community

Negative reaction to updates by Jagex is a never ending cycle. No matter the release, someone will be angry about it. Skillers or questers, PVM or PVP. It has been the same for over a decade. It makes me start to ask the question. Why has it gotten so bad? Has it ever been worse? Are players of RuneScape now just in shock of it all happening all the time and just starting to tune it out?

Things have been way worse in the past. I need not remind anyone of the removal of the wilderness or the removal of free trade. Those are in the past and we have not learned anything from them. Wait, we haven’t learned anything from them? Yes we have. The consequences of those events lead to negative feedback and a loss in subscribers to Jagex.

Another massive instance, Evolution of Combat. Back then things were worse. The hate went on for years and to this day there is still bitterness and harsh jokes about everyone’s play style that does not meet their own. After the release of this there was an uproar and a loss of subscribers to Jagex.

The switching of the name from Hit points to Constitution. There was a backlash, people still joke about it. Oddly even something smaller issues like this lead to rage and a loss of subscriptions to Jagex.

If you are beginning to notice a trend, then you are a few years late. The instance of Menaphos is no different. There has been rage as the update does not meet everyone’s playstyle. To anyone who is angry about this massive release, it’s time to shut up and put the pitchforks away because this update was just simply not for you.

This update is for the medium leveled players that have not come close to completing the game. Players that have time to kill and grind their mid level skills. This release is for the players that wanted more slayer and were granted it. This is an update that rewards those who waited. For those who understand that this is not catered to everyone because updates just simply cannot work like that anymore.

It was fine when the game was half it’s size and half the age. There was not as much to do. There were not as many higher level players at that point. There was reason to do everything because it fit almost everyone better than it ever would again. But things are different now. Jagex cannot let the top heavy game get every single update and question catered to the high levels. There needs to be a new balance for lower content as well as higher end content. We all know that the lower end of the game has been receiving the short end of the stick for years. So stop pretending it’s all about one play style because that is a heavily outdated idea.

One area where this is most visible when it comes to the effects of neglect, is the free to play game. Months back I talked about the free to play game not receiving any attention from Jagex and needing some major work. This is considered low end content. An entry point to get into the game. A part of the game that needs to be streamlined and made easy to follow. A version of the game that is still enjoyable to play and entice the player to become a member. To grow the lower end so the game begins to balance itself out better.

Without fear mongering, the “high level gets all” mentality does not work anymore. Every update needs to be addressed like approaching the combat triangle. Everything should be balanced but give the edge to mid to upper level players because the game is designed to take more time there. If there is not new players playing the game the game will eventually be done.

When games start to loose subscriptions, the community starts to bicker. Bickering leads to an acidic community that eats the game from the inside out until there is nothing left but a toxic wasteland similar to the wilderness…

Take a moment to think who these updates are tailored for. Understand that a Comp cape is supposed to be hard and mean that low to mid level content might need to be done for a long time. Take a moment to think if you are having fun playing that piece of content and if not find something else because RuneScape is a game. It’s a great game, and at the end of the day we can all agree on that. There is a reason we still all play and there is a world of content to choose from.