Do you respect Jagex?

[Dire_Wolf]

So do you?

[Quyneax]

They did make a successful MMORPG, so they deserve respect for that.

 

Their constant insults to their players (f2p hiscore removal, SoF etc.) mostly burned that up.

[Will H]

That can't be provided with a simple yes-no answer. I do respect them much less than I used to, but the fact remains that the only impact that they've really inflicted is on their own creation. They have made a game that redefined what you could do with a browser-based Java applet, and they have made something that has directly been part of more than a quarter of my entire lifespan.

 

In the words of Mark Zuckerberg, "It's Complicated".

[Kirschen]

They made quite a great game that is cheap for the massive quantity and quality it provides and has managed to last well over a decade, which is rather impressive of a feat and deserves all the praise. Can't say the same to their management and poor communication that can either be spot on to the issues at hand or commit some of the most idiotically heinous moves that leave me banging my head on the desk, equally deserving all the frustration and ire of the community.

 

I'll put it in laconic terms: Very mixed preferences.

[iSharkMan]

Runescape is a great game, I did have full respect in Jagex but due to the SoF much of that respect has been lost. :shame:

[Low Levelled]

I respect the gowers.

[Dire_Wolf]

I respect the gowers.

Same here, especially Andrew :)

He's as i said before a weird but a NIIIIIICE guy !!!

[Cheefoo]

Yes. I understand why they make these descisions, "good" or "bad". While I may not agree with all of them, I still understand their strategies and I respect them.

[highlanders]

The people actually working on the game are probably cool, but with investors in charge of things there's nothing they can do. Insight has 55% so they have the deciding vote, and being investors all they'll want is money.

[muggiwhplar]

From a gaming perspective, not anymore. The content really seems half-assed these days. The squeal of fortune marketing's really obnoxious too.

 

From a business perspective, no. Any business that sells a service should understand how critical customer service/support is. Jagex has pretty terrible customer service and doesn't seem to listen to player feedback. Unfortunately, I think Jagex realizes that their customers are addicted to this game and will keep paying them every month regardless of how shitty the game becomes. People would rather keep playing a deteriorating game than quit altogether.

 

Think about the "worst" updates in RS history-- removal of free trade, microtransactions, etc-- not enough people quit to actually justify their resignations. So I expect the game's content and customer service to continue to decline, while moneymaking ploys continue to grow as long as their customers put up with it. I don't play this game frequently enough to take the changes too seriously. And for only $5/mo, it's still enough to give me something to do when I'm bored.

 

I generally feel that if you're unsatisfied with the game, you should just quit playing and move on to something else, rather than waste your time on here expect things to change for the better.

[Makoto_the_Phoenix]

I'll admit that, at one time, I did. They stood by their word and did what they felt was best for their game, and was one of the few F2P games that I felt was enjoyable.

 

However...I don't anymore. The key issues that they've flip-flopped on, as well as their devil-may-care attitude towards F2P have faded the respect that I once gave them.

[Ginger_Warrior]

They made a game that for a long time has been firmly the second best selling product in their market sector. That deserves praise, but perhaps praise that was more deserved for the work they did ten years ago rather than the work they're doing now. A lot of their success came from them being one of the first free MMORPGs rather than any tough decisions. We can all release a product into a market no one's competing in, but still has plenty of interest, although perhaps we couldn't do it as well as Jagex did.

 

I think modern day Jagex hasn't done enough to diversify RuneScape, or fix some of the issues that were in the game from day #1. In fact, far from diversifying the game, they've actually made it all very focused around hiscores, XP rates, skillcapes. RuneScape abuses its own Skinner box more than any game I've ever known, and I think that's a weakness rather than a strength.

 

You look at some of the great RPGs, and they aren't "great" because they take stupidly long amounts of time to reach the "post-game". They're great because they're strong in other areas where RuneScape is far weaker.

 

I'm actually hoping the combat rework will be very radical and that it redefines RuneScape completely because otherwise, I think RuneScape in two or three years time will be a very pedestrian game compared to its competitors.

 

So all in all, I voted "Inbetween". They need to do something big, and there's signs they might be.

[Blyaunte]

I dunno. Do the player communities of other games complain as much as Runescapes? :unsure:

[Ginger_Warrior]

Yes. Oh god, yes they do.

 

I'd say other gaming communities are better than RuneScape's, which I think suffers more than its fair share of 'problem players' (not this site per se, but RS generally), but yeah, other communities whine just as much. Not just gaming either. All communities think the people above them are useless, and that they'd do a better job.

[Powerfrog]

The difference between the Runescape communities' complaints and almost any other rapidly changing game's community, is that other developers actually listen to their players and develop around what the community wants, which means there is less to complain about.

 

I'm honestly surprised by how many Yes's Jagex got. I love the game, but i do NOT respect Jagex as a business or an entertainment provider. They've been at this for over 10 years now and constantly make what can only be described as rookie mistakes. This wouldn't be so bad if they learned from their mistakes, but they're far too stubborn, best demonstrated, i think, by the rock climbing boots update. (SoF too, but that's at least understandable on a short term profit sense which they sadly seem to be aiming for recently.)

 

I would absolutely love if another company bought Runescape from Jagex, as long as they demonstrated they were interested in the long term profit and not to milk it for all it's worth and then move on.

[Alg]

The difference between the Runescape communities' complaints and almost any other rapidly changing game's community, is that other developers actually listen to their players and develop around what the community wants, which means there is less to complain about.

...I can honestly say I've only seen this kind of thing from indie game developers with relatively small communities. Bigger game series/developers/etc have players that are just as unreasonable as Scapers here, if not more so.

 

And that's without even mentioning TV, music, or movies' fanbases...

[Vezon Dash]

I have to respect them. They have produced a great game that is still entertaining me 6 years later. They have done some things that I haven't liked, but I won't [bleep] and moan too much.

[sohkmj1]

Ever since all this micro-transaction garbage, no.

At least they could explain themselves better on previous controversial updates (Wilderness removal, trade limits).

[Ginger_Warrior]

It's remarkably easy to explain why a business feels the need to do everything possible to make as much money as possible, actually. You might not agree with it, and neither might I, but it's very easy to understand the rationale.

[Assume Nothing]

As said early in this thread, this is not a yes-no answer. If you're going to pose such a question: identify what respect is, and who JaGex is. Are we talking about the founders, their spokespersons, their employees, its entity as a whole, or its corporate leaders? I may hold some respect for the founders with genuinely positive intentions, and their employees - but definitely not their corporate leaders. I may have little respect for those naive enough to put into place policies which clearly won't work, those who act inconsistently with their principles, and those who simply have little interest in the game trying to capitalize at our expense.

 

Perhaps the question should be 'do you still respect them' - as it's implied that we used to. I'm sure it's one of the reasons why we had joined the game in the first place; we're mainly unhappy about the changes that has occurred over the past weeks/months/years. Or perhaps, the question could be 'should we still respect JaGex?' - now that would be a discussion.

[Kaur]

Yes. I understand why they make these descisions, "good" or "bad". While I may not agree with all of them, I still understand their strategies and I respect them.

Pretty much this. :thumbup:

[RS_Completed]

I have to say yes, Spent over 7 years on their game and have no intention of quitting anytime soon.

[Randox]

I guess it would depend on what 'Jagex' is.

 

As a gaming company, they have moved away from providing an epic game to milking it. While I can't blame them for wanting to make as much money as possible, as a player, I have to wish they wouldn't.

 

I respect them least in their ability to communicate with players, in a clear and timely fashion. For all their talk about trying to move away from this, they are still a very secretive company. They also lie to their players, and I can't accept that.

 

 

But if you talk to some of the people they have working for them, some of them are really awesome people who are really into games. One mod in particular I have gotten a few chances to talk to (with other people) for extended periods of time as they did their other work, and I really respect them, and the other people who work for Jagex who are like them. I even once got a glimmer of what a jmod was really thinking, contrary to the line towed by the company which was kind of neat.

 

So while I don't really respect the company, I do respect a great many of the people who work for it.

[Bxpprod]

They're a business. To my knowledge, they don't do anything extraordinary (building hospitals in Africa, blah blah blah) and just simply make money for their shareholders. Why would this garner my respect?

 

tl;dr Nope.

[Assume Nothing]

They could be deemed respectable for their efforts in creating an enjoyable game. - it almost sounds as though I'm describing them 5 years ago. I'd guess it's a respect I once had, not have.