AMAA with Mod Pips
As an Executive Producer I’m responsible for RuneScape overall and the team of 160+ who make it. My background is in game design and I’ve worked in games development for 15 years, with the last 2 and a half at Jagex. I’m a hardcore gamer and especially love MMOs. I really look forward to your questions, and hope I can give useful answer about RuneScape itself, our team, how we make the game, and even games development in general.
*Direct link to the AMAA on Reddit: click here .
I am very interested in the timeline and process of the sixth age godwars, so my questions have to do with that. For the next 10 weeks will this be the only godwars event to take take place? Will future godwars events take place one at a time? How long will each of these events last? How long will this sixth age godwars last? Will they be around a year or even longer?
'''Mod Pips''': The world events essentially happen “in real time”, but quests are not linked to calendar continuity.
We’ve not decided how long the next event will last for, but it is likely to be in roughly the same range.
We’ve got around 2-3 years of story very lightly pencilled in, but because so much of how it evolves will be based on player decisions we’ve not gone into much detail yet.
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Well finaly :p Hi Mod Pips, Nice to see you on reddit
I have this question about the status of the banned account reinstatment procces. (Started in march 2011 by Mod Stevew) It is on the rs wiki http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Ban http://runescape.salmoneus.net/forums/topic/339192-banned-account-reinstatement/ It basicly means if you have a banned account in the past you can reinstate it with a roll back + a fee to play again. There were like 10k+ post on it . So my question is will Jagex start B.A.R any time soon.
'''Mod Pips''': I think this refers to buying your way out of negative membership credit, rather than paying to circumvent a ban, which isn’t something we allow.
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If you want to do a real expansion I advise making the eastern lands. That would be real marketing. Runescape: The Eastern Lands Meaning you actually make the place, full of quests, new skills, equipment and methods of training etc.
'''Mod Pips''': We toy with this idea a lot! Eastern Lands vs. Elf City is a recurring debate at the office
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How many people are typically on a dev team for medium sized updates?
'''Mod Pips''': Normally 1-2 content developers, 1 designer, 1 audio designer, and anywhere from 5-10 QA testers and 5-15 artists (concept artists, UI artist, animators, environment modellers, character modellers).
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Please allow us to have the old tab stones back. With the new interface that is. its annoying to hover through buttons to get to something as simple as the inventory. This was not practicle.
'''Mod Pips''': We're going to continue to improve the NIS and we want to find ways for it to feel more familiar for those who really liked the old system. I'm going to do a forum and/or news post on the main site soon about it.
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Mr. Mansell,
Thank you for doing this Ama, first of all. Second of all, Runescape 3 is great! I like the Lore side of the Battle of Lumbridge and I can't wait for the HTML to fully be released.. the problem with me (and many others) lies in the New Interface System. Quite frankly.. It's cluttered and can be very complicated to deal with. I understand that there are many players that do use the NIS to its fullest abilities and enjoy it very much, so I don't request (as such many others who are against it do request) that Jagex repeals the NIS. No, I understand that much hard work has gone into it and that it should stay. However, what I request, or ask.. is if some form of the old interface would be available. I realize that there are presets such as Retro and Old School. However these do not fully represent the old interface, and are still immensly confusing to me. I've found myself having more Interface with screen, and I don't like not having all of my tabs one click or F-key away.. So is it possible for Jagex to either a) support the NIS and the Old Interface or b) Offer a preset OF the Old Interface (or something very, very similar, such as a preset that offers the stone tabs, which would be customizable and moveable).. Jagex boasted how the New Interface system could be moved and changed to how we desire.. well, I desire it to be like the old one..
And secondly.. on a more Questy-note.. Will we be seeing more Quests in 2013 than we have the first half of the year? Hoping for some competition and some fun to be able to keep wearing my Quest Cape.
Thirdly, I was going to ask, have you all ever thought about bringing back Random Events? It sounds silly, I know. But you could revamp them to have a bit better rewards (maybe some of them would give a spin ticket, xp lamps, ect).. but, it was honestly a really good way of stopping bots, and I have seen so many of them on lately. And total honesty, I kind of liked being warped away to the 'Odd One Out' or the Maze event.. Some sort of massive Random Events Revamp would be so awesome!
Thanks so much for doing this! -Pikapika102
'''Mod Pips''': Good questions!
As mentioned in an another reply, we want to find ways to make the NIS feel better for those who liked the previous system in the way you describe.
Yes, lots more quests in the second half of the year. Next one is 3 weeks away - the next big Sixth Age quest!
Random events - Hmm, I'm not convinced
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Do you think runescape is still relevant?
'''Mod Pips''': Yes definitely. One of the reasons I think it's still going strong after such a long time is that it constantly updates and refreshes itself. Another reason is that it's not like anything else; a blend of open world freedom, structured goals and authored content which you don't really find anywhere else.
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Whats your view on the recent years of constant babying the players. We have little engaging quests, content, boss due to no risk or effort factor. (getting items, or dying and loosing items for example) we need an item and money sink badly. Whips are 77k Purely because of EoC and Lack of sink
'''Mod Pips''': We're trying to find the balance between improving usability whilst maintaining the challenge & achievement of tough content - we might not always get that perfectly right but for the most part I feel we strike the right balance.
This year we've released two new bosses, both of which are very demanding in terms of skills, game knowledge and gear - far more demanding than any in the past. However I also think that player skills and sophistication is also very high too.
We're aware the game needs more money sinks and are building this consideration into more future content designs.
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Is there any chance Mod MMG will get involved with the community again like he promised many years ago? Hes been hiding and hes not really followed through on much promises at all. One being cutting down on Micro Payment advertising.
'''Mod Pips''': MMG is still very involved in RuneScape, and I know he reads the forums a lot. He also has a company to run, too, though, so doesn't often get a chance to post directly himself.
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What do you think of this suggestion (http://i.imgur.com/XLqjEu0.jpg)? It's awesome imo! Got it off the forums
'''Mod Pips''': Hah I like it! I'll forward that over to the NIS team.
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So, I used to play back in classic. Are you guys proud of the progress it's made since Jagex was just one guy making it in his basement?
'''Mod Pips''': Yes, super-proud! Rather than "a game that is 12 years old" I see it as "a game 12 years in the making".
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Just curious-how do you guys find out about cheating (in the sense of excessive transfers of good, probably for outside real money) and what do you do to stop it? Do you have automatic programs that follow the behaviors of certain users in the game? Sorry if I'm not phrasing this correctly, I have no idea how it all works, I just know that this is a pretty big issue within the game and was wondering if you guys are able to curb it at all. Thanks!!
'''Mod Pips''': I'd be foolish to reveal how it all works! I'll just say that with BotWatch we're confident we've got one of the most sophisticated anti-cheating systems in existence. It combines automated analysis with human insights.
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What´s the process when you hire someone? Like what qualities/personality are you looking for on a person that wants to work on Runescape?
'''Mod Pips''': Aside from role-specific skills, we look for people who share our values of being passionate about the game, working well with others and taking pride in their work.
There is a long-held "no assholes" policy for recruitment here
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Hey Phil, with the release of RS3, can you tell us what kind of changes you're planning on making with the game that you couldn't do before. You've told us already that the gods will play a more prominent role with shaping the future of Gielinor, but what other changes are possible, and that you intend to do?
'''Mod Pips''': One of our big themes for the year is increasing player influence and giving you more choice. So far, this has manifest in a few different ways, such as the dwarf/gnome/pirate quest vote, the fully customisable interface system... from small things like player choosing the Divination skill cape colour to massive things like deciding the direction of the overall story via the world events. We really believe this is good for the game and the community.
We want to carry this concept of player empowerment even further, both in terms of how players can shape the story and even shape the world (remember we've got a construction skill rework coming later this year.......).
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For this matter where are the rest of the Gods?? at this point we are only seeing 2 of the, what, 6 or 7 we were recently introduced to. What was the point of the emissary's if we were still only going to be allowed to pick between Zamorak and Saradomin?
'''Mod Pips''': We designed the Battle of Lumbridge to be a focused and intense battle, so a 1-on-1 battle suited this best. The other gods will definitely get their time in the spotlight! Your Emissarys choices will be used in future content, don't worry...
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Hi Phil! I was just wondering, is the audio team still working on revamping all of the current RuneScape music? The music done for RS3 was simply amazing, and I would love for the rest of the game music to have the same treatment. There are still some places in the game that have the old music, and I would love for them to be revamped. Also, thank you for the amazing game that is RuneScape 3. Even though there were some bugs on release, it is everything that I wanted it to be, and more. Amazing job to you guys. Thanks for answering iZant
'''Mod Pips''': I totally agree, they've done a fantastic job. I had shivers when I heard the main theme for the first time. And yes there is more to come, both in terms of updating the existing slate of music and releasing more with new future content.
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Is there any plans for more content that all players can do? God Emissaries was very enjoyable to me, and as a lower level player, I see that all the updates are for really high level players IE: Ports, Vorago, Queen Black Dragon, World Wakes. I know that these are all just motivations for the lower level players to play more and level up higher, but it seems that all the work is being put in to those parts of the game, and there isn't as much content revolving around things everyone can do.
'''Mod Pips''': To be honest I feel we're already doing this to a large extent. We're increasingly using techniques like upgradable or additional reward tiers which mean we can make content that has low entry requirements but rewards which a good for a variety of player types.
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Will RuneScape ever become a standalone mmo (meaning not a browser based application) and something that seems a little more fluid and not so rigid, I played runescape for like 5 years but it just got to a point where it felt extremely outdated. I always thought if it was something closer to WoW in the sense that you don't need to click to move, better graphics etc, that I'd love to play again
'''Mod Pips''': Well, the game can already be downloaded as desktop client, but I guess that's not really what you mean.
We think being a fully streaming game with no big upfront download, and that is playable in a browser, is part of what makes the game popular.
So we don't plan on changing that.
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1.In 2012 we had eoc in 2013 we had rs 3 What will be the next big project be for 2014 will it be the move to mobile devises or something else ? 2. This year theres being a certin lack of quests will we see the reagularity of quests return ? 3. Will the upcoming construction rework let us make villages with friends or is this something for the future ? 4. Will the summoning rework allow NORMAL pets to have abiltys or will this remain a purely soloman thing also will it be in 2014? 5.With the move to html5 the map feel so small is there any plans to streach out the land a bit?
'''Mod Pips''': 1. Yes we're making a tablet version of RuneScape, that one of our next big things.
2. Yup, many more quests in the second half of the year.
3. hmm, now that's a good idea
4. That's yet to be decided. Summoning rework is unlikely to be this year.
5. We're considering it but it requires a massive update to move everything around and keep all of the content working, and I'm not sure it's worth the effort (we could be using that time to do cool new content!)
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Hi Phil, I know you may not see this, but I thought I would ask anyways. In the near future, is there going to be any new, engaging content for F2P players? I know there have been a few quests released, along with Buthorpe and Taverley now open to F2P players, but is there any else we can expect in the future in terms of new areas, bosses, quests, etc. because lately all I've been doing in the game is skilling, as I see no reason to strive to level up my character to be able to access more content.
'''Mod Pips''': We will continue to make some F2P content - remember almost all of the Battle of Lumbridge is available to free players - but the majority will be for our Members, as its them who finance the on-going game development costs.
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Hi Mod Pips, were there any projects or updates on RuneScape that you felt like they was rushed? If so, which ones?
'''Mod Pips''': I'm guessing you are trying to lure me to talking about EoC?
OK, I'll bite. EoC is an interesting situation because it went through a long beta last year and by the end of the summer the combat dev team had pretty much addressed all of the major pieces of feedback. But we learnt the hard way there is quite a difference between people playing on beta servers and playing properly, as a range of further improvements were needed. I think we're in a good place now, though.
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What are your thoughts on the concerns of players that RuneScape is becoming Pay-to-Win? With the cash shop that sells extra bank space to the Squeal of Fortune, what might the players see purchasable with real cash in the future? Gold, tradable cosmetic items, or EXP boosts? Is there anything you can tell us about the future of micro transactions in RuneScape?
'''Mod Pips''': I don't consider extra bank space as pay to win. Really it just lets you have a messier bank! As we stated when we launched SGS, we have no intentions to sell wealth or XP, and we haven't.
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Also, can you give us any insight to why there are two new partyhat's in the quickchat; Garish-pink/off-whitepartyhats[1] ? If not, can you at least assure us that these aren't new tradable rares that we can get from SoF or cosmetic overrides on Solomons?
'''Mod Pips''': And for your other question, I have no idea where those quickchat entries have come from, they are certainly not from SOF or SGS.
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Phil Mansell, Is it at all possible that you'll remove the ability to obtain exp and RSGP from the Squeal of Fortune, or even remove the Squeal of Fortune entirely and focus on Solomon's General Store to bring in Micro-payment revenue? That's honestly the only thing keeping me from coming back to the game for RuneScape 3 (I'd explain my reasoning in detail, but that would take up way too much space and could spark an off-topic debate). I know this is a highly sensitive topic, but I am sincerely asking you for a direct, serious, and comprehensive answer; as what will most likely be my final request as a RuneScape player of more than eight years, please do not evade or ignore this question. Thank you, Mordeth
'''Mod Pips''': We’re intending to keep the SOF doing broadly the same things that it does now, we have no plans for either an expansion or reduction in how it works.
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When did you start working on Runescape? Does your character get any special perks being owned by a developer?
'''Mod Pips''': I played RuneScape for a while back in 2008, around the launch of RS HD.
I resumed playing again when I joined Jagex a couple of years ago.
In terms of staff perks, we get membership for free and automatically get access to all of the cosmetic items in Solomons Store.
And no, we don't get spins!
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Hey Phil, how do you find time to make or design games as an EP and find time to play other games?
'''Mod Pips''': I don't play as many games as I used to - or want to!
I feel it's important that if you make/design games for a living that you stay up to date with whats going on and what your peers are making. It's a professional obligation that keeps you sharp and inspired.
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How do you plan out your day, week, or month with everything you're responsible for as an executive producer?
'''Mod Pips''': Great question. I'll try answer it succinctly: -I have goals for myself and my team at weekly, monthly and quarterly increments. These help stay on track when there is lots going on and distractions are vying for attention. - I try to be ruthless with how I allocate my time. - I’m lucky to have a strong team, so we support each other if one person is getting overwhelmed. - I do a lot of time planning and sometimes Outlook’s calendar can feel like a game of Tetris, organising time and meetings in the most efficient way!
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Please take this question seriously, because it is meant to be serious. Why can't you create worlds within RS3 that have pre-EOC combat style. I know right now it probably isn't possible, but if you guys really tried to do it.... isn't it possible?! THINK.... Everyone would be happy. EOC would stay, pre-EOC combat would still be available, all without splitting the community and starting from scratch on a 6 year old server. You would get SO MANY players back.... There are many solutions (example: EOC items can be unusable like P2P items on F2P worlds...)
'''Mod Pips''': Because we'd effectively be maintaining two games. Different mechanics, different balancing, different economies. Also I feel it would be too disruptive and complicated for players to have two alternate combat systems to manage.
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A few quick questions about RS3: How soon into the future are bugs such as(auto-join fc's upon login, having to resize fc interface, ability bar not working,the list goes on) going to be fixed? I am attaching a link to the forums for a full list of known RS3 bugs; please pass it along to the runescape team! Thanks. http://services.runescape.com/m=forum/forums.ws?330,331,101,65083689
'''Mod Pips''': I'm going to do a post on the forums soon about this.
We're going to progressively work through those issues this and next week. There will probably be a game update every 1-2 days this week, and maybe two updates next week.
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Are there any plans to release an official soundtrack with the new RS3 tracks?
'''Mod Pips''': Check out the RuneScape Soundcloud page, Mod Lord has put a bunch of the new music there, plus entries from our recent competition.
https://soundcloud.com/runescapesoundtrack
We talk on-and-off about a more 'official' soundtrack release but have no firm plans at the moment. I'd suggest using the play list feature in the game
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Do you think RuneScape is going in the direction you want it to? If so, what things are you most happy about? If not, how do you think you will change it?
'''Mod Pips''': Broadly yes. I think we needed to try some big ideas, like the world events and player-influenced story. I think the increased focus on a central story will allow the team to flex their creative muscles more, too, because there is some amazing talent here.
This year in particular we've tried hard to listen more to the community and I'm proud of how that has worked: we did the '07 poll, we outlawed chance games, we became even more aggressive against bots, we made the NIS is a very open and collaborative manner.
In terms of things we could have done better, because RS3 got delayed we struggled to fill some weeks early summer with strong content updates. In retrospect we shouldn't have spread ourselves so thin.
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I understand that you have to keep making changes to keep a game fresh and sellable to new customers, but do you feel like you are moving too fast with the changes that you make? Judging by the amount of players active to those a couple years ago it seems the more changes you make the more members you lose. Of course I don't see any official member statistics so correct me if i'm wrong about the shrinking player base. As a second question, one that is incredibly hopeful, would you consider a runescape fresh start? so you have two of the same runescape running; the one with the broken economy and a new fresh one. I know it is unlikely since it would separate the player base.
'''Mod Pips''': It's a tough balance for us. Most players want juicy new content each week. Inevitably, making frequent additions can make the game feel like it's changing fast. We're actively talking about how we can improve this - suggestions appreciated.
Exactly, I'm very reticent to split the players. I think the community just about coped with the '07/Main split but I would worry deeply about going through that again.
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I got a few questions: 1. Will the next World event feature more or all factions (by which I mean being able to join those factions)? Or will it be 1 VS 1 again? 2. I'm a Zarosian and I had to choose between Saradomin and Zamorak in the Battle of Lumbridge. Most Zarosians sided with Saradomin because Zamorak is a traitor. But I wanted to balance the fight by joining Zamorak and ensuring Saradomin won't get too powerful. Will Zaros(ians) react badly to this? 3. Will the loser of the World Event die?
'''Mod Pips''': Wow, there is literally no way of answer any of those questions without massive spoilers for everyone! you'll just have to wait and see I'm afraid.
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1. I asked this question to Mark, and I'll ask it to you. There's a stigma against playing Runescape. Many people remember it as "that silly game everyone played in middle school." I think the game has matured a great deal in the past few years, but the gaming community as a whole isn't very aware of the changes. What will be done about this?
2. Much of the game revolves around grinding in one way or another. What is your take on grinding?
3. Will we see another game in the Runescape universe, like a mobile game or an update to Armies of Gielinor? (This doesn't include a mobile version of RS, which we know is coming).
4. As the game continues to improve, parts of the game that were once cutting edge will become noticeably outdated. How will Jagex avoid getting into a cycle of constantly improving a rapidly growing amount of content?
5. Will the world events be "functionally identical" to each other? That is, will all world events wind up being two gods fighting over a piece of land, and players must collect divine tears for a chosen god?
6. Why is Runescape a browser game?
'''Mod Pips''': Good questions...
1. Maybe that was an issue in previous years, but I feel it's different now. Especially with the press outreach we did for RS3, RuneScape is consider a legit mainstream MMORPG.
2. I'm not sure I totally agree with your premise. For some players, especially those striving for mega-efficiency or racing to 99, they choose repetition because of its speed. That said, we have tried do diversify the ways players can gain XP, especially through Distractions and Diversions, which have become a staple part of our content schedule in the last couple of years. We're also finding ways to make skill training more social (bonfires, nexus, etc), which also helps.
3. Maybe
4. You're right to highlight this as a challenge. We've tried a few approaches: graphical reworks (e.g. GWD), full content reworks (Dorics quest, Prince Ali Rescue) and mini-reworks (demon slayer). I don't think we've found the perfect solution yet. Some of us are interested in removing old/dead content but that's surprisingly time consuming because how the game is all bound up together, plus it probably wouldn't be popular.
5. No they will be very different in theme, scale and function.
6. Because originally the guy who created it (Andrew) wanted a game that could be played in the various different computer labs at of Cambridge University, without having to install it everywhere and carry around save files. Turned out he was on to something special and very prescient!
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Why haven't the cash pouch and hp bar glitches even fixed yet? Try are both very small and assumedly easy to fix, and the hp bar one completely makes pvp and difficult Pvm near impossible.
'''Mod Pips''': I believe these were fixed earlier today - certainly the 0gp glitch was.
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Hi, fairly quick question. What are your plans, if any (or more simply, do you have any?) to revive the wilderness, both for skillers and PVPers? The problem with attracting skillers currently is The lack of worthy resources The lack of defence, as pvpers tend to kill skillers just for 'the lolz' even if they're not a threat So any plans to combat this? Posibly such as a bounty hunter faction that rewards players for tracking down skiller killers?
'''Mod Pips''': We do want to build up PvP again, and have put quite a lot of time into it this year - on-going improvements to EoC system balance, Demon Flash Mobs, Wilderness Warbands... We'll continue to explore ways of doing this. However we don't really agree with some people who say that simply adding high value resources into the wildy will fix the issue, it needs more than that.
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Hi Phil, My question is: How long did it take to create RS3? Was it a secret project before its announcement for many months or did you guys start at relatively they same time it was announced? Additionally, I love RS3 and all of the customizability as well as the world events. Can we expect more community involvement with the mods in the future?
'''Mod Pips''': Really glad you like it! We started work on it long before it was announced. The initial discussions started last summer, with planning and some preproduction development work taking place throughout the 2nd half of 2012. It's been in "full production" mode for most of 2013.
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As an aspiring Game Designer, and in my 3rd year of Game Development at a University, what can I do to buff up my resume and prepare for the real world, finding a job and such? Thanks in advance for this bound-to-be awesome AMA!
'''Mod Pips''': You need to be able to show employers your skills. You need to make something to prove your talents. And if you're getting in to design, you need to both show your process, documentation and ideally something playable. Good luck!
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Over the last few years, runescape has become more about "who has the most money/best armour" than "who has higher skills". Is there any way for players who spend all of their money on skills instead of hoarding up the best gear to be rewarded? Some examples: Gear that requires high total level, high quest points, etc (similar to how the completionist cape has a lot of requirements, what are your thoughts on a full armour set like this?)
'''Mod Pips''': Part of the combat team's intention with EoC was to make fighting in PvE much more about skill and tactics than just gear. I think that's worked out pretty well.
Very interesting ideas for gear requirements - I'll forward your suggestion to the team who design that.
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This question isn't really about the game, but do you have internships at Jagex? I really want to get into game development and it has been a question in my mind for a while.
'''Mod Pips''': Yes, in fact this year we're restarting an internship program. Check back regularly with the Jagex careers webpage.
25-Jul-2013 14:21:20 - Last edited on 25-Jul-2013 14:29:55 by Mod Phoenix
AMAA - Part 2
Is it possible for communication at Jagex to improve a bit more than it currently is? For example, Mod Emilee used to make a thread to gather small fixes such as a quick-fly mode for the magic carpet rides. Is it possible to bring something like this back where we can see these small but very important fixes being looked at, responded to, then actually fixed, rather than a message saying, "We'll pass this on.." and never hearing back from it again. Some future fixes could be things such as, removing the, "Your ability is not ready" message completely, and moving news feed such as "... has gained 99 Fishing." to the filter side of the game message. Other features that should be looked at more recently would be direct communication on such things like split-private messaging. Simply making a post discussing that the team is working on it is something all players would love to see.
'''Mod Pips''': Interesting you should say that, because we are looking at ways to improve the "live maintenance" aspect of our development. We are also planning to do more player-submitted-suggestions and fix weeks later in the year. The risk is that some player don't see these as "proper" release weeks. We'll see how it goes.
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With the introduction of RS3, we're getting a ton of ability to customize the game to how we want it. Do you think there will ever be a possibility in the future of allowing players to create add-ons to the game that in no way control the game, but interact with the game to create custom interfaces?
'''Mod Pips''': I don't think so, sorry. That sort of thing needs the game client to be architected around that sort of functionality, which ours isn't.
In the longer term, we want to upgrade the NIS with features like UI skins and maybe even sharable layouts.
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First off I am relatively new to the RS world so if my "concern" may seem laughable to some here bear with me... What justification is there to have everything so bloody expensive. to need 1 or 2 million gp for what should be simply the next step in your armor or weapon when you aren't even above a 100 Combat is ridiculous and only encourages people to bot the place up. I mean I have been trying real hard to be honest and it isn't getting me anywhere at all. I refuse to bot or try to use the wildy as a place for quick loot but I cannot find a way to obtain enough gp for even simple upgrades. Why do you allow it to continue to be so grotesquely expensive?
'''Mod Pips''': RuneScape is one of the few MMORPGs with a very open market-economy, and that brings with it lots of really cool gameplay dynamics (such as the ability for players to be merchants), but also has drawbacks such as what your describing. Were we (as the games administrators) to exert more rigid control over the economy, the overall game would be weaker for it.
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Mod Raven has mentioned that you guys may implement a way to receive the other set of armour from the Battle of Lumbridge after the event is over but he didn't mentioned unlocking the other emotes or the weapon overrides after. Will there be a way to unlock these after the battle or are we forced to switch back and forth every time a new tier of rewards is unlocked?
'''Mod Pips''': I'll ask him. Note that it may not have been decided yet. The world events are a new style of content for us, so we're trying not to be too prescriptive too early.
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Hey, is there any news on a estimated full release date for HTML5?
'''Mod Pips''': It very much depends on how quickly the browser manufacturers make progress on full HTML5 and WebGL 2.0 implementation.
I'd be surprised if that was in the next couple of months, but hope it's before the winter.
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How much different will gielinor become in the next 10 weeks?
'''Mod Pips''': Lumbridge and it's surrounds will never be the same again!
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Hey mod Pips, thank you for this AMA. Are there any plans for the following months to improve the EoC, because like you guys said, it's a work in progress. Not much work has been done to improve it since it's release unfortunately ( skills still don't play the role they should and boosts don't give a boost as they would pre eoc). I believe it should be one of your main priorities to focus on the improvement of the combat system ( like adding more abilities, weapon specific abilities). Good job on the new interface system by the way!
'''Mod Pips''': The combat team are pretty happy with where it is now. Sure, there's always some balance tweaks, or expansions for the future, but we see the current EoC system as being where we want it.
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Hi Phil! I have been playing since 2003 way back when Rs was getting on its feet! Anyways, It seems I am the only one who is concerned about old school right now haha! We need content updates! I know your team doesn't have god wars made and ready, but we need a change before this community crashes! We all know in this community that you guys are more focused on newer and better things, but don't leave us hanging!
'''Mod Pips''': We've always said that OSRS will move at the pace of it's community - they suggest the changes, they vote them through.
I'm pleased to see there has been more enthusiasm for new content recently, such as the Nightmare Zone, but remember that even such a safe and modest piece of content only /just/ got passed a vote. From what I can see, the OSRS community are still have very varied opinions for what should and shouldn't be updated.
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what will it take to slightly consider implementing the option for older interface, and what are the chances? (not a lookalike, the actual one)
'''Mod Pips''': We're going to try to find ways to make the new one feel familiar and 'right' for players who really like the old system, but this will be done by improving the NIS rather than bringing back what was there before.
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Do you have any plans on making the bank a separate window for the transparacy setting?
'''Mod Pips''': We're putting back in bank transparency soon. This was actually already in the beta but the feedback consensus was for it to be removed...
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Hey Phil! 1. Are there any plans to bring back split private chat like in rs2 and Click through the chat box. 2. How do you feel the Rs3 launch went? 3. Are there any plans for custom skins for the UI in rs3? 4. Any plans for seperate transparency on differant interfaces? E.G Bank, Chat, Inventory or Equip interface?
'''Mod Pips''': 1. Probably not. We've got something /very/ close in the new system.
2. Really well! There were a few technical hiccups which we scrambled to fix, but part from that the amount of people getting involved in the new content was awesome to see.
3. That our long term plan, but before that we want to overhaul the Quest Log, Bank and GE interfaces.
4. Thats a good suggestion
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Hi Phil, thanks for doing this AmA. How does Jagex deal with negativity from people who can't adapt to new systems? As a 7 year RS player I enjoy the EoC update and RS3 is coming along nicely. Also, how do you guys approach suggestions made on the forums when considering updates?
'''Mod Pips''': good questions.
As mentioned in another answer in this AMA, it is certainly a challenge to find the right balance between keeping the game fresh and updated with interesting content whilst also not changing it too much for those who like it how it is. We try to get the best of both worlds, such as putting old-style presets in the NIS. Sometimes we're quite cautious - we built an improved camera for RS3, but decided to keep the classic camera as the default for existing players (you can try the new camera by turning it on in the options menu).
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Hello Mod Pips, what do you think about the current status of player support? There seems to be a lot of issues not being looked at for a lot of players.
'''Mod Pips''': For the RS3 launch they're prioritising account recovery because there have been a lot of ex-players coming back. This will eventually go back to normal and they'll catch up with the other support issues.
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1) Can you give us more details on the battle of lumbridge? Listening to Mod Crow's stream and he mentioned that something will happen, care to explain? 2) Will divination be more complicated rather than just collecting tears simply? 3) Will we see all of the gods featured in-game soon (this year) 4) The 6th age quests sound fantastic, any idea on when these will be released? 5) Any hints on the 2nd skill? 6) Do you know anything about the 2nd gold membership email? It should be released before august 7) Will we, the player, ever have a choice to rise to godhood using the power Guthix has gave us. If not, what is this power going to be used for? Thanks
'''Mod Pips''': 1. I don't want to spoil it, but there will be things like evolutions to the event over time.
2. Yes, it's a full skill!
3. Yes, although whether you'll see ALL of them THIS year I'm not sure, I don't know the full details of what the team have planned, and indeed some of that will depend on how the Battle for Lumbridge concludes.
4. The next one is in 3~ weeks.
5. No.
6. Should be coming really soon.
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1. Do you know how long it takes for a display name to be released into the wild for anyone to take?
2. Who do you support in the Battle of Lumbridge?
3. Do you think Guthix will return, if so how?
4. How challenging is it to encourage, motivate and keep the creative juices flowing for your Runescape Team?
5. What is your salary?
'''Mod Pips''': 1.They get purged occasionally for long-term inactives, if I recall correctly. Or if the account gets banned.
2. Zammi! Gotta support the underdog.
3. How can he return if he's dead!?
4. We're blessed to have a very talented and creative team. Part of what makes developing RuneScape special is the team have creative freedom to explore their own ideas and have a real sense of ownership over content they produce.
5. hah!
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I was wondering weither Runescape would ever have a fully downloadable version, so there is no load times and info other than character information is sent, because I personally would rather have the game on my computer, loaded up and not have to worry about the data transfer other than what I am doing, much like WoW in a sense but of course its Runescape, I know there is a client but I mean the whole game downloaded on my hard drive, and I guess the launcher too for updates.
'''Mod Pips''': I don't think so, it's an online game which changes a lot, and has been built around being instantly streamable into a web browser. It's not a bandwidth hog, and most of the data is cached so you only download it once anyway. I don't really see the benefit.
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Hello Mr. Mansell.
I was wondering what JaGeX had in mind regarding the current (and future) state of 1 Defence pures. I currently play on one (in the eoc) and i'm really unhappy with the way they are being treaded content-wise. I know you want to eradicate pures from your player base as they are/used to be detrimental to your combat base and “abused the combat calculator” in some sort or fashion before the eoc but I think that the post-eoc combat changes already places them at a level they deserve to be. I essnetially am pinned to skilling instead of doing anything combat related as everything is geared towards the higher levels, and even then have to settle for slower training methods and worse xp rates due to my combat preferences. For instance, when woodcutting (completely unrelated to combat) I can not do arctic pines and have to do ivy/sawmill which are the next best xp rates. The last few sentences are largely irrelevant to the main question I am going for though, I'm just using them to support my argument.
Anyways, so here are my stats. I was wondering what JaGeX had in mind, if anything for the future state of pures. Will they ever have content combat-wise? I long for the possibility to do any/some PvM on my pure. Will bosses ever get the dungeoneering treatment where the opponents you face are relative to your combat level? I think that would be a really efficient fix as then even people with subpar combat stats could attempt PvM if they wanted to. This does not mean make bosses so easy that it is preferable to kill them at a low level (rather than a high level), it just means that bosses will be available to kill to all levels of the spectrum, not just near maxed mains with turmoil, ss, overloads, and 1b+ worth of gear.
Tl;dr: Will pures be seeing some love in any spectrum of rs, whether that be in minigames, bossing, or PvP.
Anyways, thank you for doing this AmAA and I wish to hear back from you (preferably stating good future changes to 1 Defence pures) in the future.
'''Mod Pips''': While I’ve got a lot of respect for those who figure out all of the complicated things needed to avoid levelling certain skills, it’s not an intended part of the game nor one we want to officially support. We don’t want to encourage players to not interact with content.
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Any specific Divination release date? Can we expect the battle of Lumbridge to become more dynamic in the coming weeks, or is it just a resource race until the end?
'''Mod Pips''': Yup, we already announced Divination was 4 weeks after RS3 release.
The Battle of Lumbridge will evolve with changes it's duration, both in terms of reward tiers and gameplay additions.
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I'm planning on getting my max Cape on August 3rd, should I be worried about Divination coming before then? Any plans to add a timer in game to help us track how much longer some potions will last such as overloads? Any plans for a type of api for us to create our own RS plug ins? Thanks for doing this AMA
'''Mod Pips'''
ivination will be mid/late August. No plans for API.
25-Jul-2013 14:31:12 - Last edited on 25-Jul-2013 14:33:02 by Mod Phoenix
oh look
Guthix never really died. He lives on in all of us.
25-Jul-2013 14:59:57
Thx
28-Jul-2013 08:11:11
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