I actually think this sounds amazing! …except for the fact that I need a new account. That’s just lame. F R E S H would be super fun, but not if it comes with an additional price tag.
Hey! Glad you like the idea behind it. I've seen a lot of this feedback and want to address it. Because we're intending to merge the accounts with the main game in 6 months, we won't be able to give existing accounts the ability to play on the Fresh Start servers. The account migration system just wouldn't work. I think the idea behind it is for new players or those who haven't played in a long time, so they can experience the game in a world with no other high level players
Why?
fresh economy, new world with no other high-level players, and fresh hiscores, seems like something that new or lapsed players might find interesting
Jagex really trying to milk everything out of the players while they can
It's written in the FAQ but just to reiterate: these worlds are intended to be a 'jumping-on 'point for new players, or players who haven't played in a long time. The way that the account migration works means only new accounts can access these worlds.
While other MMOs have expansion models that serve as a 'jumping-on' point, OSRS doesn't have that same 'moment' for people to be a part of. This is aimed entirely at potential new players or returning players who are on the fence to see if we can't get them to give OSRS a go!
But.. why?
Like I thought it was going to be like OSRS on release kind of thing, and I could see that at least appealing to the people who are constantly whining that old school isn't old school anymore..
But damn, who wants to play the game like this? It's basically another temporary game mode but an exact copy of the main game, mainly to compete for high scores I'm assuming? But does anyone really still care about high scores these days, especially on something temporary like this? Like does anyone for example remember the top 5 league players? Why would anyone waste any time on this?
It's intended to be a good point of return for new or lapsed players mainly as they can all 'jump on' the game at the same point in time as other players. Players can compete for HiScores if they want to, but this isn't the main focus
Wouldn't new players just click on the "new player " button on the main screen and not this new game mode? 🤔
As far as I know the design gives players the option to choose between 'main game' and 'fresh start worlds' upon finishing Tutorial Island, and should outline what that decision means!
This is really strange to me. I’m what you might consider a “new/returning player.” I started playing last November with a main account after not playing since RuneScape Classic in 2002ish.
I’ve played solo and the established GE has been helpful in expediting some of the more annoying grinds. These players won’t have that… I don’t ever feel the need to “catch up” because everything seems so individualized.
These new/returning players will just be playing at a disadvantage for the first six months.
I think the intention is that players will all be jumping into the game at the same point in time as one another, meaning that there is more of a chance you'll meet people doing activities and whatnot. It's a world with no other high level players around which could be fun
Time to dust off my shit bucket, it's 200m smithing time!
Glad you're excited
Did you guys see this idea tanking in RS3 and figured you couldn't miss out on the fun?
Edit: While I'm not a fan of the idea, it sounds a lot better than the RS3 proposal as long as the "minimal dev time" is true.
Also, they need to explain why a new player should choose this world, one devoid of an existing economy, over a regular world that has a running economy.
On the new players front, this sort of 'release' gets press coverage, and gives something to market to players. More reach = more eyes = more fresh noobs.
Also, don't underestimate the power of a starting area filled with new like-minded players!
How will this attract new players who have never played osrs? I doubt new players give 2 shits about hiscores or the “economy”.
On the new players front, this sort of 'release' gets press coverage, and gives something to market to players. More reach = more eyes = more fresh noobs.
Also, don't underestimate the power of a starting area filled with new like-minded players!
Sorry for rehashing the same comment, but I think it covers this point
sounds like a fun first couple of days for experienced players, I really dont see how this helps new players out at all though
I think the idea is that everyone will be jumping into the game at the same point in time, so lower level areas might be more populated - increased chance of meeting people etc
Damn straight! I'll work tirelessly the next 2 months so I can have November and December off. You guys better not postpone the release date!
okay be safe tho
Can you explain why this would attract new players over joining the existing game?
Wouldn't impactful content updates also serve as 'jumping on points' for new players?
Could you also address the potential impact to the economy once the fresh start worlds end, and the 6 months of supplies hit the main game G.E in one day?
Totally understand the point around impactful content updates, so far this year we've put out Nex, Guardians of the Rift, Giants' Foundry and (in 9 days) Tombs of Amascut, with more to come before the year's done! Fresh Start Worlds should be really minimal from a dev time perspective and won't get in the way of us delivering other impactful content.
We also understand players want to know what comes after Raids 3, and that's why we're currently planning our next Summit to share just what lies ahead for Old School.
In terms of the potential impact to the economy, this is something I hope we can address properly with our full announcement in the near future.
So new accounts specifically for these worlds means I have to pay for this with $12.49, and not main game bonds?...
You only have to pay if you want to play on the Fresh Start Worlds as a member.
I am genuinely curious, what incentive would there be for you to do that, given we're targeting this towards new players or those who haven't played in a long time.
Is it so you can also experience the rush of a new economy?
Edit: I changed the first sentence to state you only have to pay to be a member. Fresh Start Worlds will be available to Free-to-Play alongside membership!
I don't see the point. It just seems like a more inconvenient way to introduce new and returning players to the game.
It's about creating that moment in time for new players (or returning players on the fence) to jump in to, similar to what expansions do for other MMOs like WoW.
Also, it should benefit new players to have those early- and mid-game areas more densely populated with like-minded players at similar points of progression, where many of those areas are pretty sparsely populated in the main game.
I don't get it. Why would a new player want to roll on a 'fresh' server when they could instead roll on the actual Runescape server where everyone plays? This isn't like WoW where players can roll on different servers. If you play Runescape, you can jump onto any world and play with your friends.
Hopefully we're able to provide a common 'jump on' point for players so that they can all play at a similar time, meaning you're more likely to meet people at similar points in your journey and find more friends as a result
a 2011 server would have been better than this and filled a gap between the two games doing this.
Perhaps it would be, but that's a loooot more dev time than spinning up a second version of the same game!
How does a fresh economy and high scores attract new players over clans and sweaty players who have already mastered the game? Especially making it non-ironman, this will clearly be dominated by people swapping gold and feeding top level players to compete for the leaderboard.
I recognize that it doesn't matter to jagex, because a new player pays the same as a new account from a veteran player. But, just call it what it is
new world with no other high level players about - makes low level areas more densely populated, could be fun to meet new friends
hiscores - you're right. will new players be affected by competitive people on the hiscores? probs not. i don't think new players even necessarily know where the hiscores are or care much for them.
returning or lapsed players though might care about being the first to hiscores, depends how serious they are about the game
This feels like wasted dev time, even after reading through all of it I still can't see the point of joining these worlds instead of the "main-game". Fresh economy? What is it even good for? If anything, item's will just be more tedious to be able to afford? What do you expect to happen after 6 months has passed? Will they be able to adapt to the main-game-economy or just in general deal with all the already-experienced players??
to echo other people, it is a copy/paste of the game so minimal dev time is involved in this and potentially a huge uplift in new/returning player retention. there will be some initial struggles to get items as it's a brand new economy. i think the main idea is to have a similar point in time for people to "jump in" to the game together.
We were being smug and assuming that the new account only thing was something that Jagex would only try to pull on RS3, but they are pulling the same shit here LOL
Ayiza's response on twitter was also stupid
The way that the account migration will work means that only new accounts can play on these worlds. Fresh Start Worlds are meant for new players, or those who haven't played in a very long time.
This still makes no sense, you CAN have worlds where you start a new profile from the same account, so it does not make sense that you couldn't do the same thing for this.
Please, nobody play this, tell them to go f**k themselves
Yes, you can have worlds where you start a new profile from the same account, but that doesn't cover what happens with the migration.
We don't have the tech to simply migrate your experience over to another account. We can however, move a Fresh Start World account over to a main game account.
This is the reason a new account is required for these worlds.
We could spend dev time on investigating other migrations options, but this isn't meant to be targeted towards existing players and we know its something most existing players won't be interested in. It's a trial we can run with a low-cost development time.
So what would be the benefit when you could just continue playing your main account? I am genuinely curious to better understand the point here as to why a new account is such a taboo thing when its not intended for existing players.
Would the fresh start explain "no experienced players will be here to help you at all, the economy won't have much supply to provide you, and in 6 months time you're forced to the main game anyway"?
As this all just feels weirdly... Pointless? Idk if that's just me. If I started a game and they said I could choose to separate with just the new players or play the "real" game.. I'd just choose the real game.
Perhaps there will be a lower number of experienced players on-hand to help out, but there'll be a whole lot of players at similar points of progression all making discoveries together and sharing.
On top of that, there's no doubt in my mind that communities on platforms like YouTube, Twitch and even here on Reddit would be instrumental in helping and supporting the potential influx of new players! When all is said and done, the OSRS community is beyond supportive of players discovering Gielinor for the first time, just like most of us did years ago!
Plus, choosing the 'real' game is still an option for anybody starting out! The choice is entirely up to the player, all we do is provide the information and the means to start fresh if they'd like.
Because someone can make a new account as a new player on current servers and join in? what new player wants to care or sweat on hiscores dribble.
It's about creating that moment in time for new players (or returning players on the fence) to jump in to, similar to what expansions do for other MMOs like WoW.
Also, it should benefit new players to have those early- and mid-game areas more densely populated with like-minded players at similar points of progression, where many of those areas are pretty sparsely populated in the main game.
Taking this comment Goblin made in a previous comment to hopefully answer that for you!
Explain how a new player accustomed to the higher xp rates and such would love how osrs is after the event ends?
No enhanced XP rates, no enhanced item drop rates, no rewards or uniques. They'll migrate straight over to the same experience they've been playing, just with the active playerbase beyond just the Fresh Start World players.
Don’t be a clown. You know that plenty of existing OSRS players will make accounts to either rush highscores or to goldfarm to swap for regular OSRS gold.
It’s a cash grab and it’s disingenuous to even say that it’s not.
Is there a F2P option for these worlds or is everyone expected to make the $12.99 commitment prior to deciding to play these worlds?
F2P will be available, it's mentioned in the FAQ I posted here :)
I totally get why an existing player would be frustrated at having to pay for another account if you wanted to play on these worlds, but that's the limitation we're working with.
The intention here is to attract new players, or returners who have not played for a long time. We can't stop existing OSRS players making accounts and playing for whatever reason they decide, but its not something we're trying to push, hence the no rewards, gameplay modifiers, or incentives for active accounts to play.
/u/JagexAyiza do you ever get sick of lying to the playerbase about the reasons for updates?
We're just out here relaying information. We've not lied about anything :(
does mod ayiza get paid each time he uses an exclamation mark
If only!
From the linked post:
"It's going to be available for both free-to-play players and Members, and only new accounts will be able to play on a Fresh Start World."
So does it have f2p, or not?
It does have f2p, I edited my comment. Thanks for raising and sorry for the confusion!
How far back will the fresh start server be rewinded to in terms of content? Is it fresh starting at the 2013 timeline or starting with tomb of Amascut raid?
It will be an exact replica of Old School how it is in October and any updates that are applied over the course of the next 6 months
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