RuneHQ and Jagex want your Help!

Jagex has asked popular fansites like RuneHQ for input into making the game better and more fun. We would like to ask your help in coming up with ideas and suggestions to give to them. The goal here is to come up with ways that will benefit you and the game making it more enjoyable. We support Jagex and welcome this collaboration with them to endeavor to make the game better. Let's put the power and support of a good community to use and help mold the great game of RuneScape into the best there is, not that we don't feel that it is not great already but we have a chance to help make it better!

One of the areas we specifically would like your help with is ways to make Fansite hosted events better, but we also welcome any of your other suggestions. Please Post your suggestions in the RuneScape Suggestions forum

Have a great suggestion for making RuneScape better? Post it on the RuneScape official forums and then post a link to that topic here and ask for community support. Let the power of numbers ensure the idea stays in front of Jagex and that they have a better chance of seeing it. Ideas we feel that have RuneHQ community support may be emailed by us directly to Jagex for their consideration. We cannot guarantee the idea will be implemented however, only that we will attempt to put it in front of Jagex for their consideration. Jagex is reaching out and asking for the help and support of its fans and we want to ensure we take advantage of our opportunity to have input in shaping the future of RuneScape! Get involved in your community whether that is here at RuneHQ or one of the other popular fansites, let your voice be heard, we all have a unique opportunity that is just too good to pass up.

We here at RuneHQ as well as, I am sure, all the other fansites likewise will do our best to work with Jagex now and in the future to provide them with the best information we can in regards to making the game more enjoyable for all. We however cannot provide them with your ideas unless you first share them with us or Jagex directly on the official RuneScape forums.

~MrStormy~

RuneHQ and Clans!

It’s an exciting time to be a part of RuneHQ, we have a number of fantastic projects in the works to make your RuneHQ and RuneScape experience the best it possibly can be! One of the areas we are currently working very hard to develop is our involvement in the Clan Community. One of the things we are currently working on is something you have asked us for time and time again: An open IRC Server! That’s right! Over the next few weeks RuneHQ will be opening an IRC Server where you can register your own names and your own channels! We hope that this, as well as our other future developments, will make RuneHQ the #1 place for you and your clan!

Do you have a suggestion on how we can improve our services for Clans? Do you have an idea you want to share with us? Post it on our Forums and discuss it in the Clan General Discussion Forum. We are reviewing all the suggestions you guys are giving us and the more ideas you suggest, the more we can act upon.

RuneHQ will be providing several levels of Clan Hosting for clans. We will have a free plan that will provide a web site for your clan as well a Forum for your clan on the RuneHQ forums. We will also have a couple of cheap hosting packages that will provide you with your own forum as well as some other benefits. We are still working out the details for our hosting packages, so be sure to keep an eye out on our forums!

In the meantime, watch this space! RuneHQ is coming to a clan near you!

~ Lord Sobek ~

RuneHQ March Event #1

Have you tried out the new Soul Wars mini-game yet? Whether you have or have not, why don't you play a couple of rounds with fellow RuneHQer's! This is one brutal war between the reds and the blues. Try to conquer the obelisk and graves through teamwork and dedication, but don't forget to protect them otherwise you may lose!



Have no idea how to play? Then check out our hot off the press Soul Wars mini-game guide! A win, tie, or loss gives you zeal points for great rewards, so don't feel discouraged that you won't get anything. This is a safe mini-game. This means that if you die, you will not lose anything. Just don't forget that you cannot wear a cape while playing.

• Event: Soul Wars


• Date: Saturday, March 14th


• Time: 2 pm CST / 7 pm GMT (Time Converter)


• World: 60


• Starting Point: Soul Wars lobby, by Nomad


• Requirements: Your best combat equipment. This is a safe game so you won't lose anything.

For more information and discussion, see the official Forum topic.

~ RuneHQ Events Team ~

Soul Wars Mini-game Guide

Our guide to the Soul Wars mini-game has been released! Thanks to Skeletonmat and everyone else who helped in making this great guide!

~ Alfawarlord ~

Ventrilo Update

Hey there RuneHQ! After a couple months of troubles with the old vent server, we at RuneHQ are happy to say that we now have a new vent server with a better provider. We apologize for all the troubles but are very please with the new server and provider and we are sure the problems are over! The Port number has changed so please check the guide for the new port.



To clear up a few things, here are some quick links:

• How to get an account


• Ventrilo Guide

NOTE: Do note that you must be an Established member on our forum before you will be able to request a ventrilo account.

~ RuneHQ Ventrilo/IRC Staff ~

Hey all you big hitters out there. Ever thought of testing yourselves against some really dangerous opposition? Well now is your chance to do just that. No more weak opposition - it's time to test yourselves against the Dagannoth Kings!

This is not a safe game and you may lose items if you die. In order to prevent this, we insist that everyone able should take at least 1 prayer potion with them to assist in the blessing of graves. It's only fair as you may need someone to bless your grave! We also recommend that you read our King Dagannoth Guide, before the event begins to know what you will be doing.

• Event: Dagannoth Kings


• World: World 59


• Starting Point: Relleka, between the docks and the market.


• Date: Saturday, February 28th


• Time: 1pm CST / 7pm GMT


• Requirements: Melee, Mage or Range equipment. Prayer potion(s), lots of good food, super anti poison potion(s).

For more information and discussion, see the official Forum topic.

~ RuneHQ Events Team ~

Our first batch of improvements has arrived!

First off we have a brand new poll system for you to use located in the site's right menu. Every so often we will have a multiple choice question for you to answer regarding RuneScape, RuneHQ, or something off topic that you can vote on. Hopefully this will allow us to get better feedback from the community and also get some neat statistics about RuneScape.

Next we have some new links towards the top of the site. They are for official RuneScape news, RuneHQ News, and upcoming RuneHQ Events. We hope you find them useful alternatives to the old method of scrolling a mile down the page to read important information. As before, all RuneScape news can be found in our RuneScape Updates forum, so if you want to discuss and rate new updates, head over there.

Additionally, iPhone users will find that our site's graphic is more visually pleasing than before, making for a better portable RuneHQ experience.

For those RuneHQ members out there who are also clan leaders, we have added a spot in the upper left of the site for links to your clan sites. To have yours added to the rotation, simply fill out a Link Request Form and a content editor will add it pending approval.

On a side note, I'd like to congratulate SimonH and Lilroo503, who were recently promoted to the newly created position of Site Dev Managers. They will be heading up a new site coding team dedicated to improving the site and developing new features to make your RuneScape (and RuneHQ) experience more enjoyable. If you are an experienced site coder and want to help RuneHQ then keep your eyes peeled, applications will be opening soon.

In the next few months we will be bringing more and more features, updates, and improvements to the site and forums, some of which are too top secret for me to discuss with you right now. What will the future bring to RuneHQ? Only time will tell, so sit back and keep on 'scaping.

~ [Im4eversmart] ~

RuneHQ February Event #1

To kick off the new month, we will be playing the Great Orb Project mini-game. If you have never played this mini-game before, we suggest you read our guide on it. The guide can be found here. It is a safe mini-game and you don't have to bring anything with you, although you may. However, you are not allowed to wear helmets ingame as you have to wear a hat that represents the team you are on.

• Event: Great Orb Project


• Place: World 57 - At the Runecrafting Guild


• Date: Saturday, February 14th


• Time: 1 pm CST / 7 pm GMT (Time Converter)


• Requirements: Level 50 Runecrafting and completion of the Rune Mysteries quest

For more information and discussion, see the official Forum topic.

~ RuneHQ Events Team ~

Quotations taken directly from RuneScape.com

10th February 2009 - Soul Wars

A mystical portal has opened in Edgeville, leading to the lands beyond Tirannwn’s western shore. Any players who venture through will find themselves at the site of Soul Wars - a new, members-only minigame involving fierce combat, territory control and your Slayer skills!

If you’ve played Castle Wars you will be on familiar ground with Soul Wars. Like Castle Wars it’s a quick, fun, team game that you can play on any server…but it’s three times the size! Soul Wars is also a safe game, so you don’t have to worry about losing any of your favourite gear.

Once you enter the Soul Wars area you will meet Nomad, who controls the battlefield with his unfortunate minion Zimberfizz. He will show you the workings of the Soul Obelisk, how the giant avatars function, and the basics of territorial domination. Being something of an adventurer, Nomad is prepared to give rewards to players who get involved: sharing his charm collection, offering combat and Slayer training, and even bringing back the souls of Slayer creatures you may have found on your travels.

Mod Rathe and Mod Chris L
RuneScape Developers

Summary:

In other news…

You can now collect sand from Bert at the same time every day. The 24-hour restriction has been shortened slightly so you won't have to go later each time.

The rewards for the Seers’ Village Achievement Diary have been tweaked and increased; for details, please read the original article.

The hard reward for the Karamja Achievement Diary will now grant free access (when worn) to the Brimhaven Dungeon.

Additions have been made to Quick Chat that should make it easier for players to converse with Player Moderators, and ask any questions they may have.

We have made changes to the game engine behaviour responsible for deciding in which order players, familiars and NPCs are drawn in. Other players or NPCs will now no longer be hidden by bigger creatures (2x2 squares or above). Additionally, small NPCs and familiars (1x1 squares) will now take priority over other players, except in PvP worlds and in combat-based minigames.

Discuss this update on the forums.

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

9th February 2009 - The Future of RuneScape

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

Discuss this update on the forums.

Quotations taken directly from RuneScape.com.

2nd February 2009 - Behind the Scenes - February

This month we welcome a few new faces to RuneScape’s “who’s who” list in the form of giant Slayer beasts. These avatars just happen to be the main focus of our new safe, conflict minigame...Soul Wars! We will also be waving goodbye to a few of our old random events, adding a new feature that will let you sort your quests, building price-checking inventory options for your items, and adding a new distraction and diversion (whose bark is far worse than his bite).

Soul Wars

On the deepest, darkest, most mysterious of our backwater islands, an eternal struggle rages, unknown to the residents of RuneScape until now. Structured much like Castle Wars, this will be a “quick to access, tough to master” conflict-based minigame. The avatars of Destruction and Creation vie for control of the Soul Obelisk, an ancient and powerful artefact used to harvest the souls of the weak and unready. Get ready to grab your blade, staff or bow and battle through Slayer creatures, collecting fragments of their souls to feed to the ever-hungry obelisk. Rewards include combat XP while playing the game, Pest Control-style XP rewards and a few new pets for you to lead.

Random event update

Over the last year we've been very keen to make changes to RuneScape's system of random events. After all, no one likes being forced through a long dialogue with a desperate doctor or an over-enthusiastic security guard while they're surrounded by aggressive monsters.

The most obvious change in the update will be to the rewards. At the end of most random events, you'll be handed a random event gift box. When you open the box, you'll get the chance to choose a reward from a selection of items including coins, runes, ore, seeds, charms and perhaps even a genie lamp. If the random event previously offered emotes or costumes, you'll be able to choose those from the random event gift box's menu. So whatever kind of reward you want, there should be something in there for you.

We're also making a major change to the rate at which random events appear, basing it on your skill total and your record of successfully passing random events. So, if you correctly solve every event you encounter, you'll experience fewer events in the future. On a related topic, the game will remember which random events you get, so it can aim to give you a greater variety of events, rather than always giving you the same random events over and over again.

Some random events will be removed from the game. Poison-gas chests, smoking rocks, broken pickaxes and ents will become things of the past. The Drunken Dwarf will be retired as a random event, but he'll still be free to roam the world, handing out kebabs to his mateys. You'll still be able to obtain shade robes, strange fruit and security books; we do not intend to discontinue any existing rewards.

Other improvements include allowing you to have more than one set of costumes, giving value to old frog tokens (so don’t throw them away!), stopping run energy from draining in the maze and even giving the Sandwich Lady her own café!

Price check

Ever found yourself at the bottom of a lonely, dark, depressing dungeon, with only the sound of your Summoning beast to keep you company, when suddenly out of the bleakness come the infamous words ”price check plz”?. Quite often you’ll want to know how much something is worth, even if you are holding back the forces of darkness at the same time. Because of this often-heard request, we have decided to add it as a permanent feature. So you’ll be able to click on a button beneath your worn items to open a new price-check interface, into which you’ll be able to place objects from your inventory (including stacks) to see their trade value.

Quest list interface

This month we will also be adding a new filtering option to the quest list in game. This means that you will be able to filter out all the quests you don’t yet have the level to do, or filter the list so it displays all your completed quests last – to name just a few options.

Evil Tree

Also this month we will be bringing you a new distraction and diversion affectionately known as the Evil Tree. This twice-a-day event will focus on providing an alternative to your Woodcutting, Firemaking and Farming training. During this event, a small, innocent leprechaun will be appearing in a variety of locations, using his magical divining rod to try to discover the whereabouts of an exciting new species of plant. He knows that the plant grows into a tree at an alarmingly fast rate, and that budding farmers will be able to use their skills to coax it out even faster; but Farming’s not the only skill you will be using...since this tree is EVIL!

Well, perhaps for us that twist wasn’t so surprising (the name kind of gives it away) but for anyone who hasn’t read this it will be quite a shock to see the innocent, naive sapling turn into a menacing and malevolent fiend! Prepare to grab your tinderboxes and axes (the leprechaun has spares), and go toe-to-branch with this new challenge. Evil trees will come with similar level requirements to their less evil counterparts, and will range from normal, simple trees all the way up to elder trees...evil elder trees, of course. Rewards include generous XP in the aforementioned skills, and access to some unique services to complement your Woodcutting training.

Future Content
Mobilising Armies

Work continues on this tactical minigame, and we’ve been busily adding new features and continuously developing the game engine to support this new content. Recent additions include:

• Altering the effect that different races of troops can have on your rewards.


• Changing the way in which catapults are loaded.


• Improving the way in which the camera moves around the battlefield.


• Improving the on-screen information so you know what all of your troops are doing.


• Updating the tutorial to be more interactive and straightforward.


• Changing one of the scenarios to feature TzHaar.

As we have said before, this minigame is different from anything ever seen before in RuneScape. The more we test and play through the content, the more features we know we need to add to make the game work the way we want it to. This means that we’ve not been able to launch it as early in the year as we had initially hoped, but we will give you more news as soon as it is available.

Have fun!

Mod Mark

Lead Designer – RuneScape

Discuss this update on the forums.

The official February Newsletter is up and full of great information for the month of February. Simply click the image to be taken to it.

-=DRAVAN=-

Seers' Village: Achievement Diary

Our guide to the Seers' Village Achievement Diary has been released! Thanks to diamondi3ack and everyone else who helped in making this great guide!

{`Knight9693`}

Quotations taken directly from RuneScape.com

20th January 2009 - Seers' Village Achievement Diary

How far can you see into the future? The seers in their village foresee mountains of flax, adventurers fishing, cooking and cutting wood, and many other challenges in and around Seers’ Village. Are you virtuous enough to use the Piety prayer? Gather your axe and knife (and bring your best flax-picking fingers), and go see what’s in store for you.

Explore the area and discover all the things you hadn’t noticed before. From Catherby to the Ranging Guild, and as far north as the coal trucks and Sinclair Mansion, this diary should keep you busy, and remind you why this is one of the most popular areas in the members’ world.

When you’ve satisfied the seers with your knowledge of the area, you’ll be rewarded with some handy bonuses: Geoffrey will give you some of his glorious...er...flax, maple trees will reveal some of their secrets to make you that little bit wiser, and you’ll discover a new nimbleness in your fingers when using the spinning wheel.

Mod Maz

RuneScape Developer

Queen of the Squirrels

Summary:

In other news...

Players can now right-click on previously sent private messages to send another message to the same person. This applies whether split chat is on or off.

The alchemy values of the crystal bow and shield have been reduced. We suggest that you check your ‘items kept on death’ interface before PvPing or entering dangerous areas with combinations of these items, just in case it's not quite what you're expecting if you were to die.

The Slayer ring, combat bracelet and the skills necklace have had their 'delays' removed when operating them.

Discuss this update on the forums.

RuneHQ January Event #3

It is time for our 3rd and last event for January. It's the one many people have been waiting for and has been requested so many times and it's here now. It's none other than Castle Wars! This is a member only event and the details are as follows.

• Event: Castle Wars


• Date: Saturday, January 31st


• Time: 1 pm CST / 7 pm GMT (Time Converter)


• World: 60


• Requirements: Your best combat equipment. This is a safe game so you won't lose anything.


• Starting Point: Castle Wars, west of Yanille

This is a safe game, you will not lose any items. For more information, please read Castle Wars mini-game guide before the event begins to know what you will be doing.

For more information and discussion, see the official Forum topic.

~ RuneHQ Events Team ~