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Tip.It Times - 29th July 2012


tripsis

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Time for a new release of the: >>>Tip.It Times!<<<

 

 

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WRITE FOR THE TIMES - SUBMIT A GUEST ARTICLE:

Remember, YOU can write an article for the Tip.It Times! You can apply to write full time, or just submit a "one-off" guest article any time you want! Our editors will work with you to ensure that your article is ready for publication. All guest articles can be submitted to @tripsis or any other Editorial Panel member. For more information, including details on how to apply full time, read this forum thread: http://forum.tip.it/topic/209138-how-to-write-for-the-tipit-times/

 

I'd like to remind people of the rules pertaining to Times threads:

 

[hide=Read these rules before posting in this thread]

Rampant flame wars have taken control of virtually every week's times discussion topics. The following guidelines must be followed when posting on this topic. Posts that ignore these guidelines will be removed.

 

1. You are invited and welcome to express like or dislike on articles and a particular author's writing style. It is not acceptable, however, to flame or personally insult an author. Posts that aren't anything but an attack will be removed from the topic.

 

2. Spelling and grammar errors can be reported to tripsis by PMing her and they will be fixed promptly. It is not necessary to post them on the discussion topic.

 

3. Off topic posts that do not discuss the content of that week's articles will be removed. This is not the place to discuss the direction of the times, how much you love or hate the times, etc. Off topic posts will be removed.

 

By keeping within these guidelines, Times discussion topics will mean more for the Panel and Administration than just a place for flame wars. Flame wars do not provide any useful feedback to the Times, which is mainly what we're aiming for with these topics: feedback.

 

This policy is effective as of now, November 17, 2010. Any posts prior to the creation of this policy may or may not be removed according to the new guidelines.

[/hide]

 

When replying please make sure to clarify the article you are replying to! Thanks!

 

If you spot any typos or mistakes in an article then please PM them to @tripsis. :)

 

Enjoy the articles!

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- 99 fletching | 99 thieving | 99 construction | 99 herblore | 99 smithing | 99 woodcutting -

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Magnificent article by Ts, as almost always. Completely agree with everything, and it's an interesting point of view on the IVP censored thing. Now I'm a bit optimistic that it is, in fact, hurting them. As far as I know, they've never touched anything with a community as big or as assertive as RuneScape's, so, if we're lucky, we may come out winning where MapleStory lost.

 

Fingers crossed.

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Now let's run some numbers. Very proudly announcing that you've got over 200 million accounts sounds amazing, but a second look shows you that less than 10% of that is still enjoying your product. Less than 1% is actually willing to spend an amount of money on a monthly basis on this product. Are these numbers the ones that made Jagex and Insight Venture Partners decide to go for an even smaller customer base?

It's still quite a bit. That 10% still puts you as one of the most popular games of your genre, and that 1% is more impressive on realizing that there are still over a million people paying for your product. Not bad, for a game that has changed very little since its release more than 10 years ago.

 

The thing with Jagex and Runescape is that, for most of those 10 years, Runescape was the only game of its kind. Nowadays you don't have to look very hard to find a free/cheap MMO - As of this post I can find 38 on Steam - and many of them look more like World of Warcraft than RS. They've got to take their 10-year old point and click game and compete with those. If they're not doing a good job of it, it's not (entirely) because of some dramatic change, since many of IVPex's current problems are problems that Jagex under the Gowers faced; problems that would have been crippling years ago, if Runescape wasn't the only game of its kind. Things like changing policies at the drop of a hat, failing to address criticism (Or handwaving it away), and putting out broken content.

 

It's not some problem with greed or all of those other buzzwords that we love to throw around (And we should make a bingo game out of), it's that they're trying to adapt to a changing landscape and, in our eyes, doing a terrible job of it.

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Aren't the total subscribers somewhere along the lines of 700k-800k?

Former Leader of The Tal Shiar Alliance - An Original Tip.it Clan
Member of the Wilderness Guardians and Founder of the Silent Guardians
Founder of The Conclave - A Tip.it Clan institution
Tip.it Times author (click for all my articles) - When I use the wrong reasons to make the right statement, argue the reason, not the statement.
MSSW4 General - Did we kick your ass too?




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Let me continue what I said earlier.

 

Public opinion is way too fickle to be reliable. Jagex will never rely on public opinion as much as they rely on revenue and facts, data, numbers.

 

A lot of the argument is based on the idea that Jagex, if they had never released the Squeal of Fortune and Solomon's Store, and had created good-quality quests and content, then there would be more subscribers and more income. Unfortunately, there is no way to measure "potential income", but it is likely that the Squeal of Fortune path has earned them more money. It was more successful to release cosmetic items for a price than create worthy content such as While Guthix Sleeps.

 

Did the decision to suddenly release microtransactions get made overnight? You see, there is a way to vaguely gauge 'potential profit'. You can estimate the profit you will receive by looking at your current revenue. If you continue what you're doing, there's a good chance that your revenue will, more or less, stay the same. The fact that they released the Squeal of Fortune wasn't just some dumb greedy gesture, it was a decision made after they saw their current trend and became dissatisfied with it.

 

If public opinion doesn't matter, the only way to get your voice heard is through the wallet. No, the answer is not to cancel your subscriptions and make everyone else do the same.

 

When Jagex was producing good content, we should have referred our friends without bonus xp encouragement. When Jagex releases an update we enjoy, we should spread RuneScape's popularity. The only reason why they would release the Squeal of Fortune is because their old model wasn't working. Isn't it our fault that it didn't work?

 

It's too late now, Jagex has seen what we truly want, not what we say. When they produce good content, it fails and the company declines. When they release the Squeal of Fortune and Solomon's General Store, rich RuneScapers generate lots of profit for Jagex. We have made it clear enough to Jagex that this is what we want.

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You forget one thing: Repeat business...

 

Many people that buy, well, everything, will enjoy the game for a much shorter period of time. People that take the unfunded road are much more likely to stay on that road if they also get to see some interesting stuff along the way...

 

So, IVP - Jagex has effectively chosen to sacrifice long term stability for short term gains, a trend that has historically never been a good decision...

Former Leader of The Tal Shiar Alliance - An Original Tip.it Clan
Member of the Wilderness Guardians and Founder of the Silent Guardians
Founder of The Conclave - A Tip.it Clan institution
Tip.it Times author (click for all my articles) - When I use the wrong reasons to make the right statement, argue the reason, not the statement.
MSSW4 General - Did we kick your ass too?




Check us out!
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==> No seriously, if you like FREE GP, XP and Dung tokens, as well as Community, Opportunity and above all FUN... <==
CLICK IT!

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Well, I have to say I'm one of those people that have given up writing extensive thought-out posts on the RS official forums.

But I think one of the main problems with the RS forums is actually their lack of community features. Sure, they're a lot better than they were originally or even a few years ago, but they're still missing what is quite possibly the most important forum feature ever conceived - quoting.

If someone could quote your post - which would send a message to your inbox - then people would be encouraged to return to a post and discuss it further. You might actually have entire conversations taking place, instead of just hundreds of random unconnected posts in a single thread. I'm thinking of how The Escapist does it, which are the forums I use most regularly.

 

But back on topic, I agree (as usual) with everything Ts_Stormrage said in his article. I'm also one of those players that plan to quit after reaching my current goal (99 crafting, and almost there) unless Jagex decides to suddenly turn around their marketing strategy. The reason I've stuck with them for so long is actually in large part due to the membership price increases (there's been at least 2 to my memory). Because I'm still paying the original $6 (AUD), unsubscribing would mean I'd be paying $9 if I ever resubbed.

Substantial content updates are few and far between, especially in regards to challenging quests (which for me is the highlight of the game).

 

As has been mentioned many times, the inclusion of microtransactions for the SoF directly violates the values which Jagex upheld for so long. And it's that, more than anything, that is pushing the game into a deep dark hole. If a developer suddenly decides to go against everything they've stood for and outright abuse their playerbase, it doesn't give the players any reason to stick around.

(I am, of course, refering to the long-standing RWT rule (which was removed on the 6th of April just this year), which stated:

"We don't want players to be able to buy their way to success in RuneScape. If we let players start doing this, it devalues RuneScape for others. We feel your status in real-life shouldn't affect your ability to be successful in RuneScape.")

 

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Save the Earth! It's the only planet with chocolate.

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Well written post by TS Stormrage, although I would question whether we are currently getting just expensive yet crappy updates. Besides the obligatory SoF update, not much has really changed. There's always been poor and mediocre months, with a couple of well received updates. High level quests are almost always popular, as are slayer dungeons and new, challenging bosses. (So long as those slayer dungeons and bosses are actually worth doing). Whilst the QBD wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and the grotworms are basically non existent if you're not a bot, that doesn't mean anything. Jagex release bad content all the time. This is nothing new. And at least Jagex are making some changes to the beta based on player feedback (increased auto attack damage etc.).

 

Solomon's store is pretty harmless, and that is what SoF should have been like too. But there's no use in pretending it'll be removed; Jagex have made it perfectly clear that it won't be. Endless complaining besides the obligatory groaning when they update SoF again doesn't really get us anywhere, and I expect that what little staff Jagex have going through forums for feedback just ignore anything that mentions SoF now.

Asmodean <3

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Devaluing the achievements of other people is a big concept of RuneScape. Even though each update slowly devalues your updates, there's a huge difference between someone who AFKed Firemaking through Bonfires and someone who paid a large sum of real life money and simply bought it. Real life success should mean nothing in RuneScape except for the difference between members and free play, and the free play should be completely playable on its own anyway. This was the stance that Jagex used to take.

 

Now, it seems like they're encouraging the few people with lots of money and slightly less sensibility to blow their money on RuneScape. Yes, this devalues our achievements, it devalues our game. I don't really approve of anyone who simply buys his/her way through the game, and I have more respect for those who actually play the game. Still, in a way, these rich people are not just 'buying skills'. They are buying RuneScape, supporting the game for the rest of us yet having a firm grip on Jagex's policies. So long as they continue dumping large amounts of money into RuneScape, RuneScape will remain alive and open to more microtransaction-type offers.

 

Ts's point about repeat business and long-term stability is a very good point. However, I'd like to point out that this game does not really have long-term stability as an option. Each player is destined to quit in his/her own time. Maybe all your friends quit, or real life obligations force you to lessen your playing time, or distasteful updates get released such as the Climbing boot change, you simply get bored of the game over time... A product which would have real stability is toothpaste. If a brand thoroughly convinced me that I must get this specific brand of toothpaste, I might end up using that brand for the rest of my life. RuneScape, unfortunately, doesn't have that sort of stability.

 

Essentially, the "stability" you're talking about is persuading a temporary group of players to stay a bit longer. Ultimately, these players will quit due to various reasons unless Jagex somehow makes a perfect game. Though Jagex made it clear that they want to retain old members (price discounts, Loyalty Programme), the only way to sustain such a game is through new memberships. I don't think they're stupid enough to release an update they know will generate wild criticism if they knew their current system was working. Searching for stability in this game is quite hard when weekly updates get released, some of which thoroughly change the game.

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I strongly agree with the ideas presented in the first article; particularly on the voices of (constructive) criticism, which are rarely heard by Jagex, and so the number of people who are interested in discussing the matter shrinks overtime.

 

Besides the points presented, I think some may have preferred to stay ignorant to certain controversial updates lately, because they believe they are quitting the game in the near future and hence not have to worry about where the game is headed, or they are impulsive players, only playing whenever they feel like/get bored, etc..

'Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.' T.S. Eliot

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"why was there not a crowd almost 10 times larger arguing for the return?"

 

Easy, bots don't argue or even speak for that matter. Think about it. Hundreds of thousands of bot accounts were laying around inactive because they couldn't trade their GP away. When a vote comes up do you not think the bot creators would use every one of those accounts to vote themselves back into use?

 

They didn't NEED to argue, they had it in the bag from the get go by sheer numbers. A real player typically has between 1-3 characters, a botter could have hundreds to vote with. As much as we tried to point out that fact Jagex was going to push the update through anyways & we can see the result.

 

There also seems to be a conspiracy brewing too. If you think about it Jagex actions appear to have focused on turning the bots into profit. They did the nuke eliminating the veteran bots & put in a trade limit on only new F2P accounts. Mighty suspicious since the bots just moved over to P2P in droves making more money for Jagex isn't it? :?

 

As for the combat update.... well that's probably what's going to force me out of the game I've played for nearly 10 yrs.. The simplicity of RS combat was the reason I was able to deal with the slow response time of my connection. From my experience with the weekend beta tests it's simple no longer. I'm going be at a real disadvantage compared with someone with a faster connection.

 

I also find it infurating that I've spent years building up a huge collection of weapons with special attacks. After the update all those special abilities are gone. For example all the godswords would be the same. My seerkull bow which I used to use on mages might as well be a magic short, no wait, a yew short since it no longer has a special attack.

 

:mad: :mad: :mad:

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I have been a log time player of multiple MMOs, Runescape, STO, WoW, chief among them, and to see this update on the near horizon I really want to add my own two cents to the topic.

 

When I think about this update, the only thing I can possibly notice is the sheer logical fallacy that adding a few buttons to push will make the game, in any way shape or form, skill based. Almost every MMORPG in existance has gone along with the "multiple buttons, multiple moves" strategy and with the simplicity of runescape's combat (no set classes, gear being overarching and available to everyone etc.) it will boil down to a set formula that can be modified to certain scenarios. Allow me to explain.

 

Boss Hunting:

there is a very simple way to test which method, or rotation, of abilities will be the best to kill a boss, perhaps variable with the weapon, but a set rotation nonetheless. Is it faster to spam max adrenaline regen abilities until an ulti or should you be using thresholds? After 100 or so boss kills, one person using the first rotation and another using the second will compare how many drops they won compared to each other using the same gear and stat booster potions. with this knowledge, they will continue to dominate kills until another person either figures it out, the knowledge is leaked, or both. From then on the only thing that is changing is more activity on the keyboard.

 

PvP:

PvP in runescape is deceptive in that its play is simple, however managing spells, eating, weapon swapping, and potions requires concentration and nerve. With the new update, spell interrupts (lets call them kicks) come into play, which will likely have the largest impact. All that this means is that you can block important spells now. Perhaps this requires "skill" in knowing when to kick, however it will certainly not be difficult to know which particular spell takes priority.

 

As far as the whole dual-wielding thing goes, I don't even know where to begin. Fact of the matter is, as things stand if you are dual-wielding a hard counter (PvE or PvP) then whatever is on the receiving end is dying. Perhaps hybriding adds some complications, but this I think brings up the key logical falacy in the combat update. Complexity and needless complications =/= skill. The same way with the efficiency debates that raged on a year or so ago, as soon as one person figures out the best way to do something, everyone will either copy or die. All it takes is 5 minutes reading whatever posted guide to learn it.

"In order to lead, you must learn how to carry your followers upon your shoulders"

"A man is not only defined by his abilities, but also by those of the men with which he surrounds himself"

"The meek fight for skill and fame, the strong fight for power with the skill and fame they already have"

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Someone pointed out to me (thanks for that) that my article was copied almost word for word to the RSOF, as has Jonanananas' been earlier by the same person...

 

While I think imitation is the sincerest form of flatery, I will never put up an article on the RSOF as long as it's still featured on Tip.it itself...

 

[qfc]15-16-958-63917492[/qfc] is the thread in question, and has gathered about 7 pages of "nice article, too bad its plagiarisms" posts...

 

As you can see, people praised the "author" highly for his "work"...

 

Don't worry, I'll put it up there once the next articles are featured on the Times... It seems THERE they thought it was worth discussing ;)

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Former Leader of The Tal Shiar Alliance - An Original Tip.it Clan
Member of the Wilderness Guardians and Founder of the Silent Guardians
Founder of The Conclave - A Tip.it Clan institution
Tip.it Times author (click for all my articles) - When I use the wrong reasons to make the right statement, argue the reason, not the statement.
MSSW4 General - Did we kick your ass too?




Check us out!
wildsig3.gif
clanmotif.png
==> No seriously, if you like FREE GP, XP and Dung tokens, as well as Community, Opportunity and above all FUN... <==
CLICK IT!

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The first few points seem to have been hidden, so it seems some moderator got the message, although it's still a shame it was plagiarized in the first place.

"Fight for what you believe in, and believe in what you're fighting for." Can games be art?

---

 

 

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My blog here if you want to check out my Times articles and other writings! I always appreciate comments/feedback.

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