It is written by Mod Edu and is dated 27 October 2010.
Editor’s note
Hello there,
Welcome to this community blog, which is designed to give you some insight into the alternative gameplay that many of you submerge yourselves in. Everyone loves to see new content but not all new content needs to be graphical, a new skill or a fresh quest. Creating a new way to play can be just as engaging and the versatility of RuneScape can make developers of us all! Yes, even those of us with absolutely zero tech skills!
Gielinor is such a thriving world that when you’re not slaying dragons, working towards the next skillcape or pwning enemies, there’s still a myriad of places to go, people to meet and activities to get involved in. In this blog, I’ll guide you through just a bit of what’s out there and how you can get in on the action. If you want to try something different, then this is the place for you.
In the future, we will get even more feedback from you, but for now, I just want you to enjoy October’s issue by a warm fire as the days get shorter and colder (or even warmer, depending on where you are lucky enough to live).
Mod Edu
Outside the box: Emergent Gameplay
Full of possibilities and endless opportunities, emergent gameplay can come under both of these terms; it just all depends how far you're willing to go through the looking glass. Most players will spend a few minutes with the items or element in question, only to leave it on the side. Others will spend days of gameplay, finding new use out of their new-found item.
Most people use their own competitive urge to create and spawn new types of games. For example, throwing a ball around is one of the games passed down since the Middle Ages and many players have emulated it in RuneScape through Gnomeball. For those who prefer things a bit more combat-based, fighting rings present their own brand of Wrestling Entertainment Goodness (not known as WEG). If the challenge of a mighty tournament sounds appealing, then there’s a whole community of people waiting to meet you in the tournaments section of the forums.
Player-owned houses can be a gold mine for creators everywhere: amateurs of architectural design can surpass themselves to create what they want: hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, even professional meeting rooms. Some people even choose to become international businessman overnight by creating their own corporations, combining all of these individual businesses.
They’re all waiting for you here: Businesses and Services.
Adepts of the marketplace may have met one of the various supply companies. Designed to complement existing trading methods such as the Grand Exchange, they ‘set up shop’ here in the forums with a well-appreciated personalised touch and a face to the shopkeeper. The customer gets their product, the seller gets the cash and everyone is happy. Once in a while, it isn't so bad to talk with one another.
The successful alternative to this is lending items: you're not going to get in on this cheaper alternative by using the Grand Exchange, so players running rental services have found great success for the cash-minded adventurer or party-goers. A great example is Purge’s item lending service.
You would be mistaken to believe that only players endorse this new gameplay: J-mods do it too! Stick around RuneScape during a public holiday and, chances are, you’ll come across events organised by us that show you a different side of the game. Sometimes, it’s a small twist on a current theme (eg PvP hide and seek) while at other times we’ll add brand new content to the game, just for the event. You might have seen two fairly recent examples of this with Cryptic Clue Fest and Oktoberfest.
Over the years, we’ve seen player-created gameplay come alive and thrive. We’ve also seen millions of events and, over that time, we’ve come to understand what works and what doesn’t work quite so well. Here are my top five things to think about if you’re in the creative mood and want to - essentially - create your own RuneScape content:
1. Be unique. Really do not let yourself be restrained.
2. Think of open-ended concepts. Passing a ball or building a POH house are great for this as the options are so diverse.
3. Be solid. Think carefully about how your idea works.
4. Think of how to get other people involved. It’s always more fun with friends!
5. Have fun. You tend to be more creative when you’re in a positive mindset and are enjoying what you’re doing.
So, there's really something for everyone in RuneScape, even if you sometimes have to go beneath the surface to find it. Find a shovel and dig: you never know what treasure you will fall on!
Muses by the community
First of all, I would like to thank all those who attended the Businesses and Services Community Chat meeting on the 9th of October, looking into why they joined this community in the first place and what made them stay.
Special thanks go to House Guild for offering her service for the community.
Jamandy52, owner of the B&S directory: 'Something unique that didn’t already exist' while Jaxster joined as part of his Skilling goals into some of the various supply companies.
Verailium is attracted to the social and creative aspects of the community and W as in Will loves the lack of trolls.
Stelle Pie loves the idea of ownership that the community gives to him, but it’s left to House Guild to sum it up very nicely: 'To me it is one of the most fun parts of the game.'
Everyone was curious at first and hopefully, you will be as well.
Questions & Answers
Question
Will there ever be a time where we (Businesses & Services Community) will be left on our own without Jagex's support to help build ourselves up? What is the next course of action for Businesses & Services (B&S)? - Raja
What will you, as a Jagex moderator, do to help further increase in quality and quantity the community of gnomeball, and Tournaments as a whole? - Cicobe1
Answer
I believe that at the end of the day, we're giving you support because you deserve it. The B&S community is capable of coming up with new ways to approach RuneScape as a game and as an overall community. In return, we wish for you guys to have a great experience.
Some examples of the support we can bring you:
- 'Promote my stuff': if it’s good and needs that golden touch, we can bring it.
- We can come to your gatherings or events.
- We can give you some advertisement: this is a good example.
- If it’s really, really good: we can give you some YouTube or frontpage support!
From my perspective, if it’s good it deserves to be mentioned and supported by us. Once the word is spread that there are some pretty awesome things in the community, there will be more people to come and enjoy the experience and thus enhance it.
Question
Will there be any in-game content updates that would help the B&S community in the future? - Purge
Answer
To be honest, 'Businesses & Services' and 'Tournaments' forum communities are hosts to variants of Emergent Gameplay and they seek to take content and use it in unique ways. This means that any potential updates could spawn a new aspect in the community!
I wouldn't rule out content designed to enhance your experience directly, however, as we have done things like this in the past (Faruq's tools). Something like this suggestion from a fellow player fits the bill: 'I feel houses need a way to kick one person out of our houses without having to kick everyone else. It would allow (wrestling) shows to run more smoothly, improving our shows and preventing any delays.' - Samual Dude
We cannot promise to make every great suggestion become a reality - but if we really like it and we think it will help people, then there’s a good chance it will end up on the ‘to do’ list!
For anyone out there, feel free to pass on suggestions that may be useful in this regard in the appropriate Jagex & Community threads:
Businesses & Services J&C
Tournaments J&C
Get into the action: Wrestling!
Future submissions
Want to be in the next issue with your comments, pictures or artwork? Grab my attention in an interesting fashion and you could potentially have your input in the next issue, whether that’s your comments, some advertisement or some good old-fashioned artwork. I generally come and visit the Tournaments and Businesses & Services forum communities, but drop a line anywhere: hopefully, I’ll catch your call and get in touch.
Tournaments can be found HERE.
For Businesses & Services, visit HERE.
In this first letter, Mod Edu presents the emergent gameplay community as it showcases the array of activities they indulge in.