Note: ThirdScape has been cancelled and elements will be integrated into RuneScape. See this thread for details.
ThirdScape is an upcoming MMORPG from Jagex for 2010, not to be confused with MechScape. While I have given it the name ThirdScape it is known internally as by its year (e.g. the head is referred to as the ‘head of 2010′). This untitled project was announced by former Jagex CEO Iddison at the GameHorizon conference back in June 2008. According to one attendee Jagex “have plans for a third MMO sometime in 2010″ which “may use micro-transactions” . Head of MechScape Henrique Olifiers said in June 2008 that the “subscription model is not dead, and I personally doubt it will ever be. Nonetheless, this doesn’t justify a dismissal of other revenue models, and anyone not considering them seriously when designing new MMOs (or hiding behind poor justifications for this matter) will be doomed to get old in a market that’s all about innovation”.
In July 2008 they posted an advert for the position “Head of MMORPG” which in some postings had the job code “ho2010″ and is therefore likely to be for the Head of ThirdScape role. This vacancy interestingly stated “knowledge or experience of developing products for multiple platforms” as a useful attribute. In December 2008 a job vacancy was discovered which seemed to be for a ThirdScape content developer role. According to one Jagex employee the company held a brainstorming session for the game in late July involving both senior content developers and more junior staff. Iddison said in October 2008 that “going forward, we are considering in our future MMOs having not just subscription but micropayments too”.
The game designer role vacancy says that someone would join “a new design team, creating concept and design documents for an as of yet unannounced title” and mentions working on “quests, minigames, skills, monsters, etc” and “Experience of designing games for a young audience”.
See this thread for references and the confirmed news forum for the latest information.
-Ren, Lead Researcher of MechScape World
