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RuneScape 2007 Year in Review and Report Card - Summaries and General Assessments TruthScape Sneak Previews - Analysis of Upcoming RuneScape Features and Updates

My grand overall grade for Jagex and RuneScape this year is a “B-”.

Now, some of you may be surprised that this concluding grade is as high as it is, given how many complaints I outlined and areas in which I assigned grades of C, D or even F. Let me start out by saying that while Jagex stumbled and fell in a few spots this year, and there are places where ongoing improvement is very much necessary, there are likewise many things that the company got right and deserves credit for. There are also some other factors that need explaining as well, all of which add up to the grade I assigned.

First of all, I have to recognize that running a company like Jagex and a game like RuneScape is not easy. Explosive growth is exciting but also very challenging to manage, and the Gowers and their underlings have a lot of folks trying to pull them in different directions. Even though I don’t agree with all of the choices made this year, I do think that Jagex means well and does care about the game, and that matters to me a great deal.

Second, it seems to me that 2007 is really a year that didn’t go according to plan. Everything about the RWT updates—their severity, the speed with which they were implemented, and the obvious “not ready for primetime” nature of the some of the features—strongly suggest something that Jagex had to deal with in a hurry. Jagex has said that credit card fraud was a factor in these radical changes, and rumors abound that the company may have been given an ultimatum to stop RWT by the end of the year “or else”. While I have no proof that this is the case, I can believe it. And if true, it means that not only did we players have to deal with changes we would have rather not seen, Jagex developers had to set aside content additions and enhancements that they would rather have worked on if they had had the option.

Third, there is still time for Jagex to fix some of its poorer updates of 2007, and the company has said that it plans to do so. Thus, I am hopefully reserving judgment that early 2008 will see important fixes and enhancements particularly to Wilderness-based PvP, the Grand Exchange and dueling.

My strongest criticism of Jagex has been, and remains, in the areas of communication and honesty. The company really seems to want its customers to understand the seriousness of RWT, and to recognize that the company is doing what it needs to do for the game to survive. But understanding is a two-way street. If Jagex wants its customers to treat it with respect and consideration, it needs to deal with its customers in a like manner, and that means being open and honest about the reasons for why important updates and changes are being made.

It’s also become quite obvious to me that the company’s manpower resources probably could use some shifting, particularly in these four areas:

1. Additions versus Updates: While we all appreciate nice fresh content like new minigames and skills, there are literally dozens of skills, areas, features and minigames that are stagnating and could use attention. The amount of effort needed to tweak a feature that’s not being used is much less than the work necessary to build something new from scratch.
   
   
2. Developer Communication and Follow-up: When new content is put into the game, developers need to do a much better job of following up on these features and adjusting them based on player input. And if it’s going to take a while to make changes, please communicate with your customers, acknowledge our input, and tell us what you’re planning to do. (This seems to have improved a bit recently, which is good to see.)
   
   
3. Play Testing: It needs improvement—badly. I’ve said for a long time that RuneScape needs a beta testing program, and this year has really shown why. Get some good long-term players with experience, put them under NDAs and let them put new updates through their paces. The alternative is to continue with the current situation, where everyone in the game ends up being a “beta tester”.
   
   
4. Customer Service: It is simply unacceptable for paying customers to ask for help and get back form letters saying “we’re too busy to help you” day after day. This needs to be fixed. And the 400-character input box limit needs to go as well...

In closing, it is worth reiterating that even though the changes we are going through right now are problematic, I agree with Jagex that in the long run they are good for the game as a whole. I feel positive about the future, with exciting new updates like Summoning on the horizon (Figure 72), and a community much less plagued by bots, cheaters, scammers, lurers and griefers than it was a few months ago. There’s still much to be done, but also a lot to look forward to.

RuneScape 2007 Year in Review and Report Card - Summaries and General Assessments TruthScape Sneak Previews - Analysis of Upcoming RuneScape Features and Updates