The Fresh Start Worlds event in RuneScape
The Fresh Start Worlds event in RuneScape – Some time ago we delved deeper into the Fresh Start Worlds event for Old School RuneScape in an article. However, that's not the only thing Jagex has been working on, because a Fresh Start Worlds event is also going on in the current (modern) version of RuneScape. This has been going on for four months and has been going on for some time now. With just under three months to go, we also visited the developer's headquarters in Cambridge for this event to find out more about what they want to achieve with this event.
A fresh start for everyone
In Fresh Start Worlds for RuneScape, every player is given the option to start over from scratch. Players start off in a fresh world that features a new economy, which gives them the opportunity to move away from what they normally do later in the game. At the same time, it's also a way to attract new players and motivate retired players to re-enter the vast game. The big difference from Fresh Start Worlds in Old School RuneScape is that there is now no permanent XP boost in effect, nor is it any different in terms of progression from the regular version.
The reason for this is quite simple. Players are dealing with a new economy and once the event is over, players will be transferred to the normal game. This is of course a switch in itself, but if players also fall back to the speed at which they make progress, it can backfire. That is a lot easier to achieve in Old School RuneScape due to the more simplistic design. Thus this important distinction, whereby players can decide at any time to switch from Fresh Start Worlds to the regular game earlier, if the need arises.
And as mentioned, an equally important difference is that Fresh Start Worlds has its own economy. This is an idea of the management team at Jagex, who wanted to apply a fresh economy to a game that is years old. Based on research among the players, it turned out that people did listen to it and so Fresh Start Worlds was born. This is as a temporary event, because Jagex ultimately wants all players to be in one draw, because the developer wants to avoid a split player base, which benefits no one.
Annual event?
Since the community was interested in the Fresh Start Worlds event, Jagex delivers. However, they are not quite sure whether they will do it more often. At the moment they are mainly looking at how it develops and where it will end. Taking a somewhat loose approach, it remains to be seen the results to see if they will return this event on a periodic basis. In any case, it is not excluded. If you've stopped, but are interested in diving into the game again, now is the right time. It is possible that Jagex decides to leave it at that and it would be a shame if you missed the opportunity.
The basis in this sense lies with both new players and existing players. Fresh Start Worlds is not only a fresh approach for already active players, also new players should have an easier entry in this way. At the same time, the focus cannot be on new players all the time, because there is a fixed community that has to be kept happy. As a result, Jagex is also continuously working on new content that they will add to the regular RuneScape. In that regard, it is a somewhat delicate balance of dividing attention so that everyone remains happy.
Incidentally, Fresh Start Worlds did not start solely on the basis of community feedback, Jagex also deliberately asked stopped players to find out why they gave up. There are of course various reasons for this, but those players were also eager for Fresh Start Worlds. In this way, the developer captures a fairly large group at once: existing players, new players and returning players. And the latter is something they continue to focus on. For example, Jagex indicated that the mobile version of RuneScape is a nice solution for this. According to them, many people no longer have the time to spend hours in front of a PC, which makes mobile play on the go a great solution. That version was made exactly for those players.
Developments for the regular players
In the context of keeping the current player group satisfied, it is important that new content also appears. And so a new skill is currently being developed. It will be released later, and while Jagex has been tight-lipped about what to expect specifically, it has been noted that it will be something players don't expect at all. At least not in one aspect. The skill can be called weird in a certain way, but in the good sense of the word. That's what we have to do in terms of teaser, because there was nothing more from the developer. They will tell more about it towards the end of the year.
This immediately offered the opportunity to check whether it is not becoming more and more complex to bring new skills. At a certain point you are a bit through everything and it becomes difficult to really come up with a surprise. However, we don't have to worry too much about that. Jagex states that it is indeed always a challenge to find new things that fit well, but they use older skills as a basis from which to learn. They continue to build on this, but with new elements and the lesser points are shaved off. This also ensures that there are sometimes skills with some common ground, but that also makes it recognizable for the player at times, while it still feels fresh.
Logically, the next question is whether it is simply more convenient to rework older skills. Sounds logical on paper, but in practice it is so time consuming that it is comparable to developing a new skill. Then the choice is made quickly, because the core of players already know and have played the skills. It makes little sense to offer them the same experience again, but subtly improved here and there. However, that does not exclude the rework of skills, but that will be of a smaller scale and it must be useful for the game. The focus is therefore mainly on the new skill, but the rework or nuance of certain skills is always kept in mind. Also with a view to keeping the skills relevant, so that updates are sometimes released.
New content is and remains important
Finally, Jagex could say a few things about the approach to the new content they are making for RuneScape. Obviously the upcoming skill is one of the highlights, but there's more they're up to. At the moment, they generally work with a planning for two years. They actually plan a year ahead in terms of story, strategies, mechanics and more, but it's a challenge. Some elements come later and others earlier, so that the linked story is regularly mixed up. In the meantime, the player does not have to figure out the story himself, so that Jagex is constantly puzzling to fit everything together logically.
Some processes in this are very long running, but as a player you get new content, fragmented or not, as a result. This forms a coherent whole at the end of the ride, making it a fascinating experience. A nice detail is that the developer often consults Reddit for this and also literally puts ideas out to the community. The feedback that follows is taken into account in further development. That in itself is also a challenge, because although concepts are distributed among the players, nothing of the story is revealed. Otherwise, everything would immediately end up on the street and that is not fun, but despite this difficult process, they always try to come up with creative and original content.
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