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Shutting down forums - Against

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Kateri

Kateri

Posts: 3,462 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I don’t even know how they think removing the negative feedback on here will make them look more attractive to investors. The only thing it’s doing is showing weakness and a lack of skilled management on their part. The Hero Pass thing started off on a bad foot, but the tact and diplomacy involved in the resolution of that scenario showed real growth and promise to be honest.

Investors are not stupid people and surely they’re smart enough to know that the negative feedback is necessary both for growth of the company but as an ongoing discussion between customers and service provider as to what services we want, and how much we’re willing to pay for said services. You can’t get the type of thoughtful, in-depth and organized feedback on any other platform other than the good old forums. That’s why removing them is all the more disturbing because there will no longer be a collective place for us to have such conversations, both good and bad.

I don’t think we should have to do so, but if it is cost that is a problem. I personally would pay for my continued forum access. I’m not going to create social media accounts or duplicate accounts on socials I do use just for RuneScape.

18-Jan-2024 08:15:34

A  Cole
Nov Member 2003

A  Cole

Posts: 14,761 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Kateri said :
I don’t think we should have to do so, but if it is cost that is a problem. I personally would pay for my continued forum access. I’m not going to create social media accounts or duplicate accounts on socials I do use just for RuneScape. Unforuntately, an added cost for using the forums would put most players off, thus engagement with the forums will fall away dramatically.

It would also place a divide in the community. Only those who can afford to pay will have a voice on the forums, whereas those who find the costs prohibitive will not be able to have a say.

Whilst I'd love the forums to stay, I believe a Pay-to-Post alternative would be a worse option.


~A~

18-Jan-2024 16:23:04

Kateri

Kateri

Posts: 3,462 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
What I was really trying to say was that access to the forums has always been a part of the services that that were included as a benefit of membership, for more than 2 decades.

Although the cost of this membership has gone up more than once, I never complained about that because I was still being offered relatively the same product/services. This represents a major alteration to that contractual agreement and what is included as a part of the paid services. What I was trying to say (and worded it poorly), is that I assumed that some of these numerous subscription cost increases over the years were for maintenance of the forums as well, which aren’t a problem for me. Continuing to increase costs while reducing services and not giving customers any form of option (even if it was the least desirable paid option), to me is still better than NO option, which is where we’re at now.

At the end of the day, I don’t use social media. Even if I did, I personally wouldn’t want to have to create separate social media accounts for my real life, and my gaming life. I do feel very strongly there needs to be some separation there. I have no intention of signing up for that. But it’s also a pointed reminder to me that maybe they do just want us old players to pick up and move on, which is why I said in my previous post that I didn’t think alienating older players made sense, especially in an older game…?

Anyway, I digress. I hope they’ll see sense, but I’m not going to hold my breath. Was nice talking to you Cole, I know you were an original member of the Suggestion team back in the good old days!

18-Jan-2024 16:54:06

Crone924
Sep Member 2006

Crone924

Posts: 300 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Something I've been chewing on is the idea that the recent (years' worth of) problems are the result of the divide between people who view this as a virtual world in which we've made a home and those who view it as a linear game of boxes to check.

And when you run out of boxes...new boss! new cosmetics, get them ALL!!!11!! new xp grinds for the "boring" stuff!

And they do have to make money to keep serving both. But who is easier to serve? I would hazard it is those who want more stuff over those who want a better and more rewarding life in that world.

When I say "throw a coat of paint on it and hope it moves", that is part of the same mindset in the controlling entity's monetizing of more and more of the game, and the push to move to social media (which is "free" because you and your info are the product) and handheld devices (which track everything and monetize that too).

Carlyle provides one of the highest returns in investment, and it isn't because they are intimately conversant with the minutiae of everything they invest in, but because they buy well, and sell well, based on current (changeable!) data.

In this economy, I can definitely see doing whatever is necessary to harvest max profit.

For the game, part of a desultory spit-shine may be to mute the voices of the very diverse inhabitants of this world, and save a bit at the same time by getting rid of their world-centered public square.

The object is to sell for max profit, and this pending sale is not too long after the last one, after all. Could it be that the disastrous reaction to Hero Pass was a nail in the coffin of grooming the game for either a surge in click-based profit, or a quick rollover if not?

Perhaps the current population here is not conducive to that max profit, so must be driven away with these changes in order to cultivate other virtual customers, who while they may not have the eventual longevity of the people being replaced, are more populous in virtual world at large?

18-Jan-2024 18:40:07

Mel 624
Dec Member 2021

Mel 624

Posts: 808 Gold Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I don't know about anyone else, but I tried to spread word in game about trying to save the forums. In-game player interactions tend to be a mixed bag that ends up frustrating more often than not. Things weren't sunshine and rainbows before, but I don't like what the focus on other platforms and the neglect to the forums and in game social stuff has done to the in game community.

Seeing the website's PR speak, lack of acknowledgment of the blunders players take issue with and focus on a community people are being pushed out of is likely going to drive away a lot of players. I honestly don't know how much longer I can keep playing a game like this.

Next step post forums will be bringing up the forums and other problems over and over again in the surveys until they get addressed, to hell with what kind of feedback they're trying to curate. The other option is contacting them by email with your concerns if you have lengthy feedback to offers while making it clear you don't use other platforms and so have no other method of contacting them. If Jagex still cares about its players then enough persistence on this level will eventually get the point across. How to block a forum user
•
Death And Taxes: An Analysis
•
Petition: leave forums open!

Don't let Jagex forget the forums.

19-Jan-2024 00:28:32 - Last edited on 19-Jan-2024 00:42:07 by Mel 624

Jolien2020
Aug Member 2021

Jolien2020

Posts: 54 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Philquestron said :
I don't have a Reddit account. Don't want one.
I don't have an X account. Don't want one.
I don't find Discord to be friendly to use.
Whatever the faults of the forums, they are still connected to the game. Still useful for connecting with others that you wouldn't run into during gameplay.
Still the best place to go when the game is broken to find answers.

Players who are already comfortable using those other platforms not related to the game won't understand the negative impact to the rest of us.

Totally agree, I don't like twitter at all.
And i don't want to be forced for making more acounts and more passwords for 1 game.
Because you can't use the same login and pass from Runescape.

Not posting a lot, does not mean we don't read it.
A game without a forum is missing something.

19-Jan-2024 01:37:42

Snowman Arc
Dec Member 2023

Snowman Arc

Posts: 336 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
This is the correct decision. The forums, as anything on the internet really, are having an upkeep cost to maintain and run. Once that upkeep cost outweighs the value that the service brings, it's either time to upgrade said service so that it gets more weight by having people engage with it, or completely remove it and cut on losses.

As it stands right now, the first option is just not possible. In order to make the forums user-friendly in 2024, while offering QoL changes to match whatever ALREADY exists, it would have to take a lot of effort and time from Jagex to do so. It would also increase the upkeep, which in turn would overall mean that Jagex would have to get that money from the players. I certainly wouldn't wanna pay more for my membership for example in order to have essentially Discord services on RSOF, when I get them on Discord for free.

For those who still use RSOF, well, you're missing out. What are you thinking? Literally ANY person I know who plays games even a little (and I know a lot) has a Discord account and is usually logged in all the time, even if not active. I don't use Reddit, or X / Twitter, I don't need to, but Discord so far has been of insanely great help in terms of the great guides they have. Refusing to use those resources just because "you are old" is no excuse. It's like saying "I won't buy a new smartphone with internet access etc because I only want a phone to make calls with". You can do that, but you will be left behind, like it or not and it's the reason why such outdated phones are not being released anymore or getting any real upgrades.

It's not even a hard thing to do. If anything, it's much easier to access Discord info over RSOF, once you have created an account.

And if I need to become the "bad guy", no one really uses RSOF anyway. I can guess that fewer than 1 out of 1000 players make use of RSOF, while Discord has constant usage. I came back after a while and went on Discrd to get my news and guides, not here.

19-Jan-2024 18:25:09

Crone924
Sep Member 2006

Crone924

Posts: 300 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
lol, they will pry my flip phone from my cold dead hands.

It's a PHONE. I don't want it to do anything other than call or text. I don't want my whole life tied up in it, figuratively OR literally. I don't want all my banking on it--one stop shopping if it's hacked, and total life paralysis if I lose it. I don't want to spend my life with my face glued to a screen either; I'd rather do what I'm doing in that moment, in the real world, with the people I'm with, instead of scrolling and clicking while I'm supposedly out with friends or family.

As for how easy and wonderful it is that so many social media sites are "free", wise up: YOU are the product, you are tracked, your personal info and all those clicks are monetized. That's how they make their money, and have a stock value--all the "yous" who put your life in your gadget, and their "free!" hands.

My son in law (big gamer) has a theory about the popularity of zombie movies and shows: it is the phone and gadget people.

Yes, oldsters aren't up to the minute, and oh so stubbornly refuse to be.

They have their reasons, and you too may discover some of them if, god forbid, we have some kind of natural disaster or catastrophe that knocks out power and connections for a few days, or weeks. The zombie people will be wandering around desperately clicking, clicking. And the old people will get on with their lives.

There's a saying "beware an old man in a profession where men die young". It is applicable in a variety of situations.

You aren't "the bad guy".

But the latest and greatest "free" click isn't necessarily the good guys, either.

19-Jan-2024 18:57:33

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