rsof repost from Deirdrel "spirit of the game"

[jrkerr]

Deirdrel posted this to RSOF

Quick find code: [qfc]74-75-392-63716275[/qfc]

 

 

There will not be a tl;dr section. So, please either read it completely or don't post. Thanks.

 

I first heard of Runescape as a game my sons enjoyed playing. I read the ‘Parent’s Guide’ that was on the website. In it, Jagex had explained that this game was different. Children would learn that the only way to advance was by working hard. Hard work was rewarded. Foul language wasn’t tolerated. Respect and Honour were key parts of the gaming community here.

 

I decided to check it out as something we could do together. I started my character on Tutorial Island as many others did. I remember Vannaka telling me the best way to get ahead in the game was to work skills. I took this advice to heart and decided to work skills as well as combat. (What would his advice be now?)

 

It wasn’t long after starting that we all became pay-to-play members. With three of us playing, the ads were really lagging us. So, we decided to get rid of them. We enjoyed the game so much, that we got others to play. My children invited their friends; I got my husband and sister playing. She got her husband and her children playing. This was a game we could all enjoy. Everyone was treated fairly. The only thing that mattered was how much work you were willing to put into your character.

 

When was the first time I was let down by Jagex? I would have to say it was the Ring of Charos debacle. People who hadn’t done the Tourist Trap quest were able to use the Ring of Charos to get all the possible rewards. People who had done the quest were given no compensation. How was this fair? How was this in keeping with the Spirit of the Game?

 

I used to enjoy the holiday events. They were fun and everyone was treated the same. Free-to-play and pay-to-play all got the same rewards. When did that change? When construction came out, P2P members got a Wintumber tree for their Pohs. F2P members did the exact same event, and got no tree. Granted, they had no house to put it in.

 

But, even if they got members later, they never got the tree. This discrimination has recently resurfaced in holiday events. How is it fair that people who do the same work do not get the same reward?

 

Even worse, they are using these events as advertisements for the P2P game. The Chocotrice advertises Summoning, a members’ only skill. The Easter event that had us hunting implings, another members’ only skill. How about the Halloween event in the Citadel? Citadels are only available to members. What happened to having holiday events just to have fun? What happened to not throwing members’ only content advertising in the face of F2P? Isn’t F2P supposed to be a game that is enjoyable in its own right?

 

Do you remember when lying to others to gain something was an offense? It was considered dishonourable and it wasn’t tolerated. Luring was an offense in this category. It wasn’t in the Spirit of the Game to lure other players. You could get banned for this sort of behavior.

 

Jagex began adding mini-games whose only purpose seemed to be free xp. Pest Control, Soul Wars, Stealing Creation and the list goes on. If you hate a skill, or want to work your character a certain way Jagex was here to help you. No longer did you have to work hard at slayer, just play Soul Wars. If you want 99 prayer but don’t want to buy bones, Pest Control was for you. Even crazier, you could get 99 mage or range without ever ranging or maging! Just spend your xp points for these skills. What happened to the Spirit of the Game here?

 

Bug abuse, do you remember when bug abuse was bannable? Sure it is still listed as a bannable offense. But, let’s review. Do you remember the F2P summoning pking bug abuse? Did everyone who abused that get permanently banned? Oh, they talked a good game; but in the end many folks got away with it. How about the penguin glitch? The max amount of points anyone could have legitimately turned in was 66 points.

 

50 points saved up and 16 gained from that week. So, anyone who turned in over 66 points should have been permanently banned. Jagex did*’t do that either. What about the dragonbolt (e) glitch? Jagex let us down again, only banning some of the players.

 

How about the Ring of Wealth update? Sigils were dropping nearly every kill for 40 mins. (Not to mention all the other items.) Videos were put up on the web showing off this glitch. The videos were labeled as Row glitch, etc. You could see players’ conversations. They knew it was bug abuse. We all knew it was bug abuse, except for Jagex. Jagex decided to hand down no punishments. No bans were issued, items weren’t removed.

 

What does this do to the Spirit of the Game? People see others get away with bug abuse for so long, they give up hope. The next time they find a bug, they resolve to abuse it themselves. They figure they won’t get punished. Or, perhaps they will get away with a light punishment. Some folks figure that for a large enough gain, a three day, ten day or even 30 day ban isn’t too high a price to pay.

 

Jagex began rolling back accounts. Jagex let folks previously permanently banned buy their way back into the game. For a fee you could have your access to Gielinor returned. So, now we have folks purposefully getting rolled back. Do you want to have RFD 10 gloves on a level 3, no problem! Want a fire cape, too? Sure, you can have that. What does this do to the Spirit of the Game, when folks cheat and get to keep these sorts of advantages over other players?

 

In the bot nuke this past fall; Jagex had proof of folks cheating. Instead of banning all the accounts they knew cheated, they sent warning letters. Folks who promised to not cheat anymore got to get away with it. They weren’t banned. They lost no items. Where is the Spirit of the Game?

 

While some may argue that the Wintumber tree was Jagex’s first foray into Real World Trading, I’ll go with the ornate katana. (Though, I almost picked the Runefest flagstaff.) Here was something you could only get by giving Jagex real world cash! Jagex had long stood against real world trading. It was a bannable offense. They pleaded with us not to buy items, gold, xp or accounts. It was unfair; it was against their moral code. It was against the Spirit of the Game!

 

Effigies entered the game. Here was a special drop that gave insane amounts of experience. It became the preferred way for folks to train certain slow skills. The effigy could give large amounts of xp in certain skills while unlocking it. Then you were rewarded with a lamp at the end. How does one gain rune crafting xp by getting a drop working slayer? If you don’t want to work a skill, just go camp cave crawlers and stock up on effigies. You can level a skill by not actually working the skill? How does that fit with the Spirit of the Game?

 

Refer-a-Friend--people got a 10% bonus on all xp earned for a week if they got a friend to sign up. In the beginning, this 10% bonus even worked on effigies! People were actually encouraged to make a noob account and sign it up. People who could afford to make throw away accounts for this purpose gained an advantage over folks who couldn’t. This wasn’t fair! While it was limited to five weeks in a one year period, it is still against the Spirit of the Game.

 

Loyalty Points, your loyalty points accumulate over a period of time. If you lose membership for more than one week, your points’ level are lowered. Jagex has long known that many folks only buy membership when the content for the month appeals to them. Folks go on and off membership as their real lives allow. Well, now you not only have to worry about higher membership rates with a shorter grace period, you now will not be able to afford that aura, emote or costume you want.

 

Instead of attracting customers with compelling content, we are now threatening them with lost loyalty points. Folks who can afford continuous membership gain an advantage over folks who can’t. What happened to all players being equal?

 

The Veteran’s Cape, available to all players! Everyone got to vote on design elements of the cape. The cape featured a “V” design to represent five years of being a player. The cape boasts small bonuses in combat stats and a great emote. Upon release, it was sold only to P2P players. Free-to-play players felt betrayed. Many threads were made. Folks suggested removing the stats so that F2P could buy the cape. Are F2P not considered players anymore? How does this fit in with the Spirit of the Game?

 

In February of this year, we got Squeal of Fortune. Every day at reset, Yelps will appear on your screen. He offers one free spin for F2P and two for P2P. Yelps awards many prizes--small amounts of cash, large amounts of cash, skilling items, rare armours and weapons. He has special cosmetic items only available on the wheel and lamps. While the rare items are really rare, the lamps aren’t. F2P again was shortchanged, as there were many members’ only items. In order to claim their prize (even some skill lamps for F2P skills) they had to buy membership! They couldn’t wait and claim their prize later from Diango; in order to spin again, the item must be dealt with.

 

Many folks complained that there was no lore, no reason to add this and no valid explanation. As it was only two spins a day, most folks adjusted and just moved on. On April 2nd, that changed. Jagex introduced more spins! You can get spins from certain D&Ds, from skilling, as monster drops and by buying them with real world cash? What? Real World Cash? Surely, this is a mistake. This is real world trading, this is selling gold, xp and items for real world cash. This was against their own rules! It was against the principles this game was founded on.

 

Their response, “rules are for players.” They did change the rules on the website, to make this now within the rules—unannounced of course.

 

Even worse, there was no protection for credit cards to start. Any credit card associated with an account was automatically entered into the fields. Just click the green ‘Buy’ button. Folks who had once done a favor to a friend get surprises on their statements. Children get to spend up to $200 a day without mom or dad getting any notice. Jagex even added a statement in the Terms & Conditions saying they were not responsible for someone spending money on your account if you lose control of it.

 

What does it do to the Spirit of the Game when folks who have real world cash are encouraged to spend money to advance their character? It takes away the level playing field. No longer do you advance on your own merits. Skills are now bought in packages on the wheel of real world trading. You worked years on your account, congrats. The person next to you maxed his spins every day and now has a better account.

 

Quests now give spin tickets. Spin tickets are rewarded for quests you complete after the update was added. Tickets were not rewarded retroactively to folks who have completed any or all of the quests. Jagex stated it would unbalance the game. But, selling 450 spins for $100 doesn’t unbalance the game. (450 is more than would be rewarded for having all quests complete.) If one is unbalancing to the game, so is the other. It seems to be a lie, doesn’t it?

 

A twitter response was found. It was stated that using any spins was seen as support for them selling spins. We had to hunt for that. All threads on SoF are to be moved from Recent Game Updates (even though at the time of the order it was still a recent update.) Another twitter post by Jagex states that they look for feedback in Recent Game Updates and Suggestions. So, they are no longer looking for feedback on Squeal of Fortune.

 

They have taken all the feedback they are going to.

 

We have finally gotten a response. They say that the spins are popular because people are using them. Do they realize some folks use it because there is no way to shut it off permanently? Every time you log in you have to close it or use it. Does Yelps really need to be on my screen when he now his own tab? Of course he doesn’t. Many people use the spins they receive because it is easier than destroying them. There is also the fear that if they don’t use the spins, they will get left behind because others will. (This is the same reason that some folks participate in bonus weekends even though they are against them.)

 

Jagex gave us stats on the percentage of players who use the free spins. But, when it came to talking about dissatisfaction we got vague terms. If they are confident so many folks support the wheel, they could give us a simple poll. Why can’t we get that? Let’s see if 90% of the players support selling spins. I’m willing to bet they wouldn’t, are you Jagex?

 

The CEO states that “our philosophy has always been to do what is right for the long term health of the game.” How is going against the principles this game was founded on right for the game? How is changing the rules about real world trading right for the game? How is alienating your long term customers right for the game?

 

Slowly but surely, Jagex have been killing the Spirit of the Game. Yelps is just the latest nail in the coffin. I no longer recognize the game I fell in love with so many years ago. It is a pale shadow of what it once was. Fair play is gone. The level playing field removed with a wheel. I stand for the Spirit of the Game and the players. Remove this abomination and engage with us in meaningful conversation. We care about this game, we want it to survive and succeed.

Edited May 5, 2012 by Kimberly
Added qfc

[jrkerr]

I double posted to make my own comment, but then decided against it. Sorry.

[Bxpprod]

Should be in rants, but alas, let us continue. It seems to me that for the most part, this is another one of the "back in my day" rants that reminisces about how amazing the game was 'in the good old days' and how it has, for lack of a better expression, turned to shit. Now, admittedly, there are aspects of the game as I remember it, that I do miss. I also recall the outrage in the community the days after Runescape became accessible from Miniclip, because of the imbeciles 12 year olds that were invariably going to be dragged into the game.

 

Did it make a difference?

No. The game marched on. People adjusted.

 

I'd agree that it is a bit absurd that there seems to be a very lax approach when it comes to punishing people who break the rules. People who have been caught botting not being permabanned, but rather rolled back and given another chance, people who scam relentlessly and get away with it, but, I'm not able to give you a reason why this is the way it is. Instead, I just put my head down and play on, following the rules and giving little to no attention to those who choose otherwise.

 

The inclusion of PC, SWars, Pengs and especially effigies, well, I don't see them as game-breaking or "killing the spirit of the game" because they have a purpose and a place in the game as far as I'm concerned. If, god forbid, the games were monitored more closely and botters weeded out and removed, there is an argument to say that the change up makes the gamea bit more fun, and that, has the subsequent argument that if the game is fun some will be less inclined to use bots.

 

RAF, Loyalty Points, SoF, all marketing ploys. You either take part, or you don't. At the end of the day, I know the primary responsibility of a business is to its shakeholders, and you can be damn sure that they don't give a shit about you or your feelings, as long as they are making money. And they are.

 

tl;dr Whinging about the wall of whinging.

[Baffler]

For me, it's nice ice to see that she cares strongly enough about it to give up her dual modship (or at least her fmodship). I could go on further about that point, but I fear it would get slightly off topic, so I won't.

 

I agree with most things she posted, for me it was around the time of the ornate katana that I started losing hope in Jagex. Looking back though, there were earlier signs of things to come. Anything before that didn't bother me too much at the time.

 

I probably wouldn't have noticed this otherwise, so thanks for posting it here.

[jrkerr]

oh yeah both crowns got stripped for sin of posting feedback in the mod only feedback forum.

 

edit: punitive measures taken against critical feedback are more reason than I ever needed to decline the fake customer support badge.