forums.rs

Forums

The Writer's Refuge

Quick find code: 49-50-85-65033338

of 9
Poller5
Dec Member 2023

Poller5

Posts: 11,421 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Xereva said :

Caught me. Just used Google Translate. =P

Now when I put the phrase in it gives me a completely different meaning than before; I wanted something along the lines of 'rest in eternal pain,' or something like that, and when I put 'pain' in first it gave me 'passus,' and now it's giving me 'dolor'...

Dolor is "sorrow" (think "dolorous&quot ;) , so requiescat in aeterno dolore would give you "rest in eternal sorrow." The actual word for "pain" escapes me for the moment.

As for guilds, I definitely ran into the problem of quality and how to deal with poorer entries when I inherited TAL. It was honestly discouraging, at first, as the rank of Penman (the lowest) swelled and swelled because some stories honestly didn't deserve better. That said, I think the strength of a strongly tiered system like that is that it's very easy to see the next step when it comes to improvement, and that's what I focussed my reviews on. Taking a Penman story and critiquing it against what I'd expect of a Maestro was impossible; telling them how to improve it to get up to Scribe was much more practical, and, I think, the right approach.

In terms of the changing quality of... well, the quality of the stories on this forum, and what earned what rank when, I think it's important to remember that this whole place grew together; in the old days, the reviewers were just as bad at reviewing as the authors were at writing, and as good as some members were at writing, we lacked people like you now, who've actually studied and produced literature at a higher level. (Also: that's all one sentence. I think I have some kind of problem.) We're wiser now, than we were then, but I think the average age has risen a fair bit since the old days. I started at the age of 13, and we had members younger still even in 2007. We've traded in the enthusiasm of youth for the jaded experience of... well, the slightly less youthful.

19-Dec-2013 20:38:20

Xereva

Xereva

Posts: 7,589 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I have to wonder what it would take to really bring about a renaissance in this forum, not the kind of temporary summertime resurgence but a real breath of life, dozens of new users all doing their best to create. I miss actually making new friends here instead of interacting with old ones, though of course us crotchety elders have to stick together. A story competition is a decent start, but the problem is that no one actually sees it except for those in the forum itself. And advertising in other forums is prohibited, right?

I feel like starting an impromptu story competition of my own and hauling everyone in-game to proclaim it's happening. Start a follow-chain of story forum authors all screaming in red text. Hell, I don't care about any of my old stuff, I could buy a month's membership and sell everything nonessential and have a few million coins as a prize, though I don't know how 'giving' money works these days...

19-Dec-2013 20:55:43

The Level

The Level

Posts: 8,999 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
A true renaissance? I don't think it's possible anymore. I wrote a little something about it a while ago here , but I think most of us have resigned ourselves to the fact that it can't happen. Runescape was always the anchor that kept people here, and its decline as well as Jagex's new emphasis on social media such as FB and Twitter has reduced the purpose and traffic of the forums (remember when there used to be 1000+ active forum users at a time?).

Poller and I had a conversation about this a while ago, and I think we agreed that if there is to be a revival, it won't be done by us. It will be a new generation of authors that come here of their own accord. I don't think it will happen, but I'll be here waiting.

19-Dec-2013 21:05:53

Chuk

Chuk

Posts: 14,177 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Yeah, I'm afraid there's no renaissance to be had, unless Jagex has some major policy changes, both with regard to the forums and to the game. Looking now, there are only 52k players in game. Sure, it's not on a Saturday or Sunday, but it's still late afternoon/early evening in the US, and not yet super late in Europe. It's about noon, give or take, in Australia and NZ. This time of day should be the peak, and in 2007 or 2008, there would've been at least twice as many people in game, possibly almost thrice as many. And the overall forum numbers would've correlated with that. RuneScape is slowly dying, I think, forums and game alike, not just stories. Jagex would need a massive influx of new players and then to promote the forums again if we were to see a revival.

19-Dec-2013 23:56:35 - Last edited on 19-Dec-2013 23:57:00 by Chuk

Poller5
Dec Member 2023

Poller5

Posts: 11,421 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Whenever I think about a revival, I can't help but recall when OSRS came out and members of all sorts crawled out of the woodwork to talk about how, in their day, a huge part of RuneScape was the community aspect as housed in the forums (even if just the Marketplace), and the death of that following the introduction of the GE was a big reason they walked away from the game. The death of our corner of the forums wasn't an isolated incident; it was part of the death of the whole.

I also feel like talk of a revival is something of a wasted effort. For the purposes of those who remain, all we need to do to keep the place alive is to keep writing. It'll never again be what it was, but that doesn't mean that what it is can't be in and of itself something of value.

20-Dec-2013 05:31:07

Chuk

Chuk

Posts: 14,177 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Poller5 said :


I also feel like talk of a revival is something of a wasted effort. For the purposes of those who remain, all we need to do to keep the place alive is to keep writing. It'll never again be what it was, but that doesn't mean that what it is can't be in and of itself something of value.

This is pretty much how I feel.

20-Dec-2013 07:59:15

Xereva

Xereva

Posts: 7,589 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I've been out of the loop, I suppose. Good lord, it never occurred to me that Runescape as a whole would just... die. That's a little terrifying. More than a little. Somehow I always figured this place would struggle on, renewed by a new generation of players that didn't keep comparing the game to what it had been years ago.

I'll keep the threads I've got on here going, then, and that will have to be enough.

20-Dec-2013 17:46:33

The Level

The Level

Posts: 8,999 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Heh, nothing lasts forever, and Runescape was born of an age when online multiplayer games reigned supreme over the consoles, and we all know that's no longer the case. Even with the Runescape 3 and HD updates, the graphics are shoddy at best in comparison, and the game isn't as accessible to new players and returning old ones as it used to be with all the newfangled interfaces and combat system. I took a look at the member counts per world when Chuk mentioned it, and I found the average was about 200-250 players per world. Quite a far cry from what used to be easily 1000+ per world, with four or five full.

20-Dec-2013 18:05:29

Poller5
Dec Member 2023

Poller5

Posts: 11,421 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I wonder how WoW numbers compare today to from its height back in, what, '05-6? I feel like, as Level said, the MMORPG as a genre isn't as massively successful anymore as it was, but at the same time I don't get the impression that RuneScape is suffering any more for that fact than any of the others. They still have hundreds of thousands of paying members and, while I haven't played the main game in... well, forever, I don't get the impression these days that Jagex is over worried about their future.

20-Dec-2013 23:00:37

Quick find code: 49-50-85-65033338 Back to Top