Well, there you have it, the basic question that has everybody up in arms. What do we know? Let's look at it top down, the latest information first.
The Questions and Answers by Henrique Olifiers (Head of MeachScape) (Thanks Ren)
Courtesy of Jagex.
Is Jagex really working on a new, sci-fi game? What can you tell us about it?
Yes, we are and have been for some years now. We won't tell you much as this time in order to not spoil the surprise! Remember our CEO's, Mark Gerhard, post about preparing surprises for our players?
As soon as we're ready to give away information, you will be the first to know straight from us. Don't fall for scamming sites or people who pretend to know a lot about the game: they're either wrong or trying to get hold of your personal details. We never told anyone what the game is about, it's being kept as a closely guarded secret by lasers, missiles, energy shields and the like. And a dog, a huge rabid frothing dog.
When is the new title coming out?
One of the biggest problems with MMOGs these days is how rushed they are launched, invariably letting players down due to excessive bugs or half-baked design decisions. We want to make it right, fun, huge, amazing. When it has all these ingredients, we'll invite you to try it out and tell us what you think of it. Forget about any dates you might have heard for its launch, we're not bound to them but to quality and excellence. The game will be released when we feel it has reached maturity, as simple as that.
Will the release of the new game affect RuneScape development, updates, team or future?
No, never. The game has had its own dedicated team for years now, totally independent from RuneScape. Once it is launched, the current team might expand with new talent to take care of the game's updates, but again not overlapping or affecting RuneScape in any shape or form. If anything, RuneScape has and will continue to benefit from the development of the new title: some of the novel features recently implemented in RS are a result of technology improvements triggered by the development of the new game.
Would it be worth switching to the new game?
Switch? Why not play both?
We're putting all our heart and know-how into the game, expecting it to be ground-breaking. Only you will be able to tell if the end result is worth playing or not. We hope it will – and it should sit nicely alongside RuneScape!
Is this new game a futuristic version of RuneScape?
‘This is not RuneScape in space’ has been our motto since day one on the development front. It's a completely different game, from every possible perspective, not only from RuneScape but from other MMOGs out there.
It's not a secret that sci-fi MMOGs are not the most successful if compared with fantasy settings, despite the genre being extremely popular for single-player games, TV, films and comics. There's surely a reason for this, and we believe we know what it is... But that's for another time!
A question was asked at E3 in 2008 by Micheal Zenke
Earlier today we spoke with Jagex CEO Geoff Iddison and developer Henrique Olifiers about the future of the company. We'll have more from that discussion later today, but as we talked we noticed something interesting about Mr. Olifiers' business card. His official title, according to the card, is "Head of Mechscape." So we asked, point blank, "what's Mechscape?" Mechscape, according to the company men, is the next MMO coming from the folks at Jagex. They're expecting that it will be released in the first Quarter of 2009. It's going to be the next step or two beyond Runescape HD in terms of technology, and a slightly more mature product. Their view is that, as players grow older with the fantasy product, they're going to want something a little more in-depth, deeper. That said, they don't feel that players will want to give up the jump-in jump-out portability of a browser-based game.
Another interview with Henrique Olifiers can be read here.
This is the first official picture Jagex released:
This artwork was released to MechScapeWorld, a fansite created on November 9th 2007.
The first time Jagex, in the person of Geoff Iddison (then CEO), let something slip about an upcoming new MMO was during an interview with Games Industry:
Q: Are you also planning more MMO products along similar lines to RuneScape, as that's your speciality?
Geoff Iddison: You're absolutely right, we've got a very, very big investment into another MMO.
Q: Would that be something you would start in Europe again and then filter into more markets across the globe?
Geoff Iddison: No, it will be launched in the US and Europe at the same time.
Q: Can we expect it to be launched this year?
Geoff Iddison: You can expect it early next year, Q1 2009.
Q: Is that the rumoured MechScape brand?
Geoff Iddison: I can't say too much more, I'm afraid.
Q: How confident do you feel going against multiple MMO competitors, in such a vibrant and growing market?
Geoff Iddison: It's always helpful to be paranoid in managing a business, and certainly we're always looking over our shoulder to see who's coming along to compete in the MMO space. There're new companies coming along every week. It's certainly going to get a lot more competitive.
Geoff Iddison: You're absolutely right, we've got a very, very big investment into another MMO.
Q: Would that be something you would start in Europe again and then filter into more markets across the globe?
Geoff Iddison: No, it will be launched in the US and Europe at the same time.
Q: Can we expect it to be launched this year?
Geoff Iddison: You can expect it early next year, Q1 2009.
Q: Is that the rumoured MechScape brand?
Geoff Iddison: I can't say too much more, I'm afraid.
Q: How confident do you feel going against multiple MMO competitors, in such a vibrant and growing market?
Geoff Iddison: It's always helpful to be paranoid in managing a business, and certainly we're always looking over our shoulder to see who's coming along to compete in the MMO space. There're new companies coming along every week. It's certainly going to get a lot more competitive.
Find the complete interview here.
Another picture surfaced July 15th 2008 in an interview, during E3, with Geoff Iddison and Henrique Olifiers. Mr Olifiers presented his business card with the Job title: Head of Mechscape.
The picture connected with that:
Officially this is all that is known.
But there is more. Since 2001 a lot of people have worked for Jagex and after that went to work for others. Two of those have personal websites with some information pertaining to a 'new Jagex MMO'. One of them is Thomas Woode. On that personal site he has some artwork. Two of them are copy-righted to Jagex:
A few other pictures available on that site (not previously shown in another thread)
The other guy is John Seru, he worked for Jagex from July 2004 - October 2006. In his cv he list this:
April 2005 - October 2006
Lead modeller, for an online space mmorpg. This was also for Jagex Ltd, release date and official title, not yet known. www.jagex.com
Principle responsibilities (lead modeller), to establish the modelling procedures for new game, document style guides and modelling techniques, maintain a high standard from all modelling staff, and make sure the essence of the concept art was best met, while fitting into the restrictions of the game-engine.
April 2005 - October 2006
Assistant concept artist, for an online space mmorpg. This was also for Jagex Ltd, release date and official title, not yet known. www.jagex.com
Lead modeller, for an online space mmorpg. This was also for Jagex Ltd, release date and official title, not yet known. www.jagex.com
Principle responsibilities (lead modeller), to establish the modelling procedures for new game, document style guides and modelling techniques, maintain a high standard from all modelling staff, and make sure the essence of the concept art was best met, while fitting into the restrictions of the game-engine.
April 2005 - October 2006
Assistant concept artist, for an online space mmorpg. This was also for Jagex Ltd, release date and official title, not yet known. www.jagex.com
An interesting picture might be this one:
Domain names connected to MechScape registered to Jagex (not the most obvious ones)
mechscape2.com 24/08/05
mechscape.biz 24/08/05
mechscape.info 24/08/05
mechscape.us 24/08/05
mechscapecoin.com 15/05/06
mechscapecommunity.com 15/05/06
mechscapecredit.com 15/05/06
mechscapegold.com 15/05/06
mechscapeguide.com 15/05/06
mechscapehq.com 15/05/06
mechscapeinfinite.com 15/05/06
mechscapemillions.com 15/05/06
mechscapemoderators.com 15/05/06
mechscapeproject.com 15/05/06
mechscaper.com 15/05/06
mechscaperealm.com 15/05/06
mechscapeshopping.com 15/05/06
mechscapetrades.com 15/05/06
mechscapetrading.com 15/05/06
mechhq.com 15/05/06
mechscape.es 12/07/06
mechscape.mobi 26/09/06
mechscape.tk 04/10/06
It almost seems these domains are registered to prevent the most obvious scam-site names.
Jagex has a staggering 700 domain names registered. Including a lot connected to Stellar Dawn.
Apart from the obvious domain names there are few other things that warrant a closer look: Trade Marks...
In the UK there is something called the Intellectual Property Office. There you can register your Trade Marks. The ones connected to Jagex are:
There is a domain www.alienscape.com that re-directs to www.funorb.com
Note: Funny how the Jagex and RuneScape trade marks were registered long after the company was formed
Note2: In the interview with Geoff Iddison the release date Q1 2009 was given. That, however, doesn't mean it will be released before March 31st. Or, from the Q and A: The game will be released when we feel it has reached maturity, as simple as that. Another reason not to expect it too soon: Jagex business year runs from April 1st to March 31st. Q1 in business terms would mean between April 1st and June 30th.
Note3: On RSOF there is a MechScape discussion: Quick find code: 23-24-117-55498190
Another piece of information, but not pertaining to MechScape, is this: Geoff Iddison has mentioned a third MMO, to be released in 2010. A job-vacancy was published in July 2008 with the reference 'ho2010'.
It looks great. <3
