Almost as if Schmidty’s words at the beginning of this episode were some sort of jinx, we’ve got another late episode this time around. With school starting for most of us, please do understand that the podcast can’t always be our priority. We’ll keep doing whatever we can to get the episode out as quickly as possible, and then more recorded afterwards. Although the news items might be out of date, the topic of the week certainly might still be worth a listen! Stay social out there!

The Patch Notes Episode Four: And We Thought We Were Social…

The Patch Notes Episode Four: And We Thought We Were Social… direct download

Princess Rae joins us as a special guest (Hey, we’re all co-hosts!) to discuss being social in RuneScape and Jagex’s normal slew of updates, this week including graphical and audio changes, players galleries galore, and even more RuneFest competitions.

In this episode:

-Topic of the Week: Level 138: is it worth it socially?

-Regular discussion of this week’s updates and newsposts: graphical and audio updates, Clan Citadel wallpapers and shirts, players’ galleries, RuneFest competitions, and the seemingly now-annual Golden Joystick Awards newspost, the patch notes, hot forum topics, and quick poll.

-Rants

-Questions and Comments

-”Thanks to Jagex games or the internet, we didn’t…”

Hosts: YakHunta, Schmidty102, Desilord10, Ben Ryfos, Princess Rae

Length: 1:19:01 (79:01)

Recording date: August 10, 2011

Intro song: Can’t We All Just Get Along? by Copperhead ft. DoKashiteru, Steve Bryant, snowflake, Robert Siekawitch, Mikel Thomas, BillRayDrums licensed under a Creative Commons license.

http://ccmixter.org/files/copperhead/32430

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

Outro song: Cherubs by Josh Woodward licensed under a Creative Commons license.

http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/79549

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

We are currently in the process of licensing the podcast under Creative Commons, please bear with us .

Alright, here’s an essay on what’s upsetting everyone.

To Jagex:

I think the main reasoning behind not supporting the Refer-A-Friend program is that RuneScape was never a game where these programs would have seemed to fit. Whereas games like WoW have had microtransactions, bonus experience, etc, for awhile, RuneScape was always a game of everyone on the same level. No benefits. No bonuses. No rewards.

None of these changes in themselves are that big of a deal. Sure, they’ll get players upset to see a new marketing direction, however, it’s not any one particular change. It’s the combination. Stuff like Bonus XP Weekends, Ornate Katanas, the Loyalty Program, the new Referral Program, the huge increase of botting, return of Free Trade and Wilderness, and etc.

Old habits die hard. Your marketing strategy has changed so much, so quickly, that the players that have been loyal for years have trouble keeping up. RuneScape was always a game that was spread through word of mouth. Obviously, that is not working as well as it used to, and a solid advertising program is now needed. This can be blamed in fault as much to the players as much as to Jagex.

To the Player:

These riots don’t do anything to benefit either side. Construct feedback. Post reasoning. Show that you’re unhappy with the direction the game is headed, but do it in a beneficial way. Rioting just makes everyone involved look like a bunch of kids throwing a temper tantrum.

Please though, keep in mind that this is a new Jagex: a new marketing strategy, and one that is in use pretty much industry wide. Sure, it may not seem like one that Jagex would have bought into years ago, but this is a different environment. Word of mouth referrals aren’t working. People are leaving RuneScape, and there has to be some way of getting traffic back. If you don’t like the current methods, offer an alternative. Jagex may just take it up instead.

To Everyone:

The program may be good. It may be bad. At this point, it’s too early to tell. Hold back your judgement, and tell me two, three, six months down the road what your opinion is on it. Has it drastically harmed RuneScape? The answer will probably surprise you.

These programs are not the core of the game. The content is. Yet this year, through all of the problems Jagex had with player relationships in marketing strategies, they have by far made up with one of the best years of content — this month especially, with ABSOLUTELY STUNNING graphic changes across half of the RuneScape world, a new quest in an amazing series, and awesome minigame updates. Overall, the content is what keeps me playing or makes me leave, and let me tell you, they have done a lot to keep me playing. Overall, that’s what’s important, and that is what we should be judging by — not some 10% bonus that can only be active 10% of the time — yearly, that’s about 1% experience gain. For me, that’s about the difference of playing one minute more per day. Is it really that big of a deal?

Hi there, and welcome to the first edition of the RuneScape Times Monthly Newsletter! Some of you may know me, some of you may not, and even more still may know me as one of my other aliases, but let me introduce myself anyway! My RuneScape name is Supermancav (but you can call me Paul) and I recently joined the Editor team at RuneScape Times. I’m very excited to be a part of the team, and also to be writing this first newsletter!

This month’s newsletter is going to be short and sweet, just a bit of information over the last month at RuneSlayer and some thoughts on the August Behind the Scenes. Enjoy!

Last Month at RuneSlayer

July saw the release of over 20 new RuneSlayer quests, two new Court Cases, and an update to the Dungeoneering guide! July also saw the inception of two new programs within the RuneSlayer community: Making a Difference and the Esteemed Members Group.

Full list of July’s updates:

• 25[34 including sub-guides!] Quest Guides ( Ratcatchers, Smoking Kills, Shades of Mort’ton, Salt in the Wound, The Fremennik Isles, Ghosts Ahoy, Hazeel Cult, Dwarf Cannon, The Grand Tree, The Golem, Demon Slayer: Shadow of the Storm, Fight Arena, Throne of Miscellania, Royal Trouble, Monkey Madness, Troll Stronghold, A Fairytale Part II – Cure A Queen, Grim Tales, Troll Romance, Glorious Memories, Recipe For Disaster[all sub-quest guides too], Dig Site, Desert Treasure, Shilo Village and Back to my Roots)
• 2 New Court Cases for Distractions & Diversions
• Dungeoneering Guide Updates (Bosses & Challenge Rooms)
• Launched “Making a Difference”
• Introduced the Esteemed Member’s Group

RuneSlayer Events!

Need some SC tools for that next Construction level? Some more penguin points for RuneCrafting? Then check out these weekly events held by RuneSlayer!

WEEKLY: Stealing Creation Event
Fridays @ 7:30PM EDT
World 45

WEEKLY: Penguin Hunting
Tuesdays @ 10:00PM EDT
Saturdays @ 4:00 PM EDT
World 60

August in RuneScape

So far we’ve seen three of August’s updates: the Grand Exchange update, the Edgeville update, and the Audio update. The Grand Exchange has been inverted: decorations now reside in the center, while the bank and exchange have been placed in the four corners of the circle. Personally, I’m a bit iffy on this update. I rather like the center decoration (though, personally I would have placed the Spirit Tree in the center with fountains surrounding it), but the pillars have a knack for getting in the way of me locating a banker. It’s just something I have to get used to, I guess!

The Edgeville update, on the other hand, is completely perfect! The lighting has been altered to give it the sense of darkness fitting of the town’s history and geography (for those that are unaware: Edgeville was a Zarosian fortress, followed by a desolate ghost town. It has only recently been recolonized. It also resides next to the dark and dangerous Wilderness). There’s also what appears to be a new locked castle within Edgeville, that has been confirmed to be used in a future update!

I don’t personally play with the sound on (too busy blasting some ADTR) so I have yet to see how the new audio updates are, but if you have please let use know in the comments below!

Next up this month is the Temple Trekking rework. Now, already having a full set of lumberjack (and, wait for it: got all pieces in the less an hour of Trekking [be jealous!]), I probably won’t try the new trekking right away, but it still sounds like it will be good! Hopefully you will be able to choose lumberjack pieces as your reward to make it a bit easier for people.

Next up this month, and the one I’m looking forward to most, is the sequel to Branches of Darkmeyer! Now I could go on and on about how I don’t think the name is ominous enough for a quest in a series with names like Darkness of Hallowvale and Legacy of Seergaze, but then I wouldn’t have any time to tell you how excited I am for it! Now, as you may know, the original developer of the series (Mod Tytn), left Jagex last year. This has made a lot of us worry wondering how the sequel will be with a new developer, but I’m quite confident it will be great! As long as we don’t use the Blisterwood Tree to fashion ourselves a giant wooden pillar, that is!

Pillar jokes aside, we come to the final update of the month: minigames! The end of the month will see the release of many new rewards from various minigames around RuneScape. The one I’m most excited for of course being a Jad Pet! I can’t wait for that! We’ll also see the release of Master Runecrafter robes, which should make RuneCrafting a bit more bearable for most of us! Also in this update will be new livid farm spells, level 85 Hybrid Armour (don’t get your hopes up; see: Abyssal Vine Whip), Necromancer gear (which sounds like the mage equivalent of White Knight armour like Proselyte), cosmetic Skull staves, and Shadow wraps for the aspiring thief.

I must admit, it sounds like a pretty good month! That’s not keeping me from hoping for Ritual of the Mahjarrat next month, of course!

Finally, I’d like to take a moment to say goodbye and apologize to Mod Trick. Trick is departing from Jagex this month so that he can travel. For those of you that don’t know, Trick was one of the developers of Dungeoneering, and more recently developed the finale to the Sea Slug series, Salt in the Wound. I’d like to take a moment to personally apologize to Trick for being so critical (scratch that: rude) in regards to his quest. I understand it was his first try at making a quest, and being thrown into a finale that a lot of players had big expectations for would make things even worse. For that, I’m sorry, and I’d like to wish you well in your travels!

I am, however, going to continue using pillar jokes. Dem pillars, man!

Closing

Well, that’s all for this month! I hope you enjoyed this month’s newsletter! Check back each week for my personal and in-depth review of each update as they roll out, and look for next month’s newsletter on September 1st, hopefully full of games, in-depth reviews, predictions, and the going-on’s of the RuneScape and RuneSlayer community!

From last Wednesday to today, it’s been a struggle both recording and producing the latest installment of The Patch Notes, as we’ve run into technical difficulties more times than we could count! We’ve had to delay the podcast for a day, record through a nearly two-hour show without , subsequently cut about 20 minutes of it (On a flight and in Nicaragua, nonetheless!), and wait through scattered thunderstorms and heavy rain to upload on unreliable internet service. The finished product is late this week, but we’ve got some interesting topics for you in the show to make up for it! Hopefully this doesn’t happen too often, and as always, please send us your feedback and let’s get the podcast on the right foot… or the best foot possible!

The Patch Notes Episode Two: Ignoring the Floating Sky in the Castle

The Patch Notes Episode Two: Ignoring the Floating Sky in the Castle direct download

As the anticipation for Clan Citadels grows sky-high, we take a look at Jagex’s consistency and user interface troubles, just in time for discussion of the “Salt in the Wound” quest and the rest of the week’s updates!

In this episode (Better description!):

-Update on last week’s Twitter situation

-Topic of the Week: Jagex’s consistency, the lack thereof, and RuneScape’s user interface troubles.

-Discussion of this week’s updates: “Salt in the Wound”, Clan Citadels, the Golden Gnome Awards, various Developer’s Blogs, Quick Poll, Hot Forum Topics, and Patch Notes.

-DJ’s Rants

-Questions and Comments

-Shout-outs

-”Thanks to RuneScape, Jagex games, or the internet, we didn’t…”

Hosts: YakHunta, Desilord10, Ben Ryfos, Schmidty102, Suppachuppa

Length: 1:38:58 (98:58)

Recording date: Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Intro song: “Tyrannosaurus” by Jim Johnston

Outro song: “Scatman” by Scatman John

Thanks to everyone for listening!

Any questions to be aired on the next show? Did we miss something? Any suggestions? Want to be on the show? Shoot us an email at thepatchnotespodcast@gmail.com (Audio questions to be accepted soon!) We’re currently looking for free, Creative-Commons complaint theme songs, please send us your suggestions if you have any!

The latest forum to hit the Runescape Forums is the “Reshuffle Part 2.” The original communities set by the Forum Reshuffle of April 2010 have been removed and the individual forums have been reorganized. This update was a long anticipated update by the Forum public, but there was more to it.

After the second reshuffle, a message was released that certain forums would possibly be subject to removal and within a few days of the update, Rants and two other forums were placed in a category for the “To-Be-Terminated” forums. The Rants forum has now been removed with Jagex stating that it will not return.

Now, the forum moderators and jagex moderators are being forced into action by forumers who are upset with the removal of the Rants Forum, the Compliments Forum has taken the biggest blow from this as all of the Rants about the update are being made there.

This will prove a good test for the recently added Forum Update System and the new Head of the Community Management Team.