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~Slow Release Skills~

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A  Cole
Nov Member 2003

A  Cole

Posts: 14,761 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
DISCLAIMER: This idea may be controversial. However, I believe there are merits that should be discussed.

The Problem

We are now in a period of time that, when a new skill is released, there are thousands of players who will flock to the new content and not step away until it has been completed - whether that be their targets of levels 99 or 120, or maxing out at 200m XP.

We are also in a period of time where XP rates are pretty extreme at higher levels compared to what we were used to 5, 10 and 20 years ago. This means that the new content can be completed in a mere few weeks by many players.

In turn, there are quickly diminishing returns on the amount of time players spend on the new skill, compared to the traditional skills.


The Idea

When a new skill is released, there will be no content higher than level 20 released on release day.

Two to three months later, the next batch to level 40 is released.

Two to three months later, the next batch to level 60 is released.

And so on.


What Affect Will This Have?

The idea behind this is to prevent players storming ahead with faster and faster XP rates shortly after the skill is released. It will give all players an opportunity to play the content as intended, rather than rushing through it to race to number one.

Players will still be able to train past level 20, but as the content only goes up to level 20, XP rates will remain relatively low until the next batch is released.

It also means that the new content will be instantly relevant. If we take Archaeology as an example, many players had already completed the skill by the time the first additional content, Orthen, had been released. By slow releasing the skill, this would be less likely to occur.

By spreading out the skill, Jagex can get a much increased return on playing time vs. resource used to create the content.


~A~

21-Jul-2023 10:54:12

A  Cole
Nov Member 2003

A  Cole

Posts: 14,761 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
But What If We Get Bored?

To make things more interesting, this idea could be coupled up with the release of multiple skills at once. So instead, for example, Divination and Invention being released separately, they’d be released at the same time, with Divination being the support skill for Invention.

This has the added bonus of mixing up the hiscores a little bit, and allowing players to come up with new and different strategies on how they will approach the new content. It would also mean that they won’t necessarily just keep going on that level 20 content for months on end to push their levels up as that would soon be superseded by higher XP rates, and other new content should not necessarily be ignored.


Advantages

- More time for player interactions on the new skill(s);

- Jagex can work out the kinks as the skill is released over time, rather than after full release;

- Multiple skill releases offer more diversity;

- The hiscores won’t be fully populated within the first month of release.


Disadvantages

- Completionist and Max Capes will take longer to re-obtain;

- Management of multiple skill releases may require more Jagex resource than normal;

- Increased number of complaints about “low XP rates” – despite the fact that this is intended to keep XP rates low to begin with.



~A~

21-Jul-2023 10:55:00

Tomato 56789
Apr Member 2022

Tomato 56789

Posts: 15,486 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I support the idea of slow release.

As for complimentary skills I'd rather see more trees in different skills. Kind of like the different magic books, ancient summoning, goblin vs dwarf invention, etc. I could see Imcando smithing being a thing. Elven hunting, Karamjan crafting, cooking specific to different regions, etc. Maybe an expansion on barbarian fishing.
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21-Jul-2023 23:58:42

SlR

SlR

Posts: 4,381 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I like this. I feel like they already 'sort of' do this by making skills easier over time.
On release, Necromancy might take months to 99, in a few years it'll take weeks.

I like the idea of them drip-feeding content (in general) instead of throwing it all out at once, that usually just results in players binging to unlock everything then they never touch it again. Bob says:
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22-Jul-2023 13:08:52 - Last edited on 22-Jul-2023 13:11:06 by SlR

Lartisha
Jun Member 2022

Lartisha

Posts: 369 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
As long as the skills have something to do with eachother.
If they could come up with a mining and smithing of sorts that is a way it could work. For all intents and purposes Archaeology is a gathering skill and an artisan-esque skill crammed into one. And Crafting, forget about it, it is like 3 or 4 artisan skills crammed into one.
If they could come up with the artisan to the gathering, before coming up with the gathering skill; Because when they come up with the gathering first they feel the pressure to turn both into one skill. If they could come up with an artisan skill, then the resource gathering skill and sell that as a skill first, and release it's artisan a bit later, everyone being fully aware there is something they were going to be able to do with the resources a month or so later. That way no one would be upset by them being held back until they came up with both skills before releasing either.

The thing I have to disagree with though is, that the idea of releasing 2 skills simultaneously, seems to somewhat contradict the idea that they should only give a bit at a time.
I mean I understand if they give you a gathering skill and nothing to do with the materials, I can see where they would hinder the skill's receptions. And to be fair, a reason to not do this is because they won't have a clear understanding of what was well received and what wasn't, because there would be too much to digest before people could give honest response to what they liked and didn't like. So the slow release I agree with, but the complimentary skills only if given proper time to understand one skill before being given the next. Though even that can be difficult if not given something to do with the gathering skills resources, so it's a difficult thing for me to grasp which way would be better.

04-Aug-2023 01:33:10 - Last edited on 04-Aug-2023 02:22:02 by Lartisha

Bertel62
Aug Member 2023

Bertel62

Posts: 1,052 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
A  Cole said :
Players will still be able to train past level 20.
That will never work.

This means that when a new batch comes out, players will get instant access to it all, because they aldready have the level for it. This is exactly what Jagex is working against when making high level content in any skill. They make sure that you still have to work towards unlocking it, and not just have the level for it.

Look at any high level content. They don't just make a new high level tree to cut or a high level ore to mine. They make sure that you have to go through a lot of quests, achievements etc. to unlock it, because those who already have the level should not get instant access to it.

Such a new skill would be a pain to train, because of all the various unlocking you would have to do in order to get access to every new batch.

07-Nov-2023 11:03:41 - Last edited on 07-Nov-2023 11:06:21 by Bertel62

A  Cole
Nov Member 2003

A  Cole

Posts: 14,761 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I understand where you're coming from. Players will find a way of pushing through and continue to drive up way past the next level barrier. Perhaps then, a cap of +10 to +20 levels above the content released could be a decent compromise.

Essentially I'm looking for the next new skill to be a batch of new skills rather than a singular new skill, but in order to do so would require a lot more resource. Therefore by limiting the content for each skill, each one can be grown naturally over time. Whether a hard level cap is required is not clear to me though.


~A~

07-Nov-2023 17:26:13

Rikornak
Oct Member 2013

Rikornak

Posts: 9,258 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Basically you're proposing to repeat to do what dungeoneering did (which were three batches roughly featuring the first 60, 90 and 120 levels - and I still do not think that skill deserves to be a 120 one). Invention likewise. But level 20. That's just content for a few hours - if at all, if we're taking the last couple of skills for reference - and I doubt sailing in OS would take much longer than that. So basically your skill release would be a teaser update with some 'yeah - go wait for another half a year until we're doing another teaser' - and then another one... and another one - until you've got something resembling a full skill, but having killed off all hype it could have.

Batching stuff like they did with archaeology (or even slayer) tends to work out better (i.e. you have content for (basically - seeing OS it's not even now the case for their variation of slayer) the full 99/120 levels, albeit you obviously won't have something new all the times, which just was filled out with orthen and senntisten (and the proposed daemonheim excavation) later on).

I think one teaser and a full release could work though - with or without batches - or just to be filled up with more things over time. Improvements: Tooltip / (F2P) QoL v2
Quick Fixes: Invention

21-Jan-2024 08:07:37 - Last edited on 21-Jan-2024 08:27:46 by Rikornak

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