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Blog written by Mod Giragast on 13th April 2012 |
| Mod Pi and Mod Giragast from the RuneScape Development team answer your questions. |
Ivan Strife asks:
- Any chance we will ever see the attic in the wizard tower again? I really wanted to dive into those massive piles of books.
- Also what was your favorite part about making the X-mas event?
Mod Pi:
- There are currently no plans to use the attic again, I'd like to work on the wizards tower again as some point though so you never know :)
- It has to be watching all you guys run through and play it! Making it was cool and getting to play about with old characters like the wizards is really cool but that is nothing compared to watching thousands of people play what you have created, everybody plays it differently and it was fun watching!
Alicy asks: How can we expect the final secrets of Daemonheim (Bilrach's death?) to be revealed? Will it be through Fremmenik Sagas, Quests or more journals we pick up? Also will Quest Lovers (Quest Clan Members, Quest Forum Helpers, Quest Cape Owners etc) ever be able to have more input in quests, even if it is just suggestions?
Mod Giragast: Oooh so many secrets I can't tell! Do not fear, all will be revealed with regards to Bilrach - we'll find out more about him during the upcoming Sagas but the story does not end here for him or Daemonheim.
We're always paying attention to the forums and what all you guys have to say, whether it be suggestions for quests , gameplay ideas or anything else. There's plenty there we take note of, especially to find out what you guys love the most, so keep it up :)
Nemokins asks: Great job on the Pit D&D! Its fantastic.
My question is concerning the new fremnick saga though, are these leading anywhere? My interest in lore isn't exactly much unless it concerns something like the penguins, so will we see a decent reward from these other than experience? (the reward doesn't necessarily have to be from the next immediate saga, but the sagas in general).
Mod Giragast: This time around there are two sagas, one continuing the adventures of Thok, and the other dealing more closely with the existing Daemonheim lore. Expect this storyline to continue after the sagas, and a little beefing up of the rewards for playing sagas multiple times.
You Fail Bud asks:
- Are there any plans to have out-of-Daemonheim item rewards that can be gained through sagas?
- Is the f61 saga being planned/developed? Or is f61 going to be an actual floor?
- How many new sagas are being released with this batch and what level requirements and content can we expect for them?
Mod Giragast:
- These have been discussed and we have a few great novelty and functional item ideas, however for the moment we're keeping those close to our chests.
- I can't wait to find out too ;)
- Two sagas this time! Expect them to be a little longer than the previous ones too. Requirements will be announced closer to the release date.
Ivan Strife asks: Will training in the Runespan be comparable to training say Ivy or mining at the lava flow when it comes to Runecrafting? Or will it be more like playing a mini-game/ livid farm type activity?
Mod Pi: Hmm, it's closer to lava flow but then make it 12 times bigger and then throw in some agility arena gameplay...yea..that's what it's like. Confused?
CHlLLY asks:
- Any chance you could tell us on whether RuneSpan will require essence at all?
- Is it going to be better XP than ZMI rcing?
- Is there any specific storyline behind RuneSpan? If so, what is it? - if you're allowed to say!
Mod Pi:
- It will require rune essence, but perhaps not yours.....
- Yes.
- Yes, Wizard Finix is claiming that he has found proof that the runecrafting altars will run out one day and become unusable. Whether this is true or not is of huge debate in the Runecrafting Guild but regardless, if he is correct this is of huge concern to all wizards in RuneScape. Fortunately, Wizard Finix has found a new way to make runes and that is trainable in The Runespan. What is this method? Why do the Runecrafting Wizards not believe him? Why does Wizard Finix believe this? Well, you'll have to wait and see ;)
Nemokins asks:
- Runespan is supposed to be the next big runecrafting training method that focuses on exp more than cash, however does it compete with current runecrafting methods? At level 19 its possible to obtain 30k exp per hour via steam runes with profit...towards higher level its possible to obtain around 60k exp per hour with zmi-altar. Will the runespan be able to match these because if not then the content I feel could be outdated to most players once the rewards have been unlocked.
- Secondly, this next runecrafting pouch! I am soooo excited for it however, it holds 18 essence, it has to have a higher requirement than 75 runecrafting due to the last pouch...will it degrade extremely quick? I know we can however boost its lifespan via repair pouch spell.
- Will the rewards from runespan actually help within the activity? I look at dungeoneering and see very few that actually help within an actual dungeon and this is what props this question
Mod Pi:
- The content has been balanced over the whole range of levels, 1-99. I've also looked at making it scale nicer. Currently runecrafting XP/hr plateaus quite early. I like a nice smooth XP curve :)
- The requirement is high yes. The degrading will also work differently, if you follow the degrade time from med pouch through to giant pouch, this pouch would degrade so fast that it would just be annoying. So we've conjured some other way for it to degrade for you :)
- The rewards from the runespan will help runecrafting and are for runecrafters to have something special for those that train it high enough. There isn't much that helps in the runespan itself. We believe that the XP rates are good enough for that to be the bonus and that you don't need any help there.
RNA_TheRock asks: Will everything and everyone by which I mean the characters and certain puzzles have voices added to them in the Fremmink Saga II? For example when Thok was talking to the prayer door?
Mod Giragast: Not this time around, FremSaga2 had already started development when we started to look more closely at including voice audio as a standard quest feature. Maybe next time!
Im Caroline asks:
- Is 'Grondaban' intended to be in a future saga?
- Can you share some of Marm & Thok's secrets with me? I wanna know how to get to f61 without dying in a month
Mod Giragast:
- Maybe!
- Sure! Firstly, you need to
Thok: ...
...actually nevermind.
Mime asks:
- Nice wolf... *pats head*
- Will we see a Warped floor saga?
- What does Giragast mean?!
Mod Giragast:
- Grrr
- Yes :)
- It's from a book by my favourite author, David Gemmell - Legend of Deathwalker.
Diehunted asks: How is the life of a Content Develepor? Like does it make the job more harder when you are being pressure to finish the content as quick as possible?
Mod Giragast: We're given just the right amount of time we need to create the content we come up with, as well as having some awesome editors and design leads to make sure the stories we make are as good as we can make them. I love the work, I just pile on more and more awesome ideas - it's a great challenge and extremely rewarding!
Vayne Novus asks: will the new sagas tie in with the upcoming floor 61 of Dg, the Zamorak final boss etc we heard of at runefest?
Mod Giragast: Yes. :)
Jchaplin2 asks: in the latest teaser we see 2 mahjarrat and what seems to me moia(?) is this part of the sagas or am i gonna get a "no comment"?
Mod Giragast: You're gonna get a "no comment."
No comment.
Airs asks:
- Is Moia Lucien's daughter? What's her relation to Lucien?
- And... *deep breath* Did I kill Bilrach?
Mod Giragast:
- You'll have to play the Sagas to find that out!
- Deep down inside, we all killed Bilrach. But you in particular. Nice going.
Maniac379 asks:
- You guys both seem like newer developers, what’s it like joining the development of Runescape as a new Jmod. Are you able to start projects that you want, what freedom do you have?
- How are projects split up, is it something like 3 people per project or something. It seems to me that the development team is way to spread out and thus the updates takes a long time.
- I imagine the Runecraft update will improve the overall skill xp rate, as a 99 runecrafter I am ok with this but I must say*this makes the great orb project seem even more useless. Do we really need two runecrafting minigames? What spurred this update to be by itself instead of doing something with GOP.
- Can smithing and mining get a use again, runecraft was outdated training wise but smithing and mining have no applicable use. Mining rune is only useful due to alch values, it’s outdated money source tbh. Flasks was a step for mining but one niche use does not a skill make.
Mod Pi:
- Joining runescape dev is great fun, the content devs are the biggest bunch of crazy misfits i've ever seen in my life and I seem to fit in well :P As far as our freedom is concenrned, most of the time we will be given a brief outline of an update that Jagex wants made and we start designing from there. We are free to suggest anything we like, that doesn't mean it will happen but we get to bug poor old mark with our big ideas :P If we are lucky our ideas will turn into one of these brief outlines and be given to us as an update to develop.
- It depends on the size of the project. A lot of updates get given to a solo content developer to design and create. This does mean that it can take time sometimes but it is the reason why we have so much varied content in the game, we have a whole team of people designing! Other projects will be given to many developers, things such as Troll Warzone and Clan Citadels are examples of that.
- This is less of a mini game and more of a training area. The GoP and it's rewards should still be used as i don't believe players play this game for the XP. I personally play it for the altar tabs, I don't believe The Runespan poses a threat to GOP and if it does, it is relatively minor so don't worry.
- We are aware of the problem and are looking into it. Updating a whole skill takes a lot of time and there is a lot to think about as a skill ties into a huge area of the game. No ETA for you but we are aware of it and hope to work on it for you :)
Gbsguitarboy ask: My favorite quests in the game so far have been the Dorgeshuun series. Would you ever consider making a 6th quest. Going on one last adventure with Zanik would be awesome!
Mod Pi: Mod John A will be happy to hear this :)
Wahisietel asks:
- Will the new Sagas be for the Occult and Warped floors, or will both be Occult?
- How did Scrambles get past the River Salve? And why is he hanging around with a smelly old goblin?
Mod Giragast:
- The Sagas are little different this time around, one of them visits quite a few interesting places.
- He wants to know that too! It's not often you wake up in a cave with a cigar-smoking goblin looming over you, saying "Sorry, I thought you were sheeps..."
Leonive asks:
Will the new Fremmy sagas be added onto Completionist Cape requirements?
Mod Giragast: Yes!
To enlight asks:
- Can we expect sagas to be related with tasks?
- Are all werewolves Zamorakians?
Mod Giragast:
- There are no plans for this at the moment.
- Only the ones who praise him.
DontdotheDew:
- Can we still use Thok's headbutting special attack even though he lost his sword? :O
- What's the story behind Moia, so far as you can reveal it?
Mod Giragast:
- Thok wouldn't be Thok without it!
- Far too early to reveal that sort of thing! She does have a history though :)
Weesliske asks:When making sagas do you find it hard to come up with content that is not just solo dungeoneering with a slightly OP character with some lore just tacked on?
Mod Giragast: A very interesting question. At the beginning of the FremSaga2 project there was a lot of discussion with Mod Raven (who was behind FremSaga1) about his thoughts on where the Sagas should head, and he gave me some very fine advice: What's important is the emotion you want to convey, the story and the characters will come naturally from that.
For these Sagas, Moia became the direct result of that advice: hopefully she'll be a useful character to bolster the existing Daemonheim lore and get you guys excited for Floor 61. Thok has been a complete blast, there's been a lot of good feedback from it around the teams!
Zayelion asks: Are most quest from this point going to be voice acted?
Mod Giragast: That's the word on the street. FremSaga2 was started before we considered that, so no voiced Thok for now :(
Robo Hobo asks:
- Aha, I had suspected you would be the one behind the new Sagas! [...] I won't say how I had that hunch though
- Will the Moia saga be taking place in the fourth age? All of the current Sagas take place near the current day in the 5th age, but with going into the past there's a lot of potential to show some fourth age storyline in Daemonheim, rather than just writing about it in the Daemonheim journals.
- Will we get to see the infamous Bilrach in-the-pixels with the Moia saga?
- What was some of your inspiration for the new Sagas? Or is it mostly based off of storyline stuff that was planned long ago when/before Dungeoneering came out, just bringing it to light?
- Were these Sagas part of the initial 6 that were planned for release at the same time? (but then the first three were released before the others)
- Is 'Grondaban' intended to be in a future saga?
Mod Giragast:
- Those hidden cameras were YOU! I KNEW it!! Keep your grubby mitts off my tasty Saga story notes!
- You'll have to wait and see for yourself! But on that note, some of the earlier Saga ideas at the beginning of the project involved some interesting origin stories for a few different journal-referenced characters. Perhaps one day you'll get to hear Skaldrun tell you about them :)
- No spoilers for you!
- The saga involving Moia came from one line in the game written many years ago. Ask me about it a day or two after the Sagas are released and I'll tell you about it :)
- The remaining three are secured deep within a vault at Jagex HQ, with Mod Raven keeping close guard over them at all times! They are mighty fine stories, again some day we may just hear them told. I touch a little on one story in the Moia saga, but I can't tell you what or where ;)
...and since you asked so nicely...
- Our time machine is broken right now, but I'll assume future-mod_giragast has fixed it and is going to come back in time and post the answer below...
Dunno.
Sorry :/
RNA_TheRock asks: How long have you been working on the Runespan project out of curiosity.
Mod Pi: I have been working this since mid December.
Aeroxmaster asks:
- RuneSpan is the puzzle based game that was mentioned during RuneFest last year right? Are you able to tell us whether or not our Runecrafting level will influence our abilities to complete these puzzles, or if it is just based on thinking?
- Do you know whether there is a possibility of being able to make money through this method, or is that unlikely?
Mod Pi:
- The runespan isn't puzzle based. The concept has changed vastly since RuneFest. You will still have to think to get the best XP, runecrafting is an efficiency based skill so i've tried to keep some of that but i've also made it more social since it isn't very social at the moment and i've tried to make the gameplay much more enjoyable. But no, it isn't puzzle based.
- Not directly no, XP is your bonus here.
Wingman Rex asks:
- Will the Runespan be a minimage or really a way to train Runecrafting, just like Artisan's workshop, for example?
- Will the Runespan be more than 20k exp/hour?
- Will the Runespan be in a team, or solo training?
Mod Pi:
- It is a new way to train runecrafting. It has minigame elements but isn't strictly a minigame. I'm not a big fan of boxing a skill into a minigame.
- For certain levels yes :)
- You can do either, i've added chances for you guys to work together and you'll probably do better working together but you can theoretically do just as well on your own :)
Im Kerrigan asks:
- Is it what you had announced at Runefest as the RC minigame?
- Along the same lines, I believe it was mentioned that this minigame would be an rune sink, ideally driving up the cost of runes (which I am currently working hard to make - 98 RC atm and getting 99 on Sunday :D). Is this actually the case, as it appears in the bts as if there is no need to use runes, though I could very well just be reading this wrong.
- Why can't the forums use symbols such as pi in posts?
Mod Pi:
- Yes but it is no longer a mini-game. I took a look at current runecrafting training and thought it could do with some more engaging game play throughout the whole skill. This eventually turned into the runespan which is far bigger than we originally planned but we are pretty sure it was worth it!
- This isn't a rune sink directly no, however since no runes are being created via this method it should lower the amount of runes sat in peoples banks over time. I realise this isn't the same but it should help magic be the runesink as this is a far better runesink than one I could fabricate.
- I don't know :( Ask the web dev team! Next Q&A Jane?? :P
TheHolyHades asks: Is it possible for you guys to release some theoretical xp rates at various levels?
- Will runes be required to play the runespan?
- Will this new runecrafting update make all other forms of runecrafting obsoleted?
- Also, after this runespan update, if everything goes according to plan, we should be seeing very competitive xp rates ... this will leave only slayer as a slow skill even at high levels - so are there any plans to revamp slayer in an effort to make it faster, possibly for less rewards?
- Speaking of slayer, many drops have become so cheap that slaying almost isn't worth it (take the whip for example). Are there any plans on a slayer revamp adding more creatures/higher level gear which will bring much needed life to this skill?
Mod Pi:
- Sorry but no, these are for you to play with and some players enjoy finding these out themselves!
- No
- No, runecrafting the current way should give you a tasty profit! The Runespan is geared towards leveling, if you want to make runes for yourself then you'll have to runecraft the old way.
- Not that I'm aware of but I can bug Mod Chris L for you about that one :P
- We are aware of this, I'd like to see this looked at too but no promises I'm afraid.
Mime asks:
- Doubling the number of Blood altar tabs as a reward for the Morytania hard tasks was a good step towards making runecrafting more bearable: any other tricks up your sleeve?
- On a scale of 1 to EXHILIRATING, just how fun is the Runespan?! More fun than regular training I presume?!
- And how cool are these staves coming with it?
Mod Pi:
- The content devs always have tricks up our sleeves :P
- I'm going to say about 3.1415926......
- Very cool, that have a couple of...special...abilities...that should make you want to train runecrafting ;)
CrazyKingTim asks: Will we see Bilrach in the future?
Mod Giragast: Maybe in the future-past. Or the past-future. Uhhh
Tztok-Jad95 asks: Unrelated question: When will Runefest 2012 be announced?
Mod Giragast: 2012 will be announced in 2016! Mark it on your calendars!
1san asks: will any other skills be getting a kind of single D&D bound to that skill?
Mod Giragast: We're always looking at the skills and trying to improve them where possible. That can be a D&D or a complete rework, but we're always trying to get the best out of the skills that we can and there are certainly more projects to come!
Thorlah asks:
- I hope my questions get answered this time!
- Bilrach. Is he dead? Can you tell us? If not, why are the others so underwhelmed by Daemonheim when everyone else is seemingly scared into silence?
- Does Tolna's Rift have a connection to Daemonheim?
- Do Guthix and Zaros have a connection? I gotta know! xD
- Bilrach again. Is he really that good of a bluffer to hide his power from even Azzanadra?
- Does Bilrach have any familial ties to any other Mahjarrat, like Lucien to Zemouregal, or Sliske to Wahisietel?
- Do the Dragonkin have any hand in Daemonheim? Does Jas?
- Does Zamorak know what's going on? Is he the Voice, or is he just "chillin"?
- Is the Rift where he really is?
- How did Bilarch open the portals to other realms?
- Just who is the Smuggler. I have a theory, but...
- Will we ever get to help Marmaros? I feel so bad for him, and Thok being Thok, I don't want him to be without "his brain".
Thanks for the time!
Mod Giragast:
-
- 3 I will try my hardest!
- I can tell you nothing about Bilrach, it will spoil the surprise! However, you will find out something from the upcoming Saga. Who knows just how much!
- I....am not sure...
- I'll ask them!
They must be out for lunch or something, they're not picking up.
- He's a cheeky chap, and a lot more powerful than his fellow Mahjarrat think. He could manage it, I think.
- Good question, but not one I know the answer to.
- There are mysteries even Content Developers are not privy to.
- Who can be sure Zamorak is even involved? Are the answers we have ever completely clear? Or are they so obvious we suspect them to be something other than what they are? Only the gods themselves know the truth, and they never truly reveal their hand to those involved.
TLDR: Spoilers.
- You never know, it might be a really nice place with lots of people there. A god resort.
- A long-hidden and hard-earned secret. Something that takes centuries to achieve, and just as long to perfect, is not something he's likely to tell just anyone. You'll probably have to beat the answer out of him.
- Ooh, what theory is this? We're always interested in theories...
- Some day, maybe we will, for now you'll have to make do with heroic tales of their Daemonheim adventures! :D
High-five! _/ \_
Going4Quests asks: In the new cinematic trailer my eyes spotted updated looks of Runecrafting altars. Will the altars getting updated with The Runespan?
Mod Pi: Wow, eagle eyed....yes, they will get a bit of a spit shine when the Runespan is release :)
Diehunted asks:
- Is RuneSpan in its beta testing stage? If so are you pleased with how it has come out and do you think the community would be happy with it?
- If possible can you show us a Teaser of RuneSpan?
- It is still a Grind to get 99 RuneCrafting? because if this RuneSpan take away from that I think the community would not be happy...
Mod Pi:
- It is in QA at the moment and so far everyone I've shown it to has replied "wow!" So I'm hopeful :)
- I'll leave that to Timbo :P
- Yea there is still a grind, it is training a skill in runescape. The Runespan should be a fun grind though!
Snoepgoed123 asks: what will the level requirements be for the runespan?
Mod Pi: Level 1
Vayne Novus asks:
- Being a maxed player, i fear the Runespan update will completely destroy the point of runecrafting being a slow and arduos skill.
The huge pouch doesn't seem a MASSIVE compromise, but it is still speeding up a skill like you keep doing.
- please tell me the Runespan isnt going have a method of getting crazy fast xp. This would really disappoint me and thousands of other high level players.
Mod Pi:
- The bigger pouch will be different to the current ones, so don't take it at face value from BTS.
- It will be faster but not crazy fast, i've aimed to bring above the status of "slow and boring to train". I will not lie though, it is faster than current runecrafting, that is for sure.
Sarg asks:
- Concerning RuneSpan… I would like to know about some of your biggest challenges in making this update happen. What all did you take into consideration while developing this piece of content? (i.e. many players are worried about devaluation)
- What other ideas did you imagine instead of the final product (RuneSpan)? I.e. did you, or anyone else on the team have any other ideas? If so, can you share with us some of those ideas? I'm mostly curious.
Mod Pi:
- I'd say the biggest challenge is balancing over a whole skill. I've had to make sure that the XP rates are high but not so high that it totally devalues having a high level, I've had to create content for all levels of player and if you could see the spreadsheet created for this update your eyes would glaze over. As far as what I had to consider, I had to think about how to make this content fun from 1 through to 99 making sure that you didn't get bored part way though, that is no cheap ask but there are parts of the Runespan that are dynamic making it a different experience each time you enter which will help. The rewards had to be worth while to make sure players would want them but they also had to tie into the rest of the game, after 10 years of development, this poses quite a challenge :P I could talk about this for longer but I think I've summed up the main issues :P
- There were 3 main concepts put forward for this:
- Was an idea that came from Runefest, it was a sort of 1 armed bandit that you could place your runes into and combine your runes gaining XP along the way. We thought this would be a bit repetitive so it didn't make the grade.
- Was various minigames based around the idea that the player could siphon runic energy out of barriers destroying them along the way. This turned into games like:
- 1 player mazes
- 2 player races
- A team based area control grid based game
- A co-op team game whereby players had to break down barriers to reach the center where there would be a way to get really fast XP if you got there but barriers would grow back.
- In the middle were ideas such as the soul altar/ a giant rune guardian or a powerful omni-altar.
- Was the Runespan which we thought was better than both of those, hopefully you'll agree :)
Jchaplin2 asks: the minigame is portrayed to be quite exp efficient in the bts do you still think that this is true?
Mod Pi: Yep!
Fluhminator asks: Will the Runespan update give us new reasons to train runecrafting? At this point I’d like to refer to the smithing update (artisans workshop) which was implemented in order to give the players new cause to train the skill. Unfortunately it failed in my opinion and even devalued the skill since its pure “afking” now. I really hope that won’t happen again.
- Also why do you think we need a runecrafting update? What were your / jagex’s reasons behind the update?
Mod Pi:
- The staffs are a reason to train runecrafting but the profit gained from runecrafting should be reason enough so I didn't feel the need to add many more reasons.
- Haha, i'll quote what I wrote at the start of the design document for this update.
"Currently in game, runecrafting is basically put these small rocks on this big rock. If that is all it boils down to, why do we even need to train it? The gameplay is currently heavily repetitive, unengaging and not very social. I believe and update which solves these issues would be appreciated by the players."
(Had to show that to Paul Gower, that was scary....he took it well :P)
Nekromagiker asks:
- Will the Wicked Robes carry master runecrafting robes bonus if you have both?
- Will the minigame give out Runecrafting tokens since it's related to the Runecrafting Guild, or is it only using an exclusive point system?
- How does the XP rates compare to making runes (for example Blood or ZMI)?
- Will it devalue runemaking completely? (slightly worried about rune prices!)
- Will the Wicked Robes come with a costume room spot?
- Just an extra, I really loved the Snowman thing in the christmas event (after completion), at the time I thought it would be kinda cool with a similar activity in the middle of the GE, with a different theme of course but still... Having east vs west in the ge would add community I think. Just adding here as I just remembered that idea!)
Mod Pi:
- No, the wicked Robes have their own bonus and I wouldn't want to devalue the look of the master RC robes. If you like the Wicked Robes so much after release and you believe they would benifit a lot from this, then please do let us know!
- The rewards will use a points system specific to the runespan, we don't want you guys to stop playing GoP!
- Higher
- No, making runes should make you decent money after this update, possibly more since less players will be making runes to level.
- No, there are reasons for this which I wont go in to detail but there is a technical reason for this.
- I'd like to add the snowman minigame elsewhere, i've not found a good place to put it yet though. Have no doubt, if i find a good place to put it, i'll try and ninja it in there as I'm glad you liked it!
Freezatron asks: The Runespan is supposed to be the "next big thing" in runecrafting. Do you think this will change the skill in whole?
Mod Pi: Yes, this is a totally new way to train runecrafting over the whole skill, i'd be very surprised if it didn't change the skill.
Slayer Noir asks:
- How often do content developers look at player suggestions for inspiration? If/when they do, what do they take from them? Small elements? Or have you ever made content purely out of a player suggestion?
- Also, any chance of seeing more competitions for players to design content? I know I'd love to see some of my ideas ingame.
Mod Pi:
- I look at the suggestions every day. I have a notepad document of good players suggestions that I see and try and put them in if they fit in with what i'm working on at that moment. Sadly we don't reply very often that we like a suggestion as we cannot make any promises that it will go into the game! We also have a "todo list" for the whole content team and lots of the items in there are approved player suggestions!
- I like this idea and would love to see more of it, The Runespan would not exist without you guys asking for it first! How cool is that!
Brian Cox asks:
- Have Jagex took into account how Runecrafting is currently the most respectable and hardest 99, and made sure not to increase it by too much with the RuneSpan?
- Will RuneSpan require 100% attention like the rest of the Runecrafting methods?
Mod Pi:
- We are aware of this and it has been taken into account but we have to look at the bigger picture and out of all the skills runecrafting is one that most players avoid as much as they can. With regards to the game as a whole this isn't a very good thing at all.
- If you want the best of the best XP rates yes but you are not required to keep constant attention to get a good XP rate and you can even play this update casually if you want to, you just wont get amazing XP rates. I like the way runecrafting rewards you for training efficiently and I've tried to keep that to a point in this update.
Leonive asks: Will we be able to merge our existing Small to Large Rc Pouches into one gigantic pouch, and will we see some introduction into crafting higher level runes like Soul? (Heard rumors originating from runefest about the pouch merging)
Mod Pi: No, I'm not merging the pouches, the bigger pouch is a new pouch. Merging the pouches, gives you move inventory space which leads to more efficient banking and that in itself leads to balancing concerns so before that happens, it would need more thought.
Vanilla990 asks: This is a question about The Fremenik Sagas II and in general. The Saga's have been a nice addition to the lore behind Dungeoneering. Have you ever had a vision to add a similar sort of update to any of the quest series in Runescape to maybe shed more light on the lore or give a different view of the story?
Mod Giragast: I would love to see this. Some people enjoy playing storylines from another perspective and currently FremSagas is the best way to do this. If you guys want to see a similar approach with quests in other areas of the game please let us know and we'll be glad to listen! Is there any particular event in the history of RuneScape that you'd like to see?
Going4Quests asks: Is it possible to see more Developer blogs on the awesome updates you are making?
Mod Giragast: Just had a lengthy discussion about this to another mod, you're right, we'd love to see them again too.
Vand asks: Apologies if this is a bit vague of a question, but in general, are there any plans to link the Fremennik Sagas outside of the Fremennik Sagas themselves, preferably in regards to story-line?
Mod Giragast: It's certainly been discussed! Sorry if it's a vague or brief answer, but anything else would be saying too much. Some great ideas for linking things together though. Time will tell.
Khrashnakh: Can we get one little teaser on the Bilrach saga before it's released please?
Mod Giragast: Since you asked nicely, the upcoming pre-release lore holds some secrets.
ThaMcDonut asks: To Mod Giragast - The Pizza Monster:
- What is your favorite piece of content in the game?
- If you could change everything in the game yourself, what would you change and why?
- If you could buy pizza's in Varrock, what pizza flavour would it be?
- You are currently working on the Sagas, have you finished them already, or are you still busy working on them?
Mod Giragast: Buddy! High-five! _/ \_
- Wartface and Bentnoze arguing and shouting at Grubfoot. That sequence is the inspiration for Snotgut.
- I'd give the map a fog-of-war - I love to explore secret hidden places!
- PepperoniPepperoniPepperoniPepperoniPepperoniPepperoniPepperoniPepperoniPepperoniPEPPERONI
- Putting in the finishing touches. I'm very proud of them :) I hope you enjoy them!
Xaji asks: Will the fremmy sagas and dungeoneering finale be like Firemaker's curse and let lore-interested low level players play them for lore without all rewards, or will only the most dedicated dungeoneers be able to play them?
Mod Giragast: The Moia saga is a little different in its requirements than other Sagas - more on that closer to release!
Eatthis9999 asks: this is very simple as a question but how do you begin the creative process when an idea is first thought of and what is the normal turn around time from conception to release ?
Mod Giragast: Lots of plot outlines and lore discussions with other developers and designers! FremSaga2 went through some hefty design work before starting production, but I think we got two great tales to tell out of the process. FremSaga2 is around 5 months from start to finish, it's quite an extensive project and could really be considered equivalent to a quest in terms of the amount of work involved. All the guys and girls who worked on the project put a lot of heart and soul into it and I think it really shows.
Going4Quests asks: Will there be more ferrets of DOOM? I had my volume box on like max and almost jumped out my chair when the cutscene played with the sound effects..
Mod Giragast: Make sure you've got the volume up nice and loud this time around too ;)
Thorlah asks:
- Does Kharshai have any race-awareness where he is? Or is he so indisposed, he has no idea?'
- Any more Fremennik quests?
- Will Thok and co. ever remember what happened "down there"?
- Will the Smuggler help us out in the future?
- Does Moia know any one we're allies with?
- Does the Stone of Jas have a connection with Daemonheim?
- Is Guthix's sword like the Staff of Armadyl?
- Is Azzanadra really our friend? (I hope so :) )
- Will King Roald go and kick some butt? (I figure the king our characters get along with needs something epic to happen xD )
- Sorry, the questions jumped at me like like a werewolf at food.
- (Oh, tell Guthix and Zaros I'm sorry to interrupt their lunch!
- Tell Azzanadra I should be able to have the party next week. You're welcome to come! (high-fives again))
Mod Giragast: High-five! _/ \_
Too many questions! Some things are best left secret for now, and some of things are for other mods to answer in other Q&As :)
DANGER BIRD asks: Can you let us know anything about about the "magical staves" reward from runespan? Like will they help with combat for cheap spells or stronger spells or anything, or will they be near useless like GOP staves?
Mod Pi: The staves have special abilities that should appeal to both skillers and combat players (now that's got you thinking!!) No spoilers just yet!
DontdotheDew asks:
- What exactly IS the Runespan? Is it the source of the Runecrafting altars' powers, the intersection of the altar planes, some cosmic accident, or something else entirely? I suppose what I'm asking is if it's absolutely isolated story-wise or if it is related to existing Runecrafting things in game.
- What exactly will the new Wicked Robes do? Related: I thought the Wicked Hood was a ZMI product, why is the RC Guild enhancing their equipment?
Mod Pi:
- The runespan is based in the same plane as the runecrafting altars and it is where the runecrafting guild is situated. You'll have to wait to find out what makes it so special!
- The zoologial magical institute make the robes yes. Why would the runecrafting guild worry about zoologists? ;)
Weesliske asks:
- The runespan is exciting but is there enough incentive for people to still make all kinds of runes currently available?
- Will the lore of the runespan fit in with the current conspiracy theories surrounding rune mysteries and how strange that all the things came together after hunderds of years.
- Speaking of RC can I suggest to you to pass onto the graphics team that the ZMI mage (the one who teles to the abyss) wears robes similar to Master RC robes in future but in a Zamorakian style.
Mod Pi:
- Yep, money and magic!
- Well, let's just say that certain members of the runecrafting guild are not big fans of Wizard Finix's theories....
- *jots down for possible future updates*
Moerdred asks: How will Runespan work as a money maker, if it is one?
Mod Pi: The runespan will not be a money maker, we are leaving that for current runecrafting.
Google Says asks: Can you please make it possible to see these broadcast announcements even if your game filter is on filtered, either by making another option on the game tab or by simply allowing it in the filtered mode.
Mod Pi: We are aware of this and it is being looked into.
Lord HogFred asks: If you like high fives so much can I have one?
Mod Giragast: High-five! _/ \_
Tztok-Jad95 asks: will it require [The Runespan] alot of money for training?
- is Runespan going to be a strategy minigame? or a simple minigame
Mod Pi:
- Nope, you don't need any money to train it.
- Strategy skilling area :P
SlayerRapier asks:
- for runespam where will it be at?
- this is going to be a full thing we can skill on just like a weely or daily idea (meaning if we chose to we can grind there for good exp)?
- will this effect prices in anyway?
- also will this be puzzle for training if so i will love it as i love to do puzzle ( like clue scrolls)
Mod Pi:
- Mmmm, tasty spam.....errrr....The wizards tower :P
- Full on skilling area you can use at your leisure.
- I expect that less players will be making runes will affect prices yes.
- No puzzles, I like making puzzles but this update doesn't include them.
1san asks:
- Does your runecrafting xp rise per level or is it like agility where you get the same rate until you can use a higher level course?
- Will the runespan have any lore to it, I think I recall someone saying that the runespan is the result of residue of the stone of jas or something?
Mod Pi:
- I've made a point of making sure it scales evenly as you level, that is one of the major problems with runecrafting currently.
- There will be some lore yes but it isn't a huge part of this update.
Debonnys says: mod pi what beer are you drinking and wich pizza?
Mod Pi: No beer and no pizza here, we have coffee and sandwiches though. HOWEVER! If I was drinking beer and eating pizza it would be Pear Cider and lots of mean with a BBQ base for the pizza :)
Weesliske asks: In the x-mas event Greyzag was replaced by Whitezag for those who no longer have Greyzag in the tower. However in the Love Story cutscene there is a different wizard. Can we make this consitent in future by adding one of them permenantly to the tower?
Mod Pi: Different developers, different replacement. The fact that Grayzag isn't there is possibly more important as it is an important part of a quest (no spoilers past that!). Wizard Whitezag was a play on Gandlaf (Gray and now White) and Wizard Taloram was put in as a replacement for the cutscene (if there are any extra reasons you'd have to ask Mod Ash). They are not necessarily the same person nor a permanent replacement for Grayzag.
Going4Quests asks: Will you plan to give the Wizards Tower an overhaul in graphics to match the tower with the rest of awesome new graphics?
Mod Pi: This is definitely being looked into, when and if it will happen I cannot say.
Cassie Blake says: Does Runescpan have more cosmetic item rewards to offer then the wicked armor?
Mod Pi: Yes and no....you'll find out :P
Wahisietel asks: First of all, i would like to say that i loved the Xmas Event, it was one my favourite holiday events ever. Anyway, since you're doing a RuneCrafting update... Is there any chance you could clear up the inconsistencies around RuneCrafting lore? (IE: Being able to runecraft even before Rune Mysteries is completed.)
Mod Pi: That is being sorted but not with this update.
A Thorondor asks:
- How did you go about planning Runespan?
- Did you have a lot of different ideas that might have worked too but you didn't go for?
- What kind of things did you have to consider in order to make it fun, useful, and attractive but not overpowered?
- Did that take a lot of communication with other people?
Mod Pi:
- Well....1 word, carefully....it's quite intricate and ties into a lot of places. That is before you start thinking about XP rates....
- Yep, see a previous post.
- For fun, I asked myself, would I find it fun? Would the players on my choobs friends list find it fun? If the answer to that is no, then I move onto the next idea.
- Useful - Better XP was an easy one to make it attractive but it had to be balaced very carefully, I didn't want to make the XP too good, just a healty enough boost to make it better than it currently is. On top of that, the rewards are aimed at different styles of players to appeal to the most amount of players possible.
- Yes, I had to speak to...*breathes in*:
Lead designers, other contend developers, enviromental artists, NPC artists, concept artists, animators, audio, players, balacers, the QA department, 2d artists and the CM department. Most of the mods who work on runescape have been involved at some point.
Vand asks:
- Will RuneSpan contain any rewards in addition to the bags of Runecrafting XP mentioned?
- Also, is there any team-aspect to this?
Mod Pi:
- Yep, there is a rewards shop to buy runecrafting related items with points gained in the runespan.
- Yes, a community aspect has been taken into account for this update. We want you guys helping eachother in the runespan.
Going4Quests asks: About Runecrafting, will we ever see the soul altar In-Game as a real altar hidden somewhere?
Mod Pi: That is on many developers todo list but no plans set in stone yet.
Heatley asks: Would you ever consider making new quests that include the least seen characters of Runescape, the mystical Genie of the exp lamp, for example?
Mod Pi: Sounds like fun! *jots down*
Boba Fett asks: At Runefest there was talk of an "altar-less" rc minigame set in a factory where you exchange runes for time that can be spent earning xp in the factory. Has that idea been scrapped and turned into Runespan or is that a totally separate update?
Mod Pi: This was one of the concepts used early in the development of the runespan, for now it is not being used but we don't neccisarily say goodbye to concepts if we don't use them.
1san asks: Mod Pi, why wasn't kennith included in the christmas event? He said he was going there after you beat salt in the wound, but he never showed up there. In fact I don't think he is anywhere in the game at the moment!
What happened to him?
Mod Pi: Had a word with Kennith and he tells me that he said that he might go to the wizards tower, he hasn't made his way there yet but he may make the journey one day.
Meganekko asks: what effect will runespan have effect on the supply/demand for runes and essence?
Mod Pi: Hopefully post runespan those who chose to do current runecrating will get more profit, thus making this still worth while. I'd expect the price of rune essence to go down in all honesty but the profit you gain for something that requires level 30 mining is very high as it is. I'd expect the prices of runes to go up but more runes are brought in game via monster drops than people relise so I wouldn't worry too much. I'd expect the inital reaction to be extreme but then it will stabalise as it generally does. That said, you cannot be 100% certain when you talk about the runescape economy.
Purify asks: Will you log back into Rs later? We are missing you!
Mod Pi: Maybe Monday, I plan on sleeping after this :P
The Amplifie asks: Is it going to look like some of the wildlands already in runescape, or will it look completely different?
Mod Pi: It looks unlike anything you've ever seen in runescape before.
Klobleo asks: I've a question for Wizard Finix,
It's been a while since the initial investment you asked for regards the Runespan, I just wanted to know the progress of my Infinite supply of runes? I don't mean to be rude it's just it's been a while and my army is tiring of using Diango's Firecrackers as a substitute for fire spells.
Many Thanks
Klobleo
Wizard Finix: Dear Klobleo,
Although it is theoritically possible to create an infinate number of runes; the nature of what you are asking for is rather impractical. I do not remember offering you an infiniate runes nor does it sound like something I would promise! If you would like inifinite number runes then I suggest you start by getting yourself to the altars and start making runes before the altars run out!
Yours quite frankly!
Wizard Finix
Little Decoy asks: Will Runespan be a complete overhaul and new way to train Runecrafting?
Mod Pi: More of a giant addition but in theory, yes.
Fury Storm asks: Will there be a new spell to allow you to teleport to your friends if they are on the same world as you? If so, when will this happen? And what runes will be needed for the spell to be used?
Mod Pi: I like the idea behind this but there are a large number of reasons why this would be difficult. Balacing/level locked areas/the other person not wanting you to teleport to them are just a few.
Going4Quests asks: If The Runespan is like on the concept art / wallpaper you shown at the BTS, will the place have skyboxes?
Mod Pi: Yes, it uses skyboxes.
