[Real] 01-Apr-2011 - Behind the Scenes - April

[gago]

A bad update month, nothing to look forward to.

 

Hopefully my recent lack of interest for RS will finally result in me showing more interest in studying...

[Kata_Phfract__the_slayer]

I find it just a tad funny that so many people are taking the changes to death being super incredulously lenient, when one of my friends who's never played RS and is used to MMOs like Guild Wars and WoW thinks RS's item loss at all is complete madness.

i used to play AQ (lol), dieing meant nothing.

all it would do is slightly lower the chance of me getting a sword i already had. and i couldn't even use it anyway.

rs compared to that is madness! XD

[Triquos]

I look forward to the new lunar spells, personalized clan capes and the limbo update, everything else is ‘meh’ to me. I honestly thought ROTM would be in either March or April too o_O I guess I was wrong again. Oh well, I'm not playing Runescape as much as I normally do anyway, due to my blurry vision atm.

[Dragonlordjl]

RS's death penalties outside PvP have been ridiculous for a long time. The majority of deaths come from unpreventable circumstances, such as power outages or d/cs, so it's [developmentally delayed]ed to lose 3+ months worth of work just because some [wagon] hit a power pole with his car. :thumbup: With the exception of Corp and Nex, you really shouldn't be dying anywhere else if you have good gear/levels.

[Dax]

Looks boring to me.

 

Ah well. One for one, I suppose. Last month for me was epic, this one won't be.

[BeNiceOk]

With the exception of Corp and Nex, you really shouldn't be dying anywhere else if you have good gear/levels.

 

When I only played RS I would disagree with this statement, but now that I've broken my RS saturation over the past few months and played some different MMO's, I really think Jagex's death system is to strict, and often prevents them from advancing the game. If anything, the death system needs to be even more protective, if not removed all together (with exceptions). If there is like .01% risk of death unless you DC, then there shouldn't even be an item loss system at that point.

 

By doing so, you can open opportunities for real risk vs reward. The best way to make "more extreme bosses" is to change boss mechanics so you start losing gear at higher level bosses. Imagine if you had to do Nex and any items you lost were gone forever. Not blessable. Not Lootable, Gone. It would make a boss much more challenging, rather than being able to save 3 items at the hardest boss available.

 

It would make sense if they start all monsters off with a 0% death penalty, and increase the penalty as you get higher up in boss monsters. Otherwise you are going to end up with a system which is to harsh for lower-middle players, and not harsh enough for high level players.

 

That aside, I'm looking forward to the Clan update and Death update this month. I feel both are a step in the right direction. :thumbup:

[jjjon123]

gf dying

[highlanders]

I liked the fake BTS better

[Cassynder]

Good job Jagex, you almost had me with that "serious BTS coming later today" part. Still, you ain't getting me.

 

Terrible goddamn month, might as well stop updating RS if they really don't give a damn.

 

Before one of you brainless bores comes here and tells me to stop complaining, here is a short list of things wrong with this (potential) update:

 

• Vengeance Other (another spell that will sway it all towards the elite players since it'll probably require like 97 magic, plus Veng was cheesy enough as it is)
  
• That spell which lets you repair RC pouches (not bad in itself, but we already have a spell for that, and contacting the dark mage to repair your pouches is much funner than casting a stupid spell)
  
• Death update (why make the game even LESS dangerous? This game needs to be harder, not easier, idiotic monkeys. Also, now I can walk around with all my money outside of the Wilderness and not give a damn, herp derp! Is that what you want it to be? Next update: god mode switch.)
  
• The royal wedding thingy (nobody cares about your stupid prince)
  

 

Yeah, probably an April's Fools 2 and I'm just getting trolled.

Stop complaining.

[DarkDude]

The out of wilderness death drop is mostly targeted at lower level players who do end up dying. By not losing certain items they are not as discouraged by the game and will continue playing longer, which can only be a good thing.

 

Nothing will change for higher level players that I can see, except hopefully not losing certain untradable items on death (accumlator, excalibur etc.) no matter what which is annoying when dying due to a DC. A bit iffy on the Wilderness change but oh well, nothing you can do about that and hopefully the untradable "problem" here is addressed by Jagex and make it so you won't lose Chaotics etc. 100% of the time.

[pulli23]

The out of wilderness death drop is mostly targeted at lower level players who do end up dying. By not losing certain items they are not as discouraged by the game and will continue playing longer, which can only be a good thing.

 

Nothing will change for higher level players that I can see, except hopefully not losing certain untradable items on death (accumlator, excalibur etc.) no matter what which is annoying when dying due to a DC. A bit iffy on the Wilderness change but oh well, nothing you can do about that and hopefully the untradable "problem" here is addressed by Jagex and make it so you won't lose Chaotics etc. 100% of the time.

Why is that a good thing?

 

Do we need bandwagon jumping stupid lemmings? - People will die yes, but they'll learn from taht!

 

Why have hp & life if death doesn't matter?

[Sir_Squab]

As long as i can keep my chaotic when pking the items kept on death update seems fair.

 

Good luck. New protect values are based on GE price. Chaotics have NO GE price. So it depends on what Jagex decides to set the price of a chaotic at in the GE, which couldn't possibly please everyone (110+ DG cares a lot less about losing a chaotic then 80-85) OR letting players set it themselves. Since we don't know, all we can do is speculate; given what is known, so far it looks like this update will screw over people who PK with chaotics.

 

With the exception of Corp and Nex, you really shouldn't be dying anywhere else if you have good gear/levels.

 

When I only played RS I would disagree with this statement, but now that I've broken my RS saturation over the past few months and played some different MMO's, I really think Jagex's death system is to strict, and often prevents them from advancing the game. If anything, the death system needs to be even more protective, if not removed all together (with exceptions). If there is like .01% risk of death unless you DC, then there shouldn't even be an item loss system at that point.

 

By doing so, you can open opportunities for real risk vs reward. The best way to make "more extreme bosses" is to change boss mechanics so you start losing gear at higher level bosses. Imagine if you had to do Nex and any items you lost were gone forever. Not blessable. Not Lootable, Gone. It would make a boss much more challenging, rather than being able to save 3 items at the hardest boss available.

 

It would make sense if they start all monsters off with a 0% death penalty, and increase the penalty as you get higher up in boss monsters. Otherwise you are going to end up with a system which is to harsh for lower-middle players, and not harsh enough for high level players.

 

That aside, I'm looking forward to the Clan update and Death update this month. I feel both are a step in the right direction. :thumbup:

 

You could proably lose 1bil+ at Nex, if you lose all your items on death. Or whatever % you'd have the death penalty set for a high level boss such as Nex. I think working with gravestones would be better; maybe if you die you have to replace it, costs more money to replace at bosses; perhaps based on a % of the value of what was lost, with a cap on it somewhere. Otherwise most bosses would probably be deemd to risky to take the best gear too if you lose it without any chance of saving it whatsoever when one dies. I mean, a 1% monetary penalty at Nex could probably be easily 10m+. (Pernix, Divine/Elysian.)

 

The out of wilderness death drop is mostly targeted at lower level players who do end up dying. By not losing certain items they are not as discouraged by the game and will continue playing longer, which can only be a good thing.

 

Nothing will change for higher level players that I can see, except hopefully not losing certain untradable items on death (accumlator, excalibur etc.) no matter what which is annoying when dying due to a DC. A bit iffy on the Wilderness change but oh well, nothing you can do about that and hopefully the untradable "problem" here is addressed by Jagex and make it so you won't lose Chaotics etc. 100% of the time.

Why is that a good thing?

 

Do we need bandwagon jumping stupid lemmings? - People will die yes, but they'll learn from taht!

 

Why have hp & life if death doesn't matter?

 

Because Jagex's death penaltaties are twice as harsh as 90% of all other MMOs out there? For those who say you can easily make it back in 15 minutes to you're grave whereever you die, you should realize that it IS made for lower level players, who have less methods of transportation and a shorter grave.

 

A logical reason for less harsh death penalties is that harsher penalties has the potential to make people quit due to a large loss; ergo a less bad penalty is bad. What's a logical reason to have harsh penalties for death? (Outside the wilderness.)

[Serpent Eye]

Livid Farm. <3: New Lunar spells. <3: Clan Camp. <3:

 

I would be a bit displeased about the addition of a teleport to Evil Trees, save for the fact that it'll last for only five weeks. I'm sure ETC will go wild over this.

 

Sounds like a good month to me!

[Lose No Hope]

Not looking forward to the new death system. It was fine how it was IMO.

[pulli23]

@sir squab:

 

Other games have XP-penalties (diablo standard mode).. Or if you die you loose potential reward (most MMO's focussed around dungeon crawling). Now I ask again: what does runescape give when you die? 60 seconds needed to return back to your grave? Wow that's so bad -.-. This promotes a playstyle where people don't care about death, and hence the "top end" items will get even more popular (as there is literary no reason not to use it).

 

And if you die when you're new: what do you loose now really? A day's worth of gathering items? - I lost much more by doing nothing for a week. And if someone can't "handle" this loss, do we as a community want those people? - I wouldn't, it means someone is either very protective of his own goods (and hence won't help others unless they get a monetary reward) or has a too weak mindset to put negative experience into a possitive action. Both the type of people I generally tend to avoid.

 

Maybe the update is aimed at the very first few players: but it affects everyone!

[Danqazmlp]

Again, Prince William and Kate [cabbage] is just [cabbage]. Don´t see why they made a pharagraph in the BTS about them two. Sure they are the british royal couple, but WTF? Why a pharagraph.

 

Perhaps because the monarchy is a massive part of the British national identity and it is a massive deal for the 2nd in line to the throne to be getting married and it gives an extra bank holiday.

Seriously, who here cares enough [cabbage] to dedicate 1 pharagaph of Runescape bts to Royal [wagon]? Isn't there already tons of media covering that couple? Why must Runescape (a game sucessful because of player supports) have to do anything related to Royal couple? It's called kissing ass that's what it is.

 

I don't got anything against the couple, but it's bloody unecessary. And i honestly don't give a [cabbage] if the developers of Runescape are brits.

 

If Jagex really wants to do something for Royal couple Jagex, do it without adding it to BTS.

 

I fully agree with Sy here. Some people may not care about it, some may not care about the thing they did with those flowers you could pick at one point, some may not care about Halloween, some may not care about April fools, but some also do.

 

Why is 1 paragraph in the BTs a huge deal? I don't see what the fuss is? The royal wedding, whether you like it or not is a big deal to a lot of British people, me included. I'm proud to be part of a country with such a rich history which is heavily linked to our Monarchy and the continuation of it, represented by the wedding. Jagex are a British company, most likely going to give a majority of their staff the day off work and will have many staff who will be interested in the wedding. Yes there are people who seem to hate anything to do with the wedding, but like it or not, it is a big event in the country this Month, a very big event.

 

But again, what is so important about adding an extra paragraph explaining the content they are adding for the wedding? You have complained about the paragraph but not the content inself?

 

Also, Ass kissing? To who? I highly doubt the royals play or read runescape BTS posts.

[Dire_Wolf]

I fully agree with Sy here. Some people may not care about it, some may not care about the thing they did with those flowers you could pick at one point, some may not care about Halloween, some may not care about April fools, but some also do.

 

Why is 1 paragraph in the BTs a huge deal? I don't see what the fuss is? The royal wedding, whether you like it or not is a big deal to a lot of British people, me included. I'm proud to be part of a country with such a rich history which is heavily linked to our Monarchy and the continuation of it, represented by the wedding. Jagex are a British company, most likely going to give a majority of their staff the day off work and will have many staff who will be interested in the wedding. Yes there are people who seem to hate anything to do with the wedding, but like it or not, it is a big event in the country this Month, a very big event.

 

But again, what is so important about adding an extra paragraph explaining the content they are adding for the wedding? You have complained about the paragraph but not the content inself?

 

Also, Ass kissing? To who? I highly doubt the royals play or read runescape BTS posts.

It's not ass kissing, i just got carried away lol. But i just think that it's lame that Jagex releases a update because of a british event. I mean it's lame way of updating the game. Honestly i find it negative.

 

Now before i tell you why, you have all rights to be proud of being british and i have nothing against brits. But tell me why is it so necessary that Jagex makes a update just for sake of monarchy? Obvious answer is because Jagex is a british company. But it gives a sad message that British culture are more important.

 

It's sad because Runescape has become so succesful becomes of the many different players from world playing it. Not just because of brits. And if you want to make your own people come first why not change game in a radical direction? Call it Britishscape and update more british stuff.

 

What i like about Runescape is the variety of cultures. But i know one case where i find Jagex offensive. Polliveach, every npc is called "Ali". Ok, you portray British npcs in a good way, fine. But why just call all arabian npcs "Ali"? Why not create variety? Then people who are arabs can relate to the names and think "Man Jagex are sure respecting people".

 

Also it honestly would look better with npcs being named other than Ali.

 

But that's how i think of it, that you should try not to favorize a one culture over others in a game. But i can imagine it can be hard to do that considering that as a game developer you would probably be influenced by your culture.

 

P.S I would prefer a perm content over a "Come and go" like KBD and KQ love story also.

[Robert_R]

It's official. There is little to no risk outside of the wilderness now. Go jagex, go. Bandos takes like 5 minutes to get back, tormented demons takes less than 3:30 at a casual run to make it to the grave, zamorak gwd takes maybe 7 minutes, corp is kind of borderline but I've never had trouble getting back, kalphite queen is easy to reach, even nex takes no time to get back with ceremonial now. Daganoth kings are reachable in 16 minutes but you have to find a friend to let you in quickly. I'm pretty sure armadyl is more than 16 minutes. Same with saradomin. So that leaves 3 bosses outside of the wilderness that have somewhat of a risk. Now you can pick what you want to keep. What's next? Maybe jagex will make the items kept on death 5 items later. IMO risk made this game more fun.

 

The garden thing sounds like it could be nice. Lunar spells are cool I guess...

[Youmu]

Really, people complaining about the loss of items on death update should think about other players.

 

Sure, most of us would probably get back at our grave in 15 minutes. In free play if you're relatively high level it would probably be impossible to die unless you're careless. But what about the lower level newbies? The ones that aren't familiar with a lot of those transportation methods? To them it may be an extremely big deal since they probably won't know where to go after they're dead.

 

And if you suffer a disconnect or something, you should be thanking Jagex that they made this update - not the other way around.

 

Also, a lot of games I play have even more leniency or even no risk of death. In comparison, Runescape's deaths are a lot harsher.

[Triquos]

Yeah I don't understand why people are raging about making death easier on players. Honestly, it would be even greater if you didn't lose anything - that way people would be encouraged to boss hunt more without risk. Food would just give you the ability to stay longer. I think the update will be great.

 

Funny thought:

 

Limbo - reminds me of the limbo thing in Inception XD

[Robert_R]

Really, people complaining about the loss of items on death update should think about other players.

 

Sure, most of us would probably get back at our grave in 15 minutes. In free play if you're relatively high level it would probably be impossible to die unless you're careless. But what about the lower level newbies? The ones that aren't familiar with a lot of those transportation methods? To them it may be an extremely big deal since they probably won't know where to go after they're dead.

 

And if you suffer a disconnect or something, you should be thanking Jagex that they made this update - not the other way around.

 

Also, a lot of games I play have even more leniency or even no risk of death. In comparison, Runescape's deaths are a lot harsher.

Who goes to a boss and doesn't know how to get back. Or anywhere actually. I would think you could find your way back to the place you just came from unless you have short term memory loss. And you're right I was thinking about high level players.

 

I guess you could change the list for lower level players. All godwars bosses if you don't have trollheim teleport. Barrows definitely. Maybe the metal dragon place on brimhaven. The real reason for a low level player dieing being a big deal are the chances that he/she has a 16 minute grave. Most low level players don't even change their grave actually. I'm not sure how many low level players even go to those places anyway tbh. Barrows and godwars really have nothing to do with levels and everything to do with quests in terms of time to get back. So really the 3 major factors of what risk is left are: Quests, quality of grave, and the smallest factor really seems to be the players level. Sure a lower level may die easier and faster but I'm talking about time taken to get to your grave. And lets be honest a low level player is probably just going to take 3 items the player is willing to risk anyway.

 

Not raging just found the game more fun when there was risk. It's just kind of boring now that anyone just goes to a boss without caring. Causing massive amounts of people to flood bosses and make it impossible to actually have fun at a boss. Idk risk just seemed to make this game more fun to me.

 

And ya talking about my situation and why I find it boring now. I understand that it does matter to other players, I just don't care about how they view the game. I find it boring.

[lordkafei]

Really, people complaining about the loss of items on death update should think about other players.

 

Sure, most of us would probably get back at our grave in 15 minutes. In free play if you're relatively high level it would probably be impossible to die unless you're careless. But what about the lower level newbies? The ones that aren't familiar with a lot of those transportation methods? To them it may be an extremely big deal since they probably won't know where to go after they're dead.

 

And if you suffer a disconnect or something, you should be thanking Jagex that they made this update - not the other way around.

 

Also, a lot of games I play have even more leniency or even no risk of death. In comparison, Runescape's deaths are a lot harsher.

 

Absolutely - and not even because of the newbie disadvantage.

 

It's severe weather season across the United States, and lengthy outages in electrical power are not uncommon when supercells develop. You can't get back in 15 minutes if you don't have freaking electric power because of severe storms.

 

Of course, it's easy to complain about the game going soft as long as your own situation is covered. :rolleyes:

 

=====

 

As for commemorating the upcoming RW nuptials, I think it's a good thing. The one last distinguishing thing this game still has going for it is its British flavor.

[Youmu]

Also... *sees KBD and KQ listed as an official couple*

 

Ohh boy... I hope Runescapers aren't crazy about the whole shipping thing! 0_o

[NukeMarine]

Personally, I'm glad after all these years they're not only basing death saves on GE prices, but they're letting players decide the items to keep. This is literally a long awaited update.

 

About making death more deadly in RS

 

It's been suggested before that Jagex can add stricter penalties for death, especially in the boss and high level NPC areas. Imagine the following:

 

At key areas (mainly boss dungeons), when you die your items still go to a gravestone, however you can't retrieve them from it. Instead, Death appears at your respawn location and you must pay him the high alchemy value (or 1/3 GE value if higher?) of your items to get them back. Jagex can make this more dangerous by reducing items saved on death to 2, 1, 0 and 0 w/ no item protect depending on the level of the bosses.

 

Anyway, pay the death tax, and death gives you your items.

[Jehosaphat]

Also... *sees KBD and KQ listed as an official couple*

 

Ohh boy... I hope Runescapers aren't crazy about the whole shipping thing! 0_o

This is now a shipping thread for NPCs GO