forums.rs

Forums

By the Fire We Weep (reupload)

Quick find code: 285-286-585-66293355

09ag

09ag

Posts: 778 Gold Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Hey friends, 09ag here with another hit of nostalgia.

With the forums closing down, I’ve been ruminating about old threads and days gone by, and one thread always stood out in my mind, “By the fire, we weep”. I think it was originally uploaded before I ever came to Rants, but was kept alive by dedicated individuals for years, dutifully recreated every time the thread maxed out (a common occurrence in those days).

It always stood out to young me as a shining example of what Rants was all about, a place for heartfelt lament in a storm of flaming, and trolling, and spam. I think it’s fascinating to read now and look back on a player’s thoughts on this game from over 15 years ago, especially with all of the changes the last decade and a half have brought.

I’m posting this in the sincere hope that the forums are catalogued somewhere after they’re closed next week, and that Norse Guard’s thoughts might live on.

I’d like to thank the user Arrapato for preserving this thread on the Rage ‘N Rant forum back on July 17, 2010, his original introduction to the post is below in red, Norse Guard’s portion is everything in white. Please enjoy.

Cheers,
09ag


Hello all,

This isn't my thread. It is a remake of an old thread that was originally created by, Norse Guard. I simply wanted to recreate this thread as I enjoyed reading it back then. Norse Guard gave his permission to recreate it also.

"Feel free to keep this thread alive, or, if it dies, remake it. Let this be a bastion for all those who did, at one time, love this game, and a place were we can reminisce, mourn and be nostalgic all at once."

-Norse Guard

18-Jan-2024 17:16:16

09ag

09ag

Posts: 778 Gold Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
This is not a typical rant. Nor am I exactly expecting anything to come from this. But, with the game, and now the forums, being corrupted by immature cries and pleas for changes, I’ve decided to speak up.

I’ve played this game for several years. I am not being pretentious, or trying to ignite unwanted comments about how “I’ve done this more” etc, but I have watched this game grow to peaks and fall to troughs from many different accounts. Forgive my nostalgia, but I feel that this needs to be said.

My first memories of Runescape were pure; getting my first armour and weapons, a gift from a stranger by the gates of Al Kahrid. Mining coal in Lumbridge Swamp with my friends and banking it in Draynor, then selling it in increments of 100 for what I believed to be ‘big money’. Being a ‘Small Fish’ was rewarding in the sense that all around you there were challenges, new things to explore and people to meet along the way. This was the magic of Runescape to me.

I was the first of my friends to get membership. I became an ambassador to them of the wonders you were faced with, and while we had all become proficient f2p players, that feeling of ‘newness' that magic, was back again. And this is why I am now writing my thoughts, for I am scared that, even though that magic has long gone and I no longer play because of that feeling, the next generation of Runescapers will not feel the same as I did when I started playing and thus do not have the same respect for it. Perhaps this has come too late, and already there is a generation of players who lack respect for the game.

18-Jan-2024 17:16:32 - Last edited on 18-Jan-2024 17:18:17 by 09ag

09ag

09ag

Posts: 778 Gold Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
It is no secret that this game is for many different age groups, and mimicking a real society, we gather in groups of likeminded people. But the game is now plagued with immaturity to such an extent that now I get flamed when walking around towns, and PvP (for I refuse to liken this to the ‘PK-ing’ of old) is riddled with continuous belittlements of ‘hahahaha, pwned nub’, ‘def noob’, ‘you cannot hit ****’ etc. I remember times when DM’s (Death matches) literally meant a fight to the death, and this was honoured. I remember A-Pking, people, and I was one of them, who would only attack Player-Killers, and leave skiller’s to their own devices, even going as far defending them from the more ruthless ‘PK-ers’. This dimension of the game has gone, this honour and this ability to decide who to target. Now you only find those with intent to kill, or are being spoon fed targets.


With this comes the ‘potential drops’. There is so much wrong with this that it sickens me. Jagex used to actively try to hinder the effects High Alchemy had to the Runescape economy, worried that this outward source of gp would cause inflation. Now, they have given people the opportunity to do much, much worse damage to the economy when they manipulate the new drop system. The logic is either masked well, or non existent.

18-Jan-2024 17:16:40 - Last edited on 18-Jan-2024 17:18:42 by 09ag

09ag

09ag

Posts: 778 Gold Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Furthermore, and perhaps the most saddening thing, is that the game has now become easy. Achieving a 99 skill was once seen as the pinnacle of any Runescape player. Now, not so. Why? Because the game, via new updates, has become easier. These updates have come about because Jagex has succumbed to pressures of the “people’s voice”, but unfortunately the vast majority of Runescape player’s opinions are not represented when it comes to new, quick-exp areas or mini-games. We are not heard when we cry out for important fixes to the combat system, instead Jagex just throw new, high powered weapons at us to distract the simple/single minded with the ‘shiny’ new equipment. What next, Jagex? We already have range equipment that can hit 800+, and Melee weapons that can damage 750+. Can you go any higher? Will hp become obsolete when weapons can hit over 900… You are, eventually, going to have to look back at what you have done, and instead of giving us yet more ‘oh’ factor updates do something that will actually benefit the game for the long run.


This was the logic behind the 10th of December 2007 updates; long-term fixes, rather than short-term ones. Yet this hasn’t happened. Forgive my criticism, but for a long while now all that has happened is new updates have papered over the cracks which are major faults in the game. Eventually, all the paper will collapse the wall. You can cover a pile of dog poo in ‘shiny' things, but all you will have left, in the end of the day, is a pile of dog poo. A much needed revamp is in order, and you will have to seriously look at the foundations of the game to correct them.

18-Jan-2024 17:16:48 - Last edited on 18-Jan-2024 17:19:13 by 09ag

09ag

09ag

Posts: 778 Gold Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
It may, in fact, be too late to correct the mistakes of the past. There will still be those who are distracted by new animations, and better weapons, but slowly the wiser are seeing what has quickly become nothing more than a grinding game; training a skill for hours, days, weeks and months with the only reward being limited decision making when you are done.

I apologise for the length. I apologise for the fact that I seem to have become carried away, and perhaps this has indeed turned into a rant. That was not my objective. I just wanted to get my opinion down on ‘paper’. I deliberately didn't put down my own suggestions to the problems highlighted because, to be frank, I am not a game designer. However, there are people who are paid to come up with solutions, and I think that, while it may take time, there are definitely solutions out there which are worth waiting for.

Thank you for reading. There will be no support list, and I may not even reply to any responses; I do not expect anything to come from this. Again, this was just me leaving my thoughts to be heard and perhaps learned from. Feel free to comment, put down your own memories of your earliest/most pleasurable Runescape memories, solutions you may feel help or even highlight more problems you have come across. However, please be polite and courteous to other posters; it is a small thing to ask, but it does go a long way and is much appreciated to all.

Anyway, that’s the thread. I hope you enjoyed that blast from the past and the thoughts of a passionate player and Ranter from all those years ago, and that the words stir something in you like they did in me back then. I hope my conservation efforts come to something.

Cheers again,
09ag

18-Jan-2024 17:16:56 - Last edited on 18-Jan-2024 17:24:24 by 09ag

Crone924
Sep Member 2006

Crone924

Posts: 282 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
wonderful thread.

Puts some of what I've been thinking of these past few days into words, with your commentary on "It is no secret that this game is for many different age groups, and mimicking a real society, we gather in groups of likeminded people. But..." "Jagex has succumbed to pressures of the “people’s voice”, but unfortunately the vast majority of Runescape player’s opinions are not represented". "You are, eventually, going to have to look back at what you have done, and instead of giving us yet more ‘oh’ factor updates do something that will actually benefit the game for the long run. "

This is a whole world indeed, and I think some people (both in the vocal "oh" factor groups and in the development side) have that entire world populated by many differing types of people with different likes and goals in playing confused with a linear game.

Yes, there are linear aspects to this one, in terms of levelling and maxing and capes and so on, but in some recent discussion re Necro and rebalancing combat, I've seen many comments about "end stage" combat.

This is not a version of something like GTA or RDR, where a new version is played through, completed, and traded in at GameStop for the next new shiny, but treating it as such is what leads to (IMO) the creation of games and activities to max skills quickly (skills unpopular with many of the end-stage combat-focused, who are only doing things they have to because of updates like untradeable pots, or to get that notch for the cape that says they've done it all.)

There is a fundamental disconnect between the linears, and many of the long-term player communities (again, IMO) that has led to the sorry state of today, where the world of this game is not a whole world with different communities and their hopes and dreams and fun and works, but a line of acquisitions for the linear box-checkers.

I agree with much of what you've said, and you have said it well.

18-Jan-2024 18:01:17 - Last edited on 18-Jan-2024 19:33:41 by Crone924

Tomato 56789
Apr Member 2022

Tomato 56789

Posts: 15,482 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Thank-you for this, it nearly brought a tear to my eye. I remember reading the original thread!

It's bittersweet now. That wonderful nostalgia rush combined with the travesty of how accurate his prediction was.
Casual legacy trash of 20 years in RS, writer of Skyrook Gorge (and other books) irl


Should the forums truly go; almost anyone from here is free to add me in-game.

19-Jan-2024 06:42:12

Quick find code: 285-286-585-66293355 Back to Top