Rejuvenating Runescape

[librarian42]

Hi,

 

I posted this in the official forums but wanted to see what people thought here too.

 

I am an in and out player of Runescape, some weeks Im on every day, some Im on a couple of times a week, and Ive been playing since approximately 2006 and I am a little worried.

 

In the olden days I used to wander around, doing skills, buying and selling items and generally meeting new people, now, that doesnt happen so much and I just wanted to see what other peoples thoughts were on this.

 

Ill give some examples,

 

Of course the biggest change is the Grand Exchange (although I hope this doesnt degenerate into a its good, its bad argument). Before the GE if I wanted to buy items from other players I had to interact with them, this meant talking to them and if I wanted a regular supply of an item then I often interacted regularly, getting to know the person as we went along. Now a screen does the same for me. Before the GE I could wander into the odd shops dotted around (Falador and Varrock being the most often used) and see what they had in stock, and this stock changed constantly, it was always a surprise.

 

Of course now no one is ever in the shops and I hardly ever have to buy from another person, which means I dont talk to as many people now as I did then.

 

And of course it means certain areas of the game are becoming deserted, I went into Lumbridge Bank yesterday and there was no one else around, I went to Seers Bank and there was maybe 6 other people, none of them offering to sell bow strings.

 

I used to go to buy Frog Leather from Dorgeshuun and sell it above ground, now the only time I see someone down there is when we are hunting penguins, the same goes for Relleka and Keldagrim, whole towns that are deserted and unused and when was the last time someone used the underground pass between Taveley and Catherby?

 

Maybe Im just in the wrong worlds but I think its sad that so much of the game just doesnt get used, and unfortunately it seems to be getting worse as more teleports become available, no longer do I have to go to the Toll Gates to get to Al Kharid, theres the Ring of Duelling, Amulet of Glory and Gnome Glider to name just 3 ways of getting there. And I dont even have to wear desert robes and have water skins when I want to visit the desert towns, I just use the magic carpets or my Nardah teleport.

 

Unfortunately I dont see how things can improve, the GE has many advantages to go with the disadvantages, and who wants to traipse from Ardougne to Varrock to visit the GE when you can simple Click a button and do it once.

 

Hopefully though we can have a discussion and other people can put there views, I for one would like to hear what other people think.

 

Librarian 42

[Amonitas]

I'm afraid the game is really dying, I don't want to be a doomsayer, but I started playing somewhere around 2002 and it has gone downhill since (except the good old 2006).

This games reputation is really bad. I haven't told any of my friends I play because they would laugh at me. The games metagame has changed a lot and I see completitionist capes every single day. Nothing feels like anything anymore. In 2002, it was worth pm'ing a friend "OMG I SAW A GUY IN FULL BLACK!". Now nothing really matters anymore, the only parts with player interaction are Dung and effigies.

I hope the game recovers back to what it used to be. This game is good.

[rhupajiva]

I'm afraid the game is really dying, I don't want to be a doomsayer, but I started playing somewhere around 2002 and it has gone downhill since (except the good old 2006).

This games reputation is really bad. I haven't told any of my friends I play because they would laugh at me. The games metagame has changed a lot and I see completitionist capes every single day. Nothing feels like anything anymore. In 2002, it was worth pm'ing a friend "OMG I SAW A GUY IN FULL BLACK!". Now nothing really matters anymore, the only parts with player interaction are Dung and effigies.

I hope the game recovers back to what it used to be. This game is good.

 

The doomsayers have been chirping since I started in 2005. I still love this game and continue to be amazed at the quality of the updates.

[Den]

I haven't told any of my friends I play because they would laugh at me.

 

Nice friends. All my friends know I play, and they honestly don't care. They don't see it as anything other then an online game.

I've had 1 person out of the entire school comment about it not being worth the money. Everyone else didn't care.

 

I don't get the point of hiding one's interests. If someone won't accept you for who you are and what you like, that's their problem.

I also agree with rhup. Doomsayers have been around since I started playing in 2005. If RS ever closes down, I'll be there until the end. I don't see it closing down in the close future however.

 

The OP seems most concerned over unused areas, but it's been kind of like that since the GE was released. Why stand around Seers when you can teleport to the GE and put your stuff up for sale while you do something else. Not as much player interaction, but I never liked standing around trying to buy stuff before the GE was released.

[librarian42]

@Den

 

My post was concerning areas that are no longer used, and the fact it is a shame, I know its easier to use the GE and of course this is pretty much the only way to buy things now.

 

I'm also bothered about how easy the game is getting but thats another post :) it just seems a shame that All these areas are created but only used when a quest takes them there.

 

Librarian 42

[rhupajiva]

@Den

 

My post was concerning areas that are no longer used, and the fact it is a shame, I know its easier to use the GE and of course this is pretty much the only way to buy things now.

 

I'm also bothered about how easy the game is getting but thats another post :) it just seems a shame that All these areas are created but only used when a quest takes them there.

 

Librarian 42

 

 

Nex, hard quest bosses, Dominion Tower....certainly not easy. Sure some places are getting underused but that is to be expected with the sheer volume of content.

[SwreeTak]

I haven't told any of my friends I play because they would laugh at me.

 

Nice friends. All my friends know I play, and they honestly don't care. They don't see it as anything other then an online game.

I've had 1 person out of the entire school comment about it not being worth the money. Everyone else didn't care.

 

I don't get the point of hiding one's interests. If someone won't accept you for who you are and what you like, that's their problem.

I also agree with rhup. Doomsayers have been around since I started playing in 2005. If RS ever closes down, I'll be there until the end. I don't see it closing down in the close future however.

 

The OP seems most concerned over unused areas, but it's been kind of like that since the GE was released. Why stand around Seers when you can teleport to the GE and put your stuff up for sale while you do something else. Not as much player interaction, but I never liked standing around trying to buy stuff before the GE was released.

 

I just had to reply to you here, Den. I have as well told almost all my friends and classmates about that I play this game. And there's a very few who have NOT teased me at least a little because of it. Runescape is looked down at as a kids' game (at least here in Sweden). But the important thing here is that I don't care. I know that there are a lot of people who are older than me that play and enjoy the game. And most of the times I don't discuss Runescape with any of those that tease me about it, but rather I discuss RS with those of my friends that play similar games themselves.

 

Especially when I was in high school RS was looked down upon. I didn't care too much about this though. If they prefer that silly WoW, let them play it, I will stick to RS, I thought. And I am still playing.

 

OT:

 

I can agree with that the player interaction have decreased with the release of the GE and more and more teleports. But I don't think that this really have made the game worse. Jagex have just removed a lot of "have-to" interaction. Many times it was hard to find a buyer or seller of the items you wanted. The GE have made that much easier. I understand your point of that the "old way" of trading was a great way to get to know more people and make friends, but why not just go to any popular skilling place today and start a conversation there? Or why not the GE? The players are still there, you are still there: Go get to know some more people!

 

Also, to all those doomsayers in here: Just because the bots are gone and the real population of RS is now more visible, we're now not less real players than we were the day before the bot nuke. Runescape won't die in another couple of years.

[Kaida23]

Very few of my friends have ever made fun of me for playing either. Besides, most of them play some kind of FB game or another, most of which are easily more childish than RS ever was.

 

Many places are going to be underused, especially with the environment of efficiency that is in the game today, as new content that's more interesting with better xp rates gets released. The game, like life, evolves and changes and all we can do is to change with it.

 

I don't think the game is dying, not any more. I think the bot nuke is going to help breathe new life into the game and we'll all be here for many years to come. :)

[librarian42]

Can anyone think of what can be done to bring these areas back into life. I for one would live to be able to access the GE in other areas, maybe the banks can have access points, that way people don't have to gravitate to just one place.

 

Librarian 42

[Amonitas]

I would prefer the whole ge being remove or limited so that certain items can be sold/bought in certain areas only. I can't remember the last time I had to walk anywhere or had trouble to find any items.

[Den]

I predict a mass-rage everywhere if the GE was removed. Adding more access points to it wouldn't hurt.

[Auror]

I predict a mass-rage everywhere if the GE was removed. Adding more access points to it wouldn't hurt.

 

True. I don't see why Jagex should remove the GE

[Guest jrhairychest]

I've seen more player interaction since the bots were removed. Perhaps not in trading but people are talking much more now.

[librarian42]

I do want to point out that I am not in favour of removing the GE, I just thought it might be nice to give players an excuse to use other areas.

 

someone mentioned I think only being able to buy certain items from certain areas which would help too maybe?

[Kaida23]

I've seen more player interaction since the bots were removed. Perhaps not in trading but people are talking much more now.

This. I've spent almost as much time talking as mining the last couple of weeks. Not very good for the ol' xp rate, but good for my satisfaction level. :grin:

[Cowman_133]

I think the Grand Exchange is one of the best things that has happened to RuneScape. I understand the amount of player interaction it has replaced, but the problem with the old system is it was very much geared for experienced players. You had to know where to go, when to go, how to go, what world to go and most importantly what to pay. With the advent of the Grand Exchange, it made it easier for experienced players and much more manageable for newcomers. Newcomers had nothing to resort to for looking up prices except poorly maintained street price guides on various fansites that were often out of date or just blatantly wrong. The risk of being scammed was immense. If you didn't have friends to trust, there was honestly no way of doing it without trial and error.

 

The Grand Exchange is much more newbie friendly and it benefits everybody. Buying and selling before was extremely monotonous and I would never want to go back to those days. It impeded my ability to enjoy the game because I had to always spend ages retrieving hard to get items.

 

I do agree though that it is a shame to see so much unused content. Towns like Dorgesh-Kaan, Keldagrim, Yanille, Burthorpe, Rimmington.. the Wilderness in general.. they're very deserted. They need live breathed back into them by giving people a reason to use them daily. I honestly couldn't see too much harm in Rimmington getting a bank, as an example. Grand Exchange outlets would also be quite cool.

 

It feels very eerie to be alone in towns and cities.

[Will H]

I think the Grand Exchange is one of the best things that has happened to RuneScape. I understand the amount of player interaction it has replaced, but the problem with the old system is it was very much geared for experienced players. You had to know where to go, when to go, how to go, what world to go and most importantly what to pay. With the advent of the Grand Exchange, it made it easier for experienced players and much more manageable for newcomers. Newcomers had nothing to resort to for looking up prices except poorly maintained street price guides on various fansites that were often out of date or just blatantly wrong. The risk of being scammed was immense. If you didn't have friends to trust, there was honestly no way of doing it without trial and error.

 

The Grand Exchange is much more newbie friendly and it benefits everybody. Buying and selling before was extremely monotonous and I would never want to go back to those days. It impeded my ability to enjoy the game because I had to always spend ages retrieving hard to get items.

 

I do agree though that it is a shame to see so much unused content. Towns like Dorgesh-Kaan, Keldagrim, Yanille, Burthorpe, Rimmington.. the Wilderness in general.. they're very deserted. They need live breathed back into them by giving people a reason to use them daily. I honestly couldn't see too much harm in Rimmington getting a bank, as an example. Grand Exchange outlets would also be quite cool.

 

It feels very eerie to be alone in towns and cities.

Unfortunately, Rimmington has a minor balance issue when it comes to having a bank. The various house portal locations get generally more and more useful, with the Yanille one at level 50 being the most popular because it is the closest to the bank (and even then, it's on the other side of town). I don't think it would be that bad if we just abandoned that completely though, it's a pretty weak mechanic when it would be far more interesting if there were far more house portal locations.

[NukeMarine]

I predict a mass-rage everywhere if the GE was removed. Adding more access points to it wouldn't hurt.

 

True. I don't see why Jagex should remove the GE

Because the GE removes much of the player to player interaction that goes with MMORPG. Now, I would not like to see it removed. However, I would love to see the amount of items that can be traded more limited. Something along the line of 1k per 4 hours for consumables down to 1 per hour for rares. Want to buy more more quickly? Well, trade on the open market with actual players that gathered bulk.

 

In other words, let the GE be there for casual players that don't really care about time and quick turn around. For large purchases and flipping profit, leave that to player to player trades.

[NJE03]

While the player interaction via trading has diminished, I believe that interaction was negligible in comparison to other types of interaction. Personally I meet new people every day while training skills just by saying "hello". When you have a home world that you use consistently, you end up seeing these same people over and over again and naturally, befriend some of these individuals. When I used to buy and sell items, it was usually a one-time interaction and I never saw them again. There were exceptions such as when I used to smelt steel and trade bars for materials+coins, but even this was not something that really led to much interaction... it was just "hey I have x number of bars done", "ok meet at x".

 

All that aside, it appears the GE is here to stay.

[pal2002]

The playerbase has been declining since 2006 and nothing's gonna reverse that. There are however enough hardcore peeps left to keep the game alive for a long time, albeit with less and less servers...

 

What I lament the most is that Rs is becoming more of single player game with linked achievements than an mmo - the meta game really has become more and more of who can grind the most rather than anything else. Sure, rs has always been a grindfest, but it is these grindfest lovers now who are pushing some away from the game and others into cheating.

 

I don't really agree with jagex's current policy of just doubling xp / loot - this really just perpetuates this cycle of 'everyone has to have xx levels and xx money to be accepted/have fun.' In the meanwhile, those looking for the story, the pure fun, and the social game will clearly be turned away.