How efficiently does the Dev team work?

[Hobgoblin11]

Does anyone know how the Dev team at Jagex work? I have heard a lot of 'We didnt get an update!!' this week, and was just wondering how the team that bring us updates actually operate.

 

 

 

Do they work as one team, with everyone working on one update at a time, for one week, then releasing it and moving onto the next? Or do they do what I think is more efficient and split the team into 2, 3 or 4 sections and work on a different update for each subdivision in the dev team. That way, they could have a month or more to work on each update before releasing it. Apparently the reason for no update this week seems to be that they are working on a bigger update and so need more time on it. However, if you use the method described above, they could make every update a big one, as they would have a lot longer to work on it.

 

 

 

I may be talking rubbish, because they may already have different sections within the team which are more necessary than this (i.e. the team is made up of different people, writers, programmers, graphics guys, testing guys etc) and so cannot split the team down, but it was just a thought.

 

 

 

Comments? Try not to flame me to badly :P

[primadog]

No one knows for sure, you might want to send JaGex a question.

 

 

 

However, a hint of it can be found under each quest update:

 

 

 

Developer: Tytn H

 

 

 

Graphics: Matthew M, Paul B, Neil R, Rasmus KH

 

 

 

Quality Assurance: Kevin D, Nick C

 

 

 

QuestHelp: Rob K, Stephen R, Dave O

 

 

 

Comparing this and the amount of staff in Jagex, it's safe to say that for the regular updates, JaGex work on team bases. Every once a while, JaGex pour their resources together to work on better updates.

 

 

 

 

 

However, regardless of how sub-divided you want the JaGex developed be, you should never expect to have big updates without a week skipped every once a while. Consider this:

 

 

 

JaGex has only so many developers, thus many man-hours available for updates per month. Let's assume the following:

 

 

 

JaGex has 50 developers, each working 200 hours a month:

 

50 * 200 = 10,000 man-hours / month.

 

 

 

To have weekly updates, JaGex needs to divide their team to:

 

10,000 man-hours / 4 weeks/month = 2,500 man-hours per small update

 

 

 

If we want to have a big update. It's neccessary to either:

 

a) Skip a week, spent 5,000 man-hours for a big update

 

B) reduce staff for one update, leading to a crappy small update

 

c) not have a big update

 

 

 

As you see, you cannot have the cake and eat it too.

[mini193]

we got an update..... It was the website maintnence. :thumbsup:

[marlin85]

i hate it when it isnt a real update :lol:

[highlanders]

we got an update..... It was the website maintnence. :thumbsup:

 

\

[Barihawk]

They have about 25 employees on the Content team under Paul. They work on approximately 7-10 updates at any time simultaneously. The last quest: Darkness of Hollowvale, took them 7.5 months to complete.

 

 

 

Trust me, they are working on things, and it is amazing that we manage to get in two updates a month!

[buffrichie]

it would be nice if they made a good update soon so i could start playing again

[RoswellCrash]

I would have thought they would have they work as a team but in groups like the artist, programmers, sound developers a bit like football there all one big team but you have defenders, attackers, and midfielders and I believe this week there is no update because of the big sound update they are planning that may well come out next week.

 

 

 

p.s I think over half of the people that play this game spend to much time complaining about the lack of updates or/and quality of them, maybe if we spent some more time respecting them and showing are appreciation for there hard work they might feel better, and when you feel good about your work and others do it helps you to perform better.

 

 

 

We should all log on to the RuneScape forums and say thanks for the fun we have experienced , guys please donÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t forget to say thanks JaGeX once in a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just count the rants then count the compliments.

[Mordendravid]

it would be nice if they made a good update soon so i could start playing again

 

 

 

Because obviously you've completed absolutely everything else the game has to offer right... :roll:

 

 

 

On topic the Jagex corporate site currently has vacancies advertised for developers/content managers and a couple of other roles. If you read the job descriptions for each of these it will give you a pretty in depth view of how updates are worked upon, simply through the development and project methodologies that they use (and therefore expect employees to be familiar with).

 

 

 

In simple terms many updates are worked on concurrently split out amongst several teams.

[zaquierming]

I would have thought they would have they work as a team but in groups like the artist, programmers, sound developers a bit like football there all one big team but you have defenders, attackers, and midfielders and I believe this week there is no update because of the big sound update they are planning that may well come out next week.

 

 

 

p.s I think over half of the people that play this game spend to much time complaining about the lack of updates or/and quality of them, maybe if we spent some more time respecting them and showing are appreciation for there hard work they might feel better, and when you feel good about your work and others do it helps you to perform better.

 

 

 

We should all log on to the RuneScape forums and say thanks for the fun we have experienced , guys please donÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t forget to say thanks JaGeX once in a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just count the rants then count the compliments.

 

 

 

10 dollars a month isn't thanks enough?

[Jard_Y_Dooku]

I would have thought they would have they work as a team but in groups like the artist, programmers, sound developers a bit like football there all one big team but you have defenders, attackers, and midfielders and I believe this week there is no update because of the big sound update they are planning that may well come out next week.

 

 

 

p.s I think over half of the people that play this game spend to much time complaining about the lack of updates or/and quality of them, maybe if we spent some more time respecting them and showing are appreciation for there hard work they might feel better, and when you feel good about your work and others do it helps you to perform better.

 

 

 

We should all log on to the RuneScape forums and say thanks for the fun we have experienced , guys please donÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t forget to say thanks JaGeX once in a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just count the rants then count the compliments.

 

 

 

10 dollars a month isn't thanks enough?

 

 

 

1) It's 5 dollars a month

 

2) Do you not thank an RS player, or RL cashier after a trade/purchase?

 

3) Don't you think they deserve credit for the great work they do?

[Smile]

I would have thought they would have they work as a team but in groups like the artist, programmers, sound developers a bit like football there all one big team but you have defenders, attackers, and midfielders and I believe this week there is no update because of the big sound update they are planning that may well come out next week.

 

 

 

p.s I think over half of the people that play this game spend to much time complaining about the lack of updates or/and quality of them, maybe if we spent some more time respecting them and showing are appreciation for there hard work they might feel better, and when you feel good about your work and others do it helps you to perform better.

 

 

 

We should all log on to the RuneScape forums and say thanks for the fun we have experienced , guys please donÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t forget to say thanks JaGeX once in a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just count the rants then count the compliments.

 

 

 

10 dollars a month isn't thanks enough?

 

 

 

1) It's 5 dollars a month

 

2) Do you not thank an RS player, or RL cashier after a trade/purchase?

 

3) Don't you think they deserve credit for the great work they do?

 

 

 

It depends what country you live in and how you pay for it.

[Jard_Y_Dooku]

I would have thought they would have they work as a team but in groups like the artist, programmers, sound developers a bit like football there all one big team but you have defenders, attackers, and midfielders and I believe this week there is no update because of the big sound update they are planning that may well come out next week.

 

 

 

p.s I think over half of the people that play this game spend to much time complaining about the lack of updates or/and quality of them, maybe if we spent some more time respecting them and showing are appreciation for there hard work they might feel better, and when you feel good about your work and others do it helps you to perform better.

 

 

 

We should all log on to the RuneScape forums and say thanks for the fun we have experienced , guys please donÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t forget to say thanks JaGeX once in a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just count the rants then count the compliments.

 

 

 

10 dollars a month isn't thanks enough?

 

 

 

1) It's 5 dollars a month

 

2) Do you not thank an RS player, or RL cashier after a trade/purchase?

 

3) Don't you think they deserve credit for the great work they do?

 

 

 

It depends what country you live in and how you pay for it.

 

 

 

United States *Dollar*. Euros aren't dollars. Pounds aren't dollars. Canadian dollars aren't dollars. Well, they are, but surely you see what I'm trying to say here?

[Golvellius]

They have about 25 employees on the Content team under Paul. They work on approximately 7-10 updates at any time simultaneously. The last quest: Darkness of Hollowvale, took them 7.5 months to complete.

 

 

 

Trust me, they are working on things, and it is amazing that we manage to get in two updates a month!

 

 

 

How exactly do you know this for certain?

[Trojann2]

They have about 25 employees on the Content team under Paul. They work on approximately 7-10 updates at any time simultaneously. The last quest: Darkness of Hollowvale, took them 7.5 months to complete.

 

 

 

Trust me, they are working on things, and it is amazing that we manage to get in two updates a month!

 

 

 

Exactly, Meaning Jagex owns.

[0Firzen0]

well give jagex a break, there hard at work on priffidas right now. be nice to them or they will program the elves to kick you out as soon as you go in!

[NukeMarine]

It's amazing people actually think that updates are worked on only for a week prior to release. As stated above, you'll have a develop team working on a various update, with one guy possibly devoting time to other updates as well. An update could take minutes, hours, days (for quick fixes and tweaks), weeks or months.

 

 

 

As the update approaches release, more of Jagex staff quality controls the update (many, many more employees test it out) to find out any kinks that slipped through during programming. Finally, it gets the ultimate quality control, us. 500k+ players slam an update for all its worth at times, which reveal any hidden bugs fairly quickly at times. That's why it's important to submit proper bug reports and not just post about it on forums.

 

 

 

I'm very impressed with their company structure. When this game goes multi-lingual with servers in Japan, Russia, China, India, and Romance language European countries it's gonna be a huge money maker. Sadly, these countries are known for their bots so Jagex is gonna get slammed hard also.

 

 

 

It'll be great. Update a week (with the rare skip week) is still impressive. It keeps me playing.

[zaquierming]

I would have thought they would have they work as a team but in groups like the artist, programmers, sound developers a bit like football there all one big team but you have defenders, attackers, and midfielders and I believe this week there is no update because of the big sound update they are planning that may well come out next week.

 

 

 

p.s I think over half of the people that play this game spend to much time complaining about the lack of updates or/and quality of them, maybe if we spent some more time respecting them and showing are appreciation for there hard work they might feel better, and when you feel good about your work and others do it helps you to perform better.

 

 

 

We should all log on to the RuneScape forums and say thanks for the fun we have experienced , guys please donÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t forget to say thanks JaGeX once in a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just count the rants then count the compliments.

 

 

 

10 dollars a month isn't thanks enough?

 

 

 

1) It's 5 dollars a month

 

2) Do you not thank an RS player, or RL cashier after a trade/purchase?

 

3) Don't you think they deserve credit for the great work they do?

 

 

 

I'm Canadian, it's $7.30.

 

Thanking an RS player or RL cashier after a trade/purchase is different, they are doing a direct trade/service for you, JaGex is more comparable to people who print your newspapers and magazines, you don't thank them, do you?

[RoswellCrash]

I would have thought they would have they work as a team but in groups like the artist, programmers, sound developers a bit like football there all one big team but you have defenders, attackers, and midfielders and I believe this week there is no update because of the big sound update they are planning that may well come out next week.

 

 

 

p.s I think over half of the people that play this game spend to much time complaining about the lack of updates or/and quality of them, maybe if we spent some more time respecting them and showing are appreciation for there hard work they might feel better, and when you feel good about your work and others do it helps you to perform better.

 

 

 

We should all log on to the RuneScape forums and say thanks for the fun we have experienced , guys please donÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t forget to say thanks JaGeX once in a while.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just count the rants then count the compliments.

 

 

 

10 dollars a month isn't thanks enough?

 

 

 

1) It's 5 dollars a month

 

2) Do you not thank an RS player, or RL cashier after a trade/purchase?

 

3) Don't you think they deserve credit for the great work they do?

 

Thanks :roll: , but i think its a wast of time he just dont get it that he is just rude, the kind of person the world could do without.

[Barihawk]

They have about 25 employees on the Content team under Paul. They work on approximately 7-10 updates at any time simultaneously. The last quest: Darkness of Hollowvale, took them 7.5 months to complete.

 

 

 

Trust me, they are working on things, and it is amazing that we manage to get in two updates a month!

 

 

 

How exactly do you know this for certain?

 

 

 

Shiva and I randomly found Paul during the Nardah update and he told us about his team. I found the Darkness of Hallowvale time from a thread in the official forums.

[Greedom1]

...(edited out)

 

 

 

If we want to have a big update. It's neccessary to either:

 

a) Skip a week, spent 5,000 man-hours for a big update

 

B) reduce staff for one update, leading to a crappy small update

 

c) not have a big update

 

 

 

 

hmmm... so this is where rat catchers came from

[tefda]

From reading Barihawk's post on how he found Paul just sitting around it makes me wish we still got personal insights into the Jagex world. It may have not had ANYTHING to do with the game but it was pretty cool to know more about the team and more about the company itself and its creators.

 

 

 

It was that connection with the team, although never actually meeting them, I still felt as if there was a connection a greater feeling of being a part of something and not just being a consumer to a machine.

 

 

 

Ah the good ol' days when Paul was up to 200 Sit-ups a day. I wonder how many he can do today?