape any longer...? >.>

[Will H]

RS has been going reasonably strongly all the time. We've seen the financial figures and the player numbers, and Runescape is not exhibiting signs of declining at all. Also, the abundance of skillcapes is only a sign that there are some very easy 99's to be had. You don't see many tough 99's like Slayer, Runecrafting, or Summoning, do you?

 

Bladewing's right, the game isn't dying, it's the OP's interest in the game that's dying. Other people are perfectly happy here.

[Freakyhair]

No.

 

 

Also, you really don't think there are a lot of new players playing RuneScape any longer...? >.>

 

from what Ive seen, I dunno Ive only been looking for 2 days or so. I swear there sued to always be level 16s and 21s and 50s that wernt pures. I just havnt seen like any around recently.

 

But you tell me mate, youve probally played a lot mroe than me recently.

[Goldenjkered]

Like someone else said, Runescape is reborn today. We've been getting over 200,000 people playing at one time on weekends, and this will increase to 250,000 today onwards.

[jonni]

i remember the "runescape is dying" trend in 2007 - before the december updates. so yeah, nah

[Jimmyd17]

If runescape was going to die, 2007 would've been the one to do it. I and a huge number of others quit when the GE was released and the wildy was stolen from us. I admit, I was close to quitting when the botters started running as rampant as they were, but the updates to quell their surge was what made me decide to part ways. Now that they've rectified those changes and claim to have better anti-botting technologies, it has done nothing but give Runescape a new (ironic. seeing as how they're simply reverting back to the good ol'days) breathe of life.

 

In essence, if Runescape was going to die, it would've between 2007 and yesterday.

[curtis95112]

Pre-GE, items didn't fluctuate in price very much because there was no way for people to track the fluctuations. So, if coal stabilized at say 200gp, soon coal=200gp would be fixed in most people's minds. Sellers wouldn't accept less and buyers wouldn't accept more. Therefore prices were resistant to change. The Grand Exchange provided a reliable way to track those tiny fluctuations. People could be certain how much an item was worth and trade at that price. So prices became much more flexible, responding to smaller variations in supply and demand.

 

tl;dr It's just a natural consequence of having a reliable trader barter for everyone. Everyone can be sure they got the best deal possible at that time, so they didn't have to rely on rules of thumb.

 

Runescape isn't dying

[Naraku893]

[Omali]

Obv its not gunna actually die, but as a fun game. Loads of old MMORPGS are dead now, theres may still be 50k people who play but the game is broken, obsolete and dead.

 

Alright maybe its because I'm an old player and I remember the good old times and all that crap, but there are so many parallels in the game now, uber rare drops being worth nothing and really commmon drops being worth loads (respectively).

 

I mean I'm sure its not just me and that there are hardly any new players compared to veterans. If that carries on the game will die, you need noobs for a game to work i swear.

 

No it isn't, no it isn't, no it isn't.

 

ITT: Disenfranchised player doesn't like the game as much as he used to, the game must be dead or dying.

[FederalXTC]

I've been playing RuneScape on and off since the days of Classic. I was around when RuneScape 2 came out, when the barrows were released, when the Falador Massacre happened. I recently started playing the game again, as a new character a couple months ago. The game has made getting 99s MUCH easier, and it's actually a much more supporting environment for the new players. In summary, it's not the game, OP, it's you.

[xSxqPowerx]

There's still way, way more updates aimed to new players, and there are still way, way more low level players playing.

Yes, high levels are prominent now... but that depends where you go, and skills are a lot easier to train now.

 

Far from dying.

[foursideking]

I've been playing for a little over 7 years, and I can honestly say that your arguements have no real merit. Runescape is always going to be a top-level heavy game due to the way people play it. Let's say someone joined in 2005, and sees a lv100. Chances are they're going to want to get there, so they do. This trend continues and we end up with tons of top-heavy accounts with lower-levels trying to copy. The only way runescape will be bottom-heavy is if more members join to make up for the ones that push to higher levels, which, judging on how many online multiplayer console games (halo/cod) have fared, is too unlikely. To answer the question 'is runescape dying', your preferences/trends always do, and you will always like/hate different things through life, as without that, vegetables would be unemployed. The game isn't dying, but your trend of liking it is.

[GuidesForScapers]

2004: Jagex profited £2.7m

2009: Jagex profited £18m

 

No.

[Bloodstain]

208k players on now says it isn't dying :wink:

[Den]

the game is not dying

 

your interest in the game is dying

 

This is more true then Runescape dying in my opinion.

[Freakyhair]

Well its undeniable that a lot less players are using it, maybe theres a small boost right now, but in december i heard ther were 2.5m uniquie hits on rs, around 3 years ago it wsas 4.5-6.5m .

 

I dunno I still think that the games slowly dying.

[Knoll_Saleh]

Its not dying..... its growing and your to dumb not to see that....

[Freakyhair]

Its not dying..... its growing and your to dumb to see that....

 

its definately not growing in terms of players.Your dumb not to see that..

 

plus why do you think theyre bring wildy and free trade back?? because it IS dying(in terms of traffic)!