One thing I have been very disappointed in even before I purchased my iPhone is that the device is incapable of running my favorite game. Runescape, written in Java, was designed to run on as many platforms as possible through the use of any standard web browser. The iPhone is unique in its distinction of containing a mostly functional web browser, Safari. So it would seem only logical that Runescape would run just fine on the iPhone. Sadly, Apple, in a stroke of illogic that boggles the mind, has prevented the use of Java on the iPhone. That needs repeating. Java is a platform whose main design is to run on as many kinds of devices as possible. Java is a leading force within the mobile phone market. Java is a cornerstone of web based application. Yes, Java is restricted on the number one leading Internet enabled mobile phone.

Before I go on, I want to address what some of you may have seen on the Internet concerning the iPhone and Runescape. There are some videos out there showing what appears to be Runescape running on an iPhone. These videos are not really showing Runescape running on the iPhone. At best, the videos show a VNC connection to a computer running Runescape (which in and of itself is pretty cool). At worst the videos show an iPhone/iPod Touch playing a video of a Runescape session. Because Java has not been implemented for the iPhone, Runescape does not run on the devices. Sorry.

But here are my suggestions to Jagex for how to design an iPhone compatible version of Runescape if Java is ever ported over to the iPhone. Java code can be pretty easily ported over to the C++ source code that the iPhone needs, but in the end it would probably only be cost effective for Jagex to support its main Java development platform. Runescape updates far too frequently to be an effective native iPhone application. But maybe someday Java will come to the iPhone and all will be right in the world. Lets hope that happens with the release of OS3 this summer (but don’t hold your breath).

Obviously, the user interface for an iPhone version of Runescape will need to be slightly modified to allow for multitouch control. The “screen shots” accompanying this article are OF COURSE artistic representations of what I am about to explain. They are not real screen shots and only serve for illustrative purposes.

First of all, Runescape would always need to be in landscape mode. It is the only configuration that would make any sense. After that obvious UI requirement, I would put all the control buttons to the right hand side of the screen (inventory, spells, stats, etc.) I would also include a navigational cross that would allow for changing the camera view. Just for fun I would provide an optional feature that would allow the camera angle to change by tilting the device left/right, up/down. Tapping anywhere else on the screen would perform any standard single click action (walk, run, select). Tap and hold would act as a right click and call up menus (just like the normal game). The chat box could still be displayed pretty much in the same location as the normal game. Scrolling through the box would be done by flicking, just like the built in iPhone browser.  Tapping a special Chat button would bring up a keyboard interface.

Screen space is obviously a major concern and the iPhone screen size wouldn’t allow for the always displayed boxes that appear on the normal screen game. Therefor selecting a control button (for example Inventory) would cause the control buttons to slide off the screen and the information box to slide onto the screen. Two finger tapping the information box would cause the box to slide off and the control buttons to slide back on. The mini map would also take up too much space and thus wouldn’t be displayed at all times. A special control button would be needed to call up the minimap. While the minimap is displayed it would function just like the normal minimap.

These few simple changes would provide an effective and useful user interface to allow almost all the same functionality as the normal full sized game. In fact, all the screen shots I used in this article have the full height of the normal game and only 10% less of the width. After the UI is modified there would only be a couple of issues with game play performance.

Of course a WiFi connection would be a must. Though Runescape was designed to be played on dialup connection speeds, I just do not see it working with 3G speeds / reliability (and most certainly not on Edge). The graphics might need to also be toned down slightly to help with performance issues (though this wouldn’t necessarily be a requirement). I also don’t really see any need for special iPhone/iPod worlds. The setup I suggest above would provide all the same functionality as normal and therefore no need for special worlds. All this depends, of course, of a iPhone version of Java having most of the same functionality of the currently available Java for computers.  The only real question left is whether the iPhone would be powerful enough to run the game.

Ideally having the game actually served to and run from the iPhone itself is what everyone would be after. But there is a slight work around to this issue that could provide more power. That would be working with a client server mechanism. A host computer on the local WiFi network would communicate with the main Runescape servers and process all the data. It could then serve Runescape screens through a highly modified version of VNC to the iPhone (with the same UI changes I mentioned before). This route has the benefit of only having the iPhone process streaming graphics, audio and basic Human User Interface Device functions. The host computer would do all the work. One draw back is that Runescape could only be played on local LANs with host computers. Another draw back is of course the introduction of a middle man computer that could cause additional lag and security issues. In the end, this whole client/server idea is horrible, but I wanted to mention it as a talking point.

Anyway, that is my idea for RuneScape on iPhone. Maybe somebody as Jagex will read this and at least bounce some of the ideas off the big wigs. For now, if you want to actually play Runescape on your iPhone you will need to use a VNC connection. Cheers.

After reading some of the feedback about the February 2009 minor update delay and the feedback to some of the Mark Gerhard’s posts about RWT I have come to the conclusion that the people at Jagex really do need to make a few separate areas for some “special” players. Most of the feedback was constructive and proper. But a lot was so mind numbingly idiotic I nearly had to scream.  And that is why I suggest the following separate and restricted Runescape Worlds.

Brat World:  Let’s get the most needed world out there first. I think an easy way of getting a point across would be to restrict players who get mutes or temporary bans to a special type of “half-way-house” world to play on for a month of two. Of course those worlds would need to be quick chat only, and maybe even a more restrictive version of the current quick chat. If not quick chat only then at least filter out the word “noob.”  That would be traumatizing to most of the people sent to that world because they don’t know how to chat without using ”noob”  in every other sentence.  Wow, I just used “noob” two sentences in a row.  Now three.  Maybe I should be sent to this world.

There would only need to be two of these worlds, a free player world and a members world. If they are always full then it is simply too bad for the people waiting to get connected.  Brat World isn’t supposed to be as pleasant as the greater Runescape.  Maybe some other restrictions could be placed on these worlds. Like a two hour daily play limit. I would like to see such a world nice enough for “rule breakers” that they actually feel like they have been given a chance to redeem themselves and yet unpleasant enough so people won’t purposely try to get sent to one of these world.

Adult World: I believe from some of Mr. Gerhard’s responses to player questions that this type of world is actually being kicked around. And I whole heartedly believe we need a few adults only worlds. I don’t mean making these worlds a lot more risque with half naked players and no filters on chat. I don’t mean kinky worlds (this post is going to get a lot of hits) I just mean worlds where everyone is at least eighteen years old.

One of the reasons I don’t chat too much in Runescape is the idea that I may actually be talking to a strange fourteen year old kid. It just seems creepy.  Also, sometimes some of the kids write incrediably idiotic things and I just want to chime in and say “get off the computer and don’t come back till you graduate”. That is not how all the kids are or even most of them. But there are a few mind numbingly immature brats out there. How Jagex would go about getting confirmations on adult status and so forth, I don’t know and can not fathom, but I am sure it can be done. Before anyone says that kids will still be able to get in because they always have gotten unto adult sites. I agree. But there would be a lot less of them.

Newb Free World:  Please note that I used the term Newb (as in new player) and not Noob (as in jack ass player). I think it would be technically unfeasible to create a non-jack-ass world. Every group has one or two or fifty. Here I mean a world where a player has reached a certain level of game play that indicates that player has a fairly good understanding of Runescape. Minimum limits would have to be obtained, such as a combat level of at least fifty or quest points of at least 32 or at least one skill at 70+ or all of the above. I think these worlds would be a nice reward for players who have put in the time to get familiar with the game and who would rather not spend a bunch of their time helping new players or seeing the same questions over and over again.

Noob Only World:  Note this is the type meaning jack-ass. Here we could send the biggest pain in the asses who walk the streets of Runescape. It would be like the Brat World but for those players who are on the cusp of permanent bans for behavior problems.  It would be a PvP world, and if you die your character gets deleted. Or at least your character has all its bank items removed, and its skills and quest points zeroed out. Also where you died any NPC that wanders by will spit on your bones. Heck, make that a special emote on this world.  “Spit On Bones”.  Okay, maybe this last world is a little extreme.

After reading the nice personal post by Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard I decided to read through many of the replies he received. I couldn’t read all of them because there were already 5000+ replies within the first day. But of the ones I read, most were well reasoned, well written, and well thought out. But I did read a few comments that made me want to reply but I didn’t want to waste the space on a 5000+ rely thread in the forums, so I will do it on my personal blog.

Real World Trading: Someone mentioned that real word trading doesn’t hurt anyone. I do take exception with this point, at least in part. I understand that a person selling a character or goods for real world money would still need to work to get that character to where it is valuable or get those items through various other means such as mining or what-not. In that respect it seems alright. Someone did the work. Why shouldn’t they get paid? In fact, that is how the internal Runescape economy works. Many people buy items they would rather not work on getting. I for one almost never cut down trees, I buy the logs. I buy the secondary ingredients for summoning pouches because I am not going to spend hours hunting around for those ingredients. That is what drives the internal Runescape economy.

But here is what people forget. Runescape is designed for everyone, no matter who they are in the real world. Remember that 80% of the people who play Runescape are free players. Many (I am not saying most, just many) of those free players are free because they cannot cover even the small monthly fee. I spent a year playing free because I was too broke to play, and every once in a while I still tighten the buckle and by-pass a month of membership. Plus there are the kids who can’t get their parents to cough up the dough. The concept of a Free Runescape World is based on the idea that no one should be excluded because of their real world financial issues. And those free players are a very important part of what keeps Runescape running.

Now lets say that Jagex suddenly loosened up and started allowing real world trading. This becomes a nightmare. Many, if not most, of the most powerful and wealthy in game players will be those people who bought their way in. Not because they earned it, but because they had real world money. How is that fair inside the world of Runescape? It is bad enough I have to deal with rich snobs in the real world who never earned their money. I don’t need to deal with that in my relaxation also. Should I become one of the 10% most wealthy players in Runescape only because I dropped 1000 real world dollars on a Blue Party hat? Should I speed my way with all the advantages that real money can buy to level 99 while the remaining 99% of players cannot or will not drop a bunch of real world money. The ban on real world trading gives all players a fair and equal ground to fight on.

Does this mean I don’t think people should make real world money off the games they love to play? Certainly not. There are countless books for sale about investing in Runescape and advancing in Runescape. Many fansites including this one have ads (and I try hard to block ads that are suggestive of RWT but they grow like weeds). Those are legitimate ways to make real money from something we love. But there could be other ways if the people a Jagex implemented some major advancements.

One thing that could make real world money for players and yet keep things within the world of Runescape fair and balanced is the introduction of player made non-tradeables. This blog receives the bulk of its visits from people who are interested in clothing. Maybe Jagex could introduce a costume development package. Thus taking a page from the people at SecondLife. People could design their own clothing and sell it for real world money. These items would be visible within the world of Runescape, but would be untradeable (and have no effect on stats) thus preventing real world money translating into gp. Maybe we could relax that untradeable stipulation to only give-awayable. These items could still be given away to other players for free. So you could give a nice new trench coat to a friend for their birthday, but no gp or other items would be involved in the trade. The people at Jagex would have to come up with a way to make that work, but it is doable. Of course it doesn’t have to be restricted to clothing, maybe posters could be made to hang in player owned homes. In any case the clothing or other items would have no advantages beyond cosmetic, like a lot of the current clothing available.

Another thing I noticed when people were commenting on real world trading is the statement that real world traders can be slowed down but not stopped. This point is valid. It also borders on idiot when thought out. Theft and bank robbing are illegal and there are many laws to prevent these things. But people still steal and rob banks. Just because people still do it doesn’t mean we should cut our loses and make them legal. They are wrong and if the best we can do is slow these crimes down then as a society that is what we need to do.   In the real world laws are made to stop or slow down the few who would do wrong and the rest of us by default have to suffer the burden.  That is society and the cross that we must bear.  In Runescape, real world trading is wrong (if we wish to preserve fairness) and we should support reasonable efforts to slow it down.

I would like to take this moment to appeal to those of you who think that some of the practices that Jagex has taken to curb real world trading has hurt the game. I agree with you. The initial changes to the wilderness and player killing were poorly made. I don’t pk, but I always knew it was an important part of the game and when I discovered what was done to pking I was very disappointed. Again, I don’t pk, but if I did and I justed killed a player wearing all dragon armor, I want that frigging armor. I think if they are wearing and wielding it and they die, it should be given to victor (minus the top three of course). Anything in their inventory is just lost (that would help with the RWT).  The new PvP concept is a nice step forward, but more needs to be done.

Also, I agree with people about trade limits, to a point. I don’t think the limits should be abandoned all together. But they need to be further relaxed. I think these tight limits are what is causing the downward spiral in the Runescape economy (which almost all of the GEC charts show). Something needs to be done before the economy collapses to nothing. Right now it is not reasonable to do long term investing in Runescape items because almost all items, though they have a roller coaster graph, everything is still progressively devaluing.

Anyway, there is my 2 gp worth of comments on real world trading.

I’ve been so bogged down in writing the Grand Exchange Central’s database scripts and page codes lately that I haven’t had much of a chance to really play the game. So this weekend I purposely sat down and told myself to play and enjoy the game for fun sake. That of course let me to see a few funny sights, finish a couple annoying quests (like Shield of Avvay and Heroes)  and come up with a suggestion for a Jagex April Fools prank.

I can’t have a stupid idea without sharing it, so here it is. I think that on April 1, 2009 the people at Jagex should toss in a Rickroll. Maybe right in the middle of Varrock square. Before I go on I probably should mention a couple of things for those few people who are oblivious to the greater workings of the Internet.

First, over the past fifteen years April Fools Day has become the most universally accepted holiday on the Internet. April Fools Day is a holiday that everyone can enjoy because there are no religious or political drawbacks. And it is not geocentric; every place on Earth has fools and pranksters. It is a safe holiday to observe on websites. And most major websites take part.

Second, a Rickroll is an Internet phenomenon that is closing in on its last days. But it still has a little life left. Basically anything can be a Rickroll as long as it involves the song, “Never gonna give you up” by Rick Astley appearing in a place where it would normally not appear.  Hearing the song on Lite-FM WSLP is not a Rickroll. Having the video pop up on a congressional website (which it did) is a Rickroll. Rickrolls originally started out as misleading links to the Astley YouTube video, but have expanded out to include pretty much anything that involves the song.

Now on to my idea. I think that on April 1^st for a few hours there should be a little Rick Astley like NPC wondering around Varrock square singing the lyrics to “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Or if there is a copyright concern then change the lyrics slightly. You can’t say that some little dude like the one to the above right wouldn’t be a hilarious April Fools prank. Plus, maybe as a side bonus he could give out tan tench coats as a nontradeable holiday item.

As a side note: The GEC is coming along nicely. It now contains over 500 items, has parts lists on many individual items, and has the ability to store up to 60 days worth of data for each item (the official GE website only displays a months worth). There are now several Runedexes that place items into categories and many more tools to come in the very near future. I have added all the headwear I can find and will be starting on footware this week (it takes a lot of time to initially enter in new items).

This next idea is one that just recently started formulating in my brain, unlike my other ideas about weather and healthcare that have been festering for years. I think we should have true beasts of burden, not just the nominal activities we get with the Summoning skill. Wooooo… imagine wavy lines going down the screen as I go off on a brief tangent…

This is how I picture the Jagex meeting when they decided to lump pet care into the Summoning skill. The names have been changed to protect the innocent, and because I’m too lazy to look up the real names.

Ted - “Well, the Summoning skill is almost complete, but it seems to be lacking something.”

Bill - “What? It’s not confusing enough?”

Gale - “Not expensive enough?”

Jim – “Not a big enough pain in the ass?”

Ted - “No, it just seems like a root canal.  You might need to get one, but do you really want to do it?”

Bill - “That’s true. No one ever actually asked for anything like it.”

Gale - “Are you saying that not one of our 10 million players asked for anything like Summoning?”

Ted - “Well, there was talk about creature creation.”

Gale - “We added that in the Tower of Life quest.”

Bill - “And no one knows about it, and those who do, don’t give a damn.”

Ted - “Lets get back on track people. What can we do to make Summoning entertaining?”

Gale - “I hear many players asking for more pets.”

Ted - “That’s the ticket. We’ll lump a pet care skill in with Summoning and then people will have to deal with the Summoning skill.”

Bill - “Are those two even related?”

Ted - “Does it matter?”

Wavey lines again. Back on topic.

Anyway, it occurred to me the other day that one thing that seems to go hand-in-hand with medieval times is horses. Knights rode horses. Contests were played on horses.  Goods were transported by horses. Everyone had a horse.  Why not add horses to the Runescape mix?

Of course, thanks to Summoning, owning and caring for a horse would fall squarely under that sad skill set. I guess I’ll just have to deal with that aspect. Yet, I think the inclusion of horses (and donkeys and camels, and other beasts of burden) would be a nice addition to Runescape and would certainly fall within the realm of reality for the time period. Right now we are expected to accept that farmers take their goods to market via push carts. That knights ride into battle on… their feet. That ores we mine are transported via, at the most advanced, carts on tracks that lead to locations that are not strategically located to any place that ores need to go.

Here is my view of horses in Runescape. I see players with a high enough summoning skill (cough) earning the right to care for horses and keeping them as pets (raising them from birth). As the horses get older they would develop the ability to carry players as riders (players would be able to travel faster and further without depleting energy as quickly).  Of course players would need to dismount before entering buildings.  As the horse gets even older it would begin to be able to carry items in an inventory of its own (like the current beast of burden routine). Maybe player would be able to attach carts to the horses and transport loads of goods around Runescape. Over time the horse would reach a peak productive age, and then its abilities would lessen and eventually be of little “work” value. At that point the horse could be put out to pasture to make way for younger horses. I’m not suggesting sending the old horses to the glue factory (though, now that I think about it, that could be a new feature in the crafting skill… sorry, bad joke.  I really do love horses).  We’d just send them to Farmer Ted’s Ranch for Elderly Livestock.

Some restrictions would be needed. Players would not be able to put horses in their inventory. Lets face it, stuffing a horse in to your backpack just looks weird (and is already illegal in many cities). Also, players would need to build homes with special stables attached.  To ride the horse, a player would need to have at least one hand free (so a shield or weapon would have to be in the inventory or not brought along at all). Also, a large animal working so much would require a good amount of food.

I am still working on this idea, so check back for updates on this latest idea.

Disclaimer: I know I make fun of Jagex a lot about the Summoning skill and I give a lot of ideas for game improvements. Please don’t take that as dissatisfaction with the game. I do hate Summoning. But I love the game as a whole and the ideas I suggest are merely things I view as added bonuses.