W13

[W13 12]

5 minutes ago, True 2k8 said:

any other organizations besides Curse trying to seriously buy Zybez? Any fun details of that?

I think there was one other but they were low-balling and being disrespectful. There isn't a huge market so if it wasn't gonna be Curse, it won't be anyone else. You can see other fansites who remained independent: they're still independent probably.

 

5 minutes ago, True 2k8 said:

Is W13 an identity you carry with you on other gaming platforms (if you were going to play anything else)?

Most platforms don't allow 3-letter usernames, so sadly, no. 

[@True 2k8 3,224]

if you were in control of Runescape what kinds of changes would you have made/not mad to sustain the original game?

 

were you ever tempted to get involved with the clan scene?

 

 

[Elendir 37]

Why did you pursue a career in medicine considering that you were essentially working on a startup and I would assume you would have gone the MBA/IT direction.

[@The End 2,069]

Is this accurate https://rsplayers.fandom.com/wiki/W13 ?

 

If so, can you comment on the "smithing monopoly" in RSC? 

[@The End 2,069]

Thoughts on the Runescape Wikia pages leaving Wikia 5 years ago (more here: https://runescape.wiki/w/Forum:Leaving_Wikia) & with Jagex providing in-game search integration and a hyperlink on their website. Do you think it's a sharp contrast to how Jagex interacted and worked with fan help sites historically? 

[Pur3 Str0ng2 382]

Very interesting read so far,

 

Thank you for the Zybez website back in the days it was a great website to use!

 

Thank you for doing an AMA!

[Kai 294]

Very interesting! Thank you

[W13 12]

16 minutes ago, Romeo said:

U wanna lick true2k8 balls

*Uno reverse card*

 

14 minutes ago, True 2k8 said:

if you were in control of Runescape what kinds of changes would you have made/not mad to sustain the original game?

 

were you ever tempted to get involved with the clan scene?

 

 

 

I'd have focused on embracing player-created content early on... videos, streams, fansites, etc. This is great, free marketing for the game and also keeps players glued to the game for years as it builds a sense of community and belonging.

 

Instead of Rs3, I'd have focused on a new game engine for mobile/touch way back in mid 2000s when it was pretty clear that mobile gaming was the next big wave.

 

 

4 minutes ago, Elendir said:

Why did you pursue a career in medicine considering that you were essentially working on a startup and I would assume you would have gone the MBA/IT direction.

 

I wanted something stable. Medicine is stable since people always get sick. But sadly, it's one of the most red-taped. As a doctor, you can go to school for like 8 years, pass all your med school exams, and then come out and then pass board exams, get licensed, and still need a new license to prescribe somebody viagra in a different state/country. Compare this to an airline pilot who can graduate and then load up a $300 million plane with 250 people and fly them over hundreds of cities filled with thousands of people in countries they've never stepped foot in. Personally, I wish I had stuck with IT. I used to think IT would get diluted with huge amounts of IT experts, and software would get to a point where developers aren't building things from scratch every time (e.g., forum software, Wordpress, etc.), requiring fewer developers in the world. I was wrong: developers continue to be in demand.

[Ace 632]

I always saw you as someone separate from the pvp scene that had shaped up on RSC. RSC was your site, but I feel the people who made it their home and shaped the culture on it were beyond you at times. Would you agree or disagree?

 

What are your thoughts on the future of forums? Much like fansites they are struggling due to competition.

 

Fansites struggled with information being compiled into wikis, but something noticeable is that outside of RS many other games have information scattered about in different Discord servers. What are your thoughts on this?

[W13 12]

58 minutes ago, The End said:

Is this accurate https://rsplayers.fandom.com/wiki/W13 ?

 

If so, can you comment on the "smithing monopoly" in RSC? 

Yeah that looks right. 

 

I don't remember players in early RuneScape focusing that much on grinding and leveling up. It was still an "exploring", "adventure" game, or at least that's how players like myself played it. A few players did reach higher levels - but only a very few number. I made a lot of in-game money by supplying and working with those players. It was all supply and demand and was short-lived.

 

27 minutes ago, Pur3 Str0ng2 said:

Very interesting read so far,

 

Thank you for the Zybez website back in the days it was a great website to use!

 

Thank you for doing an AMA!

Zybez was Zybez thanks to the community, so thanks for the support and thanks for taking interest in me (even though I think I'm pretty insignificant now).

 

51 minutes ago, The End said:

Thoughts on the Runescape Wikia pages leaving Wikia 5 years ago (more here: https://runescape.wiki/w/Forum:Leaving_Wikia) & with Jagex providing in-game search integration and a hyperlink on their website. Do you think it's a sharp contrast to how Jagex interacted and worked with fan help sites historically? 

Jagex made poor decisions with how to deal with the player community including fansites - this got magnified when Jagex was sold to investors. I like the Wiki model and I think it has been a huge success (i.e. Wikipedia). We always knew about the Wiki model but chose not to adopt it - instead keeping a tighter list of contributors. Perhaps this was a mistake. We could've built up more content, faster, and kept it updated had we went the Wiki route. We'd have to do more moderating but the net benefit would've been greator. Anyways, Wikia and Fandom, etc. have all tried to profit off user contributed content. And Jagex have ended up supporting corporations rather than actual fans (i.e. the original RuneScape fansites made by actual fans/players).

 

In Jagex's defense: they were the pioneers in a lot of ways - just because they got in the arena early - and probably didn't have the experience and often learned after stumbling.

[W13 12]

13 minutes ago, Ace said:

I always saw you as someone separate from the pvp scene that had shaped up on RSC. RSC was your site, but I feel the people who made it their home and shaped the culture on it were beyond you at times. Would you agree or disagree?

 

What are your thoughts on the future of forums? Much like fansites they are struggling due to competition.

 

Fansites struggled with information being compiled into wikis, but something noticeable is that outside of RS many other games have information scattered about in different Discord servers. What are your thoughts on this?

I was never in the pvp scene or the clan scene, I was never high-leveled, and I played Rs on and off.  There were many others who were way more knowledgeable, prominent, and relevant. I just happened to be the guy who put together a website early and then it snowballed into something bigger.

 

I'm frankly surprised forums are still a thing in the days of Reddit, social networks, in-game communication features, Twitch, YT, Discord, etc.

 

I prefer the Wiki system for compiling and collaborating on knowledge such as guides, etc. Fansites were able to put out more specific features like calculators and databases. We could've done more of course. I've had a formal education in statistical analysis now- so if I had my hands on that kinda data, there's some fun stuff I could've done with it now. Also, beyond wikis, many people turn to YT to get help with games.

 

I like Discord for chatting - but I don't like it as a store of information. 

 

Anyways, I imagine now you can just chat with AI to answer your game questions rather than referencing a Wiki even.

Edited January 2 by W13

[Vanzant 1,383]

Good to see you still kicking around. Happy new year!

[@True 2k8 3,224]

do you believe in any conspiracy theories 

 

 

[Wee Man 1,348]

Long time no speak. I had some questions prepared but people have beaten me to the punch with most of them. 

 

Do you remember what happened with Aragon? He just kinda disappeared (on the forums) and I never really found much of an explanation of what went down with him. 

 

From what I remember once Jagex finally started being open to the idea of fansites Zybez was consistently ignored/dismissed compared to places like the wiki, tip.it or runehq. Why was that?

 

What're your thoughts on the zybez domain being sold to/acquired by fandom? The original public facing archive no longer exists and just redirects to the rs3 wikia because of this. 

 

[W13 12]

59 minutes ago, True 2k8 said:

do you believe in any conspiracy theories 

 

 

<_< who's askin'... ? who do you work for?

 

28 minutes ago, Wee Man said:

Long time no speak. I had some questions prepared but people have beaten me to the punch with most of them. 

 

Do you remember what happened with Aragon? He just kinda disappeared (on the forums) and I never really found much of an explanation of what went down with him. 

 

From what I remember once Jagex finally started being open to the idea of fansites Zybez was consistently ignored/dismissed compared to places like the wiki, tip.it or runehq. Why was that?

 

What're your thoughts on the zybez domain being sold to/acquired by fandom? The original public facing archive no longer exists and just redirects to the rs3 wikia because of this. 

 

1. No idea what happened to Aragon or most of the people.

 

2. Yeah, there was clearly bias. Jagex did some absolutely wild sh*t like randomly having lawyers send us a threatening letter because we were using the word "Runescape". (not kidding). Like, who treats their own supporters/fans this way?!

 

3. Sure, better than it pointing to a page full of ads as other old domains do. I somehow still own the runescapecommunity.com domain. 

 

2 hours ago, Vanzant said:

Good to see you still kicking around. Happy new year!

😄 HNY to you too. Yes, I still walk this earth 😄