Tag: Runescape

2012 Is Jagex’s Best Year Ever


scapemas2

In the vacuum of space, no one can hear you scream. Say what you want about Squeal of Fortune and Solomon’s Store, Jagex’s two cash shop ventures in RuneScape, but they have brought in oodles of money. 2012 has become Jagex’s biggest year to date, with income spiraling above the fifty million pound mark for the first time in the company’s history. Jagex is now the largest independent game studio in the UK with over five hundred employees, and has boasted an influx of users last year into RuneScape as well as the recent release of RuneScape 2007, a classic ruleset server.

2013 looks to be an even better year for a game that has reportedly been dying since 2005, depending on which player you ask.

(Source: Jagex press release)

Jagex Bans A Laundry List Of Max-Level Players


scaperune2

One criticism I see levied against Jagex on a regular basis is that the company is reluctant to ban long time or high level players who use bots to automate certain aspects of the game. In a recent move against players using automated software, a wave of high level players have been reportedly banned, with the list growing by the hour.

As of this writing, at least 166 high level and rich players have been caught in the sweep, with the names being published here and updated regularly. It appears that a large number of players banned were using bot programs to automate the skill Dungeoneering, where players run through randomly generated dungeons for experience and rewards.

Hopefully this will serve as a warning to the other cheaters. Probably won’t.

Jagex Appoints Filmmaker To Creative Director


scapemas2

Jagex has put out a press release revealing that Alex de Rakoff will be taking the helm as Creative Director. De Rakoff is best known for his role as director/writer in Need for Speed: The Run and Grand Theft Auto 2, as well as for directing the 2009 film Dead Man Running. He will be working as Creative Director on RuneScape 3 as well as the upcoming and regularly delayed Transformers Universe.

(Source: Jagex Press Release)

Old School RuneScape's Dom Onion Cave


noedits

RuneScape’s old school servers are chugging along with small content updates here and there to fix bugs and improve certain features, and people are wondering when Jagex will start adding in content that doesn’t exist on the standard servers. The answer is now! In a recently closed poll, players voted overwhelmingly (77%) for the Dom Onion Cave to be programmed and written in.

Judging by the poll, the cave will be called the Nightmare Zone, and may reward sets of level 50 and 65 armor, as well as teleport scrolls for runecrafting altars. Other items from the poll are already being added in, including an ability to right-click report players, easier armor repair and potion combining, and doubling rare spawns.

The Dom Onion Cave is a new mini-game that is currently in development where players can fight monsters from quests they have completed, with awards given based on the player’s performance. There are no further details on when the mini-game will be available.

Old School RuneScape’s Dom Onion Cave


noedits

RuneScape’s old school servers are chugging along with small content updates here and there to fix bugs and improve certain features, and people are wondering when Jagex will start adding in content that doesn’t exist on the standard servers. The answer is now! In a recently closed poll, players voted overwhelmingly (77%) for the Dom Onion Cave to be programmed and written in.

Judging by the poll, the cave will be called the Nightmare Zone, and may reward sets of level 50 and 65 armor, as well as teleport scrolls for runecrafting altars. Other items from the poll are already being added in, including an ability to right-click report players, easier armor repair and potion combining, and doubling rare spawns.

The Dom Onion Cave is a new mini-game that is currently in development where players can fight monsters from quests they have completed, with awards given based on the player’s performance. There are no further details on when the mini-game will be available.

Jagex "Chatwatch" Automates Muting Private Chat


scaperune2

Jagex doesn’t find your conversations appropriate, so much so in fact that they have updated the Chatwatch program to automatically detect and mute players for “seriously offensive language,” going as far as monitoring private conversations between friends. The confirmation comes from a leaked post on the private high level forums on the official RuneScape website, where a Mod Lyon states that Jagex is happy with the system and has no plans on changing it, and that the chat monitoring can not be confined to public chat, although this is not due to technical limitations.

Naturally player reaction has been mixed, with some seeing the move as an overreach of authority and others viewing it as simply enforcing the rules.

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Jagex “Chatwatch” Automates Muting Private Chat


scaperune2

Jagex doesn’t find your conversations appropriate, so much so in fact that they have updated the Chatwatch program to automatically detect and mute players for “seriously offensive language,” going as far as monitoring private conversations between friends. The confirmation comes from a leaked post on the private high level forums on the official RuneScape website, where a Mod Lyon states that Jagex is happy with the system and has no plans on changing it, and that the chat monitoring can not be confined to public chat, although this is not due to technical limitations.

Naturally player reaction has been mixed, with some seeing the move as an overreach of authority and others viewing it as simply enforcing the rules.

1P8OSu5

Old School Servers Are Here To Stay


noedits

RuneScape’s Old School server has been up and running for a few months now, with Jagex offering continuous updates to fix bugs and add in small features voted on by the community. One of the big questions that players have had since the servers launched is how successful they would be, what Jagex would ultimately decide about the possibility of an additional membership to play, and whether or not the servers would attract enough players to keep them operational.

Today Jagex released a developer blog for Old School titled “here to stay.” Players should be happy to know that the servers will remain online for years to come and, at least for the foreseeable future, will not require any additional cash.

When Old School RuneScape launched we said access would be included as part of membership for the first 6 months, and then we’d review the pricing. We’ve made that decision now, rather than wait for September… There will be no increase in cost for the foreseeable future and we aren’t planning to review the pricing again for at least the next year, if not much longer. You will be able to access both Old School and the main game for the price you are currently paying for membership.

Jagex is continuing to work on client stability, banning bots, and more.

(Source: RuneScape)

MMOrning Shot: The Sixth Age


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Today’s MMOrning Shot comes from RuneScape’s concept art division. It appears to be related to upcoming content Jagex has said will be related to the gods returning to RuneScape after the death of Guthix and the destruction of his non-intervention edicts.

MMOrning Shots is a (mostly) daily line of screenshots from various MMOs. Most are taken in-house or come to us in press releases, but if you would like your screenshot featured, send it over to contact[at]mmofallout[dot]com with the subject “MMorning Shots.”

MMOrning Shots: Black Knight's Fortress


clip (2013-05-09 at 12.07.07)

The upcoming Black Knight’s Fortress upgrade for RuneScape is visually impressive and can be seen when the update goes live next week. For now, see it with on the upcoming RuneScape 3 engine.

MMOrning Shots is a (mostly) daily line of screenshots from various MMOs. Most are taken in-house or come to us in press releases, but if you would like your screenshot featured, send it over to contact[at]mmofallout[dot]com with the subject “MMorning Shots.”