[Informer Article] Is RuneScape Becoming Too Easy?

As the years pass, a common complaint among Runescapers is that the game has become too easy. The recent releases of the Runespan and bonfires have sparked these comments once again.

Before I go any further I would like to look at what "easy" means in this context. Its definition becomes tricky when talking about Runescape because the game as a whole is fairly easy. Not to bash the game in any way, but aside from a few bosses, PVP and maybe a few other things, not much in Runescape is difficult to do. With a bit of practice and some clicking, most of Runescape comes down to a long grind for xp. That being said, when people say the game is getting "easier," what are they referring to? I like to look at it from the general view that different 99s have different levels of respect within the Runescape community. Those factors of respect can essentially divided in to three categories: cost, speed, and amount of effort. I believe in this case that we case define "easy" and the last of those three. For example, Fishing would be a skill with minimal effort from the player, while Agility is one that requires quite a bit of attention.

Now that it is clear what is meant by the phrase "Runescape is becoming easier," I'd like to look further in to some updates that have led people to believe that this statement is true. Most recent of these types of updates are bonfires and Runespan. These two skills in a way are very similar to train, but have always had very different levels of respect associated with them. Firemaking has always been lighting fires in a line, furiously clicking on a tinderbox and a log over and over again for the whole duration of training. Although this was a very tedious task, it was never considered a difficult skill because of the fast xp and relatively low cost. Runecrafting has always been one-dimensional in its training as well, just running back and forth between a bank and an altar crafting runes. Runecrafting has always been regarded as one of, if not the, hardest skills in the game, not only because it has extremely low xp rates even at higher levels, but because it requires constant attention that is unrivaled by few other skills. So how have bonfires and Runespan changed these? Instead of constantly having to click in order to train these two skills, you can now simply add logs to a pre-existing bonfire and your whole inventory will be added one by one automatically. Similarly at Runespan, instead of doing any running at all, after initially spending a few minutes collecting essence and runes, one can camp a single area and siphon esswraiths and nodes indefinitely. So in the past two game updates, Jagex has managed to make one of the easiest skills and one of the hardest skills and offer training methods for them that require little attention to achieve xp rates at or above previous methods.

It isn't like these types of updates are new at all though. All skills have been updated to become easier to train since Runescape has been released, more dramatic ones like the Living Rock Caverns for mining and ivy for woodcutting come to mind, but the list goes on and on. Not only have skills been made easier over the years, but how players interact with the game has also become less demanding. Since its introduction, the "make-x" option has made it in to almost every artisan skill in some form or another. This has been said to be a bad thing by many people who played "back in the day" when all of these actions done automatically had to be done one by one by the player. Although I do agree that the game has gotten easier over the years, I for one do not thing this is a problem as many other players do. In my view it is simply the natural progression of the game and the way Jagex has to go with developing skills. If they were to release new content that was harder and took more effort than methods already in the game would people do them? The answer is simply no, and we have seen this with some game updates as well, where updates like the Flash Powder Factory or the artisans workshop are not any better than previous methods for training, so they become dead content shortly after release. So what is Jagex to do, make new content that is surpassed by already existing content, release updates that make the game easier that will actually be used by the majority of the player base, or just let the game be stagnant? I believe that if you think about it you can realize that updating the game to provide new better and easier content is the best way to keep people interested in playing the game, and attract new members as well.

The last thing I want to touch on is what types of players are really affected by the game getting easier. More specifically, who are the people claiming that the game becoming too easy is a problem and who doesn't not mind it and uses any training method given to them. Naturally it would seem that players who are upset that the game is becoming too easy view the game as more of a competition with players around them. They view that because they trained a skill in an older, more difficult method, and that their achievements have lost value because new methods have come out that allow other players to more easily catch them. This is not an unreasonable way to feel, but I invite people who do feel this way to look at it from another perspective. As I mentioned before, it would be a poor move on Jagex's part to sit around and not allow for new methods to train and level up. This would only discourage more people from training those skills, and eventually discourage them from not playing the game as a whole. Whether you've trained using an older more difficult method or a new easier method such as bonfires or Runespan, achieving a 99 is no easy feat, and requires many hours of work. But if you are someone that suffered through clicking all those logs or running back and forth at the ZMI altar, nobody will care that you could have easily gotten it recently with some newer method. If they do think less of you because you could have trained using a certain method, they are not worth your time. Most importantly, if these achievements mean enough to you, you shouldn't need the high scores to feel better about your skills, simply take pride in what you have done and how much time and effort you put in to it.

Many updates to Runescape have made it easier and there is no doubt many more to come. This doesn't mean that the work you have previously put in is any less important, because at the end of the day what you get out of this game, and any game for that matter, is self-satisfaction. Only you know exactly how much time and effort you have put in to your character, so you should be the only one who's opinion matters when judging it.

This was originally posted as an Informer Runescape article.

Very well done article Jason and a great topic. I just have a few criticisms and points to mention.

In terms of the definition of "making the game easier," I'd agree with your description. I think one thing to keep in mind is that we are talking about the average player...not the pro pvper or the skiller. Typically, the game is improved for the average player who, barring updates to the game, would more likely than not train a skill past a certain point. Take firemaking for example. Many players would rather just leave the skill alone. It doesn't have a great many uses besides lighting fires and quest requirements. An average player might train it up to 50 or 60, but end it there seeing no point in going any further. The skiller or rich person, on the other hand, would keep going simply because they can afford it or have the time to do it. When the game is made easier, it's not really for the skiller or rich person who is going to get 99 anyway. It's for the people who would rather not train the skill. But if the skill becomes easier to train, aka like you said with less effort, then average players are more likely to train it. This in turn, discounts the time and effort other players had to put in before the update to achieve the same progress, leading to understandable frustration. I'll come back to this later.

In terms of the issue of respectable skills, I think it's somewhat overrated. Really, when you say respect, you are talking about the amount of effort (what I would term "time") put in a by a player to get a high level or 99 in a skill. Cost and speed aside, it's the time you put into something that determines it's respectability. For example, if a pure F2per were to get 99 prayer, even members would be impressed simply because it is difficult no matter what you do. Not only do you have to bury tons of bones, but to purchase bones you have to pay upwards of more than 400m. Again, back to respect, what we are really recognizing is the amount of time someone puts into a skill. Could we really respect a rich member for 99 in all skills knowing that he could afford the best training? I'd say no. Regardless of the time they put in, you know they were able to afford the faster training methods. So in terms of the money issue, it's a moot point. Speed typically ties in with cost. That leaves effort (time) spent in the skill. The reason I say respect is overrated is for two reasons. First, we are talking about time spent by an individual. Really, we all know Runescape is a waste of time insofar as it only provides entertainment, but no application to real life. Thus, are we trying to say players value wasting time? If that's the case, then I really don't care for respect. Wasting time (for lack of a better term) is still just a waste. The fact you put in days training a skill would rather just make me pity rather than applaud you, but that's just a personal observation I guess. Second, you can't compare all 99s to each other. The game doesn't track when a skill became easier and mark cutoff points. The hiscores are cut and dry and simply show people who have gotten 99s, but it doesn't show when or how. Therefore, how can you respect one person's 99 over another unless they told you how they trained or you observed it yourself. All those people who got 99 Runecrafting before the Runespan still have respectable 99s. Still, they are going to be mixed in with all the people who are now getting 99s because of Runespan. It doesn't belittle the achievement. I guess in the end, it all depends on context and when you got your 99. You could say 99s are easier now, but there are still those who got 99 before it was easy. So just something to keep in mind.

Now, on to the issue of recent updates. I think bonfires make complete sense. Sure, it makes it easier in a way, but it makes sense that you should be able to add logs to a fire. You could debate the experience increase is not needed since removing the constant clicking should sufficiently improve the skill. Really, that's what people wanted change, not experience gains necessarily. The fact remains that Firemaking is in desperate need of an improvement. It just needs to be made more relevant. As to Runespane, yes I'd agree it is quite to easy insofar as you do not need as much time or focus to train it. Still, no runes are produced by the Runespan making it only a training ground. People will still go out and make runes to make money, just not as many as before (unless prices rise). I don't think Jagex had the wrong idea in mind. I personally liked anytime they added a "Make all option" since it only makes sense that 99% of people want to make all the bars in their backpack. Same is true for cooking. Obviously, players want to cook everything, not just a small number. It just took an unnecessary element out of the game. That said, a skill like Runecrafting is hard on it's own and probably needed the improvement. Whether or not they went to far is debatable (I agree they did make it a little too easy). It was still the right idea, through.

And you are right that the updates aren't really new at all. They happen quite often and usually help the skill. Of course content goes out of date as is part of all games. That doesn't mean that new players can't use the content, just the older players don't need to. Updates keep the game fresh and that's good. Where you have to be careful is in the degree to which it makes the game easier on the whole. Back to that later.

As to the whiners and complainers, there are many and they are varied. We really need to squelch some of them. First, all the free players have nothing to argue. 1)They don't show up in the hiscores and 2) they don't pay membership which is where most of these updates are made. As to people who already have 99s, they have nothing to complain about either. No one forced them to get a 99. They did it of their own accord knowing that in the future it could be improved. If they truly wanted the 99, they shouldn't complain. They got it when they wanted it because they liked it, not because it was easy. As to members in general with p2p/f2p updates, give it a rest. Just because you got a membership doesn't mean you never throw a bone to f2p from time to time. F2p players deserve content, too. Not as much, but at least something. I think Jagex has done fine in that regard. Finally, to anyone at all who complains, keep in mind that just because an update is released doesn't mean you have to use it. So what if there are bonfires now. In members, I still see people doing entirely lines (maybe they are bots, maybe not). The point is, those old methods are still around and still can be used. Therefore, it's entirely dependent on the person on whether or not the game becomes easier. So what Runespan came out. Keep using ZMI or the air altar. No one is forcing you to use Runespan. If your aim is respect, you can still achieve it with old methods. All it means is that people who don't care about respect or just want a 99 now have it better.

I'd write a conclusion, but yours hits it on the nail, Jason. It's the satisfaction that YOU get out of the game that counts, not what other people think. So what, everyone is getting 99s left and right. That doesn't mean you have to do it the same way. You can do it easy or hard, whichever you prefer. If you come to me and tell me got 99 Fishing by only doing shrimps, I'll be impressed, though a little confused as to why you would do that to yourself. Ultimately, things will become easier over time unless Jagex leaves things as they are or goes back. Since neither of those are likely to happen, you better get used to it. On a parting note, I think it's the Grand Exchange that made the game very easy, but that's a topic for another time perhaps and I've wrote enough for now.

Again, well done Jason. Glad you addressed the issue.