Bot Nuke Day on the RuneScape Homepage

Let’s get down to what we know will happen on the 25th…

Codenamed ‘Clusterflutterer’ (if only you knew what I thought that said the first time I saw it), this prevention technology will effectively stop reflection bots from working. What is a reflection bot, you say? Lucky for you, I’ve done my research!

Reflection bots apparently read incoming packets sent from RuneScape’s game servers to your computer which allows them to determine where certain objectives are. For example, if you were in Draynor, the packets would indicate the location of a Willow tree, thus allowing the bot to find the Willow tree and play the game for you.

Most who have done their reading would know that there are not only reflection based bots out there in the world of RuneScape – there are also injection bots. These bots use a more complicated way of manipulating the way RuneScape behaves.

Injection bots use code already made by someone else that can be injected into the client, changing various areas of the game. For example, an injection bot can change the colour of a certain rock or read item codes to figure out what is what. However, these are easier to detect, so Jagex sees reflection bots as a much higher risk to RuneScape.

Though many have said that injection bots will not be affected, Jagex has stated that they will be affected just as much as reflection bots, which leads us to think that RuneScape may very well be ‘bot-free’. But for how long?

Quite recently I saw a thread on Surreal’s forums covering a news post JaGeX made at some point last week stating they are developing a new concept called Clan Citadels. We’ve been treated recently to the clan system update which introduced customisable clan capes, mottos, forums, high scores and much more.

The clan update that JaGeX released was in my opinion something that truly changed the face of the game forever. It’s reached out to new and current clans and to this day gives clans more variety and makes them much more approachable and maybe even successful.

Clan Citadel concept art

Based off this clan system, having a castle in the sky with your clan symbol everywhere, being able to build your own skilling hotspots, a partyroom, a senate and even battlefield that only your clan can see and share is something that is truly groundbreaking for a game like Runescape.

The July Behind the Scenes article stated the following about the upcoming update:

Our graphics department have been busy adding over 4,000 new models and over 20,000 new animation frames to the game for Clan Citadels, making an environment that we are particularly proud of.

Clearly this is going to be a huge update to the clan structure in Runescape and I can only hope that all of this effort is actually appreciated and used for months and possibly years to come. This sounds like something that would really make or break itself in terms of functionality.

JaGeX have stated that any experience gained in the “maximum of seven” skilling hotspots which you can build with your clan inside your citadel will be less than what you get from the ground – which makes sense, but is a let down at the same time. Oh well, you can’t have everything you want, right?

My only concern about this update is that it may decrease prices of resources even more – though prices at the moment are horrible, they could get worse by allowing clans to have their own custom space for various resource collecting skills (assuming that is the case with the hotspots)

Either way, this update will make its mark and I will look forward to covering the rest of the story as it unfolds. I personally cannot wait for the Development Blog which will definitely tout much more information and a better look at what we should expect from it.

Though JaGeX did make a massive step forward taking the risk in providing free tools to assist users to make Runescape clans, they made a few mistakes that are costing the clan community more than they are giving.

I was not amused that this update changed the face of what a clan is in Runescape. Many people see it as either a ‘free cape ride’, or a ‘group of randoms that pk together’. Though this is all well and good, most of these ‘clans’ serve the same purpose as a Clan Chat always did… a chat.

My gripe with this change is that players who are new to the clan world are directly exposed to a mess of free capes and wannabes. I thought being in a clan was about honour, experience and leadership – now that is all changing.

The quality of clans needs to step up, and JaGeX was probably better off making it more difficult to run a clan because overall, you get better quality and a stronger community. Now we must deal with the consequences of making a Runescape clan a 5-minute job.

Guthix help us.

Well for starters, Runescape is a simple time game with some strategy added into the mix. I don’t have enough time to plan a good gameplay strategy or grind extra hours into my study or social life to get things done in a virtual world. I’ve gone through this quitting fiasco so many times its like a ritual now… start playing, quit, start playing, quit. It’s a never ending cycle!

Then it hit me, all these years, no matter what the circumstances… I always found my way back into Runescape. I have friends who walked away from the game many years ago and have now come running back due to free trade and wilderness. It’s near impossible to stay completely clear of the game and that’s something that scares me a little! :P

Though I can admit, I do enjoy the game sometimes. I mean, I have my times during the year when I really can’t be bothered logging in, but other times I have these skilling outbursts where I end up absolutely beasting it! It’s very weird :D

Being very experienced in the clan world, I see so many people come and go from Runescape, the amount of people that have joined clans, left them and joined back again because they’re back into the game is ridiculous. What is it about Runescape that keeps people coming back?

Is it the economy? Ha! No. Is it the community? Quite possibly. Though Runescape has a community that is increasingly moving to outside sources of communication to leave their messages, Runescape has one of the warmest, most open communities in the gaming world. The amount of friends you make on this game is amazing, and for me its the community that keeps me coming back, the clan world, too.

But then this raises the question – HOW do you quit Runescape entirely without drastic methods? Is it possible to just do the ‘cold turkey’ method and just leave?

Who knows. XD

Now that the filter has been removed from Runescape, JaGeX have given players the option to hide profanity or show it. Meaning that Player Mods no longer can report people for profanity, which I bet is the most reported-for thing in Runescape besides macroing.

Essentially, the benefit between Player Mods and normal players (besides the crown!) is the ability to mute other players on demand. With this introduction of the optional filter, should the muting powers still be as useful as before? Of course not!

It’s going to be interesting to see whether or not JaGeX needs more Player Mods now, because there is so much leniency shown by that one action to the filter, who knows what’s coming in the future? Mature worlds? A flood limit pushed even further?

The results are now in and, with 91% of the vote, you’ve told us loudly and clearly that you support the restoration of free trade and the Wilderness.

This means that the wilderness and free trade update is indeed on its way. It won’t come this month, but expect something on the 17th of January 2011 when Jagex announces what is actually going to happen. I predict that the Wilderness & Free Trade will return sometime in February or March of 2011 – definitely not January!

Happy to see it’s coming back, head to World 2, Falador! <3

These removals were made to protect Runescape as a whole, and back in 2007 when this decision was made, JaGeX assured as that it was in the community’s best interest for this to happen, so it did. Three years later we are now presented with a burning question – will these removed elements to gameplay return? Could it really be true?

JaGex attempts to bring the old days back...

Now finally, a game-changing decision is in our hands, what would we make of it? If JaGeX said they wouldn’t be satisfied with 1 million votes, how many do we need?!

Thinking of it rationally, all I can hope for and imagine is that JaGeX has sincerely thought this idea through and not made any hasty decisions based on some other form of business gain. Obviously if they would setup a poll of this kind, they would particularly be sure that the outcome cannot be 100% accurate, as it appears that anybody can vote using anybody’s username.

There’s just so many viewpoints and particular angles that this could be analysed from, especially since this is a game-changing modification. We all know how it went down last time, now can you imagine changing back after all the street prices have gone berserk?

…I do feel like this is all just a ploy to win some Guiness World record attempt – for a company so careful about account security, letting anyone use your name to enter an online poll in regards to the future of the game I just don’t see being legit. - Meg on the Surreal Forums

One can’t help but think that JaGeX has already made their choice based on this matter as there is no way to vote against this idea – if they really wanted to get the opinions of everyone they would have employed a much more secure and definite vote rather than this method, don’t you think?

So, let’s look at a few of the pros and cons that will come into play, should this whole thing go down:

Pros:

• Junk trading becomes obsolete
• Merchanting clans have much less power over the economy than at this point in time
• PvP will have an interesting twist, bringing back the old incentives that it used to hold
• Staking may have a use once again
• Players can benefit from cheaper prices on certain items such as Dragon Bones, as well as a renewed value for current items that have hit their Grand Exchange maximum cap
• PvP would be more balanced in terms of the economy, no more injecting of random items and money for no purpose
• Anyone can fight in the Wilderness on any world, cool!

Cons:

• Some items may have the equivalent of their current street prices which are ridiculous
• Trading may become a little bit more difficult
• Skilling may once again become overlooked as prices may plummet and interest in it will switch over to PvP
• The Wilderness will once again become a place that is dangerous for skillers
• Possibility of RWT/Botting epidemic
  

Now, that’s just a quick rundown. I’m sure there are plenty more (if you can think up anymore, feel free to share) that would be relevant to this situation. What do you think about this whole thing? Are you for or against this movement towards the ‘good ol’ days’ of Runescape? Can JaGeX ever properly restore the game back to that point of time, though trading was much less demanding than it is today?

So many questions to be asked and answered, it’s going to be a very interesting year to say the very least. I hope this voting goes down fairly well. Personally, I am for this change because I think that over the long term it will help the game, if we’re thinking short term, I don’t think it would be much help. It would be more likely to cause chaos than anything.

We shall wait and see.

With all of these factors contributing so largely to what it means to be a good player of the game, it came to me that maybe Runescape is losing its meaning just a little bit. I’m sure when Andrew Gower originally created Runescape he did not envision a race to see who has the best bragging rights on their XP and levels, which is what it is today. I personally play Runescape for the fun factor, I enjoy skilling, I enjoy activities and running my own clan.

If so many people from around the world are forcing themselves to play the game just for the sake of bragging rights; I say why? Why are they bothering? Why do people continuously play Runescape even if they don’t enjoy it? Easy. They want to feel respected.

I think a true Runescape player is someone who is fascinated by the community, the gameplay and loves to do various activities within the game for a purpose – enjoying themselves. Someone who is torturing their sleeping patterns and planning 18 hour days of playing just to get ranks up doesn’t make them a good Runescape player, does it?

What I can confirm about this statement/rumor is that it is most likely false, but could also be true. I’ve been doing some lurking research on the Runescape forums – checking out some posts and finally realised that it is apparently a bug. Jagex Moderators have been asking anyone affected to send in a bug report; and I trust you should do so if you are affected in any way to get your stats back.

I appreciate the anti-botting sentiment but as we’re still collecting information about the issue, it’s not really your place to confirm or deny your own theory. As always, players affected should submit a bug report and then wait for us to get in contact. And as that’s the final word on it, I’ve locked this thread down.

Thanks,
Mod Howes

At this point, it is completely unknown as to what is setting off these XP resets, but hopefully Jagex can do something about it fairly quickly, before it’s too late! If you have any thoughts/experiences/opinions on this issue, the comment box is right below this post. Like it if this helped!

Edit: I’ve done even more research and I can confirm that there are botters who are getting their stats reset. This seems to not necessarily plague any legit players that I’ve seen. Maybe this could be Jagex’s new way of dealing with bots?