Not really sure what to make of it, not wanting to pay more bonds for extra TH keys. Live Events Dev Blog: #1
Welcome to the first Live Events Dev Blog! Over the past few months, the Live Events team have been hard at work on various projects - ones that change up the playing field for Treasure Hunter and more. We've identified areas in which we can increase the value of what you get when playing whilst also offering a larger variety of both offers and more – so that's what we'll be discussing in this first blog!
We plan on bringing these out more frequently when the team have significant progress we want to update you on, so keep your eye out on the forums for any updates we may have.
To start with, we wanted to give an update on Treasure Hunter 2, which we mentioned had been started back in 2017. After a great deal of work on this project, it became apparent that what we were working to provide wasn't what you, the community, had wanted. After much too-ing and fro-ing, we decided that it would be best to take a different route entirely. As such, TH2 is no longer in active development.
So, what does that mean for the Live Events team and what we're working on?
Providing better value
For us, TH should always feel like a benefit when used, and we feel that the value of what it offers needs to be addressed properly. Recently we've been bringing back and testing various different promotions and initiatives in Treasure Hunter.
HoI Improvements
We've recently been offering people the chance to earn oddments in store instead of cashing out prizes. In June, we brought back to run alongside other promotions this month to see how people used it in a longer term. It's gone well, so we're looking to bring this in as a permanent feature. However instead of using oddments, we're looking at ways we can revitalise a currency already in place – Hearts of Ice.
HoI currently require a lot of management to provide any real value. We want to make this easier and provide more meaningful benefits within Treasure Hunter. Being able to directly purchase various items, reroll unwanted prizes or boost charges in promotions such as Gemerator are all things we're currently looking to add.
Prize Refresh
The base reward selection of Treasure Hunter has become a little stale over time. There are undesirable prizes and old filler items that don't feel rewarding or interesting to earn. We're now looking to give the reward base of Treasure Hunter a complete overhaul – rebalancing the earnable rewards to things much more interesting and desirable.
New Key Packages
In July, we will be introducing a Daily Key booster, allowing you to increase the number of daily keys you receive when logging into the game. For a small price, players will receive double their normal daily keys allowance for 30 days. Whether as a Free Player jumping from 1 to 2 keys a day, or a Premier Club member jumping from 3 to 6, this will provide everyone with great value.
Greater focus on cosmetics and engagement
Our long-term goal is a greater focus on cosmetics and content engagement. We've been experimenting with cosmetic only promotions and testing the limits of our limited-time in game events, however feel this is something we can take further.
Inspired by other games, next week, we'll be implementing Runepass – a pilot event in which you'll be able to earn items through playing the game. With two prize tracks, you can either play along the free path, or pay a small price to access the Golden Track, which provides you with a larger number of prizes and more cosmetics.
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Runepass comes with a variety of challenges and tasks in order for you to progress through its levels, whilst also awarding you with progress for simply earning XP in any part of the game. A player of any calibre will be able to take part and earn levels, although if you want access to those top-level rewards, you'll want to make sure you're completing the challenges the RunePass throws your way!
You'll be able to access our first Runepass next week and make all your progress until Sunday 15th July. This two-week event acts as a trial, to which we'll collect feedback and monitor how people play, before deciding on whether or not we'll pursue it as a larger project.
Improved Lifecycle for all items
One of the frustrations we regularly feel from players is the inconsistent approach to how we make items available throughout the game. We are sitting on a vast back catalogue of items that Treasure Hunter (and Squeal of Fortune) which players can no longer obtain. Many that have otherwise been lost to time – outfits that were unfinished, cosmetics unobtained. This we want to change.
We have started work on a new lifecycle plan for all items.
This new system will mean that every old, current or future item will follow a consistent lifecycle moving from being exclusively available via Treasure Hunter all the way through to being available to Free players.
This is the approach we are already taking with certain other TH items, but will now apply to our entire back catalogue of TH items. In the future, it will be up to you when you want to access a bit of content, rather than missing out completely.
Better communication with you!
This blog is the first step in a larger effort to talk to you about our plans more. Last week we ran our first Live Events Forum Q+A, and in the near future, we'll be reinstating the Live Events showcases, in which our mods will be in game to show off their work, as well as give you an opportunity to chat with them directly.
Expect a stronger presence on the RS Live Events twitter account, and potentially a dedicated server on the Official RS Discord to chat more directly with the community.
So, where does that leave us? Here's a handy list:
TH2 has been shelved, to provide the following:
Oddments store now available on a permanent basis
We will rebalancing the base TH rewards providing more value
We will be adding a new Bond package which will boost your daily keys allowance for a month
Hearts of Ice will be reworked, giving you more benefits and uses for them
Launching Runepass, a pilot for a new rewards system – providing access to cosmetics through play
Lifecycle system; all TH items both new and old to be made available through various means, and eventually in game for free
Better communication with the players, getting active feedback and more personal conversation
And that as they say, is that! Over the following weeks, we'll be getting an active calendar of our communications out to you so that you can see when we'll be striking some news next, or actively engaging with the community. In-between you can always find myself on twitter @JagexSayln, or tweet our team specific account - @RSLiveEvents.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to giving you the next dev blog soon!
Mod Sayln and the Live Events Team
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