Surprise! Thank You Adam & Jagex! Rating Options

[PoultryChamp]

About a week ago I said that the 24th would bring a surprise, perhaps the best thing to happen to MechScape World since it was founded. Now there are some details I am not allowed to talk about, but the vast majority I am allowed to share with you.

And Ed5, we were just joking in Skype... Jagex isn't getting sposored by Miller Genuine Draft.

What was the surprise?! An interview! Not just any interview. Yesterday (23rd) my time was spent, as Ren sat on pins and needles, driving to Seattle to meet with the Jagex Head of PR, Adam Tuckwell. He's positively evil!


(Ashley, Adam, Catharine, anonymous Starbucks employee with a funny face)

Laura's Interview with Adam Tuckwell
Featuring questions by the site members!

1) The biggest question on everyone's mind: When is MechScape coming out? If you cannot answer this, then what are the signs we should look for that MechScape is coming soon?
Adam: Sadly we are keeping the answer to that very close to our chest. In truth we want to get the game launched when it is ready, polished and full of compelling content to keep everyone busy. We know that there is a lot of excitement about the game and it is really great watching the excitement grow. The player anticipation is a real motivator for us to release the best game that we can.

2) We've heard from Mod MMG that there will be a race of pliigi. What other races may there be, and how many of them will be playable?
Adam: Certain elements of the game are a closesly guarded secret. I can't confirm anything right now, but we will be passing more information soon.
(Note: There will be playable races and Pliigi will be one of them. Adam was unaware of what Mark said the other night as he was traveling.)

3) While MechScape is aimed at an older audience it is still appropriate for younger players. Have you ever consider it having rated content or the possibility of disabling the chat filter?
Adam: We have designed the game so that it will appeal to everyone who is interested in Science Fiction. We believe that the content will appeal to an older demographic but as the game is a truly online game it is not necessary for it to be rated.

4) What do you feel are the main lessons you learned from RuneScape which you took into account when working on MechScape?
Adam: Since launching RuneScape HD last summer our technology team has been hard at work developing the game engine. Players can expect to see an extremely different looking game to RuneScape.

5) Could you please explain the gameplay of MechScape in detail? As of now you may only walk around in RuneScape by using your mouse, and leveling up is very tedious. Will MechScape have more advanced user controls?
Adam: Levelling in MMO's can be tedious and some games make levelling difficult in an attempt to cover for a lack of content. We are approaching game design in a totally new way, player progression will be unlike any other MMO currently on the market and we are sure that you and the other MechScape world followers will love it.

6) Various RuneScape stats can be levelled much quicker now than when they were initially introduced, which some argue lessens the achievement of early players. Do you expect the same to happen with MechScape?
Adam: As MMO's grow with additional content added there is a natural progression for content to become more difficult as it is added. Therefore, earlier quests or challenges will usually be easier to complete than the subsequent updates. In our games it is never the intention to lessen player achievements and we have put checks in place to ensure that this will not happen in our games in the future.

7) Let's talk character and "vehicle" design. How customizable will characters and vehicles be?
Adam: We are proud of our character customisation in all our games and we think that we will offer gamers a very wide variety of customisation for their characters which we will continue to focus on in all our future products.

8) Will the Beta Launch be free or will only paying members be allowed to enter the game, in the Beta?
Adam: We have a number of valued subscribers who have been loyal to Jagex and it is only right that we thank them. Current subscribers will be given access to the Beta and it will be free to play.

9) I've noticed that much of MechScape's concept art closely resembles Miyazaki movies such as Nausicaa and Castle in the Sky. Was Miyazaki an inspiration? What are some inspirations that brought MechScape together and gave it it's style?
Adam: The game has been inspired from a variety of areas, movies, games, and fiction all compiled together to get a truly unique gaming Experience.


10) Jagex has previously stated it would be tackling Real World Trading at a "core design level". Could you expand on this?
Adam: We are committed to abolishing RWT from all of our games. In MechScape we have designed the game to remove the need for RWTing. It is difficult to expand on what we have done for MechScape in particular until it is launched, we don't want to give RWT any clues.

11) A serious recession is slamming the UK right now. Gaming is known to be one of the booming industries right now. Is Jagex expected to ride out the recession and perhaps even turn a larger profit than 2008 in this frigid economic environment?
Adam: The UK, as with most of the world, is experiencing a financial slowdown. We have very popular games which are competitively priced, and we are confident that we will be able to ride out the recession.

12) Is Jagex planning to initiate any plans to further stop not just Real World Trading, but also cyber crime and child predators?
Adam: Cyber crime and child predators have no place in our games and we work tirelessly to remove any trace of them from our games. We have over 150 staff working 24/7 to provide player support and ensure that our games are safe and enjoyable for all of our users. Jagex has also worked closely with organizations that focus on ending cyber crime, and we have become well known in the industry for our level of safety and security.

13) Is Jagex planning to expand the customer support anytime soon? Last I heard, there were less than 300 support staff for more than 10 million players!
We have over 380 staff of which over 150 are dedicated player support staff. We have one of the most well respected support teams in the industry and would never compromise on player safety. In addition to the paid employees we have a large band of players moderators who, in their free time, support players and help moderate the game.

14. Our administrator, Ren, is planning to take over Jagex by getting your staff addicted to Space Pie. What is the antidote and where can we find it?!?!? -- phoneline cut; static --
Adam: Jagex castle is protected by an army of exploding sheep who have been trained to sniff out and eat Space pies. We believe that this army will keep us safe from harm.

In addition to the questions, here are some other highlights from the meeting with Adam:
March 23, 2009

- Jagex has demo'd the game to their PR agency, and the response from PR agents Catharine and Ashley was "very cool."

- MechScape has been worked on since 2006.

- MechScape, upon release, will be the size of the current world in RuneScape. It is a large game, nothing of which has ever been seen before on the web, and will differ totally from RuneScape.

- MechScape already has 1 YEAR of content updates waiting in the pipes!

- When asked the question of whether MechScape will be a more grunge type of Mech. or a futuristic Mech, the answer was Futuristic. I sort of confused him on that.

- MechScape has a dedicated team of 70 people that are in charge of supporting MechScape and only MechScape.

- Samantha H.'s MechScape concepts are not part of the official MechScape. This specific image from Darren B. is not part of MechScape.-Redacted

Hi Laura,

Great to meet you yesterday. Just to confirm the Darrens art work IS genuine! I think you got confussed with Kris F whose art is not MechScape. Hope that that helps.

Regards
Adam

- MechScape World was the key reason they changed their policy towards fansites!!

- The developers and artists of MechScape find great joy in reading our posts and love the feedback. Keep it comin'!

- Adam will be happy to answer follow-up questions to this post.


To end this post with a breath-taking announcement, I was presented, as a gift to MechScape World and a thank you, with a poster signed by the MechScape staff! Now, when I got home it was dark so the poster's brilliant artwork is kind of fuzzy. I promise to get better pictures in the daylight. This poster is absolutely gorgeous and every detail is wonderful.


(Large Version)


If you think this is great, you should review our past topics regarding concept art and game information. In our Official News for MechScape section we list dozens of confirmed information bits about the game. Concept Art #1 depicts a lava harvester, whilst Concept Art #2 shows us some style from the game. And just last week Mod MMG (Mark Gerhard) answered a few very important questions about MechScape! These are past topics you should not miss (oh, and check out Henrique's Q&A).

[Max]

I'm still surprised and yet I knew about the surprise. :D

*does happy dance*

SPACE PIE FOR ALL!!!

[Samywamy10]

Very cool, although it seems MechScape is still a mile away. Without telling us the actual details, what subjects aren't you allowed to discuss?

To be honest, it seems a bit short if Jagex travelled to Seattle because of it.

This post has been edited by Samywamy10: Mar 24 2009, 06:07 AM

[LtWolfe]

Awesome. I wonder, though, will it be only subscribers as of 3/24/2009 that are invited, or people that subscribe no matter when? I'm f2p right now on RS, but if I have to subscribe now to get in beta, I just might.

As well, one plea for the artists reading this thread: make the shoulders look amazing, and the helmets! I know people in the gaming industry hate it when customers go "make it like WoW" but they got it right! Looks matter. And I hate how RuneScape is like "this is the best possible set, and only this set." It should be like WoW where "this is the best for this, but this is also really good, and works a bit better for a different situation, but is still totally viable to the first situation." I want a bunch of options with gear, not just "this is the best piece of armor in the game, you must have it or you can't do anything."

[Dux Bell0rum]

OMGGGG!!!!! This is amazing news. Unexpected, and nice poster you guys got =D. I'm also glad to see that we are the reason they changed their policy towards fansites. I guess it just shows even if a lot of them might have spoiled fansite reputations with bad security, and rule breaking being allowed when one good one comes along they take notice :) and saw that not all fansites are bad, but some are really dedicated to the game.

Well done PoultryChamp on getting this, and big thanks to Adam, Ashley, and Catharine for taking sometime to sit down with Laura and give an interview while they were in town for a games conventions. Thanks to the MechScape team for the amazing poster.

I'm glad to see Jagex has come a long way, and look forward to future developments between MechScape World and Jagex!

Great job guys =D

Edit: Now Ren gets to decipher all the signatures and do research to see what else we can find out rofl :p.

Edit2: A couple questions for Mr. Tuckwell if he gets a chance,

It says you have a year's worth of updates already in the pipes, are these weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or a combination of some bigger updates and smaller updates?

On the beta:
Will the beta be for a set amount of time - a week or two weeks, or will it just go on until you are confident that the game is in adequate bug free condition?
Also, following the beta period will all statistics, game time, gains, etc. in the game be reset prior to the release, or will it just be left to continue when the game comes out?

[Raris]

Wow, very good interview, its exciting that MechScape world is being recognized.

[mechnugget]

OMG! Im going to eat space pie now.... :@

This post has been edited by mechnugget: Mar 24 2009, 10:57 PM

[Regor]

Wow, that's amazing. :)

[Dizzy]

WOW! Is that poster showing what MechScape will look like?! *drools*

Edit:
You should scan the poster.

[prod]

nice ammount of info there! Thanks

[Dracul]

mm, i do have to agree that it appears to have been an awful short interview with a few poorly answered questions in my opinion, but i suppose Jagex has a reasoning behind their madness.

The poster looks great, to be honest that city looks like something out of star wars, specifically mos eisley or something from Tatooiene, which in my opinion is pretty cool. Obviously though they took care to add a nice river and mountains which the planet in star wars massively neglected.

I believe though that, if that poster is indeed a representation of something in mechscape, then that poster is in fact a representation of the question asking whether or not Mechscape will be Grunge space or futuristic space game. That village/town/city looks obviously dirty, early industrial in its layout yet having futuristic architecture. Hopefully that city or town will be in the actual game.

Also in contradiction to my first statement and replying to samywamy10, Being as how Adam Tuckwell was with jagex's 2 PR agents, its likely that he is in the town or country for much then just some tea and crumpets. and an interview. Aka he is probably in the country to attend some gaming conferences, attend other, more important marketing and business meetings + related interviews.

[PoultryChamp]

Also in contradiction to my first statement and replying to samywamy10, Being as how Adam Tuckwell was with jagex's 2 PR agents, its likely that he is in the town or country for much then just some tea and crumpets. and an interview. Aka he is probably in the country to attend some gaming conferences, attend other, more important marketing and business meetings + related interviews.

He's going to meet Mark in San Fran. at the gaming conference. GDC.
It was by stroke of luck I got this interview.

[Dracul]

Also in contradiction to my first statement and replying to samywamy10, Being as how Adam Tuckwell was with jagex's 2 PR agents, its likely that he is in the town or country for much then just some tea and crumpets. and an interview. Aka he is probably in the country to attend some gaming conferences, attend other, more important marketing and business meetings + related interviews.

He's going to meet Mark in San Fran. at the gaming conference. GDC.
It was by stroke of luck I got this interview. :biggrin:

Ah, then i was right, i think

[Samywamy10]

Jagex is not on the GDC website anywhere. Maybe they are just visiting...with the Head of PR and the CEO...

[Zheph]

Whoooooooa! Amazing! Absolutely fantastic! That poster! How much must it be worth, and where do you live, Laura? (No, no, no! Just kidding!)
But, yes, that poster makes me excited, as much as the interview.

There's something that annoys me, though. When I tell my friends on RuneScape about MechScape, none of them (or most of them) aren't excited. They think it will be a failed game and probably worse than RuneScape. None of them believe that it will be different from RuneScape. Oh, how foolish they will all realise they have been! This game is going to be... *thinks of word to display an awesome amount of awesomeness, but soon fails*.

I do have a question though, what of the F2P players who buy subscription during the beta? It would be good business for Jagex to allow anyone who gets membership to play in the Beta. But perhaps they don't allow new subscribers. What about long-time subscribers who currently don't have membership? Think they could answer that question, on my behalf? Otherwise, i'm heading over to the subscription section right now! (Jagex, don't see this as a free money opportunity, making me spend money too early!)

[HangManTheSalty6...]

..So everything summed up from the interview

" We cant tell you anything about the game itself "

You could of just interviewed me or anyone and gotten similar answers.

But if its for the sake of national security and to prevent nuclear war then keep your tightly guarded
Mechscape secrets god knows the horrors that could happen if ner...terrorists got their hands on such
deadly information.

This post has been edited by HangManTheSalty69: Mar 24 2009, 07:15 AM

[Dux Bell0rum]

..So everything summed up from the interview

" We cant tell you anything about the game itself "

You could of just interviewed me or anyone and gotten similar answers.

But if its for the state of national security and to prevent nuclear war then keep your tightly guarded
Mechscape secrets god knows the horrors that could happen if ner...terrorists got their hands on such
deadly information.

Not really the impression I got off it, he actually revealed quite a bit to us, and it was very nice of them to even take the time for this.

[Dracul]

Whoooooooa! Amazing! Absolutely fantastic! That poster! How much must it be worth, and where do you live, Laura? (No, no, no! Just kidding!)
But, yes, that poster makes me excited, as much as the interview.

There's something that annoys me, though. When I tell my friends on RuneScape about MechScape, none of them (or most of them) aren't excited. They think it will be a failed game and probably worse than RuneScape. None of them believe that it will be different from RuneScape. Oh, how foolish they will all realise they have been! This game is going to be... *thinks of word to display an awesome amount of awesomeness, but soon fails*.

I do have a question though, what of the F2P players who buy subscription during the beta? It would be good business for Jagex to allow anyone who gets membership to play in the Beta. But perhaps they don't allow new subscribers. What about long-time subscribers who currently don't have membership? Think they could answer that question, on my behalf? Otherwise, i'm heading over to the subscription section right now! (Jagex, don't see this as a free money opportunity, making me spend money too early!)

As a wise person once said, Those that hope for to much are the ones that get hurt the most, those that hope for too little or expect too little or reserve their judgement until the evidence is in plain sight, are the ones that are most rewarded.

I'm not trying to call you a lesser person for getting your hopes up about Mechscape, but, you should be well prepared for massive dissapointment., as i advise my friends in their relationships and other issues, be prepared for the good, be even more prepared for the worse.

Other then that poster, and a couple artworks and tidbits of information that if it were food for a baby, the baby would die of starvation, jagex has succeeded in only building hype and building up the hopes of many people that if it were measured in the form of a skyscraper, would be the biggest in the universe. Jagex will ultimately succeed in doing one of 2 things: 1: When the game is released, people are so thrilled and jubilant about it that they go off setting off bonfires (figuritively not literally), or 2: People are so dissapointed and sad that they kill themselves. Sad, funny but true, there are alot of people in the world that are freaky enough that would do that over a game.

So you see what i mean?

[Zheph]

I'm feeling pretty confident that MechScape will be awesome, though.

[Ren]

Great interview Laura, and thanks everyone who contributed questions to our "for if we get an interview" thread!

In terms of how much information they gave it is far more than I ever would have dared dream for a few months ago, and along with the poster should give us plenty to discuss and get excited about. I am truly honoured about the fact that the Head of PR at Jagex arranged to meet up with a representative of our fan site in person for an interview. I would like to thank Jagex and their PR firm for making us the first fan site which they met in such a way, and would like to strongly state my intention to ensure that MechScape World is everything a good fan site should be both while we anticipate the launch and after the game is release.

I would also like to state that I will re-double my space pie efforts, and will ensure that we use nothing but the most innovative and effective technologies to help us achieve our goals of space pie domination.

(I may seem fairly calm and controlled in this message, but you wouldn't believe how excited I was when I heard about the prospect of this and how eagerly I awaited news of the interview from PoultryChamp)