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Invention – What to Expect
If you've been following Invention, you might be wondering whether it's a skill or not. It was announced as a skill in a Player Power poll, before we talked about breaking it up into smaller chunks at Runefest, making it an addition to multiple existing skills. There has been very little information since, and we want to change that.
First things first: Invention has not died or been forgotten. In fact, things have been accelerating in the past month. We've settled on what parts we intend to keep, and how it slots into our release calendar.
The biggest thing we want to answer is the skill question: is Invention a skill or not? Over several meetings, we have unanimously agreed that Invention should not be a new skill. We firmly believe that it should be an update across several skills, introducing rewards and training methods to high-level bands (80-99).
We have come to this decision after starting completely afresh with the Invention design, forming a list of what we intend Invention to achieve:
To see players using, wielding and wearing a greater variety of items
To provide a greater variety of items, to allow for more strategy when choosing what to use
Players should feel a greater bond between themselves and their items
Players should be able to manufacture items for themselves
Players should have a greater ability to personalise their appearance and items
As we discussed these points, it became clear that we were creating benefits for high-levels. For example: the bulletpoint ‘To see players using, wielding and wearing a greater variety of items' is there because, at the highest levels in the game, a player will only use a few optimal items if they want to be efficient or successful. As a counterpoint, lower levels will tend to level-up quickly and regularly, often changing their loadout in a single play session. The greatest benefit of an array of items to choose from, therefore, is for the higher level players.
The same is true of the other bulletpoints. For example: ‘Players should be able to manufacture items for themselves'. Players currently have little reason to make any items for themselves in the higher-level game, whether they are combat or non-combat items, and consequentially don't feel a great sense of pride in what they make. Part of this is an issue with how Smithing, Crafting and other manufacturing skills work (something we plan to address in future content), but realistically it's much easier to buy the gear you need, which doesn't forge a bond between player and item. Invention would provide benefits to items manufactured by the player. Perhaps, we could even allow high-level players to level-up, grow or evolve items they have made.
But, if we make Invention a skill, we will not be focusing on high-levels. Instead, we will have to spread our focus across all levels, from 1 to 99. We would be ensuring that there is content at low levels as well as high, and we would need to spend time and resource on engaging methods for training that skill. Bluntly, we would not be focusing our efforts and resources on what made us want to make Invention in the first place.
There are other benefits of making Invention a cross-skill update. We want the player to feel like they are a pioneer, meshing together some of the most advanced technologies in the game: Dorgeshuun's electricity, Keldagrim's gunpowder, Divination's energy and many others. Thematically, we want Invention to feel like a player is accumulating knowledge to make things that no one has ever made before. It feels like a culmination of all of the player's efforts, rather than the efforts of someone just starting out. Thematically, Invention better suits higher levels.
Invention also doesn't feel as new or impactful as a standalone skill – not in the same way that Dungeoneering or Summoning did. It overlaps thematically with Crafting and Smithing. It's important to note that, even though we're not releasing Invention as a skill, we're not against making a skill sometime in the future. We simply feel there are better choices for a skill.
We also feel that we can bring a sense of progression to Invention, similar to a skill. While you will not see Invention on your skills tab, we will still design it with unlocks in mind. For example, a max player will not immediately jump into the top-end of Invention and make the best items. They will have to work for it, and will be rewarded for doing so. We might even consider hiscore tables to retain that feeling of chasing first place.
As an update to multiple skills, aspects of Invention can also be released earlier. Dungeoneering took over a year to develop, Summoning almost ten months. We can start work on Invention earlier and focus on getting you some of the core components within a shorter period of time. By reducing the size of the update, but not sacrificing its appeal, we can be sure that we'll get you Invention updates within a year.
But what might Invention include? You can expect blogs, livestreams and polls over the coming months on that very subject. We're also planning to release a Player Power poll next week. We'll want you to tell us which avenue of Invention excites you the most. We've certainly got big ideas for each of these options:
Non-combat Inventions – Create inventions that fine-tune your tools and give you new methods of non-combat training.
Customisable appearance – Personalize the look of your gear
Fine-tuned stats – Create a greater degree of variety within YOUR equipment stats and player abilities.
Level stuff up – Level up things other than yourself - like weapons, gear or followers.
We've laid out our thoughts, and now we want to hear yours. We're eager to hear your feedback, so make sure that you post your thoughts on this thread.
Thank you
The RuneScape Team
FAQ
This list will grow as we come across more questions. Pop back if you want to read more about Invention.
Invention was intended to be a partner skill with Divination. Is that still the case? Doesn't releasing Invention as a skill update devalue Divination?
The relationship between Invention and Divination hasn't changed. Divination still produces the raw material (Divination energy) that Invention will use in large quantities. Invention simply won't be doing this as a skill. We're expecting Invention items to be top-end and hugely desirable, so you can be sure that your Divination energy will have a great deal of use.
Why not poll the decision to make Invention a skill?
When we started doing Player Power, we resolved to only include options in our polls that we firmly believed in. Everything we put out for public vote would be high quality stuff. We would not poll any options if an alternative option was – in our opinion – far more beneficial to the game. This is the case with Invention. We can achieve so much more, if Invention is an addition to a number of skills, rather than a skill by itself.
When can we expect Invention?
We are expecting to start work on some aspects of Invention in the Summer, ready for a launch towards the end of this year. We will constantly review the other aspects of Invention, compare them to other potential projects and prioritise them based on the value they bring to the game.
Wasn't it called Inventor?
We've referred to the update as Invention and Inventor over the years, and this is the time to definitively choose between them! We prefer Invention and have chosen that for the name.
Wasn't an item sink one of your goals for Inventor?
We have already mentioned in a previous question that Divination energy would be used in large quantities, but we would also add equipment sinks so that we do not devalue or replace existing monster equipment drops.
Will you be reworking older production skills at the same time, as you've discussed over the last few years?
Later this year we plan to allow you to vote for what the next XL+ project will be. Reworking some older skills will likely be an option. We can only work on so many large projects at a time and so far we have valued other big projects above these.
Thank you
The RuneScape Team
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