Second set of Answers
Many of you will have read my newspost last week, in which I outlined our vision for the future of RuneScape, and also invited your questions. Well, the response has been absolutely awesome; in fact we’ve actually been a little taken aback! There have been nearly ten thousand questions posted or emailed by you, our players, and it’s become pretty obvious that we’re going to need to answer a lot more than we originally planned.
A lot of the questions concern areas in which I’m not the best person to reply such as the wilderness removal, to be quite honest. So what we’ve done is split them up, with me answering a selection of appropriate questions today, and my esteemed colleagues and I will be answering further questions over the next few weeks.
A big thank you to everyone that took the time to post a question on the forum or email it in - your feedback and interest in RuneScape are much appreciated, and we hope you will all continue to enjoy playing the game for a long time to come. So without further ado, here are the first batch of answers from yours truly
Update: Another 130 answers have now been added - check the News and Announcements forum (or further down the thread! We are also composing answers to questions about real-world trading and the Wilderness - hopefully we'll be able to post those soon.
Have fun!
Mod MMG
Jagex CEO
Tommy Z9 - How long have you been worked for Jagex?
I joined Jagex as their Chief Technical Officer (CTO) on 1st February 2008.
Kurinin742 - Did you know anything about work at Jagex before you started working at it?
No, not at the time, apart from the fact that they had a successful game called RuneScape, which I had never played before. I created an account and decided to check it out before I went for the interview. As a technologist I was very impressed that they had managed to achieve the seemingly impossible in a browser. I also realized after playing it for a short time that RuneScape was not only awesome, but also probably one of the best-kept secrets in the gaming space.
Earth Nomad1 - You say that you are an active player of RuneScape, so my question is this, how many quest points do you have and how many of those quests have you asked for help on? (be honest)
I have 90 quest points and 892 levels to date, so I hope that means I have graduated from noob status (although I’m sure some would debate that!). The honest answer is I have asked for help on loads of the quests, and in so doing also discovered a number of our valued fan sites. We have a few projects on the go that are designed to give simpler, easier access to information in game, including a better method to show which quests you are eligible to undertake.
Lbiboy - How did you rise so quickly through the ranks of JaGeX? you Joined up with them only a year ago, this month. From beginner to CEO in 12 months?
I think I have just been rather blessed, and I have a great team supporting me. Jagex is a great place to work if you enjoy working hard and are prepared to keep stretching yourself. The company has a tradition of promoting from within, and it is true to say some of our top executives, managers, technologists, creatives and support staff have come through the ranks over the years.
Awf Suir1 - What is your favorite skill in the game, and why? And what is your least favorite skill?
I generally like combat skills such as Melee, Magic and Ranged, and I’m really enjoying Slayer at the moment. Oddly enough I find Woodcutting and Firemaking to be my highest skills; there is something hypnotic about lighting fires all over Gielinor – I should probably speak to somebody about that!
Cute Kero 7 - Being such a busy fellow and all, do you find time to play RuneScape?
I tend to get a few hours in on the weekend, or late at night.
Benjo350 - Do you ever present any other ideas for content yourself, or is it solely developer only thing?
I’m a big believer in letting the experts do what they do best. I enjoy their content, and I wouldn’t presume to be able to present creative ideas to them.
Nighteyes604 - Will you be one of the JMods dropping in an in-game event?
Absolutely!
Vimescarrot - Did you get the job first, or play the game first? If the game, what made you decide to get a job at Jagex?
I heard about the vacancy for a CTO at Jagex but I was also looking at other roles around that time. I tried the game to better understand what Jagex did, and was really impressed with the technology and the game – the more I found out about Jagex (like the platform, proprietary in-house tools, languages, and systems) the more I was intrigued. I had an interview with Andrew that ended up being a being an in-depth IT security debate, and I was blown away to learn that Jagex’s approach to IT security was more rigorous than some of the banks I had consulted for, or even the lottery systems I had architected. I instantly realized this was an incredible company, with many high-caliber staff at the very cutting edge of so many technology fronts - I just simply had to work for Jagex.
Burned Bones - What's your combat level on your Rs Character?
My combat level is only 67, but I am deadly when it comes to chopping down trees
Valvar Exart - Are you leading all of your Jagex or Just RuneScape?
I’m responsible for leading Jagex as a whole with the support of a great team, including Andrew.
Sword908070 - In your opinion what age group would RuneScape be targeted to? middle school, high school, college?
I believe that everyone can find RuneScape enjoyable. I would suggest that it’s aimed at college students and older, but there is something for everyone, whether you’re 18 or 80!
Kinby - Will there be a new free-to-play (FTP) quest or a members’ quest made FTP?
We are looking to invest into all areas of the game - watch this space for further developments
Fishaddock - Do you play FunOrb games like Arcanists?
Ha ha, yes I find it highly addictive! There was a time I was company champion, but I have probably been displaced now by some more deserving staff member.
Darth Stefan - What will be the next language update?
There is enormous internal debate as to the next language; we have recently upgraded our systems to allow us to support any language – the problem now is we are spoilt for choice
Boomer12342 - Does this mean that you are taking over Andrew's position?? Just curious, if so, why did Andrew decide to step down, or if that’s not the case (of him stepping down), what happened?
I guess you could say that I took over the CTO role from Andrew in 2008. I believe Andrew felt that he was best placed to serve both in a technical and creative capacity across the entire business and leave most of the management of the various technical teams to me. I don’t think it’s a case of Andrew stepping down, more a case of him doing what he enjoys most, which is being actively involved in continuing to develop the technical capabilities of our games as well as the games themselves. I know Andrew is very passionate about RuneScape, and he continues to take a very active part in the business.
Racheya - With the current economic conditions, are you going to be increasing subscription prices any time in the near or distant future to help compensate for rising costs? And even if not, how is Jagex going to deal with the current economic situation?
No, we have no plans to increase the current membership prices for RuneScape. Jagex is a strong company, and contrary to much of the rest of the industry, we continue to grow financially. We believe our competitive price point, and unparalleled game value and depth, mean we are in a uniquely strong position.
Vaskor - Could you please clarify Jagex's position toward fan sites? Will the "openness" somehow apply to fan sites and communities established there?
Yes absolutely - we plan to work closely with responsible fan sites to support them in every way we can.
Issa5 - Does Jagex plan to use any of the ideas in the suggestions threads?
Yes indeed - we consider all the feedback we receive. Naturally it will never be possible to implement all feedback, but we are already looking at a number of strong suggestions.
A lot of the questions concern areas in which I’m not the best person to reply such as the wilderness removal, to be quite honest. So what we’ve done is split them up, with me answering a selection of appropriate questions today, and my esteemed colleagues and I will be answering further questions over the next few weeks.
A big thank you to everyone that took the time to post a question on the forum or email it in - your feedback and interest in RuneScape are much appreciated, and we hope you will all continue to enjoy playing the game for a long time to come. So without further ado, here are the first batch of answers from yours truly
Update: Another 130 answers have now been added - check the News and Announcements forum (or further down the thread! We are also composing answers to questions about real-world trading and the Wilderness - hopefully we'll be able to post those soon.
Have fun!
Mod MMG
Jagex CEO
Tommy Z9 - How long have you been worked for Jagex?
I joined Jagex as their Chief Technical Officer (CTO) on 1st February 2008.
Kurinin742 - Did you know anything about work at Jagex before you started working at it?
No, not at the time, apart from the fact that they had a successful game called RuneScape, which I had never played before. I created an account and decided to check it out before I went for the interview. As a technologist I was very impressed that they had managed to achieve the seemingly impossible in a browser. I also realized after playing it for a short time that RuneScape was not only awesome, but also probably one of the best-kept secrets in the gaming space.
Earth Nomad1 - You say that you are an active player of RuneScape, so my question is this, how many quest points do you have and how many of those quests have you asked for help on? (be honest)
I have 90 quest points and 892 levels to date, so I hope that means I have graduated from noob status (although I’m sure some would debate that!). The honest answer is I have asked for help on loads of the quests, and in so doing also discovered a number of our valued fan sites. We have a few projects on the go that are designed to give simpler, easier access to information in game, including a better method to show which quests you are eligible to undertake.
Lbiboy - How did you rise so quickly through the ranks of JaGeX? you Joined up with them only a year ago, this month. From beginner to CEO in 12 months?
I think I have just been rather blessed, and I have a great team supporting me. Jagex is a great place to work if you enjoy working hard and are prepared to keep stretching yourself. The company has a tradition of promoting from within, and it is true to say some of our top executives, managers, technologists, creatives and support staff have come through the ranks over the years.
Awf Suir1 - What is your favorite skill in the game, and why? And what is your least favorite skill?
I generally like combat skills such as Melee, Magic and Ranged, and I’m really enjoying Slayer at the moment. Oddly enough I find Woodcutting and Firemaking to be my highest skills; there is something hypnotic about lighting fires all over Gielinor – I should probably speak to somebody about that!
Cute Kero 7 - Being such a busy fellow and all, do you find time to play RuneScape?
I tend to get a few hours in on the weekend, or late at night.
Benjo350 - Do you ever present any other ideas for content yourself, or is it solely developer only thing?
I’m a big believer in letting the experts do what they do best. I enjoy their content, and I wouldn’t presume to be able to present creative ideas to them.
Nighteyes604 - Will you be one of the JMods dropping in an in-game event?
Absolutely!
Vimescarrot - Did you get the job first, or play the game first? If the game, what made you decide to get a job at Jagex?
I heard about the vacancy for a CTO at Jagex but I was also looking at other roles around that time. I tried the game to better understand what Jagex did, and was really impressed with the technology and the game – the more I found out about Jagex (like the platform, proprietary in-house tools, languages, and systems) the more I was intrigued. I had an interview with Andrew that ended up being a being an in-depth IT security debate, and I was blown away to learn that Jagex’s approach to IT security was more rigorous than some of the banks I had consulted for, or even the lottery systems I had architected. I instantly realized this was an incredible company, with many high-caliber staff at the very cutting edge of so many technology fronts - I just simply had to work for Jagex.
Burned Bones - What's your combat level on your Rs Character?
My combat level is only 67, but I am deadly when it comes to chopping down trees
Valvar Exart - Are you leading all of your Jagex or Just RuneScape?
I’m responsible for leading Jagex as a whole with the support of a great team, including Andrew.
Sword908070 - In your opinion what age group would RuneScape be targeted to? middle school, high school, college?
I believe that everyone can find RuneScape enjoyable. I would suggest that it’s aimed at college students and older, but there is something for everyone, whether you’re 18 or 80!
Kinby - Will there be a new free-to-play (FTP) quest or a members’ quest made FTP?
We are looking to invest into all areas of the game - watch this space for further developments
Fishaddock - Do you play FunOrb games like Arcanists?
Ha ha, yes I find it highly addictive! There was a time I was company champion, but I have probably been displaced now by some more deserving staff member.
Darth Stefan - What will be the next language update?
There is enormous internal debate as to the next language; we have recently upgraded our systems to allow us to support any language – the problem now is we are spoilt for choice
Boomer12342 - Does this mean that you are taking over Andrew's position?? Just curious, if so, why did Andrew decide to step down, or if that’s not the case (of him stepping down), what happened?
I guess you could say that I took over the CTO role from Andrew in 2008. I believe Andrew felt that he was best placed to serve both in a technical and creative capacity across the entire business and leave most of the management of the various technical teams to me. I don’t think it’s a case of Andrew stepping down, more a case of him doing what he enjoys most, which is being actively involved in continuing to develop the technical capabilities of our games as well as the games themselves. I know Andrew is very passionate about RuneScape, and he continues to take a very active part in the business.
Racheya - With the current economic conditions, are you going to be increasing subscription prices any time in the near or distant future to help compensate for rising costs? And even if not, how is Jagex going to deal with the current economic situation?
No, we have no plans to increase the current membership prices for RuneScape. Jagex is a strong company, and contrary to much of the rest of the industry, we continue to grow financially. We believe our competitive price point, and unparalleled game value and depth, mean we are in a uniquely strong position.
Vaskor - Could you please clarify Jagex's position toward fan sites? Will the "openness" somehow apply to fan sites and communities established there?
Yes absolutely - we plan to work closely with responsible fan sites to support them in every way we can.
Issa5 - Does Jagex plan to use any of the ideas in the suggestions threads?
Yes indeed - we consider all the feedback we receive. Naturally it will never be possible to implement all feedback, but we are already looking at a number of strong suggestions.
Even more answers...... (QFC 13-14-613-58401007)
Hey there,
We have been a little taken aback by the number of your questions after we outlined our vision for the future of RuneScape which is absolutely awesome. There have been nearly ten thousand questions posted or emailed by you, our players.
Below are the first 130 answers, these are mostly about me and the company as a whole. There are a lot of the questions concerning areas in which I’m not the best person to reply. So we be will answering your questions about PKing, the wilderness and our future content in separate posts to allow us to answer as many of your questions as possible over the next few weeks.
A big thank you to everyone that took the time to post a question on the forum or email it in - your feedback and interest in RuneScape are much appreciated as is your passion for the game. We hope you will all continue to enjoy playing the game for a long time to come.
Have fun!
Mod MMG
Jagex CEO
------------------------
Q) Parsifal123 - What is the exact direction you're wanting to lead this company in? Do you have a single MAIN goal in mind?
A) Yes keep creating great games and having fun whilst doing it
Q) I Krush I - Whats happened to Andrew Gower? if we call someone an A** Hole or what eva..can we still get muted?
A) We would discourage calling anyone an A**Hole because I would expect you would get a very negative response if you said that to someone in your local Pub, so I don't see why it would be acceptable in RuneScape.
Q) Expiring - exactly how did jagex lose money from real world trading? honestly, you've been getting $5-$10 a month for people to pvp, only reason i joined this game, is because a friend said the pvp system was awsome, now it's in the trash.
A) RWT was undermining the game, removing it actually cost us a lot of money but we didn't mind because it was more important for us to preserve the integrity of the game for all than make a few $$ or ££. We took the same approach with removing the video adverts for the free players which again cost us money but our players experience was more important to us.
Q) Stealthlead - Are you going to increase the drops PVP? Are you going to add weather to the game? Peast control can it give more xp and money?
A) Funnily enough Andrew and I were talking about adding weather to the game the other day, its certainly a possibility but as always there are a number of exciting opportunities that always need to be prioritized.
Q) Thepker163 - I would be opposed to ftp having access to post on forums as this would lead to spam and forum riots etc
A) We are looking at allowing only high level Free players being able to post on the forum
Q) Mill3nc0lin - As an older player suffer prejudices of the younger player, server for elder player would be good
A) We agree, we are working on this at the moment.
Q)Megamen70 – do you consider the removal of the wilderness a mistake?
A) We had to do it to tackle real world trading which was spoiling the game for all, we do acknowledge that we have taken out a very popular part of the game and I can assure you all that we are all thinking hard about sane ways to reintroduce some of these popular game mechanics. We recently introduced dedicated PvP worlds and the teams are looking to tweak the drops, the RuneScape team are also looking at other areas that need fine tuning.
Q) Haamske - Many people are wondering about Mechscape and how it will effect RuneScape. Less updates etc?
A) No not at all, MechScape has a dedicated team and management structure so it will have no impact on RuneScape.
Q) Masterchefvi - Runescape 3, fact or fiction?
A) Fiction
Q) Father Lawec - what I want to know, is what will you do for jAGeX as a company? Will you keep on track, and making fun updates that everyone will enjoy?
A) That is certainly the idea and I will try my best to achieve that.
Q) Webbg13 - How do you feel you are going to keep the business afloat when you are cutting revenue instead of costs? What is going to be sacrificed in the money side of things to compensate these changes?
A) We are a very strong company and cutting certain revenues does not expose the business. We value our players experience over a few $$ or ££.
Q) Xeniel6 - what is the BEST thing about working for Jagex, and if people are interested in working for Jagex, how would they get involved?
A) The staff are what make working at Jagex special, second to that we have FUN!
Q) Pure Spling - Will Jagex finally embrace it's fan communities?
A) Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes
Q) Whisper555 - Would you PLEASE consider giving some support back to Runescape Classic?
A) I would love to see classic actively promoted but there are a number of internal discussions we need to have before this could ever be a reality
Q) Gm Armini - May I conclude FunOrb has been used as some sort of test plane to see whether community events involving JMods would work?
A) Not really, the FunOrb team have their own strategy, management and development team.
Q) Makoto D - Do you plan to expand your support to include Linux-based OSes in the future? If you do not plan this in the future, can you explain why?
A) We currently DO support Linux based operating systems and a number of our staff actually play on Linux as well as Apple operating systems.
Q) Chaocito - Will Jagex try to get more feedback from players before implenting major changes such as the removal of the old wilderness and other future game changes?
A) Yes indeed.
Q) Nashy19 - Do you still take legal action on gold sellers?
A) Yes
Q) Issa 5 - Does Jagex plan to use any of the ideas in the suggestions threads?
A) Absolutely, we have a team collating them on a regular basis and the top ideas or most popular features are then fed into the development teams.
Q) Andrew123135 - this year membership prices have gone up a lot like the sms membership thats £6 just for the game its a bit too much just for a month... could you do something about this it would be grateful otherwise im struggling to afford membership
A) We are working with all our suppliers to bring down their cost to our players, we are also continuing to investigate alternate payment systems that provide better value and convenience to our players
Q) Yurple - Runescape is not meant to be on the same level as those types of games, but will Jagex abandon Runescape for it's new game Mechscape as a competing rival of games like WoW? Will Runescape continue to be updated regularly?
A) We will never stop developing and improving RuneScape irrespective of the success of our other games.
Q) Fire Wa L L - I was just wondering if there there could be more mods added in the game for certain worlds. Like say for instance. If a player is promoted to MOD, ask them if they would be willing to watch one world or something in this nature.
A) We are looking to substantially grow our mod community which should give us a healthy population in each world, however as it is a completely voluntary service we would never mandate serving on specific worlds or times.
Q) Rangercart - Are you making something called "vegascape"
A) No
Q) Vold Emort1 - What do i have to do to work for Jagex?
A) Bright, passionate, creative, hard working and living in the UK (which is where the offices are based) is a distinct advantage.
Q) John Snake - Is there any way to play RuneScape on the ps3, or are there any plans to make a version for that and other systems that would allow you to connect to and play RuneScape on ps3 or other game systems?
A) We are currently looking at consoles, exactly which ones IS unfortunately a secret
Q) Suiki Fv - Have you ever considered of using your YouTube channel to put preview footage on videos? Like the upcoming Soul Wars and Mobilising Armies
A) We definitely want to use this channel better, although we would love the community to do their own video's and perhaps we can select the best and put them on the Jagex channel.
Q) Mvt Tank - I think there is many people who work on Jagex, might be fun^^, but how many people totally work on there and are they all J-Mods ingame?
A) We have in the region of 400 staff, all Jagex staff members have Jmod accounts - we aim to get a lot of them into game at the same time
Q) Ragingrobots - i would like to know to come and work for Jagex what would be the best thing to take in university or college
A) Typically Maths and Science are the most sought after skills for our Developers.
Q) Tenseiken - Things have never been really clear as far as the structure of Jagex goes since back when there were only a few people working there. I was wondering if you could provide an overview of the structure to include individual departments and who is in charge. Perhaps even a brief company history would make an interesting read for some of the bigger 'fans.
A) We have a very flat management structure, there is a executive management team, below that we have our divisional managers such as Head of RuneScape, Head of Mechscape, Head of FunOrb, Head of Core Technologies, Head of Web Systems, Head of Player support, ect, ect. Below that are some senior staff and the rest of the company.
Q) Alex 43 - In the forums, there should be a checkmark box next to posts that are checked when a member of Jagex have read them, so that player don't have to keep bumping or duplicating posts for attention without purpose.
A) Good idea
Q) Lbiboy - will runescape be killed like classic once you make mechscape
A) Never
Q) I Cr4ft3d Rs - What do you see Runescape being in the future, maybe 5-10 years in the futre? Also, with the release of Mechscape coming soon, will Runescape still be your #1 priority or will the millions of Runescape members be ignored and your sole purpose being on upgrading Mechscape.
A) In 5 to 10 years I see RuneScape as the biggest most epic game in the world! RuneScape was our first born and we will always love it - FunOrb is our second child(taking first steps) and Mechscape will be our third (it's still in nappies although its already a VERY big baby). This particular parent will never stops loving any of our children and as they grow and mature we just get more proud.
Q) Mj 22 0 - can a jagex mod switch there combat level from combat 3-138 with in. A few seconds? And then go back to level 3 once again ? ( the gold crown mods)
A) Yes, Jagex Mods are awesome. Sadly or perhaps luckily we can’t use them from home
Q) Rct Schulzer - So when Jagex starts a large, new project, do they bring new employees in, or just disperse current employees (So there arn't as many people working on runescape, and less updates for us!)?
A) No when we start a new project we build a new team around that project, the current RuneScape team is the same key people that have worked on the project for years along with some new talent as well.
Q) Robertreynol - This year you have stated that you will be focusing on already released game content, this wont hinder the production and release of new quests, lands and perhaps skills will it?
A) No, we have teams working on each production stream.
Q) Cretureislan - I would like to know if we will get some pictures of whats going on at Jagex like the paintball picture
A) We recently had a company Jolly, there might be a few random pictures of the even we can share.
Q) Rangerszown - I had also noticed that the only subscription the JaGeX channel has, is to a very popular player, Zezima. I feel that this is unfair, due to the fact that his videos have no effort in it, and have little talent, only recieving views due to his popularity. Maybe you could help the unpopular runescape players on youtube, who make good videos out.
A) This is a great idea and I would be keen to progress it further.
Q) Racheya - With the current economic conditions, are you going to be bringing up Subscription prices any time in the near or distant future to help compensate rising costs? And even if not, how is Jagex going to deal with the current economy?
A) Could you invest in a Forum Mod just for the suggestions forum to gather the best ideas and try to put the really good ones into practice
Q) Darko Z - Could there be a way to appeal all offences on an account? From my understanding, Jagex was gettting spammed and that is why they cut off the "Contact Jagex" option from the website. There needs to be consequences for mis-using the service, instead of cutting off your loyal fan base from any sort of contact.
A) Yes we are looking into this at the moment.
Q) Red Alert259 - Could you make another announcement about how RWTers were using stolen funds to pay for membership and how you were under increasing pressure to get rid of the majority of RWTing. I think more people need to know how desperate the situation was getting and how it was NOT YOUR FAULT.
A) I think you made the point really well for us already, thanks.
Q) Shadowbane57 - I was wondering if the community events would be real world, as well as cyber world?
A) Great idea, we should really explore this more.
Q) Vaskor - Would you consider establishing some kind of "clearance" procedure for fan site, which fan site owners could apply for and obtain "cleared" status in case their sites are free from cheating, RWT ads or other types of rules breaking behavior?
A) Yes indeed, we have a team looking at this right now and we have already attempted to reach out to a number of know fan sites.
Q) Chainsaw35 - When will any questions be answered?
A) Today
Q) Al 1011 - is there going to be more openings for staff now?
A) Jagex is always looking for great people.
Q) Iamyourboo2 - More involvement between jagex and the community!
A) Hear Hear!
Q) Carrolljames - Are you looking to improve the forums and will you be releasing teaser about future updates?
A) Yes we are looking to improve the forums and no we are not going to be releasing teaser updates.
Q) Lordjay82 - Make Forums F2P
A) ok
Q) Benjo350 - What is going to hapen to mod andrew?
A) Nothing, we like him a lot
Q) Djanka100 - Can avatars be intoduced to the forums?
A) Yes, we are working on it!
Q) Chaosshadow9 - So my question is why can new players goto classic, but for us players who were actually IN classic cant play?
A) New players cannot go into classic.
Q) Moups - Will we get to see a new jagex team photo?
A) Its difficult to get a few hundred people into a team photo
Q) M0nk3y Sw0rd - Is it possible for Jagex to update Runescape and make the game downloadable or move it to a disc in order for the graphics to improve and compete with future, and some existing games
A) It is possible but we would rather just keep advancing the browser based graphics technologies until they are able to deliver a comparable experience.
Q) Kill U108 - Make f2p players be able to post on the forums!
A) Ok
Q) Piano Man B - How do you plan to make the free-to-play version of the game more appealing without killing your income from memberships
A) I don't believe having a compelling free game is at odds with our members game - if anything I think it reinforces the value of the entire game
Q) Killer6613 - What are you going to do to hype up new content?
A) No hype - just content - if you like it tell us and then your friends
Q) Cnconrad - Please be more open with the players
A) That's the plan
Q) Ladyofhonor - What is it that you were involved with prior to becoming CEO?
A) Basically Head of our Technology teams.
Q) Tee 3 - What happened to Andrew Gower? Is he still on the Runescape team?
A) Yes Andrew is very much part of RS
Q) Gundam Fan - Do you really plan on answering 180 pages of questions, which will probably go well into thousands of pages by the time one week is up?
A) I'm working on it but I'll be honest my fingers are going numb from all the typing.
Q) D34d2r1ghts - what happen to andrew gower? is he still apart of rs?
A) Yes Andrew is very much part of RS
Q) Eazye320 - Will Jagex ever open as a RWT site?
A) No
Q) Kurinin743 - Where do Jagex Mods get all the awesome ideas?
A) We put something in the water supply
Q) Coolcoder9t - I personally would like to know if Jagex offers internship positions for upcoming programmers and designers
A) I like the idea, I need to think about it some more.
Q) Zimmbro - But, really what I'm hoping for is alot more communication between the playing community and Jagex
A) I couldn't agree with you more.
Q) Bluesonic43 - What is to be of Runescape after Jagex releases Mechscape and the Untitled Third MMORPG (supposedly to be released in two to three years)?
A) RuneScape will live forever! We have dedicated teams behind each game and the launch of Mechscape or any other title for the matter will never undermine the continued investment in RuneScape
Q) L0rd Power, On the account side perhaps the option of a family membership?!
A) Sounds sensible and we do know a lot of families play RuneScape, I will look into it Thank You.
Q) Disposable25 - Are there any plans for a RuneScape 3
A) We continue to evolve RuneScape daily, I'm not sure the game needs another name.
Q) Bane Malar1 - What happened to Andrew Gower? Was he assassinated by an angry pker?
A) I'm happy to inform you that Andrew is in good health.
Q) Bumble Lizzy - CEO Geoff Iddison mention how runescape has a large imbalance of male and female players but that claimed you guys had plans to redress the imbalance.What's some of these plans?
P.S. I'm looking forward to beating you in one of these upcoming Jmod community events
A) I'm not sure I share Geoff's view that there is a large "male" imbalance in the game, I'm aware of numerous women in our clan and I know our player base reflects the population in general so that's Adults, Pensioners, Children, Male and Female. I also look forward to the upcoming community events.
Q) Eb737 - Would i be eligable to work in jagex if i have a degree from this university?
A) Working for Jagex is not just about your degree but more about identifying with the Jagex culture which is all about excellence, hard work, passion for games and having fun.
Q) Cybernetic21 - What exactly are u gonna do to prove this isnt a game aimed at kids?
A) I don't think we need to prove RuneScape isn't for kids, its very clearly aimed at adults but we also expect some kids may enjoy it. We have already "liberalised" the chat filter although we expect this can be further improved. We plan to nuke some content that comes across as "kiddie" such as stronghold of security, we plan to create "noob" free worlds for players with high XP.
Q) Lord Greyfox - Any plans to take Jagex public?
A)No
Q) Monkeyguy139 - How will the new CEO affect the forums
A) We have a few improvements planned for the forums amongst these will be the ability for higher level free players to post on the forums for the first time.
Q) Kinby - Will there be a new ftp quest or a members quest made FTP?
A) We are looking to invest into all areas of the game, watch this space for further developments
Q) Death Boy 7 - Will people get the chance to play Runescape classic again?
A) I think this is a great idea, I expect one of the key questions is how many people would desperately want to play it as opposed to RuneScape or some of our other games?
Q) Rusted300 - Geoff Iddison said he was expanding into the Asian/European markets is this something that you will pursue?
A) Yes but the time frame is not absolutely certain yet.
Q) Gaseosx - I love playing Runescape and want to work for Jagex are there any skill requirements? Also do i need to live in a certain place?
A) Jagex is based in the UK, we tend to look for bright hard working people with a passion for games.
Q) Eating Tacos - Are you Mod Mark? Is there an age minimum for Jagex workers? Are there Jagex offices? What do you plan on doing for the younger players?
A) No, I'm Mod MMG - we tend to employ a lot of people as they leave university so around 21~22 I would say. Yes Jagex has offices
Q) Z24245pp3 - How do you feel about the combat triangle? There are many people that feel mage is underpowered and melee too powerful with the godsword.
A) We recognise that mage may be underpowered and there are people with rather large cerebellums on the problem.
Q) Fluffykay - If you are the CEO what does that make Andrew and Paul Gower?
A) Happy
Q) Arch 4 Me - What deodrant do you use?
A) Men's Deodorant
Q) Mademike182 - how old are you? how much money do u make? are you a runescape enthusiast?
A) Yes I am a RuneScape enthusiast
Q) Trochyon - what would be your first move as a CEO of jagex?
A) Get new business cards
Q) System Man56 - are you really "ever so slightly over 21"?
A) Yes definitely well over 21, the "slightly" comment was an exaggeration.
Q) Dragonway50- what will be your biggest change of this year?
A) I'm not really thinking about what big things we should change as opposed to trying to make sure we do what we do best which is making great games, working with our community and talking to our players about what they enjoy so we can continue to evolve our games in ways they enjoy.
Q) Dragonway50 - do you think you can do a great job?(i think you can)
A) Ha-ha, thanks for the vote of confidence - I will certainly try my best.
Q) Deadboy13 - As Jagex CEO what exactly can we expect from you? Will you oversee the Lead Developers, will you focus on what direction your company goes, what will you do?
A) My primary purpose is to focus on the direction of the company.
Q) 1dolfinsfan - How are you going to go through 5000+ posts
A) We have a couple of guys helping sort the questions into categories to make it more manageable
Q) 1dolfinsfan - How has it been for you at JaGeX? DO you like it there. Whos your best friend?
A) I really enjoy working for Jagex, I have too many friends at Jagex to name them all.
Q) Lord Of G5 - What do you think of clans? Have you ever been in one?
A) The clans are awesome, and yes I'm part of one, I'm keen for us to improve our clan support.
Q) Yurple - How do you plan on helping Runescape grow?
A) Great content, great staff, great players, great community
Q) Ericteg - What is your annual salary?
A) You think I get paid to do this job?!
Q) Lightbrand - Mark: When it comes to Adventure, do you prefer The ocean, Time travel or Space and why?
A) Excellent question, all of the above but the reason is too complex to explain in writing
Q) Parsifal125 - How long have you been a gamer? Lastly, what is your favorite thing to do in games/runescape.
A) I've been into games ever since my older brother sold me his worn out Commadore 64
Q) Parsifal124 - I'm a 17 year old college freshman, going into Networking, and hopefully afterwards Game Programming. My question is, what have you accomplished in school that lead you to the Jagex company to begin with? What were some main hardships that were included in this?
A) I cant say there was anything specific I learnt at school that helped prepare me for the current Jagex role, rather I think its genuinely about hard work, continuous further development, doing what you enjoy as that's when you excel and ultimately having fun - the rest seems to take care of itself.
Q) Lady Ninane - you have a very extensive IT security background. How will you apply this to Runescape?
A) We deal with people trying to undermine the game on a regular basis, with the help of a great IT team we have managed to build a very robust and resilient infrastructure for our players.
Q) Meowth56 - what is you're favourite skill
A) I have a few but I'm currently working on slayer.
Q) Mvt Tank - Did you play runescape before you even knew that you going to work on it?
A) No, it seems in many respects RuneScape is one of the best kept gaming secrets. Amazing for the worlds largest free MMO.
Q) Z0diark - how did you become the Jagex CEO so young?
A) Hard work, hard work, hard work, hard work and some luck as well I guess
Q) The Taunter2 - How hard is it to be running something like Jagex? Are you going through (if you havn't gone through) any formal training while you'll be running Jagex (or experince)?
A) It hard work but I like hard work
Q) Pking Noob3- How much do you know about RuneScape clans, and the clan community overall?
A) I'm a member of a good clan, but I do think there is a lot more we can do to support our clans and our guys are looking into this.
Q) Rusted300 - How will you avoid Geoff Iddison's fate, in that the company become too idealistic and had a chaotic set of priorities? How will you, as a CEO, keep your promises to a community that very much trusts you at the moment?
A) I'm a simple guy - I do what I say.
Q) Ajaugust - how long did you work at jagex before being named CEO?
A) Just over a year
Q) Sword908070 - In your opinion what age group would runscape be targeted to? Middle school, High school, College?
A) I believe that it’s an adult game that some kids may also find enjoyable, I would suggest that University ,College and High school are the target age.
Q) Vimescarrot - Did you get the job first, or play the game first? If the game, what made you decide to get a job at Jagex?
A) I heard about the vacancy for a CTO @ Jagex but I was also looking at other roles around that time, I tried the game to better understand what Jagex did and was really impressed with the technology and game – the more I found out about Jagex like the platform, proprietary in house tools, languages and systems the more I was intrigued. I had a 3 hour interview with Andrew which ended up being a being a in-depth IT Security debate and suffice to say I was blown away to learn that Jagex’s approach to IT Security was more rigorous than some of the Banks I had consulted for or even the lottery systems we had architected. I instantly realized this was an incredible company with so many high calibre staff at the very cutting edge of so many technology fronts - I just simply had to work for Jagex.
Q) Racheya - Most importantly, are you not fed up of whiny people going 'OMG BRING WILDY BACK'? Pvp is perfectly fine very much.
A) I don't mind people telling us what they miss, the key feedback we are all keen to hear is what elements of "Wildy" did you like the most? Was it the risk, the wealth gain, the combat experience, team combat, ect If we know what parts of the "Wildy experience" were the most enjoyable we can look at good ways of bringing those back possibly in other ways.
Q) Nighteyes604 - Will you be one of the JMods dropping in an in-game event?
A) Absolutely!
Q) Raldow - How do you intend to top the previous CEO's contribution to RS?
A) I don't think it is a contest, we are just planning to focus on what we do really well which is making great games, listen to our players feedback and provide a stimulating and challenging work environment for our staff.
Q) Poli0776260- I'd like to ask you if you are realy 21 years old? If so are you the youngest worker in Jagex or maybe the youngest CEO of all time?
A) No I'm not really 21, I had a lot of hair when I was 21. I'm in the thirties now.
Q) Red Alert259 - First, as you said you were a player yourself, what aspect of the game do you enjoy most?
A) I think the biggest thing for me is the massive variety of content, literally I can fish one day, upgrade my living room the next day and fight ice giants the following day.
Q) Thedolphin6 - Also, what is your opinion on runescape players who make videos?
A) I think its great that our players want to show off their achievements.
Q) Cute Kero 7 - Do you ever present any other ideas for content yourself, or is it solely developer only terrority?
A) I’m a big believer in letting the experts do what they do best, I enjoy a lot of their content but I wouldn’t presume to be able to present creative ideas to them.
Q) Cute Kero 7 - Being such a busy fellow and all, do you find time to play Runescape
A) Yes, I tend to get a few hours in on the weekend or late at night once I've clear my emails
Q) Djanka100 - What is your favourite food?
A) Steak on a BBQ
Q) Stuagorn - But the title 'Chief Executive'.. does that mean you're the Head of Jagex now, and Andrew and Paul and Ian *I think..* are just founders or owners?
A) Andrew, Paul and Ian all play a active part in the company.
Q) 12 Mile22 - Out of randomness, have you ever been to Kintbury
A) Not to the best of my knowledge
Q) 11 Mile22 - Do you like monty python films? what about Austin Powers, father ted, Futurama, etc. ?
A) Love them all.
Q) Godofwar1195 - Mark Gerhard, what studies you did, how long they took and we're they hard or easy?
A) I studied Mechanical Engineering but I always had a passion for computers so I ended up following that instead.
Q) Someguy798 - just how does someone make it to head wiza- er, honcho of Runescape towers?
A) Its really quite simple, hard work, hard work, hard work, hard work, hard work, hard work, a bit of luck and the rest kind of takes care of itself
Q) Earth Nomad1 - You say that you are an active player of runescape, so my question is this, how many quest points do you have and how many of those quests have you asked for help on? (be honest)
A) I have 90 quest points and 892 XP to date so I hope that means I have graduated from Noob status although I’m sure some would debate that The honest answer is I have asked for help on loads of the quests and in so doing also discovered a number of our valued fan sites.
We have a few projects on the go that are designed to make this simpler, easier access to information in game, better show quests you are eligible to undertake, ect.
Q) Kurinin744 - If you wouldn't work for Jagex, what do you think you would do now?
A) Retire early and play RuneScape and FunOrb all day - watch this space Zezima
------------------------------
More answers to follow next week...........
We have been a little taken aback by the number of your questions after we outlined our vision for the future of RuneScape which is absolutely awesome. There have been nearly ten thousand questions posted or emailed by you, our players.
Below are the first 130 answers, these are mostly about me and the company as a whole. There are a lot of the questions concerning areas in which I’m not the best person to reply. So we be will answering your questions about PKing, the wilderness and our future content in separate posts to allow us to answer as many of your questions as possible over the next few weeks.
A big thank you to everyone that took the time to post a question on the forum or email it in - your feedback and interest in RuneScape are much appreciated as is your passion for the game. We hope you will all continue to enjoy playing the game for a long time to come.
Have fun!
Mod MMG
Jagex CEO
------------------------
Q) Parsifal123 - What is the exact direction you're wanting to lead this company in? Do you have a single MAIN goal in mind?
A) Yes keep creating great games and having fun whilst doing it
Q) I Krush I - Whats happened to Andrew Gower? if we call someone an A** Hole or what eva..can we still get muted?
A) We would discourage calling anyone an A**Hole because I would expect you would get a very negative response if you said that to someone in your local Pub, so I don't see why it would be acceptable in RuneScape.
Q) Expiring - exactly how did jagex lose money from real world trading? honestly, you've been getting $5-$10 a month for people to pvp, only reason i joined this game, is because a friend said the pvp system was awsome, now it's in the trash.
A) RWT was undermining the game, removing it actually cost us a lot of money but we didn't mind because it was more important for us to preserve the integrity of the game for all than make a few $$ or ££. We took the same approach with removing the video adverts for the free players which again cost us money but our players experience was more important to us.
Q) Stealthlead - Are you going to increase the drops PVP? Are you going to add weather to the game? Peast control can it give more xp and money?
A) Funnily enough Andrew and I were talking about adding weather to the game the other day, its certainly a possibility but as always there are a number of exciting opportunities that always need to be prioritized.
Q) Thepker163 - I would be opposed to ftp having access to post on forums as this would lead to spam and forum riots etc
A) We are looking at allowing only high level Free players being able to post on the forum
Q) Mill3nc0lin - As an older player suffer prejudices of the younger player, server for elder player would be good
A) We agree, we are working on this at the moment.
Q)Megamen70 – do you consider the removal of the wilderness a mistake?
A) We had to do it to tackle real world trading which was spoiling the game for all, we do acknowledge that we have taken out a very popular part of the game and I can assure you all that we are all thinking hard about sane ways to reintroduce some of these popular game mechanics. We recently introduced dedicated PvP worlds and the teams are looking to tweak the drops, the RuneScape team are also looking at other areas that need fine tuning.
Q) Haamske - Many people are wondering about Mechscape and how it will effect RuneScape. Less updates etc?
A) No not at all, MechScape has a dedicated team and management structure so it will have no impact on RuneScape.
Q) Masterchefvi - Runescape 3, fact or fiction?
A) Fiction
Q) Father Lawec - what I want to know, is what will you do for jAGeX as a company? Will you keep on track, and making fun updates that everyone will enjoy?
A) That is certainly the idea and I will try my best to achieve that.
Q) Webbg13 - How do you feel you are going to keep the business afloat when you are cutting revenue instead of costs? What is going to be sacrificed in the money side of things to compensate these changes?
A) We are a very strong company and cutting certain revenues does not expose the business. We value our players experience over a few $$ or ££.
Q) Xeniel6 - what is the BEST thing about working for Jagex, and if people are interested in working for Jagex, how would they get involved?
A) The staff are what make working at Jagex special, second to that we have FUN!
Q) Pure Spling - Will Jagex finally embrace it's fan communities?
A) Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes
Q) Whisper555 - Would you PLEASE consider giving some support back to Runescape Classic?
A) I would love to see classic actively promoted but there are a number of internal discussions we need to have before this could ever be a reality
Q) Gm Armini - May I conclude FunOrb has been used as some sort of test plane to see whether community events involving JMods would work?
A) Not really, the FunOrb team have their own strategy, management and development team.
Q) Makoto D - Do you plan to expand your support to include Linux-based OSes in the future? If you do not plan this in the future, can you explain why?
A) We currently DO support Linux based operating systems and a number of our staff actually play on Linux as well as Apple operating systems.
Q) Chaocito - Will Jagex try to get more feedback from players before implenting major changes such as the removal of the old wilderness and other future game changes?
A) Yes indeed.
Q) Nashy19 - Do you still take legal action on gold sellers?
A) Yes
Q) Issa 5 - Does Jagex plan to use any of the ideas in the suggestions threads?
A) Absolutely, we have a team collating them on a regular basis and the top ideas or most popular features are then fed into the development teams.
Q) Andrew123135 - this year membership prices have gone up a lot like the sms membership thats £6 just for the game its a bit too much just for a month... could you do something about this it would be grateful otherwise im struggling to afford membership
A) We are working with all our suppliers to bring down their cost to our players, we are also continuing to investigate alternate payment systems that provide better value and convenience to our players
Q) Yurple - Runescape is not meant to be on the same level as those types of games, but will Jagex abandon Runescape for it's new game Mechscape as a competing rival of games like WoW? Will Runescape continue to be updated regularly?
A) We will never stop developing and improving RuneScape irrespective of the success of our other games.
Q) Fire Wa L L - I was just wondering if there there could be more mods added in the game for certain worlds. Like say for instance. If a player is promoted to MOD, ask them if they would be willing to watch one world or something in this nature.
A) We are looking to substantially grow our mod community which should give us a healthy population in each world, however as it is a completely voluntary service we would never mandate serving on specific worlds or times.
Q) Rangercart - Are you making something called "vegascape"
A) No
Q) Vold Emort1 - What do i have to do to work for Jagex?
A) Bright, passionate, creative, hard working and living in the UK (which is where the offices are based) is a distinct advantage.
Q) John Snake - Is there any way to play RuneScape on the ps3, or are there any plans to make a version for that and other systems that would allow you to connect to and play RuneScape on ps3 or other game systems?
A) We are currently looking at consoles, exactly which ones IS unfortunately a secret
Q) Suiki Fv - Have you ever considered of using your YouTube channel to put preview footage on videos? Like the upcoming Soul Wars and Mobilising Armies
A) We definitely want to use this channel better, although we would love the community to do their own video's and perhaps we can select the best and put them on the Jagex channel.
Q) Mvt Tank - I think there is many people who work on Jagex, might be fun^^, but how many people totally work on there and are they all J-Mods ingame?
A) We have in the region of 400 staff, all Jagex staff members have Jmod accounts - we aim to get a lot of them into game at the same time
Q) Ragingrobots - i would like to know to come and work for Jagex what would be the best thing to take in university or college
A) Typically Maths and Science are the most sought after skills for our Developers.
Q) Tenseiken - Things have never been really clear as far as the structure of Jagex goes since back when there were only a few people working there. I was wondering if you could provide an overview of the structure to include individual departments and who is in charge. Perhaps even a brief company history would make an interesting read for some of the bigger 'fans.
A) We have a very flat management structure, there is a executive management team, below that we have our divisional managers such as Head of RuneScape, Head of Mechscape, Head of FunOrb, Head of Core Technologies, Head of Web Systems, Head of Player support, ect, ect. Below that are some senior staff and the rest of the company.
Q) Alex 43 - In the forums, there should be a checkmark box next to posts that are checked when a member of Jagex have read them, so that player don't have to keep bumping or duplicating posts for attention without purpose.
A) Good idea
Q) Lbiboy - will runescape be killed like classic once you make mechscape
A) Never
Q) I Cr4ft3d Rs - What do you see Runescape being in the future, maybe 5-10 years in the futre? Also, with the release of Mechscape coming soon, will Runescape still be your #1 priority or will the millions of Runescape members be ignored and your sole purpose being on upgrading Mechscape.
A) In 5 to 10 years I see RuneScape as the biggest most epic game in the world! RuneScape was our first born and we will always love it - FunOrb is our second child(taking first steps) and Mechscape will be our third (it's still in nappies although its already a VERY big baby). This particular parent will never stops loving any of our children and as they grow and mature we just get more proud.
Q) Mj 22 0 - can a jagex mod switch there combat level from combat 3-138 with in. A few seconds? And then go back to level 3 once again ? ( the gold crown mods)
A) Yes, Jagex Mods are awesome. Sadly or perhaps luckily we can’t use them from home
Q) Rct Schulzer - So when Jagex starts a large, new project, do they bring new employees in, or just disperse current employees (So there arn't as many people working on runescape, and less updates for us!)?
A) No when we start a new project we build a new team around that project, the current RuneScape team is the same key people that have worked on the project for years along with some new talent as well.
Q) Robertreynol - This year you have stated that you will be focusing on already released game content, this wont hinder the production and release of new quests, lands and perhaps skills will it?
A) No, we have teams working on each production stream.
Q) Cretureislan - I would like to know if we will get some pictures of whats going on at Jagex like the paintball picture
A) We recently had a company Jolly, there might be a few random pictures of the even we can share.
Q) Rangerszown - I had also noticed that the only subscription the JaGeX channel has, is to a very popular player, Zezima. I feel that this is unfair, due to the fact that his videos have no effort in it, and have little talent, only recieving views due to his popularity. Maybe you could help the unpopular runescape players on youtube, who make good videos out.
A) This is a great idea and I would be keen to progress it further.
Q) Racheya - With the current economic conditions, are you going to be bringing up Subscription prices any time in the near or distant future to help compensate rising costs? And even if not, how is Jagex going to deal with the current economy?
A) Could you invest in a Forum Mod just for the suggestions forum to gather the best ideas and try to put the really good ones into practice
Q) Darko Z - Could there be a way to appeal all offences on an account? From my understanding, Jagex was gettting spammed and that is why they cut off the "Contact Jagex" option from the website. There needs to be consequences for mis-using the service, instead of cutting off your loyal fan base from any sort of contact.
A) Yes we are looking into this at the moment.
Q) Red Alert259 - Could you make another announcement about how RWTers were using stolen funds to pay for membership and how you were under increasing pressure to get rid of the majority of RWTing. I think more people need to know how desperate the situation was getting and how it was NOT YOUR FAULT.
A) I think you made the point really well for us already, thanks.
Q) Shadowbane57 - I was wondering if the community events would be real world, as well as cyber world?
A) Great idea, we should really explore this more.
Q) Vaskor - Would you consider establishing some kind of "clearance" procedure for fan site, which fan site owners could apply for and obtain "cleared" status in case their sites are free from cheating, RWT ads or other types of rules breaking behavior?
A) Yes indeed, we have a team looking at this right now and we have already attempted to reach out to a number of know fan sites.
Q) Chainsaw35 - When will any questions be answered?
A) Today
Q) Al 1011 - is there going to be more openings for staff now?
A) Jagex is always looking for great people.
Q) Iamyourboo2 - More involvement between jagex and the community!
A) Hear Hear!
Q) Carrolljames - Are you looking to improve the forums and will you be releasing teaser about future updates?
A) Yes we are looking to improve the forums and no we are not going to be releasing teaser updates.
Q) Lordjay82 - Make Forums F2P
A) ok
Q) Benjo350 - What is going to hapen to mod andrew?
A) Nothing, we like him a lot
Q) Djanka100 - Can avatars be intoduced to the forums?
A) Yes, we are working on it!
Q) Chaosshadow9 - So my question is why can new players goto classic, but for us players who were actually IN classic cant play?
A) New players cannot go into classic.
Q) Moups - Will we get to see a new jagex team photo?
A) Its difficult to get a few hundred people into a team photo
Q) M0nk3y Sw0rd - Is it possible for Jagex to update Runescape and make the game downloadable or move it to a disc in order for the graphics to improve and compete with future, and some existing games
A) It is possible but we would rather just keep advancing the browser based graphics technologies until they are able to deliver a comparable experience.
Q) Kill U108 - Make f2p players be able to post on the forums!
A) Ok
Q) Piano Man B - How do you plan to make the free-to-play version of the game more appealing without killing your income from memberships
A) I don't believe having a compelling free game is at odds with our members game - if anything I think it reinforces the value of the entire game
Q) Killer6613 - What are you going to do to hype up new content?
A) No hype - just content - if you like it tell us and then your friends
Q) Cnconrad - Please be more open with the players
A) That's the plan
Q) Ladyofhonor - What is it that you were involved with prior to becoming CEO?
A) Basically Head of our Technology teams.
Q) Tee 3 - What happened to Andrew Gower? Is he still on the Runescape team?
A) Yes Andrew is very much part of RS
Q) Gundam Fan - Do you really plan on answering 180 pages of questions, which will probably go well into thousands of pages by the time one week is up?
A) I'm working on it but I'll be honest my fingers are going numb from all the typing.
Q) D34d2r1ghts - what happen to andrew gower? is he still apart of rs?
A) Yes Andrew is very much part of RS
Q) Eazye320 - Will Jagex ever open as a RWT site?
A) No
Q) Kurinin743 - Where do Jagex Mods get all the awesome ideas?
A) We put something in the water supply
Q) Coolcoder9t - I personally would like to know if Jagex offers internship positions for upcoming programmers and designers
A) I like the idea, I need to think about it some more.
Q) Zimmbro - But, really what I'm hoping for is alot more communication between the playing community and Jagex
A) I couldn't agree with you more.
Q) Bluesonic43 - What is to be of Runescape after Jagex releases Mechscape and the Untitled Third MMORPG (supposedly to be released in two to three years)?
A) RuneScape will live forever! We have dedicated teams behind each game and the launch of Mechscape or any other title for the matter will never undermine the continued investment in RuneScape
Q) L0rd Power, On the account side perhaps the option of a family membership?!
A) Sounds sensible and we do know a lot of families play RuneScape, I will look into it Thank You.
Q) Disposable25 - Are there any plans for a RuneScape 3
A) We continue to evolve RuneScape daily, I'm not sure the game needs another name.
Q) Bane Malar1 - What happened to Andrew Gower? Was he assassinated by an angry pker?
A) I'm happy to inform you that Andrew is in good health.
Q) Bumble Lizzy - CEO Geoff Iddison mention how runescape has a large imbalance of male and female players but that claimed you guys had plans to redress the imbalance.What's some of these plans?
P.S. I'm looking forward to beating you in one of these upcoming Jmod community events
A) I'm not sure I share Geoff's view that there is a large "male" imbalance in the game, I'm aware of numerous women in our clan and I know our player base reflects the population in general so that's Adults, Pensioners, Children, Male and Female. I also look forward to the upcoming community events.
Q) Eb737 - Would i be eligable to work in jagex if i have a degree from this university?
A) Working for Jagex is not just about your degree but more about identifying with the Jagex culture which is all about excellence, hard work, passion for games and having fun.
Q) Cybernetic21 - What exactly are u gonna do to prove this isnt a game aimed at kids?
A) I don't think we need to prove RuneScape isn't for kids, its very clearly aimed at adults but we also expect some kids may enjoy it. We have already "liberalised" the chat filter although we expect this can be further improved. We plan to nuke some content that comes across as "kiddie" such as stronghold of security, we plan to create "noob" free worlds for players with high XP.
Q) Lord Greyfox - Any plans to take Jagex public?
A)No
Q) Monkeyguy139 - How will the new CEO affect the forums
A) We have a few improvements planned for the forums amongst these will be the ability for higher level free players to post on the forums for the first time.
Q) Kinby - Will there be a new ftp quest or a members quest made FTP?
A) We are looking to invest into all areas of the game, watch this space for further developments
Q) Death Boy 7 - Will people get the chance to play Runescape classic again?
A) I think this is a great idea, I expect one of the key questions is how many people would desperately want to play it as opposed to RuneScape or some of our other games?
Q) Rusted300 - Geoff Iddison said he was expanding into the Asian/European markets is this something that you will pursue?
A) Yes but the time frame is not absolutely certain yet.
Q) Gaseosx - I love playing Runescape and want to work for Jagex are there any skill requirements? Also do i need to live in a certain place?
A) Jagex is based in the UK, we tend to look for bright hard working people with a passion for games.
Q) Eating Tacos - Are you Mod Mark? Is there an age minimum for Jagex workers? Are there Jagex offices? What do you plan on doing for the younger players?
A) No, I'm Mod MMG - we tend to employ a lot of people as they leave university so around 21~22 I would say. Yes Jagex has offices
Q) Z24245pp3 - How do you feel about the combat triangle? There are many people that feel mage is underpowered and melee too powerful with the godsword.
A) We recognise that mage may be underpowered and there are people with rather large cerebellums on the problem.
Q) Fluffykay - If you are the CEO what does that make Andrew and Paul Gower?
A) Happy
Q) Arch 4 Me - What deodrant do you use?
A) Men's Deodorant
Q) Mademike182 - how old are you? how much money do u make? are you a runescape enthusiast?
A) Yes I am a RuneScape enthusiast
Q) Trochyon - what would be your first move as a CEO of jagex?
A) Get new business cards
Q) System Man56 - are you really "ever so slightly over 21"?
A) Yes definitely well over 21, the "slightly" comment was an exaggeration.
Q) Dragonway50- what will be your biggest change of this year?
A) I'm not really thinking about what big things we should change as opposed to trying to make sure we do what we do best which is making great games, working with our community and talking to our players about what they enjoy so we can continue to evolve our games in ways they enjoy.
Q) Dragonway50 - do you think you can do a great job?(i think you can)
A) Ha-ha, thanks for the vote of confidence - I will certainly try my best.
Q) Deadboy13 - As Jagex CEO what exactly can we expect from you? Will you oversee the Lead Developers, will you focus on what direction your company goes, what will you do?
A) My primary purpose is to focus on the direction of the company.
Q) 1dolfinsfan - How are you going to go through 5000+ posts
A) We have a couple of guys helping sort the questions into categories to make it more manageable
Q) 1dolfinsfan - How has it been for you at JaGeX? DO you like it there. Whos your best friend?
A) I really enjoy working for Jagex, I have too many friends at Jagex to name them all.
Q) Lord Of G5 - What do you think of clans? Have you ever been in one?
A) The clans are awesome, and yes I'm part of one, I'm keen for us to improve our clan support.
Q) Yurple - How do you plan on helping Runescape grow?
A) Great content, great staff, great players, great community
Q) Ericteg - What is your annual salary?
A) You think I get paid to do this job?!
Q) Lightbrand - Mark: When it comes to Adventure, do you prefer The ocean, Time travel or Space and why?
A) Excellent question, all of the above but the reason is too complex to explain in writing
Q) Parsifal125 - How long have you been a gamer? Lastly, what is your favorite thing to do in games/runescape.
A) I've been into games ever since my older brother sold me his worn out Commadore 64
Q) Parsifal124 - I'm a 17 year old college freshman, going into Networking, and hopefully afterwards Game Programming. My question is, what have you accomplished in school that lead you to the Jagex company to begin with? What were some main hardships that were included in this?
A) I cant say there was anything specific I learnt at school that helped prepare me for the current Jagex role, rather I think its genuinely about hard work, continuous further development, doing what you enjoy as that's when you excel and ultimately having fun - the rest seems to take care of itself.
Q) Lady Ninane - you have a very extensive IT security background. How will you apply this to Runescape?
A) We deal with people trying to undermine the game on a regular basis, with the help of a great IT team we have managed to build a very robust and resilient infrastructure for our players.
Q) Meowth56 - what is you're favourite skill
A) I have a few but I'm currently working on slayer.
Q) Mvt Tank - Did you play runescape before you even knew that you going to work on it?
A) No, it seems in many respects RuneScape is one of the best kept gaming secrets. Amazing for the worlds largest free MMO.
Q) Z0diark - how did you become the Jagex CEO so young?
A) Hard work, hard work, hard work, hard work and some luck as well I guess
Q) The Taunter2 - How hard is it to be running something like Jagex? Are you going through (if you havn't gone through) any formal training while you'll be running Jagex (or experince)?
A) It hard work but I like hard work
Q) Pking Noob3- How much do you know about RuneScape clans, and the clan community overall?
A) I'm a member of a good clan, but I do think there is a lot more we can do to support our clans and our guys are looking into this.
Q) Rusted300 - How will you avoid Geoff Iddison's fate, in that the company become too idealistic and had a chaotic set of priorities? How will you, as a CEO, keep your promises to a community that very much trusts you at the moment?
A) I'm a simple guy - I do what I say.
Q) Ajaugust - how long did you work at jagex before being named CEO?
A) Just over a year
Q) Sword908070 - In your opinion what age group would runscape be targeted to? Middle school, High school, College?
A) I believe that it’s an adult game that some kids may also find enjoyable, I would suggest that University ,College and High school are the target age.
Q) Vimescarrot - Did you get the job first, or play the game first? If the game, what made you decide to get a job at Jagex?
A) I heard about the vacancy for a CTO @ Jagex but I was also looking at other roles around that time, I tried the game to better understand what Jagex did and was really impressed with the technology and game – the more I found out about Jagex like the platform, proprietary in house tools, languages and systems the more I was intrigued. I had a 3 hour interview with Andrew which ended up being a being a in-depth IT Security debate and suffice to say I was blown away to learn that Jagex’s approach to IT Security was more rigorous than some of the Banks I had consulted for or even the lottery systems we had architected. I instantly realized this was an incredible company with so many high calibre staff at the very cutting edge of so many technology fronts - I just simply had to work for Jagex.
Q) Racheya - Most importantly, are you not fed up of whiny people going 'OMG BRING WILDY BACK'? Pvp is perfectly fine very much.
A) I don't mind people telling us what they miss, the key feedback we are all keen to hear is what elements of "Wildy" did you like the most? Was it the risk, the wealth gain, the combat experience, team combat, ect If we know what parts of the "Wildy experience" were the most enjoyable we can look at good ways of bringing those back possibly in other ways.
Q) Nighteyes604 - Will you be one of the JMods dropping in an in-game event?
A) Absolutely!
Q) Raldow - How do you intend to top the previous CEO's contribution to RS?
A) I don't think it is a contest, we are just planning to focus on what we do really well which is making great games, listen to our players feedback and provide a stimulating and challenging work environment for our staff.
Q) Poli0776260- I'd like to ask you if you are realy 21 years old? If so are you the youngest worker in Jagex or maybe the youngest CEO of all time?
A) No I'm not really 21, I had a lot of hair when I was 21. I'm in the thirties now.
Q) Red Alert259 - First, as you said you were a player yourself, what aspect of the game do you enjoy most?
A) I think the biggest thing for me is the massive variety of content, literally I can fish one day, upgrade my living room the next day and fight ice giants the following day.
Q) Thedolphin6 - Also, what is your opinion on runescape players who make videos?
A) I think its great that our players want to show off their achievements.
Q) Cute Kero 7 - Do you ever present any other ideas for content yourself, or is it solely developer only terrority?
A) I’m a big believer in letting the experts do what they do best, I enjoy a lot of their content but I wouldn’t presume to be able to present creative ideas to them.
Q) Cute Kero 7 - Being such a busy fellow and all, do you find time to play Runescape
A) Yes, I tend to get a few hours in on the weekend or late at night once I've clear my emails
Q) Djanka100 - What is your favourite food?
A) Steak on a BBQ
Q) Stuagorn - But the title 'Chief Executive'.. does that mean you're the Head of Jagex now, and Andrew and Paul and Ian *I think..* are just founders or owners?
A) Andrew, Paul and Ian all play a active part in the company.
Q) 12 Mile22 - Out of randomness, have you ever been to Kintbury
A) Not to the best of my knowledge
Q) 11 Mile22 - Do you like monty python films? what about Austin Powers, father ted, Futurama, etc. ?
A) Love them all.
Q) Godofwar1195 - Mark Gerhard, what studies you did, how long they took and we're they hard or easy?
A) I studied Mechanical Engineering but I always had a passion for computers so I ended up following that instead.
Q) Someguy798 - just how does someone make it to head wiza- er, honcho of Runescape towers?
A) Its really quite simple, hard work, hard work, hard work, hard work, hard work, hard work, a bit of luck and the rest kind of takes care of itself
Q) Earth Nomad1 - You say that you are an active player of runescape, so my question is this, how many quest points do you have and how many of those quests have you asked for help on? (be honest)
A) I have 90 quest points and 892 XP to date so I hope that means I have graduated from Noob status although I’m sure some would debate that
The honest answer is I have asked for help on loads of the quests and in so doing also discovered a number of our valued fan sites.We have a few projects on the go that are designed to make this simpler, easier access to information in game, better show quests you are eligible to undertake, ect.
Q) Kurinin744 - If you wouldn't work for Jagex, what do you think you would do now?
A) Retire early and play RuneScape and FunOrb all day - watch this space Zezima
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More answers to follow next week...........
(although I’m sure some would debate that!)."Quote 
) are about Jagex and Runescape as a whole.
and how high is high?