SoF Feedback Response

[Kaur]

Its been two months since we released the Squeal of Fortune and we wanted to take the opportunity to respond to some of the player feedback, correct some misconceptions about the popularity of the update, motivations behind the update and importantly outline why its also here to stay.

First of all I want to say thank you to everyone who has sent us feedback about the recent Squeal of Fortune updates. We designed the Squeal of Fortune from the outset to be a fun and light-hearted feature to RuneScape, giving players a new way to receive free rewards every day they log into RuneScape. As with many of our updates, our members always receive extra benefits like double the free spins daily and we have evolved it since launch providing all of our players numerous additional ways to earn free Squeal spins within the game.

 

As with all content we add to RuneScape, we went to great lengths to ensure that the Squeal of Fortune would enhance the playing experience without undermining what makes the game truly special for millions of players every day; we truly believe we have succeeded in both priorities.

 

We recognise that some in the community have mixed feelings about the Squeal of Fortune and, whilst we spend a great deal of time and effort creating game experiences that resonate with the majority of our players, the reality is due to the epic size of our community it simply isnt possible to please all of our players all of the time despite desperately trying too. Therefore our philosophy has always been to do what is right for the long term health of the game, a fact many of the long standing player will know Ive consistently done over the years irrespective of the initial pain, with the not so distant Bot nuke a great example. I can confidently say that we have always been rewarded for doing the right thing in the long run and the reality today is that the game is not only consistently improving but our community steadily grows year on year.

 

That said, all the feedback we receive for our updates and how the community engage with it is still extremely important to us. We have been reading your posts on the forums and listened to your concerns. As a result of your feedback, we implemented some changes to the way Squeal of Fortune works, such as adding new ways to receive extra spins as in-game rewards and also introducing additional payment protection for all in game purchases as soon as players notified us it was a concern.

 

Naturally the team and I are saddened that some players are upset about free spins and some also dont like the ability to also purchase additional spins, however, the reality is 90% of our members are enjoying the Squeal of Fortune on a daily basis and over 70% of our free players utilise the Squeal of Fortune daily too - making it some of the most widely appreciated content release to date. The majority of our players also continue to take advantage of the many free ways to earn extra spins, so its certainly here to stay.

 

The stated concerns from players regarding RWT'ing, gambling or using the Squeal of Fortune to buy their way to success is simply not true and not possible given the design of the system. Whilst we have seen most players take advantage of the new rewards and many choosing to purchase extra spins, we have not witnessed any abuse of the system despite monitoring it extremely closely.

 

Looking forward, RuneScape continues to grow more than ever, both in terms of innovative compelling content as well as the size of the community. With the launch of The Runespan last Monday, a major graphical performance upgrade yesterday (which has already seen a significant portion of the community benefit from over a 100% improvement in game frame rate), it should be evident that we just gearing up for our most exciting and biggest content year ever........... including a complete upgrade to the combat system later this summer!

 

Youll naturally all hear a lot more about this in the very near future so watch this space.

 

Thanks for reading ... and have fun,

 

Cheers,

 

Mark Gerhard

 

Jagex CEO

[Dragonlordjl]

Blah blah blah, anyone can fabricate arbitrary percentages to make themselves look good.

[Flyingjj]

Oh no he didn't.

[Pirkka]

That was just, I mean, wow!

[Zaaps1]

I don't think this really said anything

[Hedgehog]

90% of members spin the wheel daily. I don't doubt it, but they can't really use it to measure how much we enjoy the update.

[GregorDGrim]

90% of members spin the wheel daily. I don't doubt it, but they can't really use it to measure how much we enjoy the update.

Absolutely. I'm one of the 90% who use the wheel, but I certainly don't enjoy the fact that it's around. It would be stupid of me to not click the button twice, though.

[Pinata]

The stated concerns from players regarding RWT'ing, gambling or using the Squeal of Fortune to buy their way to success is simply not true and not possible given the design of the system. Whilst we have seen most players take advantage of the new rewards and many choosing to purchase extra spins, we have not witnessed any abuse of the system despite monitoring it extremely closely.

 

Starrychelx 94-99slayer + 91-99agility

Fishy - 89-99 slayer

 

 

How is it not so obvious.....

[Drazhor]

Yes, 90% of members spin the wheel everyday because it's there.

 

TBH, I think most of us are just more disheartened by the microtransaction side of the wheel more than anything.

Also, in terms of the gambling with the wheel...

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!

[Noxx]

90% of members spin the wheel daily. I don't doubt it, but they can't really use it to measure how much we enjoy the update.

Absolutely. I'm one of the 90% who use the wheel, but I certainly don't enjoy the fact that it's around. It would be stupid of me to not click the button twice, though.

I don't like being a fat overweight person, but i sure as heck like standing in that line at McDonalds every day to get my Tripple order of Big Mac, fries and a shake.

 

Anyone who chooses to use their daily spin is by default not against the update.

You can't come here and [bleep] and moan "oh i hate this update but sure while i get a free spin i might as well use it."

Doesn't work that way.

[Hedgehog]

We don't hate the wheel, we hate microtransactions.

[Noxx]

We don't hate the wheel, we hate microtransactions.

You're not going to have the one without the other, sadly. Only way to get rid of microtransactions is by getting rid of the Wheel. Only way to get rid of the Wheel is to NOT use any spins. Whether they are free or not.

[Hedgehog]

We don't hate the wheel, we hate microtransactions.

You're not going to have the one without the other, sadly. Only way to get rid of microtransactions is by getting rid of the Wheel. Only way to get rid of the Wheel is to NOT use any spins. Whether they are free or not.

The wheel was around for a while before you could buy spins.

[Noxx]

We don't hate the wheel, we hate microtransactions.

You're not going to have the one without the other, sadly. Only way to get rid of microtransactions is by getting rid of the Wheel. Only way to get rid of the Wheel is to NOT use any spins. Whether they are free or not.

The wheel was around for a while before you could buy spins.

Oh yeah, that is true. Then what i said is basically void.

 

But i think i read somewhere that Jagex stated they might remove the Wheel completely if people were to stop using it. This would include bought and free spins. And i guess they can say that without havignt o worry about it ever coming true. People will always take what is free, no matter how small it is.

[HunterDexter]

Notice one of their first statements: it's here to stay. :/

Really, their arguments.. Even a 5 year old could tell the REAL problems with SoF.

[GregorDGrim]

90% of members spin the wheel daily. I don't doubt it, but they can't really use it to measure how much we enjoy the update.

Absolutely. I'm one of the 90% who use the wheel, but I certainly don't enjoy the fact that it's around. It would be stupid of me to not click the button twice, though.

I don't like being a fat overweight person, but i sure as heck like standing in that line at McDonalds every day to get my Tripple order of Big Mac, fries and a shake.

 

Anyone who chooses to use their daily spin is by default not against the update.

You can't come here and [bleep] and moan "oh i hate this update but sure while i get a free spin i might as well use it."

Doesn't work that way.

Not sure how my post comes off as [bleep]ing and moaning. I'm not a fan of SoF because it doesn't fit into the game lore at all. "I don't enjoy that it's around" is not the same as "I hate it".

 

Your comparison would be valid if I were purchasing spins and complaining about it. I'm not a fan of McDonald's, but if they're giving out free double cheeseburgers, I'll probably swing by to get one.

[muggiwhplar]

I have a feeling the 90% rate would plummet if people had to actually travel somewhere in RS to spin the wheel (like they have to do for every other daily activity in RS), rather than have an obnoxious button nag you immediately upon logging in.

 

90% of members spin the wheel daily. I don't doubt it, but they can't really use it to measure how much we enjoy the update.

Absolutely. I'm one of the 90% who use the wheel, but I certainly don't enjoy the fact that it's around. It would be stupid of me to not click the button twice, though.

I don't like being a fat overweight person, but i sure as heck like standing in that line at McDonalds every day to get my Tripple order of Big Mac, fries and a shake.

 

Anyone who chooses to use their daily spin is by default not against the update.

You can't come here and [bleep] and moan "oh i hate this update but sure while i get a free spin i might as well use it."

Doesn't work that way.

Not sure how my post comes off as [bleep]ing and moaning. I'm not a fan of SoF because it doesn't fit into the game lore at all. "I don't enjoy that it's around" is not the same as "I hate it".

 

Your comparison would be valid if I were purchasing spins and complaining about it. I'm not a fan of McDonald's, but if they're giving out free double cheeseburgers, I'll probably swing by to get one.

 

The McDonalds analogy would make more sense if every morning you woke up, you were presented with two burgers at the side of your bed and given the option of eating them w/o putting forth any effort.

[HexiledRazz]

90% of members spin the wheel daily. I don't doubt it, but they can't really use it to measure how much we enjoy the update.

Absolutely. I'm one of the 90% who use the wheel, but I certainly don't enjoy the fact that it's around. It would be stupid of me to not click the button twice, though.

I don't like being a fat overweight person, but i sure as heck like standing in that line at McDonalds every day to get my Tripple order of Big Mac, fries and a shake.

 

Anyone who chooses to use their daily spin is by default not against the update.

You can't come here and [bleep] and moan "oh i hate this update but sure while i get a free spin i might as well use it."

Doesn't work that way.

 

That's like destroying your random event boxes instead of using the XP lamps in them because you don't like random events. People just don't do it. Regardless if it works that way or not.

 

I could see if wheel was a location say, in Lumbridge or something. You could take time out and go there to spin it or whatever. But's an actual panel in our game interface. It's shoved in our face with an annoying icon every day we log into the game. And every time we log out and back in, it comes back. It's easier just to take 10 seconds to spin the wheel and use/destroy whatever we get.

 

And we have like a 25% chance to get a lamp that's worth a decent amount of experience in a skill we dislike training. Who seriously isn't going to click it? Besides, i didn't see Jagex say "If you don't like it, don't use it and we'll consider removing it." in a forum post or news update the day micro-transactions came out. They waited weeks to mention that there was even a possibility that they would remove it if players didn't use it, thus voiding any real possibility of players banding together and refusing to use the wheel.

 

Basically, just because it "doesn't work that way" doesn't mean that Jagex purposely designed the update so that it became a regular part of a player's day. Because if it wasn't, it would just be an annoyance.

[Sy_Accursed]

Tbh the whole microtransaction economic side of it would not be half as bad if they did not feed us this bullshit.

 

If on day 1 they had said we are introducing microtransactions here to increase our income and to do so we have had to tweak this long standing rule. While we know this may upset some people we want to reassure you we still stand by the original sentiment and have no plans to allow players to directly purchase a large advantage in-game.

 

Would that of been a bit annoying for many of us? Sure. But it wouldn't be half as bad as waffling on with statistics and entirely ignoring the fact they quietly changed the rule substantially which is what really pissed off a lot of people.

Further with the quest thing we deserve a GOOD reason why we can't have retroactive spins or at least have the balls to say it's because you wouldn't profit off the mass of spins that way.

There's only about 160 quests in game, 2 spins per quest would mean at MOST we'd get 320 spins.

You CANNOT say this isn't being done as it would 'damage the games economy' when you are letting people buy 450 (that's right a whole 130 more spins than we'd get) in 1 go; let alone mentioning the fact the daily spend limits let you buy 900 spins every 24 hours or the fact that those 320+ spins per player that'd apparently 'ruin' the economy is still being given (bit by bit) to anyone with 0 quests done prior to this change.

[Lord Paul]

It's BXP all over again, only worse this time...

 

At least we can give them credit for answering our questions.

NAH!

[FIREWORKS]

So much bullshit.

[Fire_God]

Kind of reminds me of the Prisoner's Dilemma. If no one spins the wheel it goes away, but we can't be sure the other players won't. So, to stay competitive, we spin the wheel, meaning that it will have to stay.

 

Yes, Jagex just made me compare us to prisoner's. FML.

 

Also, I wouldn't have any problems with the wheel if they got rid of the micro-transactions. Jagex, what are the percentage of players who regularly buy spins? Seeing as how you are so eager to release statistics...

[Vex]

It's not like a random D&D hidden away in the game somewhere for players to go find once a day/week.

 

It's so ingrained in the game now it's unbelievable. I am levelling a new account and doing a bunch of quests. I have like 40+ spins from doing them and every time I login I get a prompt to spin it, or his face pops up at the end of every quest.

 

It's even part of the damn UI. It's also gambling, who wouldn't have a free roll at a roulette wheel if presented with one. Majority of people would certainly think twice when they have to pay to have a go though.

 

TLDR: [bleep] you [bleep] CEO.

[Cheefoo]

You know what they say, a good politician can talk for hours and say nothing.

[Noxx]

90% of members spin the wheel daily. I don't doubt it, but they can't really use it to measure how much we enjoy the update.

Absolutely. I'm one of the 90% who use the wheel, but I certainly don't enjoy the fact that it's around. It would be stupid of me to not click the button twice, though.

I don't like being a fat overweight person, but i sure as heck like standing in that line at McDonalds every day to get my Tripple order of Big Mac, fries and a shake.

 

Anyone who chooses to use their daily spin is by default not against the update.

You can't come here and [bleep] and moan "oh i hate this update but sure while i get a free spin i might as well use it."

Doesn't work that way.

 

That's like destroying your random event boxes instead of using the XP lamps in them because you don't like random events. People just don't do it. Regardless if it works that way or not.

 

No.

Can you buy Random events?

can real life wealth affect the occurrence of Random Events?

 

Just no....