[Stormys_Amazon]

So, for any of you who have not heard, a couple of us just returned from a trip to Jagex. About a month ago, MrStormy and I were contacted asking us if we would like to come over to visit the Jagex studios. Well, how could we say no to that, but MrStormy was unable to go, so after some discussion with the other owners, Roklykthat ended up going.

There are more details about the trip and what we did on the RuneHQ forums, but I want to discuss a conversation that we all had with MMG and Andrew during our initial Q&A session. The question about updates came up and they both explained how difficult it is to make all of the players happy.

The Summoning skill was brought up and how it was hyped and everyone was looking forward to it, and then how when the release time came along they did not feel that it met their intended goals, but to keep people happy and to keep to what they had said for the release, they let it go active. Well, those of us who play RS know that Summoning was “one of the worst updates ever” (this is a quote from a t-shirt worn my MMG at the party held for all of the Jagex staff and those of us who were visiting).

This led to a lot of re-work on the skill to get it to do what it was intended to do. They explained that they don’t want to release something until it lives up with the expectations they have for it. I then asked specifically about MechScape and if this need to live up to the reputation of RuneScape was part of what is preventing the release.

They responded that RuneScape is like their own worst enemy as no matter how ‘perfect’ MechScape may be, it can never live up to the level that RuneScape has achieved. They went on to talk about how it has taken 9-years to get RuneScape to the level it is now, and MechScape has 4-years of planning but still is not where they want it. They essentially do not want to release MechScape until it meets their own expectations and aspirations, and right now, it does not do that.

This of course leads us to more speculation about when it will be released and will it meet OUR expectations. Some of us feel that Jagex has all the experience of RuneScape behind them, so how can MechScape not be awesome? Well, it would be very easy for it not to be. In our minds, RuneScape is the ultimate MMORPG so for anything to achieve that level, will be difficult at best.

What we need to remember though is that MechScape is a totally different type of game and it is not like RuneScape. We need to keep our minds open. We know that Jagex has a reputation for awesome games, and if we like MechScape or not, it will also be awesome, even if it does not live up to our expectations based on how we feel about RuneScape. We just need to remember it is not RuneScape, so we need to judge MechScape according to what it brings to the players by itself.

[Scotus_Rex]

Thanks for that Deb, but are they talking months..........or years??

[JasonD]

The people who visited signed an NDA (Non Disclosure agreement) about things like that (I asked Lisa/Roklykthat that almost same question last night and she said she cant say cause of the NDA she signed) so I figure that until Jagex posts first about the release of MechScape, we cant do anything more than speculate.

[Scotus_Rex]

Yeah, I knew about the Non-Disclosure but wasn't sure if asking about years or months would matter too much lol. As they say, if you don't ask, you'll never know.

[Stormys_Amazon]

They pretty much avoided the entire Mechscape question. It did not seem like it was a negative avoidance, just a 'we are not even sure' kinda thing. I think they really want the release to be a positive experience for everyone, so are taking their time so they do it right. I do appreciate this from them, but can also see where it would be annoying to others (also, likely annoying for them). 4 years of development is a long time to invest in a project, so lets all just keep positive that the release is going to happen when it is meant to happen and that when it does, we will all be blown away by the content.

[Ralkal]

Interesting. I would like to see if Jagex will manage to best themselves with MechScape.

[lightning]

I love how everyone makes guesses and things. Like when the 2009 Halloween event was going to come out there were so many people guessing and then it just came out. Hope this comes out soon.