Jagex's Lies

Hey guys, I'd like to invite you to read this news post from the Runescape website. It is from February 9, 2009, the day that Mark Gerhard became the new Runescape CEO. Specifically, the bolded excerpt.

"Hi Everyone,

I'd like to introduce myself to you all. My name is Mark Gerhard and I am the new CEO of Jagex, the makers of RuneScape. I have been fortunate enough to have worked at Jagex for some time now and consider us to be first and foremost a games developer. We’re driven by teams that not only care passionately about games but also actively enjoy playing the games we create. We are going to be making a number of improvements to the game, I'm also keen to clear up a few misconceptions about RuneScape at the same time and I also believe there are a few things we have done wrong in the past that I want to apologise for.

To start off with, we want to be more open and listen to our players. Some of you may consider Jagex a secretive and closed-off company which isn't how we want to be perceived moving forward. Unlike most other companies, it just isn't our style to spend our time self marketing or shouting about how great we are, we prefer to just get on with it and make cool games, but that doesn't mean we don't listen to what you have to say.

A good example of this is that a lot of free players told us they found our video adverts before the game annoying to the point it was putting them off playing, so we've scrapped them with immediate effect. We now appreciate that it can be frustrating having to sit through a video advert when you just want to play RuneScape, so we have to put our hands up to admit we made a mistake and say that we're sorry. To be completely candid with you, video adverts generate significantly more revenue than other adverts, but as one of our fundamental philosophies is that having fun is more important to us than making as much money as possible, we have removed video adverts from the game.

We are also planning to change the way we communicate with you. We are going to be bringing back Development Diaries but making them more regular and focused on some of the different projects we're currently working on for you. These will replace Behind the Scenes, which we have found a creative constraint on our developers as the promised content has to come out as communicated in order to avoid disappointment and prevented us from surprising you with better or different content. It has also led to compromises in quality that we've not been happy with and, most importantly, pieces of content being released which you, our players, have not enjoyed as much as you should. A side benefit of this is that we'll be releasing more content which will be a complete surprise to you, so keep your eyes peeled for updates!

We'd also like to clear up a few issues surrounding the free game. RuneScape is different from all other MMOs in that the free game has an epic amount of content (we'd estimate over 2,000 hours worth to get all your skills up to 99 and complete all the quests) and isn't merely a demo for the members' version. If anything, we see the members’ version as an expansion pack for those that really love the game and we feel both games are substantive in their own right. I want to apologise for habitually over-promoting the benefits of membership to our free players. I strongly believe if you love the free game you will equally love the members’ content and that is sufficient promotion to me. If you can't enjoy the free game in its own right then we're not doing our jobs properly. We will continue to improve the free game and, crucially, make it as fun as possible because we know that this is the way that everyone first discovers RuneScape.

We also have a long-term commitment to improving all the aspects of the game – from overall graphical enhancements through to new gameplay mechanics.

Another thing that has cropped up in recent times, which we'd like to clear up once and for all, is the common belief that RuneScape is a game aimed at kids. This is absolutely not the case. We can see how this view has fostered, however, thanks to our over-zealous chat filter, Quick Chat worlds, “dumbing down” of certain bits of humour and storylines, as well as certain areas of the game like the Stronghold of Security, which do provide solid security advice but perhaps come across as a little condescending to the vast majority of our older players. I unreservedly apologise for this and to rectify this we have already removed a number of words from the chat filter and are currently working on reviewing and amending any content we feel is too kid-focused.

RuneScape benefits from one of the most diverse player demographics in the industry and is truly reflective of the worldwide population. As a responsible company we have had to comply with certain regulatory obligations to ensure online safety for any younger players and as a result we introduced Quick Chat for players under a certain age, but this was to meet our legal responsibilities rather than who the game is designed for, it’s probably also worth noting that we have a total of 4 Quick Chat worlds in a total of 165 RuneScape worlds. As I said earlier, we are gamers at heart and we try to design games and content which we ourselves would enjoy playing. I’m an active RuneScape player and I’m ever so slightly over 21

We are also committed to working with our fans in the RuneScape community to make the game a more enjoyable place to be. We will be running community events, tournaments and JMod participation in-game to provide more support to you and make RuneScape an even better place to be.

To kick things off in this new era of openness I'm going to be answering your questions. For the next week we will open a thread in the News and Announcements forum for questions, and in a week’s time I will post answers to a selection of your questions. So please feel free to drop-in and ask a question or tell me what you think of the game.

Have fun!

Mod MMG

Jagex CEO"

--from the Runescape Wiki, Update: The Future of Runescape .

Ok, so most of it isn't relevant. But it is funny to see how far the have strayed from some of the promises they made back in 2009, specifically the part where he says that "one of our fundamental philosophies is that having fun is more important to us than making as much money as possible." I found it ironic. Discuss?

 

I really don't see your point, where have they added things that make the game not fun?

 

You caught em!

 

"Having fun is more important to us than making as much money as possible."
NOTHING about this statement is ironic to you...? Can you not see that all of Jagex's updates so far in 2011 have been to make them more profit?

 

Yeah, especially the new 'in game sword' game stop deal...

 

a company whose main focus is fun, not money LOL

 

not really a surprise, almost every companies main goal is money

 

Because a new sword with no stats is so much fun.


Woooooo.


But yeah if they wanted i'm 100% sure Jagex could stop the majority of all bots. But they wont.

 

every companies main goal is money, jagex are not diferent :/

 

It is very ironic, when Jagex are not dealing hard with botters, releasing katanas for little RuneScape ninjas and so on.

 

Yeh, Mark definitely developed a greed over the years..

 

Yeah try to base a business off of just having 'fun' and let me know how it goes for you

 

Oh well, I understand they may have lied about that but they are a business. And businesses are made to make money. You can't be upset at them for doing what they need to do to make more money. It may seem to us as unfair and greedy but if to them it makes more money than thats what they have to do.

 

Almost all businesses advertise a disregard for money and a main focus of satisfying the customers, but in the end, it's all about money >;D

 

Threads like these are full of fail.

Jagex is a business wtf do you expect?

 

Up until this year, Jagex really didn't display a "greed for money." But returning free trade, "Loyalty" rewards, and this katana BS have made it absolutely clear. I'm not asking them to completely disregard profit. They used to care about their player-base; now they don't.

 

"making as much money as possible" ...letting people bot

 

Well they don't need to care about their player base, Maybe they do maybe they dont, but the bottom line is, it doesn't matter. If they continue to make money the way they are going then they will continue to go the same way. As long as people play the game they could care less who is happy and who isn't.

 

They only care about impressing new players to start playing. They don't care about the veterans.

 

Gutted! They got pwnt by their own sword that they released! shame on you jagex!