Tag: Runescape

Bigpoint Gives Faith in UNITY, Jagex Should Use It


My first, and for a long time only, experience with MMOs on the UNITY engine was Cartoon Network’s Fusionfall, and for all the criticizing I throw at Bigpoint Games for their public comments, I’m very happy that they had more faith in the engine than I did. I say this because I was playing the open beta for KULTAN today, Bigpoint’s upcoming answer to the sea-faring MMOs, and the game looks great to the point where the screenshots (even the one I presented) really don’t do it justice. And the game ran great, apart from a few issues I had with the controls and some problems with targeting, but that can be ironed out in development.

Of course this isn’t the first Bigpoint MMO built on the UNITY engine. Battlestar Galactica Online also does the engine justice. It is a system that is mind-blowing more in the sense of what a browser-based engine can do, rather than expecting Crysis-level graphics. Even in the short period between Battlestar Galactica and KULTAN, the amount of progress tells me that in just a few years the UNITY engine has the potential to evolve the next base platform for MMOs, in a similar way that the Unreal engine became the base for most video games you play today.

Almost immediately I thought “I’d like to see Runescape transition to Runescape 3, released on the UNITY engine.” Java is a great tool, but it is falling behind on the times. For an MMO, especially one growing at the rate Runescape is, the technology has become so old and lacks optimization that Jagex will only be able to stack so much on top before they are forced to switch over. The Java engine doesn’t lend itself well to “real time” on a mass scale, which you can see in Runescape’s mini-games and FunOrb’s mini-games that have some sort of fast-paced measure to them.

Moving to the UNITY engine would allow for keyboard movement rather than relying on point and click pathfinding, fighting would become far more engrossing than standing next to someone taking turns swiping a whip, and while Jagex could get the engine for free, porting the game over to mobile devices would be far easier than on Java. I’m not an expert on the engine, but I get the feeling that removing the point and click aspect of Runescape would also see a heavy decrease in botters, not to mention better support for anti-cheat utilities. Also, UI improvements! I’d no longer have to go through the game seeing every button for every interface I might ever need to use!

And for the people who can’t play Runescape 3, keep Runescape 2 open for five more years (blocking new accounts) and allow people to transition their characters to the new game. No, not everyone has a powerhouse computer, but UNITY engine doesn’t require one and holding back upgrades to accommodate little Timmy on the library’s computer just allows for Chris in Florida to run that many more clients on his gold farming…farm.

How did this article turn into Runescape? Anyway, I think I’ve made my point. The UNITY engine is the base platform for browser MMOs, and something about Jagex not stopping cheaters.

Jagex Subjects Fan Site Operator To Lynch Mob


Every time I think Jagex can’t be more out of touch with community relations, they pull another move and surprise me. As you can read above, Jagex revoked the “gold” status of a fansite after one of its operators was “discovered” to be registered on the sex-offenders list in Tennessee. So instead of discussing the matter privately with the fan site operators, Mod SteveW (pictured above) decided the best choice was to head over to the Runescape official forums and publicly oust the person in question to tens of thousands of people who had never even heard of the fan site, let alone visited and knew this person. The result was that RuneVillage was forced to shut down its registration due to the virtual lynch mob that had formed on Jagex’s behest.

I’ll be the first in the blogosphere to call out Jagex (or at least the Community Management Team) as bullies. The way that this information was disseminated, with warnings and safety tips making up half of the statement, throws the whole situation completely out of context, making it appear as though the website was being used as a front for some sick predator looking for another victim, which according to outside documents has absolutely nothing to do with the actual charges.

For the record, I’m not against Jagex removing the fan site in question, they can do whatever they like. That being said, if Jagex had gone about this in a professional manner, most of you visiting this website tonight would still not know what Rune Village was, let alone the criminal background of one of its operators. Instead Jagex used the “we need to protect the children” route to portray a fan site as some kind of breeding ground for predators, accomplishing nothing more than harassing the members of the community and actually putting more people at risk due to the inherent risk of vigilante justice.

But for the guy at Rune Village, nothing says loving like being publicly shamed on a multi-million dollar company’s forums for a mistake you made two decades ago.

Jagex Could Do Runescape on Consoles, But Microsoft…


Jagex’s CEO Mark Gerhard would like to see Runescape on consoles, but refuses to segregate the community by platform. In a comment to Develop Online, Gerhard has stated that Jagex is well-positioned to ship a console version of Runescape, but has been stopped at all corners by the big three: Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony. The subject of free to play is one that Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata hates with a passion, Microsoft opposes (Gerhard comments that “one console” wanted them to charge five euros mandatory for use) and Sony is the only of the three that would like to add Runescape to its free to play initiative.

Where the three giants agree, however, is not allowing the community to interact with those on rival platforms.

“We’re not going to frame [as in, segregate] our community into boxes just for a few million more customers. Of course I’d love a few million more customers, but I just wouldn’t do it. Not at the expense of fracturing it, because you almost become the disease you’re trying to solve.”

And yes, Final Fantasy XI is an MMO on the 360 with cross-console play to Playstation 2 users. This is a title we consider grandfathered in, because it was developed long before Microsoft or Sony had the volatile stance that they do now. Don’t fret, however, as Gerhard is not giving up the goal, and expresses trust that the big three will open up their doors eventually.

“But we’re well placed to be on all devices soon,” he added, “so we can have a global community”.

Video of the ___: Runescape, Cheater’s Paradise


I care little for the inner-drama in MMOs, so the fact that the person who posted this was a player moderator, and had his status revoked afterward, plays no part in this video being posted here. With the overwhelming quantity of gold farmers that have infested Runescape since its reinstatement of free trade, Jagex has taken to issuing the usual “don’t look over there, look over here,” developer blog, promising that they’re doing something to stop the bots.

And more importantly: What is Jagex doing to keep the game from being swamped with bots and gold farmers like it was pre-trade? They seem to be very sure of themselves that their secret weapon can combat this.

I’m still waiting to see this secret weapon.

Video of the ___: Runescape, Cheater's Paradise


I care little for the inner-drama in MMOs, so the fact that the person who posted this was a player moderator, and had his status revoked afterward, plays no part in this video being posted here. With the overwhelming quantity of gold farmers that have infested Runescape since its reinstatement of free trade, Jagex has taken to issuing the usual “don’t look over there, look over here,” developer blog, promising that they’re doing something to stop the bots.

And more importantly: What is Jagex doing to keep the game from being swamped with bots and gold farmers like it was pre-trade? They seem to be very sure of themselves that their secret weapon can combat this.

I’m still waiting to see this secret weapon.

It Must Be Saturday, Jagex Promises To Fight Bots


Daniel Clough is the Vice President of Runescape, probably having just recently been promoted to the position because it is once again time for a public announcement by Jagex that they will be doing everything in their power to trounce the issue of bots and gold farmers that have not only come back in full effect since free trade was returned earlier this year, but have managed to infiltrate and saturate all manner of training spots.

We are constantly looking into ways of making the game experience the very best possible for all of our players and as part of our on-going programme to rid the game of bots, Jagex is actively pursuing companies that support the macroing market as well as those who bot. As such we are currently pursuing various bot developers through multiple legal channels, although sadly we cannot yet disclose the full details of our actions for legal reasons. Separately, as part of normal legal process and procedure, we have also taken steps to acquire the details of all players who have purchased bots.
Once we have the information regarding the players involved we will take action specifically to ensure that these players are not compromising the game’s integrity through the use of a third party programs. We are committed to undertaking various initiatives to identify players and companies who are using and distributing bots within RuneScape and will endeavour to inform you all of these efforts as we can.
In the meantime, be safe, don’t fall to the dark side and we look forward to the positive outcomes of our actions ultimately making the game experience a better one for everyone.

If Jagex wants to give the impression that they are fighting bots, the first step is probably to put a damper to the legion currently inhabiting Runescape. Jagex should be improving their detection software, make it much more difficult to create throwaway accounts, the kind of inhibitory processes that stop a vast amount of accounts being created.

As I’ve stated before, Jagex’s main cause of concern with bots is and always has been the payment of membership via stolen credit cards, which cause Jagex a large sum in reversals and fees and harm the company directly. While bots are paying with legitimate forms of payment, you will not see the bot population drop significantly.