Tag: Runescape

RuneScape 3 Arrives July 22nd


chrome 2013-04-19 11-34-47-16

RuneScape 3 is here! Well, almost, anyhow. In an announcement released today, Jagex has revealed that July 22nd is the official launch date of the next major upgrade to RuneScape. Dubbed RuneScape 3, the update brings the full release of the game’s HTML5 client, with improved performance, graphics (seen above), lighting, and more. RuneScape’s audio engine is also receiving a boost, allowing for high fidelity music written by BAFTA award winner James Hannigan. Players will also be able to utilize the new customizable interface, along with an upgraded camera, seasonal high scores, and more.

But it wouldn’t be a major RuneScape update without something going on with the story. Following the events of The World Wakes, the world of Gielinor is once again in danger. The god who once protected the world from intervention is now dead, and the other gods are returning to reclaim their land. Entrusted as the world’s guardians, the players must ultimately decide who may stay and who may leave. RuneScape 3 will introduce the Battle of Lumbridge, a weekly event where player choices will determine the fate of many. RuneScape 3 also ushers in the first of two skills planned for this year, Divination, which will arrive a few weeks after launch.

RuneScape’s HTML5 requires Google Chrome to run.

(Source: RuneScape)

MMOments: One Man's Ban Is Another Man's Treasure


scaperune3

Playing 07Scape, I stumbled across a rather ingenious way to level up fletching (bowmaking) by buying logs from the general store, turning them into unfinished bows, and selling them back. You see, the genius of this plan is that the logs sell for less than the store will buy the unfinished bows. A paltry profit of four coins per bow, but it does mean that I can sit there and gain experience while sacrificing nothing in the process, so long as I can find a world where bots players are selling logs to the store. I joked over Twitter that I’d probably get banned if I were in, say, Guild Wars 2.

And then reality struck: There are actually games that would ban me for doing this. Whenever an mmo issues a mass ban for players finding a way to make money by playing NPC shop prices, I receive emails from other gamers asking how you could possibly think that such an action was within the rules. The answer is pretty simple: It is, at least elsewhere.

If an MMO doesn’t want players to be able to utilize shops in such a manner, that’s fine. That said, it doesn’t seem appropriate at all to ban players on the first offense with an attitude that they should have known all along that what they were doing wasn’t kosher. Instead of reaching for the banhammer, simply send the player a warning. Remove the profits they made, why not.

Such an activity isn’t as obvious as, say, using bot accounts or cheats. The topic of making a profit by buying from one NPC and selling to another is rarely mentioned in a game’s terms of service, instead it is hidden in the “don’t exploit stuff” clause. It isn’t as obvious to the player as the developer often thinks it is.

MMOments: One Man’s Ban Is Another Man’s Treasure


scaperune3

Playing 07Scape, I stumbled across a rather ingenious way to level up fletching (bowmaking) by buying logs from the general store, turning them into unfinished bows, and selling them back. You see, the genius of this plan is that the logs sell for less than the store will buy the unfinished bows. A paltry profit of four coins per bow, but it does mean that I can sit there and gain experience while sacrificing nothing in the process, so long as I can find a world where bots players are selling logs to the store. I joked over Twitter that I’d probably get banned if I were in, say, Guild Wars 2.

And then reality struck: There are actually games that would ban me for doing this. Whenever an mmo issues a mass ban for players finding a way to make money by playing NPC shop prices, I receive emails from other gamers asking how you could possibly think that such an action was within the rules. The answer is pretty simple: It is, at least elsewhere.

If an MMO doesn’t want players to be able to utilize shops in such a manner, that’s fine. That said, it doesn’t seem appropriate at all to ban players on the first offense with an attitude that they should have known all along that what they were doing wasn’t kosher. Instead of reaching for the banhammer, simply send the player a warning. Remove the profits they made, why not.

Such an activity isn’t as obvious as, say, using bot accounts or cheats. The topic of making a profit by buying from one NPC and selling to another is rarely mentioned in a game’s terms of service, instead it is hidden in the “don’t exploit stuff” clause. It isn’t as obvious to the player as the developer often thinks it is.

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)

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.

1P8OSu5