Jagex, you have been fantastic at discussing everything about the Necromancy release so far! Don't stop now; let's have the discussion, please. You have often stated that you would be open to discussing things when the community has a concern; now's your chance to prove yourselves right!
Rituals are currently the only source of high-intensity, high-XP gains that aren't heavily competed for (looking at you, platypus!), giving everyone the same chance to get good gains at the cost of high APM. I can, however understand that Necromancy is at its core a combat skill, and so for the majority of XP to come from somewhere other than combat feels off, but the solution isn't stick (nerfing ritual XP), it's carrot (buffing the recently-nerfed combat XP). The decision to nerf combat XP, just as a new combat skill comes out did feel a bit odd, but I guess I understood the underlying reasoning.
From a business perspective, I can understand that Jagex would want the the content they have invested countless Dev hours into to last as long as possible (the longer it takes, the longer people will stay engaged and therefore subscribed).. and so, there's some business logic to nerfing XP rates (combat previously, skilling now).
However, at its core, RuneScape is a game.. and one that has an ageing playerbase, with full-time jobs and IRL commitments. A frustration myself and many from my clan have is that nerfing the current XP rates for rituals feels like an "early bird bonus" (which, let's be honest, we know is code for "we got it wrong first time around"). Typically this wouldn't be an issue (e.g. If it were actually announced as one), but when the "race to 99/120/200M" has been hyped up, and we've followed our favourite content creators and streamers through their journeys, only to now be told "Sorry, early bird bonus" or "needed for the longevity of the game" ... It doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel like everyone is on a level playing field (which was the intent of the new skill embargo, right?).
(It's worth noting at this juncture that although the "world first" 99s, 120s, and 200Ms have long been achieved, the many in-clan or in-friend-group races are still underway. A nerf now gives an unfair disadvantage to those who started later.)
Now I would understand if these changes were made on, say, day 2 or 3... But to wait for all the youtubers and streamers to finish their goals and then say "ah, but it's necessary for the longevity of the game" makes it feel like Jagex are prioritising that part of the playerbase (allowing them to quickly get to their goals) over the loyal, ageing community with 9-5 jobs, and/or families, many of whom have really limited time to play.
So let's talk solutions.
1) Make the changes to the XP rates when the skill embargo ends, in the true nature of "keeping a level playing field" during the embargo. This way the nerf will counteract the gains to be had from DXP, Avatar, etc.. There's your long-term solution (or are we sticking to short-term fix for long-term problem?)
2) Proceed with the nerf, but end the embargo early. If we're changing XP rates now, this says "well the races are over, the new normal starts now". I don't like this idea, as it's undermining the feel of the new skill, but it's better than the current proposal.
3) Nerf disturbance XP, but proportionally buff base ritual XP to keep XP rates same overall, but decrease the high-APM requirement for the top gains. I'm not sure this solves the problem you were trying to fix, does it? (Talk to us, we don't know!).
I'm sure there are more solutions, but let's talk about them, as a joint effort between the community and its Devs. If too much XP is the problem, let's be up-front about it. Right now, the mistake has been made, and the proverbial knife has been plunged. Yes, let's try to fix the problem, but just pulling that knife out will just cause an uncontrollable bleed if not done right and slowly (this analogy may be a little on the nose, but is my point coming across?).
If you read this all, thank you. Double thanks if you're open to replying/discussing! But otherwise, TL;DR: Please don't make substantial XP changes to a new skill, mid race-embargo, without comprehensively discussing it with your playerbase!
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