03-Apr-2013 - RuneScape Beta Programme: Registration Open

[Will H]

The RuneScape Beta Programme - announced last week - is now open for you to register your interest!

 

If you're a Gold or Silver Premier Club member, you're already registered. As long as you're a RuneScape member you can now register your interest on our sign-up page for a chance to experience our new HTML5 client and interface system first!

 

Registration is open for one week - until the 10th of April. Once it's closed, we will be selecting groups with a range of hardware specs and gameplay styles. We'll notify those chosen before the HTML5 client beta starts on the 17th. The alpha for the new interface system will be launched a week later so even if you don't get in right away, don't worry - we'll be inviting more of you as the programme goes on, and all members will have the chance to try out all these awesome new features before launch.

 

We're fully dedicated to making RuneScape 3 the game that you want it to be, so we need your feedback more than ever. Register your interest now to be the first to give us your thoughts, and start shaping RuneScape's future!

 

If you have any questions, take a look at our official FAQ.

 

See you in the beta!

 

The RuneScape Team

 

[hide=FAQ]

Closed Beta and Alpha

 

When will the closed beta start?

 

The closed beta for HTML 5 will begin on April 17th and the separate Alpha for the New Interface System will start on the 24th of April.

 

Who can apply for the closed beta access and what are the requirements?

 

Any member can register interest in taking part in the RuneScape 3 Beta Programme.

 

How will I know if I was selected?

 

We will send an e-mail to those who obtain early access prior to the launch of the Beta or Alpha. Please make sure you have an up to date email validated on your account.

 

Will F2P players be able to participate in the closed or open beta?

 

F2P will not be eligible for the Closed Beta or Alpha. We are looking to add access to F2P players later in the process.

 

Will there be playtest sessions or would I be able to play the beta version day and night?

 

You should have access to the beta at any time barring that we have taken down the service temporarily to make some changes and tweaks based upon your feedback!

 

How many worlds will there be? What about location of the servers – will there be one for USA, UK, Europe …?

 

We will have plenty of world available at the start of the beta to accommodate the players given access. As we grow the beta population we will bring more worlds online as needed.

 

Will J-Mods join us on the beta world(s)?

 

J-Mods will definitely be active on the beta test environment gathering feedback, & chatting with the community.

 

Will we get to test the 2 new skills as well?

 

No, they are separate from RuneScape 3.

 

 

 

Open Beta

 

What is the start date for open beta/when will you let us know?

 

We will be closely monitoring feedback during the closed beta and alpha and will update you in the future as to any changes to the Beta Programme.

 

General - beta

 

Can I still buy Gold or Silver Premier Club Membership?

 

No, the window has closed for joining the Premier Club

 

Will the XP I gain in beta transfer to the main game?

 

HTML5 testing will be running on the main game servers and all XP gains will be on your main character. The New Interface System Alpha may have some XP gain for the main server but this is not finalised at the moment.

 

Tech

 

Will I be able to access the game on any browser (Chrome, Firefox, IE, …)?

 

Chrome already has adopted full WebGL support (which is something our new HTML5 client requires) & Firefox is releasing a compatible version in the near future.

 

Forums

 

Will there be dedicated forums for the beta and alpha?

 

Definitely and we are looking forward to your feedback!

 

 

The RuneScape Team

[/hide]

[aerendil]

Right, so, I have some questions about this If anyone can answer them... First of all, does anyone know what we will be "testing" in this Beta?

 

What exactly is this new Html 5, and how will it improve runescape?

 

EDIT: New question.

 

Does anyone know if the HTML 5 will require better internet connection to play? I'm a bit worried about this as my internet is normally pretty crap, and high definition ect would cause me to lag more, or am i incorrect?

[SwreeTak]

Automatically signed up since I am a gold member. Can't wait for BETA.

[Tansuo]

Important bit

 

[Fallstar]

Also automatically signed up, looking forward to it.

[Sinkhan]

First post muwahahahaha.

 

 

all aside, sounds good :), however I don't see how this is a huge important thing, worthy of a beta...

 

This is definitely on the scale of EoC and RSC->RS2. Every single asset has been retooled to work in HTML5, meaning there's a plethora of visual, mechanical, and game engine type modifications. Undoubtedly there are a lot of variables and things they want to test for like performance and capatibility so a beta makes sense.

 

I also feel like they established a pretty good system for dealing with beta programmes with EoC. There's always complaint that Jagex doesn't take enough player feedback so the beta is a perfect way for them to get it before it gets deployed to the masses.

[Will H]

Right, so, I have some questions about this If anyone can answer them... First of all, does anyone know what we will be "testing" in this Beta?

 

What exactly is this new Html 5, and how will it improve runescape?

 

EDIT: New question.

 

Does anyone know if the HTML 5 will require better internet connection to play? I'm a bit worried about this as my internet is normally pretty crap, and high definition ect would cause me to lag more, or am i incorrect?

 

1. HTML 5 is basically a new set of standardised tools for web pages and the elements that live on them. It also introduces various performance improvements and versatility for developers. The most famous one is that an HTML 5 page doesn't need Adobe Flash to play a video on it. In the case of Runescape, Jagex is using the integrated graphical rendering tools to improve various elements like draw distance.

 

2. I think the aim is that the Beta should be no more demanding than the current game, and presumably there would be similar graphical options. I would still try it.

[Powerfrog]

It'll be interesting to see how they use HTML5.

 

1 thing I'm keen about is how easy it is to dismantle HTML5 objects and view the code and such that makes things run, including variables. I'm sure most of it will be server sided so we won't likely get to see juicy stuff like drop rates, but I'm sure there will be a plethora of information to nab on day 1 from oversights.

 

Personally I hope it crashes and burns so old school becomes the main focus, but I'm selfish like that. :P

[Platinum_Myr]

I believe that part of why they are going towards the tear+share interface is because HTML5 would make a lot of that possible regardless of whether they wanted it..

[Golvellius]

We're still beta testing EOC.

I've got no patience for this.

[Ruinous Edge]

Oo fun :) another beta i can get refused early access for along with EOC and TU..signed up though hopefully third times the charm.

[MPM]

I really hope that Jagex will let developers create browser extensions/plugins for the new client.

If not, I want to see how they intend to detect people using browser plugins.

[strilmus]

Important bit

 

open beta.

 

this is for closed beta

 

ofc the only thing i see being a huge advantage this time is the draw distance, so it's not as big a deal as far as advantages go

 

i'll still be a bit miffed if they ignore me though

[jayc3399]

Hopefully Jagex accounted for this/ it doesn't matter to them.

 

http://blog.chromium.org/2013/04/blink-rendering-engine-for-chromium.html

 

Basically Google is changing how chrome runs.

[Platinum_Myr]

I doubt that will have much impact directly on the rs project. Definitely requires testing.

[Ammako]

We're still beta testing EOC.

I've got no patience for this.

 

derp

 

You can use the HTML5 beta to play on the current servers

[Saradomin_Mage]

We're still beta testing EOC.

I've got no patience for this.

 

derp

 

You can use the HTML5 beta to play on the current servers

So that you can beta test a beta test!

[Ammako]

We're still beta testing EOC.

I've got no patience for this.

 

derp

 

You can use the HTML5 beta to play on the current servers

So that you can beta test a beta test!

[thejollyroger]

Hopefully Jagex accounted for this/ it doesn't matter to them.

 

http://blog.chromium...r-chromium.html

 

Basically Google is changing how chrome runs.

 

I don't see how an open source browser rendering engine is going to have a negative impact on a modern markup language (specifically, the fifth revision of HTML -- Hyper Text Markup Language). Now... I'm not a coder, but what I am gleaning from articles about Blink and HTML5 is that there should be better standardization and more transparency on how the code works. Less stuff in proprietary black boxes/lack of documentation.

 

If the Wikipedia article I read is correct, and Ian Hickson (of Google) is HTML5's editor as of 2012, I'm not surprised Chrome/Chromium is at the forefront of all this, and that Jagex recommends players beta testing the Bestiary (which is in beta right now) to use that browser for testing.

 

Maybe someone who is much more conversant with HTML/XML and WebKit/KHTML (which is what Blink is based on) can clarify some things here. At best it might take longer for cross-compatibility, i.e. that Jagex may need more work to do for other browsers. I remember a statement somewhere that said Firefox might be doable by summer.

[ACK]

Fully automatically signed up, since i am platinum member.. =p

[Stev]

I really hope that Jagex will let developers create browser extensions/plugins for the new client.

If not, I want to see how they intend to detect people using browser plugins.

Jagex will support plugins for RuneScape in the future.

[Platinum_Myr]

I really hope that Jagex will let developers create browser extensions/plugins for the new client.

If not, I want to see how they intend to detect people using browser plugins.

Jagex will support plugins for RuneScape in the future.

 

Just curious if you have a source for this. If so hopefully we could see something like dgsweeper plugin, or a citadel resource count page that is fixed from the broken code jagex has now >.<

[Mercifull]

Yo dawg I heard you like beta testing so I put a beta test in your beta test.

[Tim]

I wouldn't be surprised if your DGS Sweeper was the first User-Submitted plugin for this with Jagex support, considering the detail put into it. (if jagex do support user-submitted plugins)

[Platinum_Myr]

I just want the ability to modify the citadel resource page which currently shows completely misleading numbers and does not help anyone.