Jagex – Page 43 – MMO Fallout

Screenshots of RuneScape Interface Alpha

Jagex has launched the RuneScape New Interface alpha, and I’ve decided to dump a few screenshots I took to show just how customizable the interface is. Players will be happy to know that interfaces like the inventory and prayer tabs no longer need to be connected, but they can be if you prefer it that way. Just about every interface can be ripped from its base, moved around, conjoined, and resized. There are more interfaces that aren’t yet available, but we will have screenshots of them when they are. Also remember that this is a work in progress and subject to changes before the official release.

Click on each image to expand it.

MMOrning Shots: HTML5 Demands

RuneScape’s HTML5 beta is well under way, and considering how different the game looks from its current implementation, I keep getting these nagging feelings that the screenshots I’m seeing are fake, even though I’m the one who took them!

Reminder: School Shooting Threats Are Illegal

There is a special level of stupid that describes a person who thinks that it’s funny to make public threats to shoot/bomb a school, whether they make them in offhand comments on online games or actually contact the school via phone/online/mail to make the threat. Eventually you have to ask yourself how many people need to be arrested and charged with making a threat before the other idiots get the clue and keep their unique sense of humor private.

I don’t know when that will happen, but I do know that 18-year old Thomas Frongillo of North Oxford has likely ruined his chances at a decent career. According to Telegram, Frongillo was arrested after he allegedly made the comment “I’m shooting up my school tomorrow” on the online game RuneScape. The incident was reported to Jagex by players, who presumably used Frongillo’s account information to identify him, and the evidence was sent to Oxford police, who in turn alerted the campus police. The transcript also included anti-Semitic comments and Frongillo drawing a swastika in-game.

Frongillo has been arrested and charged with threatening to commit a crime and threatening a bombing or hijacking. The kicker in this story? Frongillo is in the police academy studying criminal justice. According to Frongillo’s defense attorney, the comment was “a harmless jest,” and was not meant to be taken seriously.

What is it about RuneScape and real world violence?

(Source: Telegram)

RuneScape 3 Beta Program Detailed

Jagex’s upcoming overhaul to RuneScape, also known as RuneScape 3, will be coming to all players later this summer. Before then, however, players are being invited to test out the new system in order to find any bugs or offer feedback to improve features before they go live. In preparation, Jagex has unveiled some details for how the beta will work, in a post on the main website. While gold and silver premier club members will receive guaranteed access, members will need to register for a chance to get into the beta. While the number will start out small and open up gradually, the announcement does state that all members will have a chance to try out the new game before it goes live.

3rd April: Registration for the RuneScape 3 Beta Programme is opened to members.
10th April: Registration closes.
17th April: HTML5 beta begins.
24th April: New interface alpha begins.

The HTML 5 beta begins in just about three weeks. As with Evolution of Combat, we will be doing impression pieces once the beta goes live.

(Source: RuneScape)

Jagex Unveils RuneScape 3

We’ve known about a next generation RuneScape for quite a while now. What we know so far is that RuneScape 3 will be a continuation of RuneScape 2, where the current game will cease to exist and players (and their characters) will be fully transferred to the new system. RuneScape 3 will also bring with it better graphics, powered by HTML5 and a fully orchestrated soundtrack.

We will have more details about RuneScape 3 as Jagex hands them out.

(spoiler alert)

With the recent release of The World Wakes, Jagex released a quest to set up where the future of RuneScape will head. Guthix is dead and his edicts banishing the gods from Gielinor have been destroyed. Followers of all of the gods are making preparations for the return of their deity, and undoubtedly Jagex’s MMO is about to plunge into a planet-shattering war.

Jagex Decrees: Gambling Illegal In RuneScape

The word of God has spoken. RuneScape has been updated today with a strange set of new fixes to various items. The Easter ring now only turns one color, flowers planted by players now grow in one single color, the seal of approval emote now only displays one animation, and the classic cape no longer varies between animations. Why the sudden lack of random play? Jagex has finally put their foot down, issuing an official notice to players running gambling rings: You will no longer be tolerated.

Jagex has added a new bullet point to RuneScape’s rules list:

You must not advertise, organize, promote or participate in player-run games of chance, where game money or items are staked on the outcome of a random activity.

Players caught running gambling rings will be met with mutes and possible permanent bans. As with the bot busting update, the fight against gambling is one that will not end with this update. Jagex will continue to monitor the game and combat other methods as they pop up.

(Source: RuneScape)

Jagex Begins Muting Gambling Hosts

Jagex is continuing its war on gambling in RuneScape with a recent hidden update to the game. As we’ve talked about before, one of the most popular gambling methods in RuneScape is called hot/cold, that uses an item called a mithril seed which when planted into the ground produces a random colored flower. The gambler makes a bet on which color type (hot or cold) will sprout. There are other gambling methods, again as we’ve talked about, but the hot and cold is one of the more prevalent.

Players are reporting that Jagex is taking a stand against gambling hosts, however, and have not only given the official go ahead for player moderators to begin muting gambling hosts, but they have also implemented an update to pick up on common gambling phrases and automatically mute the speaker for two days. According to a few reports, the phrase is “h/c 2x” which stands for “hot/cold 2x.” The new policy was implemented suddenly and without a public announcement by Jagex, with many players only discovering the new system once they’d been punished.

More to come on Jagex’s fight against gamblers, no doubt.

OldScape Poll Ends, Jagex Alters Conditions

Here at MMO Fallout, I’ve often said that Jagex’s polls are really little more than exaggerated PR stunts. Players are given the option of voting yes, or not voting at all, and the tally ultimately follows the rules of Who’s Line is it Anyway, where everything is made up and the points don’t matter. Following the tiered system Jagex laid out, and subsequently altered to allow more benefits with less votes, Old School RuneScape will now be available for an additional $5 membership fee with a small team dedicated to continued maintenance, and “possible” anti-bot updates.

In a news article posted today, CEO Mark Gerhard has detailed what players should expect with the full release of Old School RuneScape. Players will be able to vote on future changes, and will be happy to see the implementation of Botwatch to keep nasty cheaters and gold farmers away. In addition, the membership fee on top of the standard member cost has been waived, at least for now.

As a gesture of our own goodwill and an aspiration for this newly established community to flourish and hopefully grow I’ve decided that we will NOT be charging the additional $5 membership fee for at least the next 6 months!

The news article notes that the member fee will continue to be waived so long as population levels are healthy. So even without five hundred thousand votes, Old School players will still enjoy most of the benefits of the tier. The Old School RuneScape server is currently available in the form of early access to members who voted in the poll, and is still considered a work in progress as several features have not yet been fully implemented.

(Source: RuneScape)

Jagex Opens (Limited) Members Skills To Free Players

In 2012, Jagex opened up a 14-day free trial for free to play players. The account is limited in regards to trading and acquiring items, and once the 14-day free trial ends, any items that are members only are unable to be used until that player purchases a subscription. With today’s release of the March developer blog, Jagex has announced some upcoming changes to the way free players are able to experience membership without the need to actually pay. Instead of a 14-day trial, free players will have access to a limited amount of the members world, as well as very limited access to members skills.

Talking of free players, we’re changing the trial system so that new players once again start off as a free player. To do this, we’re making Burthorpe and Taverley part of the free game, as well as the associated quests and training areas within it. We are also allowing free players to train members’ skills up to a maximum of level 5, giving them a taster of the kind of content there is on offer for players who subscribe.

The blog post also details Jagex’s continued fight against player-run gambling outfits.

Other alterations we intend to make this month are changes centred around the flower games and associated ‘risk’ gameplay that currently dominates the Grand Exchange. Exactly what these changes are and what form they take is going to be up to you – we’ve built a variety of solutions from rules changes, content changes and even our own versions of the games – and we’re planning on chatting to you to work out what solution works best for the community. Keep an eye on the news for details.

You can find the full list of scheduled updates for March at the link below.

(Source: RuneScape)

Jagex Bans 20,000 In Botwatch Update

Last year RuneScape saw the first stages of Botwatch, a new system designed to end the constant game of cat and mouse between Jagex and gold farmers, and put an end to the rampant cheating, spam, and gold sales once and for all. Instead of altering the game’s code, Botwatch was designed to learn over time how bots behave, and learn the difference between human behavior and those dictated by machine. Botwatch is capable of banning on its own volition, and thus must be tuned to ensure no false positives are detected.

In a recent update to Botwatch, the program banned over twenty thousand accounts accused of gold farming:

We recently introduced the next phase of our anti-bot technology Botwatch, and it’s already showing its teeth in the battle against botting activity in RuneScape. Last night alone, we conducted a mass ban of no less than 20,000 gold farming accounts. This is a huge blow against gold farming, and you should see the difference in game right away. These new anti-bot systems aren’t limited to gold farmers, however – users of 3rd party clients and botting software are also being aggressively targeted by the newly updated Botwatch.

Last year Jagex introduced Botany Bay, where players can watch first hand as bots are executed and banned.

(Source: RuneScape)

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