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NWO Sharum
Aug Member 2007

NWO Sharum

Posts: 7,481 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
1ST POST » Context
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What is the point of Clans? There are four main types of events (and thus four main types of clans, if you will) that I can think of:

- Minigames.
They are dead, except for Spotlight. The thriving community it once sustained is no more.

- PvM .
It is is more and more solo-centered as time passes. There is no longer a great need to get together with others in order to do the profitable bosses. In other words, there is a smaller demand for Group PvM'ing, and that now diminished demand can be satisfied entirely by a handful of clans. Like in any other oligopoly situation, it's very hard for a new participant to enter and stand up for itself.

- Fun.
Again, the demand for them has decreased significantly, mostly because of the new mentality that I will address below: the mentality of maximum efficiency, of no "XPWaste".

- PvP.
This one is a no brainer. The PK'ing Community has migrated to OSRS a long time ago, and recent attemps to revive the Wilderness (Bounty Hunter, for e.g.) prove that. It is sad because I'd love to see PvP in good health once again, but it's the reality.


What are we left with then? What purposes do Clans serve these days? Basically, two:
- Citadel (skilling plots and Avatar)
- Chatting (helping each other verbally, feeling less isolated)


Is that what this has come down to? Citadel and chatting? How have we got here?
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26-Jan-2017 03:11:11 - Last edited on 26-Jan-2017 15:01:18 by NWO Sharum

NWO Sharum
Aug Member 2007

NWO Sharum

Posts: 7,481 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
2ND POST » The Problem:
RuneScape Before
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Let us look back at RuneScape in 2009-2013 to try to understand what has changed.

I will tell you my story - I'm looking forward to hearing yours.


All of my 99 combat skills, except Slayer and Summoning, were achieved through Soul Wars. Attack, Strength, Defence, HP, Magic, Ranged, Prayer. All at Soul Wars. Back then, Soul Wars was a great source of Combat XP. I was an avid Soul Wars person. Soul Wars, Soul Wars, Soul Wars. I played it every day. For years.

So far, everything is normal. The singularity here: I did it for fun. I did not do it for the XP, I did not do it for the 99s, and I most certainly did not do it for Capes, Rankings, Pets or Bragging Rights. The XP and the 99s and everything they brought was just a byproduct of the fun I had there.

I also took some of my time to make money. To get better gear and weapons. For what? To get better at the minigame I had so much fun playing in. To have more fun. To play it better.

And I also trained non-combat skills, outside of Soul Wars. Again, with the purpose of unlocking better moneymaking methods, new weapons (Chaotics), new spells, new prayers, new abilities. To get better at the game.

Everything I did, I did it for Soul Wars. And what Soul Wars ultimately brought me was fun. So, in other words, everything I did, I did it for fun.
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26-Jan-2017 03:11:15 - Last edited on 26-Jan-2017 15:02:34 by NWO Sharum

NWO Sharum
Aug Member 2007

NWO Sharum

Posts: 7,481 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
3RD POST » The Problem:
RuneScape Inbetween
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Slowly but steadily, the game started evolving in a whole new direction. Microtransactions were introduced, and many predicted a dark future right from day one.

That darkness, which now engulfs us, is exactly what brought us here. And what darkness is this that I speak of? The destruction of the core meritocratic values that RuneScape was once based on.

Let us read this excerpt and reflect:

"We don't want players to be able to buy their way to success in RuneScape. If we let players start doing this, it devalues RuneScape for others. We feel your status in real-life shouldn't affect your ability to be successful in RuneScape."

"Andrew Gower, one of the co-founders of Jagex and the original developer who created RuneScape, pointed out that introducing the ability to engage in real-world item trading significantly modifies player behaviour and puts players with access to significant "real-life" financial resources on an unfair footing with other players, distorting many aspects of game play and changing the relationship between the company and players. This is one rule that was established at the very beginning when RuneScape was still being designed and before any players even started to play this game."



Now, if you scroll up and re-read my story, you may notice how it near-perfectly describes a Meritocracy. I wanted to get better and better, and I could, and I did. With my effort and my effort only.

Does the same still hold true these days?
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26-Jan-2017 03:11:21 - Last edited on 26-Jan-2017 15:08:52 by NWO Sharum

NWO Sharum
Aug Member 2007

NWO Sharum

Posts: 7,481 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
4TH POST » The Problem:
RuneScape Now
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No, it does not.

If you think of the current RuneScape, you'll realize it is no longer a Meritocracy. It is no longer social. It is no longer about fun.

It is about maximizing XP Rates. About doing the very most efficient methods. To get that 99. Or that virtual 110. Or that 120. That skilling pet. The completionist cape, or the trimmed completionist.

After all of the context I've given you, we're FINALLY getting to what is, in my opinion, the bottom of the problem.


- Microtransactions.
Both XP/levels and GP/gear can now be obtained through non-effort means.

- FashionScape.
Once upon a time, you saw someone wearing Bandos Armour or the brand-new Torva Armour. You'd immediately recognize it and you'd acknowledge the person using it as powerful, prosperous and you'd know the person was deserving of it, since it had worked for it. Now, you see outfits and armours that you don't even recognize. There are millions of different variations and the correlation between an armour looking good and it being high-level was lost.

- DailyScape.
Many daily, weekly, monthly D&Ds and even gameplay (Ports) were introduced. This fundamentally changed how players spent time on the game and thus how active they were in the context of their clan.

- XPScape.
There are bazillions of sources of Bonus XP. It's no longer about the fun, it's about maximizing the XP rates. Why dedicate time to your clan when you can be getting XPs?

- AFKScape.
Many new AFK'ing methods were introduced and older ones were made much easier to AFK. The players spend each time less on actual gameplay, and more on playing a game that they're really not playing.
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26-Jan-2017 03:11:25 - Last edited on 26-Jan-2017 15:03:30 by NWO Sharum

NWO Sharum
Aug Member 2007

NWO Sharum

Posts: 7,481 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
5TH POST » Conclusion
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I could go on and on, and there are many topics I have not yet addressed, but I think the change in patterns has become apparent by now. Just in case my communication didn't come across as I intended, my point, summed-up, is the following:

There have been many policy shifts and gameplay changes in the past years that have ultimately brought us here. Some of the communities in which many clans were sustained are now extinguished. As for the remaining ones: the status quo has changed. Whereas before you would play for continuous hours, you now login for the dailies and such; whereas before you would play for fun and for the sake of it, you now play for the XP only. Effort is no longer recognized and certain aspects of the game got confusing and messy. Every single odd is stacked against Clans right now.


And let me say this: Clans are the backbone of an healthy community . For example, I started enjoying this game a lot less in the recent years. But I've kept playing, every now and then, because of all of the friends I've made in this game. Because of my Clan. If it were not that, I would have quit a long time ago and I would no longer be a paying member.

It's much easier for a player to be loyal to a game when he/she has friends that make it worthwhile; when the gameplay is fun and exciting. It's not good for newer players to be isolated. When they feel like quitting, they won't have anyone holding them back, anyone pointing them in the right direction. Clans are simply the tissue that holds the very fabric of the game together.

And that is why you should invest in them.
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26-Jan-2017 03:11:30 - Last edited on 26-Jan-2017 15:09:25 by NWO Sharum

NWO Sharum
Aug Member 2007

NWO Sharum

Posts: 7,481 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
6TH POST » Solutions I
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I don't want to sound pessimistic but some of these issues (Microtransactions, FashionScape) won't ever be dealt with because they're now the source of great profits. Unless we can come up with a way for Jagex to still have enormous profits without resorting to such aggressive tactics. But since that's unlikely, our only chance is to focus on solutions that would solve the other issues - on the solutions that would, despite all these constraints, put Clans in the Heart of RuneScape once again.



1) New content should be, to a certain degree, focused around Clans.

I'm not saying that you will need Clans in order to do X, kill Y or unlock Z. I'm saying that it should be more beneficial and enjoyable to do it with Clans.

An example of this: when Dungeoneering came out, it was perfectly doable by yourself. You had official worlds in which you could meet others with the same goals, and you would train with randoms. However, Clans started being formed around DG. Even though it wasn't a necessity, it did make it funner and more worthwhile.


Really need suggestions for this post - how would you design future gameplay so that it would be more community focused, while at the same time not FORCING anyone to join a clan?
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26-Jan-2017 03:11:35 - Last edited on 26-Jan-2017 15:10:36 by NWO Sharum

NWO Sharum
Aug Member 2007

NWO Sharum

Posts: 7,481 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
7TH POST » Solutions II
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2) Breathe life into the game once again.

2.1) First of all, many core aspects need to be reorganized.

The game is now so cluttered- probably as a result of years of releasing countless weeks of dead content. It has lost its simplicity and its linearity. Complexity is good but only up to a point, and that point has long been crossed.

To be fair, I'm seeing some positive changes under Osborne's leadership in this topic: besides the new update release schedule (larger but infrequent updates), there's also the new Achievements system, which will condensate into a single area a ton of different things that are essentially the same in nature: challenges, achievements, tasks, whatever. That sort of condensation is exactly what is needed.

Some suggestions: condensate quests into quest series, e.g. Sliske's Endgame series, Mahjarrat series, etc - so new players don't feel overwhelmed. Reorganize the tiers/level as you will do in Smithing, in any other adequate Skill. Channel the countless sources of Bonus XP into a more straightforward system. Rebalance the whole game basically...

2.2) Secondly, get rid of all dead content , as in some cases, reorganizing won't suffice. Rather than having nearly 30 different minigames, of which many are dead, wouldn't it be better to have 10 healthy, constant-running, popular minigames?

I can't think of other examples right now besides minigames, but I'm sure they exist.
Open to your input.


2.3) Finally, reduce the number of worlds . RS3 now has ~45k players online at its peak (usually when the counter is at 90k it's half/half RS3/OSRS. It's impossible for a vibrant community to exist and the game to feel like a MMO when every single town is a ghost town (except for, basically, Varrock's GE and Priffy's GE). As in the previous point, sometimes less is more.
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26-Jan-2017 03:11:41 - Last edited on 26-Jan-2017 15:14:46 by NWO Sharum

NWO Sharum
Aug Member 2007

NWO Sharum

Posts: 7,481 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
8TH POST » Brainstorming
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A section for bulletin-style ideas that aren't yet fleshed out enough to feature in the Solutions section.

• Countering FashionScape: perhaps have one "Non-Cosmetic" World in which Cosmetics don't work? Basically extend the current Wilderness, Duel Arena, etc restrictions to all of Gielinor, for one specific world. Like the 2500+ Worlds, VIP Worlds, etc.
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26-Jan-2017 03:11:46 - Last edited on 26-Jan-2017 15:28:36 by NWO Sharum

NWO Sharum
Aug Member 2007

NWO Sharum

Posts: 7,481 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
9TH POST » Disclaimer
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1) I'm well aware that this has been brought up in the past a couple times. It is not something new. It is not my intention to be the special snowflake who reinvented the wheel. But this trend has been accelerating and I see less and less of us discussing it. That's what worries me. As a matter of fact, I was surprised to come into those forums and see that the priority was to discuss whether or not the 50 post thread should be removed...

2) The purpose of this thread, as the previous point implies, is to GENERATE DISCUSSION around this topic and to COME UP WITH PROPOSALS to counter this new negative trend. As you can see, the Solutions part is quite blank and there are still quite some reserved posts left to be filled. I am relying on your input to build it. So please participate, brainstorm, discuss, suggest!



You may now post! :)
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26-Jan-2017 03:11:52 - Last edited on 26-Jan-2017 15:23:02 by NWO Sharum

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