Despite the fact that Runescape seems
to be commercially dwarfed by other big games (especially other
MMO's) Jagex actually dominates a very nuanced market. With no
download, no fee and no time limit you can enjoy a huge slice of what
Runescape has to offer. You don't even need a top of the line
computer. With such a small hassle compared to other big titles there
must be no downside, right?
This model works great and supplies
the world of Runescape (EoC) with a supply of new players. It's
constantly growing and repopulating. But where does this leave us Old
School players? Not in a good place, let me tell you. The problem is
that as new player come in every day they're building their account
in EoC. Eventually they'll pay for membership and the option to play
Old School becomes available but it's doubtful they'll ever transfer
to it. By this point they've invested a ton of time in their
character. Not many people would want to give all that up.
Another problem is that Old School
frankly just looks worse. The combat, I imagine, looks boring, the
graphics are worse and the world is much smaller in terms of players
and content. Mind you, I think Old School is MUCH better but it won't
seem that way to incoming EoC players.
I worry that despite the initial surge
of players into the 2007 servers the population will eventually taper
off. More of us will stop playing while too few people fill their
spots. Hopefully this bleak prophecy won't come true but unless Jagex
makes some changes to what content is freely available I don't see
much of a way around it. All we can do is convince our friends to
join us and enjoy what we got while it lasts.
-Joe Leo
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