Since the Mechscape release continues to get pushed back and Jagex seems to be intentionally keeping it as secret as possible without having much of a PR cycle to promote it in any tangible way, do you guys and gals think other games of a similar genre (e.g. Star Trek Online) will be attracting the players who would originally have been waiting and hoping for Mechscape?

I, for one, have been waiting patiently now for a long time, as I am sure all of you have been as well, and have little information of Mechscape, and the information we do get is mostly the cryptic information Ren finds for us. Is anyone else getting tired of this? And do any of you see this as a potential reason Mechscape could fail before it gets released? Because, to me at least, Star Trek Online is looking pretty good right now and I at least know details and have seen screenshots and can easily talk to the developers about their game.

Any comments?

Yes, I do believe that MS will lose some of it's potential players because of this, mainly the kids that think that it will be out in 2 weeks and then find out it isn't, then storm off in a huff. I am not extremely happy that Jagex is taking so long to make MS, but I expect it to be a game worth playing after they've spent this much time building it.

To be perfectly honest, I think most of MS's players will come straight from RS, at least to begin with. Seeing as RS is still going strong, they are all entertained still so they aren't going anywhere.

It could happen. People start getting interested in a Sci Fi game due to MechScape, and then after waiting so long for it, they decide to try out another Sci Fi game. If they find one they really like, they will probably stay with it, and not try out MechScape.

If they keep forcing things back and fail to deliver, then it is likely that they will lose their initial fan base. I hope they do everything right to avoid that because I won't be playing a poorly designed game.

I doubt it will have a huge impact, but it does seem as if that "empty" genre of sci fi mmos is being filled faster than Jagex would like.

EVE is by far the best on the market so far. I am intrigued as to how their "never before seen" gameplay (which definately wasn't apparent in the MS video) will cope against such popular games.

I think the Sci-Fi genre doesn't do as well in MMO's because it is more likely to be "bad". With Fantasy, it's almost impossible to go wrong; Sci-Fi however, because it's in the future, is far harder to create a coherant game.

I may just fall into that category. Hearing about mechscape when the first rumors were spread got me in the mood for a sci-fi mmo, and my hunger has yet to be satiated. I am a fan of Jagex games, but I refuse to wait on a game that I know little to nothing about when there are games that are looking pretty good coming out...

DAMNIT!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways, I doubt anyone outside of this site is on the edge of their seat waiting for Stellar dawn. Most people who are waiting for it are perfectly satisfied with what they are doing while waiting

I agree. The thing about the other games is that they are hyping it to make players more interested, and therefore they release screenshots and suchlike to prove to the player that it is going to be awesome when it is released, and if it isn't all there hype is for nothing and there product falls on their face (Doubt this will happen to Star Trek, though). Jagex is doing the opposite, not releasing any information so that it is a soft release, and that way if it is crap and no-one wants to play it, they didn't spend tons of money hyping it for no good cause. It also means they don't have to stick to a release date, which means they can release it when it is awesome, and not before. Bad hyping of their products has caused Jagex problems in the past.

lols at Mobilizing Armies. Kickabout was their only good hyped release.

Kickabout sucks now. I got 1337 then got the hell out b4 the noob updates.

noob updates? Do tell? and whats the significance of 1337?

Generally speaking, majority of the MMO market probably doesn't even know about MechScape. So basically the other MMOs will either keep their players or they will move around. What will probably be going well for MechScape is the free to play aspects similar to RuneScape.

Not very many people know about MechScape.

Go look at a big name gaming site like Gamestop or IGN. Nothing about it, and maybe an article or two on RuneScape HD. Jagex really should get themselves more in the spotlight, than just hide in the shadows.

OK, WOW, I couldn't agree more.

Jagex is (in my opinion) doing a terrible job with how they handle the pre-releace stuff.

We need some kind of info to keep us excited. and after 4 years, 8/10 rs players know about mechscape anyways, so keeping everything a secret isn't helping anymore. Honestly, Im actually loosing interest all together. I was rly excited about that vid from 08, but thats way long ago, and jagex says that most of that is trashed anyways. Think about it. If you know that a cool game will some out, you are more likely to play it when it does come out, then if a game just pops out of the blue. even if we get warning it will come out 1 month ahead, thats no good anyways.

My solution is simple. Have a monthly update or something, on MSW or something. it would help us stay interested and let people know its out there. when you find out about something, even if you dont know when it will come out, it makes you more likely to try it or buy it or w/e.

In conclusion, I just think jagex is failing rly bad, and needs to give us more something, wether its a screen shot, or a vid, or even a little post on msw about the progress or something, it would really help all of us stay into it.

I don't like the idea of doing something every X days. I would prefer Jagex to say something when something needs to be said. I also think that you are ignoring Jagex's attempt to become a little part of our community by posting on the forums. While they do not want to tell you much or anything really at all you have to understand that they are doing this for reason of their own. You have to respect that.

What keeps the community on edge is finding something out of the blue from a news site or information that we didn't expect. I think this unique aspect is what makes everyone on edge. Fail isn't really a good term to describe something that you don't agree with. I would say that Jagex is doing rather fine myself.

I won't try to join some other game while i wait for SD. I can't count enough of the times that jagex had said, it will be completely new and different from any game out there. So I know that i shouldn't join some other space game because i know it won't be anything compared to the awesomeness of SD when it comes out. And plenty of people said that Eve is the only good sci-fi game out there. And unless i'm mistaken it's pretty expensive. And besides, I still have plenty of fun stuff left to do in runescape. I hope other people feel the same way. SD FTW!

Probably a good thing as the rest of the game world would laugh at the MS failure, comparing them to Duke Nukem Forever (which was never released despite the constant "When it's ready" statements. Sound like anyone?)

Oh noes!!! Don't use foreshadowing!!!!! It confuses me!!!!

The thing is, even when it's released, Jagex won't advertise it much. When they should *after release*, start doing interviews with lots of magazines, gaming sites, etc.

Mechscape doesnt exist anymore, its been scrapped, cancelled. Stellar Dawn however is going full speed ahead, possibly due out in 2010, they will salvage a sizable portion of content from Mechscape though and use it in Stellar dawn.

We know this, Dracul, but we call it MechScape still, out of habit.

That is a very bold statement :P
Can you sense my lack of faith in Jagex? Your powers are weak old man... (Shameless Star Wars quote.)

Ask a gamer whether he knows about Star Trek Online. Why of course! Ask a gamer whether they know about MechScape / Stellar Dawn. What? What's that?

I think I've proven a point. Thing is, the people who wait for SD are here, they're amongst us. There aren't many.

Jagex is taking a HUGE risk, counting on just RS players to try out MechScape and then spread the word. That, in my opinion, is a HUGE mistake. They should not do that.

Why not? Well, the answer is simple. They expect the RS players to like it. The fact is, average RS player is 16 years old (or so we're told...). Yet, this game is aimed at an older audience. So, they play it, hate it, tell their friends it's crap. The friend get the feeling that it's crap. Maybe they do like it, but his friend has already given him a negative feel about the game.

The "Brand" of Jagex, isn't helping the case either.

Jagex SHOULD be generating interest in players OTHER than RS players.


Thank you
Iceman

Also, since they seem to be expecting to get most of the MS / Stellar Dawn fan base from Runescape is not the best idea I've ever heard. All they are doing is competing with themselves really and will not be getting very many new players because not many new players will know about it.

It just doesn't make any sense to me.

Advertisement is a crucial component, especially when there are games in a very similar genre competing for a niche in the market. You can't just let the game advertise for itself, especially there will not be very many people (outside of the Jagex community) who even know about it.

I mean, how many of us here do not have Jagex playing backgrounds? I would presume zero...

When it finally comes out, it will be compared to Runescape, whether or not Jagex wants it to be. Look at Runescape Classic, for example. They just released it for members to play again, and people were looking for the GE (not in Classic), and complaining that it is too hard to play.

Jagex needs to have people other than Runescape players know about Mechscape. That way, it will have a better chance of being popular.

The one thing i won't like about Stellar dawn is that runescapes community will come with it

The fact that their PR team is full of idiots, will make this game unsuccessful. Hate to break this to ya, but that's how it goes. :/


Thank you
Iceman

OOH OOH! HERE IS MY FAMOUS MOVIE QUOTE!!! ahemm..."You are a fool Harry Potter" erm i mean jagex. "You are a fool jagex and that is why you must loose.

also i have a feeling sd will be way better than runescape is. the universe is infinate, so is what can be in that uber sweet game.

I don't even know why we are discussing if the game will be advertised; it's not even near completion.

Maybe we could discuss this in, maybe, 2010? Or maybe when we get some evidence that it is nearing completion?

And what's up with everyone bashing Jagex for not advertising Mechscape? They are hoping that they can achieve the same status that they have done with Runescape through player-to-player word of mouth (their idea of the best advertising).

How about making a splash page for the game? That's a start.

I agree that thinking most players will come from Runescape is stupid. For one, that doesn't actually increase your member base because no one new is joining, just people swapping over games.

Another is that the RS community sucks and the people in it are all incredibly immature. I don't want those people in a game aimed at adults.

Yeah. RuneScape community is horrible, and Jagex has an opportunity to have a game without them.

I'm not going to lie, by the end of the year I'll be playing a couple other games more actively. I was waiting for MS a while ago, after I quit RS, but then I found a whole world of other games. Personally, if they don't get their butts in gear, games like http://www.swtor.com/ will start to kill the momentum that's been keeping the initial fanbase alive.

I can't wait for SWTOR :D

1 |2357 |v|'/ <@53.

I rest my case.