One of the main things that makes RuneScape great is the fact that it’s updated weekly. We usually get an update to the game at least once a week that consists of various content releases and some bug fixes.
There are a lot of updates that I’ve been wishing to see in the game for years. There are some updates that would make playing the game much easier and much more pleasurable. There are also a few updates that people want, but they don’t look at the possible negative side of these updates.
For as long as I can remember, people have been asking for a voice chat feature in the game. This would make communication a lot easier between clans and other players and would definitely help with the wrist pain that you get when you type for a very long time. However, as we have witnessed on games that have voice chat, there are many issues. If you frequently use headphones when you’re gaming, your hearing will end up going bad due to somebody blowing a fog horn into their microphone or making undead-like shriveling screams. If I’m playing a game with voice chat, I often mute it because I can’t stand the noises that people make. There are alternatives to in-game voice chat, however, like RaidCall, TeamSpeak, or Ventrilo that clans can easily use which are a lot more tolerable than an in-game voice chat that all players can use.
The next update that I’d like to discuss is supposed to come to RuneScape in the future. Ever since the first iPad came out, people have wanted to play RuneScape on their tablet devices and even their smartphones. I’ve recently purchased my very own Nexus 7 and I would kill to be able to play RuneScape on this device. According to the Jagex Careers website, Jagex has recently been trying to hire a tablet developer for Android and iPad tablets which is a pretty solid hint that RuneScape for tablets will be coming in the near future.
Earlier this week, somebody posted a thread on the Reddit /r/RuneScape subreddit asking about an update to the Grand Exchange and the Banking system. With RuneScape 3, we were supposed to get an updated bank but this obviously didn’t happen. I honestly don’t know which updates could come to the grand exchange, but I have wished for an update to the bank. One of the main features that I’d like to see is a ‘total bank worth’ button. I honestly have no idea how much my bank is worth right now and that would be a handy feature that we could use. There is one significant issue with a 'total bank worth' button; many players have a bank worth that totals over 2,147,483,647 coins. For those who might not know, this large number is the maximum integer that can be used in Java (the language that RuneScape is written in). To get around this, instead of assigning the value as an integer, you can assign the value as a 'long', which has a maximum value of 9,223,372,036,854,775,807.
If you’re under the age of 13, then your account is restricted to using the Quick Chat feature. If I force myself to use quick chat for a few hours, then I’ll end up having to say “I can’t answer that on quick chat” more than any other quick chat line because quick chat is honestly lacking. There are so many lines that we will never say and there are so many lines that we need to be able to say but can’t. It can be extremely frustrating to not be able to convey your message to other players because you’re muted or you’re under the age of 13.
There is no arguing that a lot of mini-games in RuneScape are dead content. What were once bustling activities are now ghost towns - shadows of what they once were. When I started playing, a lot of the mini-games and activities were packed to the rim. Nowadays, we rarely see anybody else in some of these mini-games. For an example, we can use Gnome Restaurant. Personally, I believe Gnome Restaurant is one of the most boring activities in the game—comparable to the quests One Small Favour or Sheep Herder. This isn't the only mini-game that needs a revamp, though. Mini-games like the Great Orb Project, Trouble Brewing, Mobilizing Armies, and Fishing Trawler are all rarely used nowadays.
We see it every day in-game, on the forums, and on fan-sites. We’ve only scratched the surface with the updates that I’ve discussed. One thing is for sure: RuneScape will continue to be updated for a long time and we may even see some of these updates implemented into the game in the future.
Which updates have you always wanted to see in-game? Make sure to tell us in the discussion thread for this week’s Tip It Times!
