4 replies to this topic

[Mtam]

so from my 7 year hiatus from the server. ive returned full time after working at jagex privately for the anti-cheat team (due to the stuff i ran outside of alora) and have been enjoying my stay so far! 

keep in mind the info below as a disclaimer, these are all basically my opinions and general expectations. 


starting off this ramble, i was instantly greeted with the perks from utilizing runelite. that was a huge win in regards to what we experienced back in 2017. its defs created that more polished/tailored experienced for the general user.


I made a post last week in regards to collection log highscores existing, since i noticed the highscores infrastructure there but wasnt working and im glad to see that actually came to fruition since thats hugeeee for the server.
while were on the topic of collection logs aka account competition. (which is healthy and required) theres still the spoiled egg in the room being that the highscores are still scaling off account creation number rather than when the user gets in relation to other players timing. this is a massive kick to the guts to your dedicated players.

highscores/modes; we have an amazing abundance of game modes to pick from, tailoring to almost everyones needs. which is amazing since once a user digs their heels in and starts an ironman for example. its a perfect pace regardless of xp rates. but if you notice how i said ironman and not an account (normal) in saying this. ive noticed since ive returned this has become an 'ironman server' (which isnt bad) but it isnt for everyone and as i want to see this server grow, we need to cater towards all types. as of right now, normal mode is so blackluster that its starting to feel like im playing an ironman without being ironman. this could be a biased thing cause im from Australia but to my personal experience with merching since ive been back to. getting ahold of most of the items is sooo slow. you either pay an extreme premium (i myself dont care but im thinking of those new players who lack the knowledge to generate mass gold). in fact theres nearly 40% of the eco you almost cant actively get your hands on in a reasonable expected time. 

which leads to player retention, those who arent flicking over to ironman mode say after maxing a normal account, tend to lose interest if they arent top tier pvm orientated or wealthy. (keep in mind this is just my personal experiences since ive been back)

even from my own spreadsheets for merching, stock is moving at a 67% decrease in comparison to 2017, on a week to week basis. altho, the goldsinks we have have kept the prices at a respectable point considering how long the games been out.

were going to hit a wall once ironman hit their desired donor goals theyll stop injecting items for gp into normal circulation making the server feel dull for those newcomers when you got o the trading post and theres nothing there (currently or someone putting it in for a completely silly price)

the fact that my friend who i brought along as a secret case sample (he doesnt know) is still waiting on getting things at an appropriate price i have listed for him so hes not effectively getting scammed in the moment. 
even with myself merching to guage the flow of the eco, theres not enough coming into the trading post to lower the prices, i could effectively trash the early/mid game experience by throttling them to just thieving and welfare slayer or forcing them to be an iron. which might aswell let them quit and become an official iron exacerbating the initial issue at large.

rest of the server is hitting my personal expectation+in coding quality. good job im proud of you :)

 @Omicron

[Ruwk]

OT: @Mtam welcome back, but also you pose some pretty interesting information most I would agree with. But what do you think is the possible solution to solving this? Overall, I don't think it's much of an issue. Alora's player retention over 7 years has been drastically better than almost every other server other than like 2 others.

[Mtam]

OT: @Mtam welcome back, but also you pose some pretty interesting information most I would agree with. But what do you think is the possible solution to solving this? Overall, I don't think it's much of an issue. Alora's player retention over 7 years has been drastically better than almost every other server other than like 2 others.

thats the thing tho, i dont really have a solution that isnt radical cause i kinda like where the ironman community is currently. but in saying that itll come with its own consequences.

in retention were strong only in certain pillars of the game, specifically in the ironman category. maybeeee by chance its my timezone but being a normal account playing in oce.. but damn being a normal account in my timezone sucks.

the trading post, has 0-2 items get listed p/hr (of sensible/reasonable prices), and most the time its junk. nothing moves on oce timezone, even from a selling aspect. how is a new normal player meant to gear up without getting abused with pricing and playing strictly as an ironman would. ive been back almost 2 weeks and im still waiting to get my hands on half of bis gear that isnt priced x2 higher than its history average

[Folivora]

I can see what you mean. I've been around almost every year of Alora's existence and saw the biggest part of the community switch to Ironman. Also with the variety of Ironman modes there are alot more people who play this game mode. I've played other RSPS's where there was a combination of ironman modes and normal mode, where normal mode took the overhand. The only reason for this was that edgeville pking, or pking in general, was more populair. Alora isn't a populair pking server.

[Mtam]

I can see what you mean. I've been around almost every year of Alora's existence and saw the biggest part of the community switch to Ironman. Also with the variety of Ironman modes there are alot more people who play this game mode. I've played other RSPS's where there was a combination of ironman modes and normal mode, where normal mode took the overhand. The only reason for this was that edgeville pking, or pking in general, was more populair. Alora isn't a populair pking server.

this is true tho, the only downside from a staff perspective of a private server is like. if you market so hard that its got a pker ecosystem here it still all boils down to a winner and a loser.

the person who kills someone = happy, enjoying the game, able to snowball the loot in whatever they want.  BUT the person who died now hates the game essentially (provided theyre rich enough to sustain deaths) but it gets to a boiling point where wealth, ragged by clans, general beef with other alphas/ego = ticking timebomb until one side quits and the snowball effect of this lingers 

alongside with different metas, like even on osrs. wildy is dead unless your in a huge clan. and historically those clans hop from server to server claiming cash prize pools & laundering gold where they see fit. some people refuse to play the current game cause its just cluttered with crap