SRL Archive - Discussions & Debates

I just read a great artical on yahoo today talking about MMO's dying and such & I was just curious how Runescape cleared nearly as many new accounts as it did when the leader of MMO - World of Warcraft is losing customers and Runescape is gaining them at light year speed.

Secondly I was interested in the reason for those quitting the games, weather its WOW or RS there is a reason for the loss of players.

I also understand to retain customers you need happy customers but you also cant make everyone happy so what is the most logical path for MMO's?


http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/mmo-dying-223042438.html

Its a generation change.

WHen we started rs, it was new. There weren't many mmos and RS was technically brilliant (3d game in a browser) and being soo accessible everyone plays it.

Now days, everyone have access to more and even better computers than before. so the amount of games people can run on their computer dramatically improved (compared to pentium 4 we had).

WOW is losing money because people sayings how addicting it is and its very commonly associated with no life..etc, and rs has some of that bad rep, with its bots, cheaters, rwter and the fact that its a web game has turned people down.


But rs won't die soon, especially with the new beta update (which probably give them another 10 years of life span), but who knows..

Well, runescape is getting a lot of young people in.
I started at 12, my sis has started at 13 …

The problem with WoW is that they failed to stay at a quality that vanilla (The original) delivered. To much change, and the lack of real skill needed to clear content (used to be hard, and now everyone can) makes a lot of people leave.

Also, the process of feeling milked is not to much fun (See the squeal of fortune, runecoin,… same with wow [Pets, mounts,… ])



If you want a successful mmo… don't aim for everyone.
Aim for the hardcore community or for the noobs, not both.
(And ofcourse stay aiming for that)
Be kind, and be happy with the monthly fee paid by the player.
Don't milk it with micro's.

From: Main
Its a generation change.

WHen we started rs, it was new. There weren't many mmos and RS was technically brilliant (3d game in a browser) and being soo accessible everyone plays it.

Now days, everyone have access to more and even better computers than before. so the amount of games people can run on their computer dramatically improved (compared to pentium 4 we had).

WOW is losing money because people sayings how addicting it is and its very commonly associated with no life..etc, and rs has some of that bad rep, with its bots, cheaters, rwter and the fact that its a web game has turned people down.


But rs won't die soon, especially with the new beta update (which probably give them another 10 years of life span), but who knows..

Lol, i once played runescape on a p3! :P with a dial-up modem.
(Those were the days)

Anyhow, WoW is more open to lifers then no-lifers now :P
They made it a casual game.
And i bet that's why they lose players.
(I was a very addicted WoW player, and quit for that reason.)

Well I also see thje generation turn over is all screwed up….

Check it out like this; there retention rate is low. So right now a lot of kids ages 18-20 are going back to college quiting the MMO games, the fact they cant get new members because of the amount of bots, gold farmers, etc that are killing the game at its core is hurting the game.

I dont play the game to make gold, I play to be lazy to skill etc. I look down on those who bot on 10+ accounts, its just runing the game.

I first started to play RS when I was 14 I'm now 25. I have quit a dozen times in that 11 year gap too.

When I first played it was all 'real' everything felt 'real' now the game is built all around GP an bots… I honestly cant play legit because I can't even have a conversation with anyone in the game because everyone seems to be a bot…

I guess I shouldn't be so shocked as I was yesterday and I seen a bot cutting grass next store to my house; this little robot looking thing was cutting grass with no human op… SO it just goes to show what and how our style of lifes are turning into.

Hehe, i'm also going to college in about a month so maybe that's correct.

But yeah, by aprox. 2030 supercomputers should be able to calculate as much as the human brain can.
Hopefully by that time i have a masters in artificial intelligence!

i hardly play retail wow anymore wotlk stuck the blow and catash!tm killed it i play wow feenix 1.12.1 p server to re live my vanilla memories :)

yeh, played feenix for a while alswell.

After 2 60's i grew sick of it again.

Let's compare customer satisfaction of every single WoW player, and take an average, then do the same with RS, I can guarantee WoW will come out on top. It's a far more immersive game.

On topic, I wouldn't be surprised if MMOs make a big comeback when they begin being introduced to consoles, makes them more accessible. It's a lot cheaper to buy a console than a beast of a computer that people feel the need for these days.

blizzard had a lot of people stop wow and go to d3, to find that d3 was shit so they got pissed and quit both, so basically blizz killed itself until MoP maybe

Myfriend used to play runescape and then he left to WOW, but then he quitted because he said it was just so addictive.

I started runescape when I was 9, (18 at the moment) at that time I was really involved in the game and really enjoyed myself… however now that I know I can do everything much more efficiently with a script at my side, I don't even see the purpose of playing for "fun's sake".

There are SOOO many mmos atm that it is almost impossible to choose one.

From: LemonHaze
There are SOOO many mmos atm that it is almost impossible to choose one.

But there are none similar to RS as it is now. That's exactly why people don't want the new Combat Update.

From: John
But there are none similar to RS as it is now. That's exactly why people don't want the new Combat Update.

I'm kind of in agreement with this. One of the main reasons Rs was fun was because it didn't involve button mashing…

I started RS back when I was in the 5th grade and I'm 16 now. So I understand how the "feel" can kind of disappear. Like with the SoF and Solomons, but the thoughts of RS back in '07, '08 always brings the nostalgia back. We just have to realize MMOs aren't dying, not at all. The playerbase is just evolving and if MMOs wish to survive, they must evolve with it. In 10 years, the 5th graders of today will say how MMOs are dying or no longer fun too :).Just my opinion.

The game won't die unless new players stop coming in. With the amount of ads around, I don't think that will happen.

From: Main
Now days, everyone have access to more and even better computers than before. so the amount of games people can run on their computer dramatically improved (compared to pentium 4 we had).

My computer still runs with a pentium 4. :P Can't even run Braid.

All in all, Jagex has no other move but to upgrade what some can consider RS3

This is much like gambling right now. They understand they've lost to the bots, now all they can do is build off from a once great game and try to make it into something better.

So with the combat update as others say is bad and is going to kill RS, I know those were the same comments came from RSC to RS2 when it first came about and beleive it or not ALOT of people quit but a lot of people also joined too, and now its a good move on behalf of Jagex. I support what ever they intend to do because I know at the end of the day they have a plan and a goal.

It's not that RS is gaining subscribers, it's that they are gaining new accounts (bot accounts). RS is in the same boat as WoW but RS can hide it due to the over population of bots and that everyone is required to start on a 14 day membership.

I started playing RS when I was in 4rth grade, when I had all the time in the world to do anything I wanted to. But now at the age of 18 it feels like I have less time to flerp and derp around.

I came back to play because of the bots available and because pre-order torchlight 2 they said, it'll come out this summer and we can play they said -> being released September when school starts.

But as long as younger people don't find games like RS boring then it wont ever die.

I played Runescape since classic - got bored of the grind so quit.
I played WOW for 2 years and got 9 85's - got bored of the grind so quit.
I started playing League of Legends 2 days ago - loving it!

MMO's aren't dying, there will always be people quitting be it because of boredom or frustration just as there will be people playing for the first time and loving it!

I keep forgetting that games like LoL is an MMO, every time I see MMO I think of an RPG. LoL is the primary game I play, played since I dont even know I have over 60 smurfs all over level 5 some level 7 and my main of course is level 30.

LoL isn't an MMO don't be silly, but man is it good.

clothes enough

I would say this new generation of social gaming is taking a large share of the youngsters. Which might be why RS is taking on the social gaming microtransaction systems. Think of all the ville games on facebook now.