Looking back at 2009

Detailed description of game updates which happened within the first six months of 2009 from the Informer. I don't know about you, but I have a strong feeling that some of those updates were in the game for ages, like run update and price checker. Time flies I guess :-)

But what was the most important update? For me there is no uncertainty there. The most important update was the overhaul of Jagex's attitude and approach toward Runescape community. With Mark Gerhard stepping into the office, they put so much focus on getting involved with players - truly amazing turnaround.

P.S. while on the topic, here is an interview with Kelvin Plomer (Jagex's Runescape community manager).

Runescape Secrets Revealed

Finally, all Runescape secrets are revealed in this comprehensive interview with Jagex's CEO Mark Gerhard (or Mod MMG if you will). Enjoy.

Interview with Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard

New interview with Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard. All three parts. I bet many of you already saw it, or portions of it, as it was linked from various fan sites, but I do believe it deserves a special place in this blog too :-)

The interview itself didn't reveal a lot of new information, if you don't count hints about something big and awesome (new skill? minigame?) coming this year and a short note about possibility of releasing MechScape under different name (uh-oh). It also clarified and confirmed Jagex's strategies for F2P and Runescape community handling - both already quite clear from Jagex's actions in past few months.

But there is one thing I especially liked about this interview and it is the way Mark positioned and presented himself to the listeners and readers. Comparing to interviews we used to see from Jagex this one was (how should I put it?) - human. Yes, human. It wasn't an interview with a CEO of a big company - it was an interview with a person who does what he likes and likes what he does. At least that's how it seemed to me.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

Enjoy!

Runescape on Mobile?

New interview with Mark Gerhard. It looks like there are very serious plans in place for enabling Runescape on mobile devices/platforms.

Mod MMG clan chat snippets about Runescape

Some additional questions answered by the Jagex's CEO. This time in his Runescape clan chat. Thanks to Ren for pulling them out.

Mark Gerhard's Answers

Bravo, Mark and Jagex!
Despite the enormous number of questions, the answers are being given. I bet everyone has seen a small subset on the front page. Actually, there are more answers on the forum itself and even more are coming next week.

I was honored to have a part of my question answered on the main page:

Q) Vaskor - Could you please clarify Jagex's position toward fan sites? Will the "openness" somehow apply to fan sites and communities established there?
A) Yes absolutely - we plan to work closely with responsible fan sites to support them in every way we can.

The second part got answered as well (on the forum):

Q) Vaskor - Would you consider establishing some kind of "clearance" procedure for fan site, which fan site owners could apply for and obtain "cleared" status in case their sites are free from cheating, RWT ads or other types of rules breaking behavior?
A) Yes indeed, we have a team looking at this right now and we have already attempted to reach out to a number of known fan sites.

Now, the only remaining problem is to get Runewise and Runescape Reader's Digest "known" :-)

Questions for Mark Gerhard

Well, below is my question for the new Jagex's CEO which I left on the RS forum. I can't even imagine how Mark will be able to deal with all 6000+ questions out there, but I do hope for the best.

Hello Mark,

Could you please clarify Jagex's position toward fan sites? Will the "openness" somehow apply to fan sites and communities established there?

Unfortunately, the whole area is very shady. For instance, it is prohibited to mention fan sites inside the game, while it is allowed to mention some clan sites. There is a thin line between clan and fan sites however... Also in the past there were several occasions when Jagex expressed distrust and displeasure with fan sites (and doing it in a very general way), which naturally lead to players often being hostile to all fan sites regardless of whether fan sites promote RWT and cheating or not.

Would you consider establishing some kind of "clearance" procedure for fan site, which fan site owners could apply for and obtain "cleared" status in case their sites are free from cheating, RWT ads or other types of rules breaking behavior?

Thank you and best regards
Vaskor

Jagex Appoints Mark Gerhard as Chief Executive Officer

The news is all over the internet today, so after some hesitation I decided to post it here as well. Plus, it gave me an opportunity to finally link to the official Jagex web site. Yay!