Runescape Exposed - Article

Today i found an interesting article about the negative aspects of Runescape.

It mentions alot of the problems within Runescape and makes for a good read.

http://www.twitchguru.com/2007/03/26/runescape_exposed/index.html

Anyone in Europe having trouble accessing the article, please try this link?

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/2007/03/27/runescape_exposed_uk/

Interestingly most people seem to think that the parents should educate their children. I agree. The question is.... Who will educate the parents?

That's why you have to be 13 to play this game...

Parents of little children shouldn't let their kids play online. Simple as that. Online games will always have negative aspects. And if you try to erase all negative aspects and monitor everything, all you do is ruin the game.

Parents of little children shouldn't let their kids play online. Simple as that. Online games will always have negative aspects. And if you try to erase all negative aspects and monitor everything, all you do is ruin the game.

Wouldn't that mean everything has a negative aspect though?

Just be nice that's what all games need, nice people. A newb in f2p is a newb but a newb in p2p isn't cause your paying which means you will want to level. That why I dont call p2p newbs anymore But I do call people newbs to point out a lower level then me, for like cw and pc

hey newb help me out with this 90!

(kills)

ty =)

 

Parents of little children shouldn't let their kids play online. Simple as that. Online games will always have negative aspects. And if you try to erase all negative aspects and monitor everything, all you do is ruin the game.

 

 

 

Wouldn't that mean everything has a negative aspect though?

Define everything?

It's just that when being on the internet, it's easy to be exposed to "harmful" things. The whole purpose of the internet is that it's "open". You can expect positive as well as negative things from that. Educating children about the dangers of internet and letting them mature more first is better than blaming online games for being not safe for children. It's simply something that can never be solved.

Lol, I totally disagree with the editor, the parents are responsible for their kids and what theyÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâôre doing on the internet.

He sais killing someone can have a lasting impact #-o , itÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâôs a part of the game....

That's why you have to be 13 to play this game...

Uh, no, you don't. A huge percentage of RS players are under 13.

And if that's Jagex's official line, why are they deliberately marketing the game to kids under 13?

Educating children about the dangers of internet and letting them mature more first is better than blaming online games for being not safe for children.

Then why does Jagex refuse to educate the children they are trying to get to play Runescape about its dangers?

~q

 

 

 

That's why you have to be 13 to play this game...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uh, no, you don't. A huge percentage of RS players are under 13.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And if that's Jagex's official line, why are they deliberately marketing the game to kids under 13?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Educating children about the dangers of internet and letting them mature more first is better than blaming online games for being not safe for children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then why does Jagex refuse to educate the children they are trying to get to play Runescape about its dangers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~q

[quote name="Runescape Terms and Conditions - http://www.runescape.com/terms/terms.ws"]A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT PRETEENS AND USERS UNDER 18

If you are under 13 years old, you must not create an account. We don't knowingly permit anyone under 13 to use this website. Nor do we knowingly collect any personally identifiable information from preteens. Internet safety experts have advised that preteens do not fully appreciate the risk of providing too much personal information online or communicating with strangers they encounter online. And the game difficulty level is for teenagers and older. While we appreciate that many preteens would want to use our websites, we urge parents to instruct their children not to lie about their age so as to be able to use our websites before they are old enough. Instead, we recommend that parents set up an account and play together with their preteens who are otherwise too young to play the Game. Many parents have reported that playing the Game as a family is fun and rewarding. Then when your children are 13 they will be ready for their own account.

If you haven't read the terms and conditions... you shouldn't be playing this game.

that was butt loaded with stuiff concerned about the welfare of small kids, and sometime ppl go overboard, but not tha masses, thats true of everything. and parents should moniter thier kids, only letting them online for short time, im 20 years old i play alot, mostly at night twhen their is nothing else to do , got to all my levels the hard and honest way.

The new rule regarding players being over the age of 13 was introduced in 2005 i believe. Jagex adopted it in early 2006. (My dates could be off but the facts remain the same) The game was open to people above the age of 7 years old previous to this introduction anyone who made their account before the change was able to keep it.

Also as quoted above me, yes they are not able to create their own account now until they are 13. However they may still play the game with parental supervision.

The game is fine, it's the society in which we are that makes it rotten.

Who lures, scams, hacks, cheats, lies, insults people? Who, the game? No, it's the players.

Back in Rsc, never once in all my newbie life have I been called a 'noob'. Can u imagine it? Not once. The game was fine back then, and there wasn't idiotic little kids everywhere. All the bad aspects came with Rs2, along with the kids. It's the little kids that make the game rotten, not the game that makes the little kids rotten.

And, honestly, parents know nothing about mmorpgs, but what they should know is to not let their kids play them until they're like 12 yrs old and up, so that their kids don't get "traumatized" by killing pixels.

 

 

Parents of little children shouldn't let their kids play online. Simple as that. Online games will always have negative aspects. And if you try to erase all negative aspects and monitor everything, all you do is ruin the game.

 

 

 

Wouldn't that mean everything has a negative aspect though?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Define everything?

 

 

 

It's just that when being on the internet, it's easy to be exposed to "harmful" things. The whole purpose of the internet is that it's "open". You can expect positive as well as negative things from that. Educating children about the dangers of internet and letting them mature more first is better than blaming online games for being not safe for children. It's simply something that can never be solved.

The internet, TV, other games, real life current events like the WAR?

 

 

 

Parents of little children shouldn't let their kids play online. Simple as that. Online games will always have negative aspects. And if you try to erase all negative aspects and monitor everything, all you do is ruin the game.

 

 

 

Wouldn't that mean everything has a negative aspect though?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Define everything?

 

 

 

It's just that when being on the internet, it's easy to be exposed to "harmful" things. The whole purpose of the internet is that it's "open". You can expect positive as well as negative things from that. Educating children about the dangers of internet and letting them mature more first is better than blaming online games for being not safe for children. It's simply something that can never be solved.

 

 

 

The internet, TV, other games, real life current events like the WAR?

Well said to everyone. There are more traumatizing things in the world than a game. Explaining how you should behave on the Internet and how to deal with "cyber bullies" and other negativity that the Internet brings is easy compared to trying to explain why there is war and starving children in parts of the world.

just read the first page and quoted a bit:

It does have some positive learning aspects, but players also get a broad education in the negative aspects of online gaming, including cheating, scamming, lying, taunting, bullying, gambling and addiction.

gambling in runescape :?:

I've seen first-hand the impact on children who have been betrayed, cheated, verbally abused or killed by another player - the negative consequences can have a lasting impact. Players and parents of players alike need to take these issues seriously.

lol, like nobody ever "verbally abused" you at school etc.

betraying, cheating, ... = all things that can happen in real life, even if your 13.

404 - were they strongarmed by Jagex, just as a highly critical Tip it Times article was?

looks like it :twisted:

404 - were they strongarmed by Jagex, just as a highly critical Tip it Times article was?

It is still up, but people from Europe had a problem seeing the page when I posted the link in the IRC channel yesterday. They had to use a US proxy server to see the article.

just read the first page and quoted a bit:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It does have some positive learning aspects, but players also get a broad education in the negative aspects of online gaming, including cheating, scamming, lying, taunting, bullying, gambling and addiction.

 

 

 

gambling in runescape :?:

 

 

 

Yes, gambling. Do you know Barbarian Assault? You can gamble your point there.

Besides, everything based on droprates could be qualified as gambling. And so does staking.

 

 

 

I've seen first-hand the impact on children who have been betrayed, cheated, verbally abused or killed by another player - the negative consequences can have a lasting impact. Players and parents of players alike need to take these issues seriously.

 

 

 

lol, like nobody ever "verbally abused" you at school etc.

 

 

 

betraying, cheating, ... = all things that can happen in real life, even if your 13.

What you literally state is true. However, just because it happens in RL there is nothing wrong with happening ingame?

That is about the stupidest I've ever heard.

This game would be so boring if Jagex listened to that person.

 

 

 

That's why you have to be 13 to play this game...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uh, no, you don't. A huge percentage of RS players are under 13.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And if that's Jagex's official line, why are they deliberately marketing the game to kids under 13?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Educating children about the dangers of internet and letting them mature more first is better than blaming online games for being not safe for children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then why does Jagex refuse to educate the children they are trying to get to play Runescape about its dangers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~q

Hi,

firstly, Qeltar, I'm quite surprised to see you posting on these ego-driven kid-infested boards - It's nice to see someone who actually cares about the game and its community around here. Maybe it might be worth a few minutes of my time to post some thoughts as well? But on topic:

What do you expect from a company that

intend to become a significant online operator in all the major gaming markets worldwide; developing and commercializing highly compelling persistent character games that appeal to as wide an audience as possible, based on cutting edge technologies developed in house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our ambition for 2006 is to exceed 900,000 subscribers for RuneScape, to take RuneScape into other non-english language markets and to develop further games using our technologies

 

 

 

Ignore the out of date statement and focus on the general appeal of the message - the AMBITION. Not a word about customer support, gameplay, game community... all that's stuck on Jagex's corporate site for a few years now is the simple message: all that matters to us is to exceed [amount] of subscribers.

Obviously, preteen and early teen fly-by-nights are a great target audience. I agree that we are soon to experience another "miniclip" effect on the game, its community. All the kiddy webs all over the internet, webs that are often targeted at "bellow the age of ten" audience are as of late full of Jagex's Runescape ads.

And yes, as everybody who is able to read past the first sentence in the paragraph knows, there is no age gap in the game. I do realize that I am miserably optimistic, but let's assume that every bellow13 youngling gets a parent to start the game with him/her, go through the intro Island together, see the tutors... The content team has though this out very well. Even the least detail like the blankety-blue colours of all the tutors, everything is purposefully made to look secure, harmless, peacefull. It is my sincerest belief that it were not the beginners to whom Jagex addressed the new tutors - it is the parents, who are to be tricked into letting their kids play all on their own from Lumbridge on... What wrong could happen in such a nice little game to our kids, right?

Just a few cents of mine,

* dissapears into a billowing cloud of smoke, back to lurking *

Cheers.

Oh and P.S.: about the gambling: don't you gamble all your possesions, even life while fighting tough monsters, let alone strolling into the wilderness? Same goes for a duel arena, rat pits, etc...

i disagree witht the person who wrote that it would be a dumb game what she said sure id lvoe to c the cheaters leave but that will never happen

this is what i think if that,

its a load of bull, because if people are thinking that rs is bad for your kids, sit down with them and look for yourself, i been playing for about 3+ years and my mom sat down with me to look at it, and she said ti was fine, so heres a note,

if you are a concerned parent, take an hour break from your busy schedules and talk to your child about the dangers of talking on mmorpg's and the good stuff, its not dangerous unless you make it that way

and there are bullies liar scammers and cheaters, but that doesnt not mean you will become one too, thats are millions of player that play rs fair and square.

This is just like the myspace epidemic saying it is very bad for myspace, a lady showed News10 that myspace is actually beneficial to many children,

and as i said, it is only dangerous if you make it the way :shame:

same on people trying to make runescape a bad choice to thousand of parents, soon it will be broad casted all over the news and parent will be all worried :notalk: :notalk: :notalk:

and, lol i am still not done, there is a huge community of su players on here

clans, dk teams kq teams kbd teams that teach us all about having respect for one another and like trading, that teaches you math

i hate how many people see the bad in thing then the good in things, it makes me angry people are too paranoid about stuff, talk to your child about online gaming, if you are so concerned

firstly, Qeltar, I'm quite surprised to see you posting on these ego-driven kid-infested boards - It's nice to see someone who actually cares about the game and its community around here. Maybe it might be worth a few minutes of my time to post some thoughts as well?

Hi ekim.. do I know you?

Anyway, thanks for the reply (and those of others).

I have a confession to make: I'm the author of the article. I hadn't planned to "come out of the closet" until part 2 of the article was published (coincident with the launch of my new site, hopefully). But since I did post in this thread I realized I would only be completely honest by "fessing up".

So yes, I wrote it. And part 2 (already written) will go into a lot more detail about how Jagex refuses to clean up its messes. It will also contain details of the deliberate effort they have made to legalize luring and then cover it up... as they are covering up other things.

BTW I am in contact with the web masters about the problems with accessing the site from Europe. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

~q

 

 

 

firstly, Qeltar, I'm quite surprised to see you posting on these ego-driven kid-infested boards - It's nice to see someone who actually cares about the game and its community around here. Maybe it might be worth a few minutes of my time to post some thoughts as well?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi ekim.. do I know you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, thanks for the reply (and those of others).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a confession to make: I'm the author of the article. I hadn't planned to "come out of the closet" until part 2 of the article was published (coincident with the launch of my new site, hopefully). But since I did post in this thread I realized I would only be completely honest by "fessing up".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So yes, I wrote it. And part 2 (already written) will go into a lot more detail about how Jagex refuses to clean up its messes. It will also contain details of the deliberate effort they have made to legalize luring and then cover it up... as they are covering up other things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BTW I am in contact with the web masters about the problems with accessing the site from Europe. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~q

you wrote this?

if you did ask yourself, is it gunna be worth it, alot of parent take this stuff seriously, and instead of blaming jagex, you should put some tips on that article about how you guys as parents could resolve this, not by giving jagex negative commentary, but sit with your children and have a talk with them about mmorpgs and tell them there are dangers, but benefits as well, its not all bad and its is just a game, and if some people do take it more seriously and scam you and offend you, theres a wonderful thing call ed the report abuse button and the ignore list switch worlds and turn your chat off, your article needs work im afraid to say, maybe people shouldn't see just the bad in things :shame:

like i said, help out parent and give them tips on how to talk to their children about how to game safely -.-