Comments on: Runescape in the Wall Street Journal http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/10/05/runescape-in-the-wall-street-journal/ Raph Koster's personal website: MMOs, gaming, writing, art, music, books Sun, 12 Feb 2012 06:02:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: RuneScape Moves to Come Out of the Shadows - GigaOMhttp://www.raphkoster.com/2006/10/05/runescape-in-the-wall-street-journal/comment-page-1/#comment-139326 RuneScape Moves to Come Out of the Shadows - GigaOM Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:45:24 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=742#comment-139326 [...] with depth and variety of play. “In terms of gameplay,” influential game developer Raph Koster notes, “RuneScape is a very worldy world, offering a diverse array of activities that frankly, [...]

[...] with depth and variety of play. “In terms of gameplay,” influential game developer Raph Koster notes, “RuneScape is a very worldy world, offering a diverse array of activities that frankly, [...]

]]> By: brinking - nabeel hyatthttp://www.raphkoster.com/2006/10/05/runescape-in-the-wall-street-journal/comment-page-1/#comment-101508 brinking - nabeel hyatt Sat, 20 Jan 2007 14:40:51 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=742#comment-101508 <strong>Is 2007 the year of the online game?...</strong> 2005 was the year of social networks, 2006 was the year of online video, and Jason Miller asks, is 2007 The Year of the Online Game?Some of the stats he uses to make his point are quite interesting. According to Hitwise's Sandra Hanchard, video gaming...

Is 2007 the year of the online game?…

2005 was the year of social networks, 2006 was the year of online video, and Jason Miller asks, is 2007 The Year of the Online Game?Some of the stats he uses to make his point are quite interesting. According to Hitwise’s Sandra Hanchard, video gaming…

]]> By: RuneScape News and Blogs » Runescape in the Wall Street Journalhttp://www.raphkoster.com/2006/10/05/runescape-in-the-wall-street-journal/comment-page-1/#comment-33738 RuneScape News and Blogs » Runescape in the Wall Street Journal Mon, 23 Oct 2006 09:17:01 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=742#comment-33738 [...] Original post by Raph and Elliott Back [...]

[...] Original post by Raph and Elliott Back [...]

]]> By: Kim Pallisterhttp://www.raphkoster.com/2006/10/05/runescape-in-the-wall-street-journal/comment-page-1/#comment-26991 Kim Pallister Tue, 10 Oct 2006 05:36:36 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=742#comment-26991 A key factor in it's success is the fact that it's web based, IIRC. I was at the public library with my kids the other day, and of the 12 pc's there, I did a quick 'walk-by' to see what was on screen: 4 running pre-school software (you can't disable it and get to a regular browser. 3 visiting myspace pages 4 running runescape 1 idle I'd imagine PC's in schools are much the same. A key factor in it’s success is the fact that it’s web based, IIRC.

I was at the public library with my kids the other day, and of the 12 pc’s there, I did a quick ‘walk-by’ to see what was on screen:

4 running pre-school software (you can’t disable it and get to a regular browser.
3 visiting myspace pages
4 running runescape
1 idle

I’d imagine PC’s in schools are much the same.

]]> By: Grimwellhttp://www.raphkoster.com/2006/10/05/runescape-in-the-wall-street-journal/comment-page-1/#comment-26841 Grimwell Mon, 09 Oct 2006 15:20:54 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=742#comment-26841 IPO because it could give them more money (them = the people holding the company) in very fast order, to the point that they'd likely never have to work again. They may be making that kind of cash right now, but few can resist the ability to suck in millions and then leave the company to the board. Note that I didn't say that an IPO would be great for the game... IPO because it could give them more money (them = the people holding the company) in very fast order, to the point that they’d likely never have to work again. They may be making that kind of cash right now, but few can resist the ability to suck in millions and then leave the company to the board.

Note that I didn’t say that an IPO would be great for the game…

]]> By: Steven Davishttp://www.raphkoster.com/2006/10/05/runescape-in-the-wall-street-journal/comment-page-1/#comment-26637 Steven Davis Sat, 07 Oct 2006 15:04:06 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=742#comment-26637 Grimwell - Why IPO? As you say, they have a great product that is easy to maintain. They don't need the capital of a stock offering to grow, if they wanted to do another game, they could probably develop it from free cashflow. The business must be generating tons of money for the owners. The article states they are taking the company off to the Canary Islands, after all. The Jagex guys sound smart, hopefully they will avoid the IPO and buyout trap. The key part of Blizzard's keynote at AGC seems to have been missed by a lot of people: great gameplay and acceptable graphics that work on a wide range of platforms = money making game. This is also seen by Maple Story from Korea, Puzzle Pirates, Habbo Hotel, Cyworld, and even Iron Realms textMMOs. If I wanted to build a kick a** licensed MMO, it would be based on the Lego license! Grimwell -

Why IPO? As you say, they have a great product that is easy to maintain. They don’t need the capital of a stock offering to grow, if they wanted to do another game, they could probably develop it from free cashflow. The business must be generating tons of money for the owners. The article states they are taking the company off to the Canary Islands, after all. The Jagex guys sound smart, hopefully they will avoid the IPO and buyout trap.

The key part of Blizzard’s keynote at AGC seems to have been missed by a lot of people: great gameplay and acceptable graphics that work on a wide range of platforms = money making game. This is also seen by Maple Story from Korea, Puzzle Pirates, Habbo Hotel, Cyworld, and even Iron Realms textMMOs.

If I wanted to build a kick a** licensed MMO, it would be based on the Lego license!

]]> By: Grimwellhttp://www.raphkoster.com/2006/10/05/runescape-in-the-wall-street-journal/comment-page-1/#comment-26353 Grimwell Fri, 06 Oct 2006 14:44:16 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=742#comment-26353 Steven: Thanks for the republish link! Fairly standard material, but good material for the average WSJ reader who does not know or play these games... Runescape works. My kid plays it. I didn't even have to tell him it existed -- his social network did. Now, as he moves from activity group to activity group, he finds other RS players and they trade names so they can be friends in game as well as real life. Funny thing is, we homeschool. I imagine that if my son was in normal school, he would have found RS on his own much earlier and would talk about it daily at lunch. ;) Jagex is doing a very good business on a very easy to maintain product. That's smart. If they don't get acquired, I could see them doing an IPO eventually... Steven: Thanks for the republish link!

Fairly standard material, but good material for the average WSJ reader who does not know or play these games…

Runescape works. My kid plays it. I didn’t even have to tell him it existed — his social network did. Now, as he moves from activity group to activity group, he finds other RS players and they trade names so they can be friends in game as well as real life. Funny thing is, we homeschool. I imagine that if my son was in normal school, he would have found RS on his own much earlier and would talk about it daily at lunch. ;)

Jagex is doing a very good business on a very easy to maintain product. That’s smart. If they don’t get acquired, I could see them doing an IPO eventually…

]]> By: Faithhttp://www.raphkoster.com/2006/10/05/runescape-in-the-wall-street-journal/comment-page-1/#comment-26285 Faith Fri, 06 Oct 2006 10:18:11 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=742#comment-26285 <!--%kramer-ref-pre%-->[...] Comments [...]<!--%kramer-ref-post%-->

[...] Comments [...]

]]> By: Steven "PlayNoEvil" Davishttp://www.raphkoster.com/2006/10/05/runescape-in-the-wall-street-journal/comment-page-1/#comment-26190 Steven "PlayNoEvil" Davis Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:27:08 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=742#comment-26190 It was republished at: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06278/727662-96.stm It was republished at:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06278/727662-96.stm

]]> By: Klingsor Grailhunterhttp://www.raphkoster.com/2006/10/05/runescape-in-the-wall-street-journal/comment-page-1/#comment-26187 Klingsor Grailhunter Thu, 05 Oct 2006 23:55:28 +0000 http://www.raphkoster.com/?p=742#comment-26187 Raph: I emailed you the text from the article. Not really all that interesting - very formulaic. Besides, from a sociological perspective, what could compare to WoW on South Park, anyway? Raph:
I emailed you the text from the article. Not really all that interesting – very formulaic.

Besides, from a sociological perspective, what could compare to WoW on South Park, anyway?

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