Popular MMORPG has secret plans to expand the subscription

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The developers of RuneScape sent out a closed-door survey to selected members of the community. When the questions and topics become public, a shitstorm breaks out and players cancel their subscriptions. MeinMMO brings you up to date.

What was the survey about? Developer Jagex’s survey didn’t remain secret for long. Videos, screenshots and questions ended up on Reddit, among other places. What follows from this: The operators of RuneScape are thinking about how they can make the MMORPG subscription more attractive in the future and which offers players would still pay for. Points mentioned are:

  • A subscription that includes RuneScape and Old School RuneScape
  • Additional subscription tiers: a more expensive subscription with additional benefits and a cheaper subscription that could include limited access to the game (e.g. only the mobile version).
  • Other benefits for subscribers (such as more account protection options, expanded support, access to advanced statistics, reduced AFK timers for low-paying players)
  • Introduction of in-game advertising, also for subscribers
  • Selling additional characters for the account via a monthly fee

    • You can also play RuneScape and Old School RuneScape via Steam:

    Old School RuneScape – Trailer for the Steam release

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    Wasn’t there an increase in the subscription first? Yup! According to a survey from last year, the developers for RuneScape announced the largest price increase in the 23-year history of the MMORPG oldie in August 2024.

    Since September 27, 2024, the monthly subscription costs 12.49 euros instead of 10.99 euros. For US prices, the fee even grew from $10.99 to $13.99 – by almost 30 percent. There was also a lot of criticism because microtransactions should actually be throttled parallel to the subscription increase. However, that didn’t happen.

    Shitstorm settles, developers react

    How does the community react to this? Many players criticize the developers’ plans. This is also reflected in many of the new user ratings for RuneScape on Steam and Old School RuneScape on Steam, which are only 47 and 16 percent positive, respectively. Normally the average rating is well over 80 percent.

    The website mmorpg.org.pl reports from players who are said to have shared screenshots with their subscription cancellation. Bulletproof_Haas sums up the mood in the community succinctly in his post on Reddit: “This is terrible.”

    One point in particular bothers topsy_krett_guy (via Reddit) and many others: “The fact that they would even consider advertising for one of these pricing models is ridiculous.”

    RsQp added on Reddit: “After the last survey from Jagex, I had already lost all trust in the surveys they sent out. They have made it clear that offering to pay more for additional features means they are raising prices without honoring the other side of the bargain.”

    Has Jagex responded to the criticism? Last week, Mod Pips, the studio’s CEO, addressed the community with a long statement on runescape.com. The first sentence makes it clear: That was a mistake.

    The Conjoint member survey has caused frustration, anger and concern in the community – we made big mistakes and we are truly sorry. Your feedback can be heard loud and clear.

    This was clumsy and inconsiderate, to say the least. We failed to think through this from your perspective as a player. […] It contained ideas that, on sober reflection, simply should not have been seriously considered. […]

    Even the mere suggestion of ideas like in-game advertising, shorter AFK timers, or charging additional costs for improved player support have eroded your trust in us.

    According to the statement, many of these things were just theoretical mind games that could be used in other games. Future surveys and suggestions for subscriptions, for example, should be developed with much greater care. If there were concrete plans for the survey content, these are probably on hold for the time being.

    What do I need to know about RuneScape? The MMORPG, released in 2001, is a long-running genre favorite, multiple world record holder and, thanks to the classic “old school” version released in 2013, is still very successful today: 23-year-old MMORPG is played more than New World, Throne and others thanks to a big event Liberty and Lost Ark together.

    The MMORPG series relies on old genre virtues such as interaction with other players, crafting and trading, can be played not only on the PC but also on mobile, and has made a name for itself because many planned innovations were first waved through by the community before they can go live. And the offering will soon be expanded: One of the most successful MMORPGs of all time is getting a survival game in the same universe, based on Unreal Engine 5

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