Decline of Tip.It/Fanbase?

[urb]

First off, I apologize if this is in the wrong section. Secondly, this isn't a rant concerning how "rs has become shit" and "IVP ruined my childhood".

 

I'm just curious, what happened to the community regarding Runescape? I played from 2005-2010, and whether everybody hated the game and Jagex's decisions or not there was still plenty activity in the forums and IRC. Tip.it, Zybez, Rune HQ, Sal's, et al. I've looked over recent updates, read the tip.it times, and checked up on the now defunct event team every month or so since I quit the game and its really become unrecognizable. There's little discussion, and it's only between near-maxed players. Even in '09, content from '05 was discussed, but now there's zero threads that aren't about either a recent update or issue in the game (botting, SoF, 50%, glitches, take your pick) Nothing investigative, nothing philosophical just a lot of numbers/pHr and efficiency.

 

tl;dr - Where did Runescape's userbase run off to, because they're definitely not active on fansites.

Edited January 7, 2013 by Quyneax

[chenw]

Too busy getting 'Efficient' probably

[Vezon Dash]

A lot of the new players (and maybe some older ones too) just use Rs Wiki for all of their questions and stuff. They just don't come to Tip.It, and therefore don't come to these forums I assume.

[insperation.09]

Too busy getting 'Efficient' probably

 

Quite simply the best way to put it.

 

The game has become a single minded entity. There is no major benefit collaborating with others. It's all about getting the best xp/hr at the best gp/xp and having little xp waste.

 

 

A lot of the new players (and maybe some older ones too) just use Rs Wiki for all of their questions and stuff. They just don't come to Tip.It, and therefore don't come to these forums I assume.

 

I agree with this as well. RS Wiki has something on everything. If somebody doesn't know something, it's a few keystrokes away, rather than posting on forums and waiting for a reply.

 

 

To answer your question urb, the vast majority of fans have simply left the fansites. They aren't as... useful and influential as they once were. It's a sad reality, one I hope to see reversed in the future, but my confidence is fading.

 

[poochu]

No idea, I've come back again to see whats happening, there was a TONNE of bots in the last 2 years, that kinda killed it for me.

[tripsis]

I think it's a combination of:

 

• Vezon Dash's point about RS Wiki. People tend to use that for information.
  
• Over the years, Jagex has been eliminating the need for fan sites. Back when the game was newer, people needed quest guides, they needed skill information, etc. RuneScape didn't have any of that. Now RuneScape has tons of information/tooltips/etc. available in-game, better quest progress trackers, more information about skills.. and that's all in-game. And in addition to that, they have their own wiki on the RuneScape website. It may be shit, but it's still there, and a lot of new players will find and use that first. There's very little reason for people to go out and find fan sites for help anymore.
  
• Declining interest in the game overall?

Sucks :(

[Ginger_Warrior]

Another theory is that the MMORPG market isn't what it was cracked up to be five years ago and is now in heavy decline.

 

Membership figures for RuneScape are very average, sales for Mists of Pandaria (WoW) were far lower than previous releases and poorer than had been hoped. 'Social gaming' turned out to be more 'Facebook' than 'Gielinor'. The video games market is becoming increasingly Xbox- and PS-centric for so-called 'hardcore' gamers, with the Wii and Wii-U dominating its own 'casual' niche. Console gaming is undoubtedly the way forward for this industry, especially since all consoles now have Internet connectivity and support DLC. Yes, there are some people who play MMORPGs and who would never dream of console gaming, but they're a small minority of what was the whole community.

 

The consequence of which is less people playing RuneScape, and therefore less people seeking out its fansites.