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RuneScape behind-the-scenes video gives players a peek at upcoming Queen Black Dragon update
RuneScape players, do you want a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes of Jagex's popular free-to-play title? If so, then you're in luck because today we've got the first in a series of weekly videos that take fans on a behind-the-scenes tour of the game's upcoming content. This first video focuses on the upcoming Queen Black Dragon update, which is a members' update that will be coming in two parts. The first part of the update will bring a new questline and a "multi-level training dungeon," while part two will bring the Queen Black Dragon herself. The video promises that the fight will be one of the biggest that RuneScape has ever seen, and players who emerge victorious will have plenty of loot to look forward to. For the full, juicy details, check out the full behind-the-scenes video after the cut.
MMObility: An exclusive look at the Runespan in RuneScape
Jagex, developer of the ever-popular browser-based game RuneScape, is known for its rapid development schedule. Heck, I fully expect that this article will be outdated by the time I finish its rough draft. Players of the Jagex flagship MMO can log in to find new items, places to explore, and quests to do almost weekly. I tend to poke my nose into the game several times a week, so I know that a more casual player has endless amounts of content to run through. I might level up my construction skill and then switch to something completely different. I just recently spent an afternoon playing with just the new bonfire skill. Of course, those pesky developers are at it again: giving me more content to go through even though my highest skills hover around only the level 40 mark. This time it's the Runespan, a brand-new area that helps players level runecrafting by offering them a one-stop shop that is more casual and non-competitive than the normal runecraft experience. I got the chance to call up some of the lead developers on the phone and ask not only about the Runespan but about the new FPS improvements, so be sure to check that out!
The Evolution of Combat coming to RuneScape for player testing June 26th
What words are music to players' ears? "Biggest content update in its history." And RuneScape fans are getting just that! Jagex announced today that a massive content update bringing the all-new combat system, dubbed The Evolution of Combat, is on its way to the free-to-play fantasy game. The game-altering new system is promised to be more immersive and more involving. Lead Designer Mark Ogilvie noted that a combat revamp was the community's most requested update and he emphasized the value of community feedback. To garner more feedback, Jagex is offering RuneScape members the opportunity to test the update starting June 26th. This limited-access beta will then run through September, giving beta participants the chance to help "shape the future of one of the most important elements of the game." For the opportunity to participate in this exclusive combat system beta, players need to be an existing member of RuneScape or sign up for membership on the official site by June 1st. [Source: Press release]
RuneScape and Transformers Universe appearing at London MCM Expo for the first time
Jagex is heading to the MCM Expo for the first time, with RuneScape and Transformers Universe in tow. The studio has special plans for its fans at the largest pop culture event in the UK, not the least of which will be the opportunity to meet members of the dev team. At the convention, RuneScapers will get a deeper look into how the game is developed, watch the creation of concept art, and have the opportunity to pick up one of several player packs for the game. The packs will come in two varieties: a starter pack and a premium pack that includes cosmetic items, membership, and an exclusive t-shirt. Transformers Universe fans also will get to meet the dev team and reserve their names for the game when it releases later this year. Brian Cooney, the managing director of the expo, is thrilled to have the studio on board: "Each year people ask me if they are coming and finally I can say 'Yes!' The Jagex stand promises to be a 'must see' for show visitors." The London Expo takes place from May 25th through the 27th at the Excel.
Free for All: Zeroing in on my favorite free-to-play mains
I felt a little nostalgic this week. Heck, at my age, I feel nostalgic every time I smell chimney smoke or hear Christmas music. I suspect it will only grow more common with age. MMOs have been such a huge part of my life for well over a decade now that I feel nostalgic about many of the things that happened during that time, and for many of the characters I have grown -- and lost. I'm not overly sentimental about it, but it is interesting how we feel about the pixelated versions of ourselves, the ones we control while sitting at a keyboard or while touching a tablet. I don't want to downplay how important gaming can be for many of us, either. Once, years ago, I met a fellow player in a social game called There. She was a wonderful person who had over time lost the ability to walk. She loved the freedom that the avatar gave her. Needless to say, she was very connected to her character. I made a short list of some of my favorite characters from the years. As I think about it, this list says a lot about me as a gamer and about the types of games I love.
Free for All: New browser-based converts shine light on issues
I recently threw out a prediction that within five years, most of our MMO content will be coming through our browsers. To be more specific, I think that most players in the United States will be enjoying their favorite MMOs within a browser. That can mean several things but does not refer to games like Free Realms, a client-based game that is only signed-into at the browser level. As with any discussion about genres, mechanics or styles in the MMO world, I have to be very specific. It's pretty likely that a very large percentage of the US playerbase is already playing browser-based games. Look at the American market for games like RuneScape, Battlestar Galactica Online, Club Penguin, Drakensang Online, Evony, and Ministry of War and you might just find millions of players. Next we need to consider that there are more games coming into the browser market. This new batch is essentially a group of standard, client-based MMOs that are porting themselves to the browser. I tend to be a little skeptical about some of these in the short-term, for several reasons.
RuneScape's mad, mad, mad, Mad May approaches
With the virtual flowers in bloom and the birds and bees merging together to form a hybrid class (beerds), you should expect life and vitality springing forth out of your MMOs this spring. RuneScape is embracing the season by hosting an entire month of prizes called Mad May. Taking place during the titular month, Mad May will dowse subscribers with bonuses and freebies. First up is an extra daily spin on the new Squeal of Fortune game, which offers players a chance to win a variety of prizes every day. Following that is a hefty 5,000 Loyalty Point boost for members. These points may be redeemed for a whole bunch of new items, including emotes and auras. Finally, Jagex will cap off the month by rewarding all subscribers with 250,000 XP on June 1st. In addition to the Mad May bonuses, RuneScape will see the return of Wild Weekends during the month. Details about what the Wild Weekends will entail are forthcoming, as is a special behind-the-scenes look into the game's upcoming projects.
Massively's Easter event roundup: 2012 edition
Whether you're an Easter traditionalist or you simply need an excuse to eat a chocolate bunny, it's that time of year again. It's also time for a few of our favorite MMO devs to don their silly hats and introduce all manner of egg hunts and contests into games like RuneScape, Runes of Magic, and World of Warcraft. That's just the tip of the Easter event iceberg; you'll find several more festively inclined titles in our roundup after the cut. Before you hop on over, have a look at the two bunnies above and repeat after us: d'awww.
RuneScape revamps starting experience, releases new trial and trailer
RuneScape's starting experience has a new coat of paint, and Jagex has released a cinematic teaser trailer to celebrate. The long-running browser MMO now features a fresh newbie area called The Troll Warzone that comes complete with a new quest line and plenty of introductory accoutrements. That's not all, as Jagex has also told us that it is offering a free 14-day trial for new RuneScape adventurers. This includes "full access to the entire RuneScape world, hundreds of hours of members' quests, an additional nine powerful skills, 20 compelling mini-games, full-screen gaming and much, much more." The new cinematic introduces some of the lore behind The Troll Warzone, so be sure and click past the cut to view it in full. [Source: Jagex press release]
RuneScape: Seventh anniversary retrospective
Although RuneScape officially launched in 2001, today marks the seventh anniversary of the end of the RuneScape 2 beta. This was a complete gameplay and graphics overhaul that signaled the rebirth of the game, and it's a date well worth celebrating. The past year has been filled with massive content updates that added clan support, upgradeable clan citadels, a new website, and countless new quests. Player-made battlefields put game design in the hands of players, who have used the system to produce ton of content. Understandably, most people will likely remember this year for one thing: This was the year that RuneScape beat the bots. Following the momentous Bot Nuking Day, players logged in to find a distinctly emptier world but one filled with real people. RuneFest 2011 was a success, with presentations from the game's developers and a special focus on breaking the bots. This year also saw the interesting story that the Dutch Supreme Court ruling that stealing RuneScape items is the same as theft of real life goods. In this anniversary retrospective, I look back at some of RuneScape's top news stories and game additions of the year.
Free for All: Becoming a mediocre trader in several free titles
I often find myself achieving little things in many different games while other gamer buddies of mine are busily conquering actual gods or dragons within one or two particular titles. Sure, I would love to join a group of battleworn adventurers as they took down one of the final bosses in almost any game, but I rarely find the time to work a character into the ranks of the ascended. OK, so I have time, but not if I wanted to do what I do here. That is to say, I am not dedicated to one game because it is my job to tell you readers about several games. About every game. About as many games as possible. I can't do that while maintaining a high DPS score. It's a give and take, but I love to explore, fortunately. Let me tell you about how I love to trade or craft in some of my favorite titles and why it's important to me.
Previously on MVTV: The week of March 10th
This week was another exciting week for livestreaming. If you missed it, don't worry! I'm here to show off some of the best moments from the previous week. Of course, you could always bookmark our Livestream guide so that you never miss a show again! This week we have some EVE Online action with Mike, followed by his adventures in RIFT. Richie is back in Guild Wars for some adventures in Kryta. I took a tour of some amazing art spots in Second Life to show just how wonderful the world is for artists and other creative people, then I finally finished my One Piercing Note quest in RuneScape (with the help of the chat room, of course!). Are you curious about Lime Odyssey? I was allowed to be the very first person to stream it live during alpha. I have to say, it sure is a polished alpha. I thought I was playing a released title. Lastly, Psykopig checked out Age of Conan and made us all laugh... he's good at that!
RuneScape bonus XP weekend generates workshops, strategy videos
If there's one thing we've learned about the RuneScape community, it's that these players are very, very serious about bonus XP weekends -- so serious, in fact, that there are forum threads, workshops, and videos devoted to helping players get the most out of these events. Starting tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. EDT, RuneScape will be throwing open the gates to a truly insane bonus XP weekend. Unlike most MMOs that try such events, RuneScape won't just slather a steady percentage increase all over players' XP bars. Instead, players will log in to find that their first half-hour of play has a 2.7x multiplier for training activities, and then every 30 minutes after that the rate will decrease until it bottoms out at 1.1x for the remainder of the weekend. The bonus XP will go away on Monday at 8:00 a.m. EDT, and if you want some tips on how best to maximize this opportunity, hit the jump to watch one of the aforementioned help videos. What, you thought we were joking? [Source: Jagex press release]
Jagex pauses Stellar Dawn's development
Word to the wise: Don't put "dawn" into any part of your MMO's name, or else it will get hit by the curse of breaking dawn. Just ask Dawntide, DAWN, and now, Stellar Dawn. Yes, unfortunately it's true. Jagex announced that it's suspending development on Stellar Dawn to make sure the company is in the best position possible by concentrating on Transformers Universe and RuneScape. While the studio was able to shuffle most of Stellar Dawn's team around to new positions, the decision still resulted in the loss of 12 jobs. In a prepared statement, CEO Mark Gerhard was highly complimentary of Stellar Dawn's team and progress. "Jagex has always been committed to developing the highest quality games and services. This is not a decision we have taken lightly; the Stellar Dawn team has achieved a great deal developing the game and should rightly be proud of their achievements so far." Stellar Dawn fans might find hope in the language being used by the team in the forum announcement, as the title's development is described as being "paused" and a "temporary move" instead of being outright cancelled.
Test your luck with RuneScape's Squeal of Fortune
It's time to step right up and spin the... squeal? Jagex Games Studio, creator of the ever-popular browser-based title RuneScape, announced in a painfully punny press release today that a new minigame known as Squeal of Fortune has been added to the game. As anyone familiar with the game's real-life namesake may have guessed, the minigame is a game of chance that involves spinning a wheel for fabulous prizes. Of course, RuneScape puts its own twist on the classic game show by somehow involving the squishing of goblins. We're not sure we want to know. At any rate, players can win all kinds of prizes from Squeal of Fortune, ranging "from valuable day-to-day resources to legendary and powerful weapons," so what are you waiting for? Head on over to RuneScape's official site and go for a spin. [Source: Jagex Games Studio press release]
Previously on MV TV: The Week of February 18th
It's time again to look back on the previous week of MassivelyTV and dig up the greatest moments that we could find! The best thing about this column is that if you have missed the earlier week's streams due to real life hassles, you can now sit back in the comforting arms of the weekend and watch hours and hours of livestreaming action -- only the choicest cuts picked by the staff. And this week we have some goodies for sure. Starting off, Richie jumped back into Guild Wars, Mike acted like a newb in 0.0 space in EVE Online, and Adventure Mike stole a time machine and visited Nexus: Kingdom of the Winds once again. Plus we saw more Guild Wars action with Adventure Mike, RuneScape on my Thursday stream, and a bit of Zentia! Make some popcorn, sit back, and click past the cut. Well, click past the cut and hit play first, then sit back. Unless you have a wireless mouse, then you can... well, you get me.
Previously on MV TV: The week of February 11th, 2012
It's time again to recap the best moments from the past week of livestreaming. Each week Massively hosts several livestreams and chats that showcase your favorite titles! Keep an eye on the Massively TV Guide so that you never miss a single event. We show off a large variety of different games and boast quite a few different personalities as well! This week we had some Guild Wars goodness, house construction in RuneScape, more APB: Reloaded action on Tboo Thursday, a bit of Arcane Tranmuting in Runes of Magic with Jeremy, an explanation of magic in Ryzom with yours truly, and some Imp-ownage by Dylan in Star Wars: The Old Republic. And Adventure Mike returns with some Guild Wars and Nexus: Kingdom of the Winds streaming!
Free for All: Comparing the payment models of RuneScape and Illyriad
Last week, I introduced you to two of my favorite free-to-play or freemium payment models. Payment models are endlessly fascinating because so many players normally didn't think about them until free-to-play and freemium models stopped being something that only came from foreign shores. Now, everyone has an opinion about which payment model is the best. I tend to love simple ones, as close to simple as I can get. If a game is truly wonderful, however, I don't care if the developers ask players to cut off their right arms. I've paid my fair share and continue to do so. In fact, in one of the most disturbing trends of the last few years, players have begun bemoaning the lack of a free version of their favorite game. I see it all the time: players publicly wishing for the time that their favorite game will go free-to-play so they can return without paying a dime. Sure, I can understand being strapped for cash and needing an easy way to get back to an old title, but come on... those titles might not be around much longer if players do not support them in the first place. I am not a fan of free-to-play because I am cheap or because I need to avoid paying developers what they deserve. I have said it before, and I will say it again: I am a fan of free-to-play because it lets me decide when I want to spend my money. There's a big difference. So let's chat about two of my favorite game's payment models.
MV Guide: February 13-19, 2012
MV Guide is a weekly rundown of the MMO gaming events planned on Massively TV. Every week, the Massively staff logs in to play various MMOs live and in person, and we'd love for you to drop by the channel and visit. We have a combination of regular weekly games and new surprises, so you'll find a variety of titles to take a look at. During our streamed events, you can participate in the live chat, ask questions to learn about the game, and simply spend some time with Massively staff and readers. (Of course, streaming is subject to the whims of outside forces like server-side gremlins once in a while.) Follow along after the jump to see what's on this week's schedule!
The Daily Grind: What's the highest sub fee you'd pay?
While recording the podcast last week, Rubi, Justin, and I discussed RuneScape's subscription fee, which is soon to increase to a whopping... $8. Eight bucks doesn't seem like much to me, but I remember when Ultima Online increased its monthly fee from $10 to $13 -- players were pretty upset. "How dare an old game ask for more money?" seems to be a common refrain. But if the game is good enough, why wouldn't we pay what it's worth to us, no matter its age? Consider Fallen Earth, which offers, as its highest subscription tier, a $30-per-month plan. I might pay $30 a month for a really awesome MMO (or to resurrect one I'm fond of). But what's the limit? $50? $100? What's the highest sub fee you'd pay -- and what would you expect out of the game for that price? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
