Hearthstone Could Find Competition in New RuneScape Card Game

[StewShearerOld]

Hearthstone Could Find Competition in New RuneScape Card Game

Jagex's digital card game Chronicle: RuneScape Legends will launch in 2015.

It barely needs saying, at this point, that 20 million since its official launch earlier this year in March. Just in case it needs clarifying, that, in the business world, equals money. It was only a matter of time, in turn, before somebody else in the MMO world tried to replicate the game's rampant success.

Enter <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/jagex>RuneScape developer Jagex.

In an announcement at this year's RuneFest this past weekend, the studio revealed that it will be launching a new "collectible card game" dubbed Chronicle: RuneScape Legends. Currently slated to launch in 2014 on PC, Mac, tablets and mobile platforms, the game will taken place "within the pages of a living book" and focus on "quest building" that will allow players to create "their own miniature RPGs" where they'll be able to battle RuneScape boss monsters "before entering into tense PVP combat."

According to the developers, RuneScape Legends has been in development "since the start of the year" and its their hope that the game will help to "broaden the brand's appeal" to wider audiences going forward. "Chronicle: RuneScape Legends represents an important step for Jagex as we add a new game into the RuneScape family," said Jagex vice president Phil Mansell. "This announcement tops a strong 2014 where our flagship title has continued to thrive."

The obvious question, of course, is whether or not RuneScape Legends will be able to able to claim any sort of foothold with Hearthstone and other digital collectible card games already holding so much ground. On the one hand, it's tempting to just roll your eyes and say "heck no." That said, Jagex has expressed confidence that the game's quest building features will help it stand out from the crowd. Likewise, it's worth remembering that RuneScape itself has managed to stay alive <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118608-RuneScape-Boasts-Most-Players-of-Any-MMO>and expand for more than a decade, despite being very much in the shadow of World of Warcraft. We've reached out to studio hoping to learn more about its strategy for the RuneScape Legends and will update you when we hear back.




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[gigastar]

Basically, why this over Hearthstone? I dont really see a reason.

Now, Jagex isnt completely braindead, so we will have to wait and see what they do with it.

 

[klaynexas3]

I don't think it's fair to say Runescape is in the "shadow" of WoW, considering it's been around longer than WoW, plays much differently than WoW, and has its own very strong player-base.

However, the digital CCG is very much going to be in the shadow of Hearthstone, and even if it manages to have some differences, it's still them just hopping on the bandwagon and hoping for the same success. I'm skeptical, while I don't have much against Jagex, and generally see them as an alright company, this one just seems a little too cash-grab oriented.

 

[Saetha]

Wait, what? RuneScape is still a thing, then? I remember that game... from back when I was twelve and the graphics sucked. I heard they completely revamped since then.

Anyway... RuneScape's still a thing?

 

[Pyrian]

I don't think it's fair to say Runescape is in the "shadow" of WoW, considering it's been around longer than WoW, plays much differently than WoW, and has its own very strong player-base.

RuneScape's still a thing?

Do people ask if WoW is still a thing? XD

 

[Alfador_VII]

This doesn't look like a very wise idea. Ok, so there are Runescape players still around who might try this, but they are trying to compete with Blizzard on their terms.

As history has proven, trying to outdo Blizzard in any genre they've done well in, with a game that, at first glance, looks very similar never works very well.

Will it be successful among Runescape players? Possibly. Will it be a real competitor to Hearthstone? No I really don't think so.

 

[Falterfire]

Basically, why this over Hearthstone? I dont really see a reason.

That's kinda like asking why you'd need to make a board game if we already have Chess, Checkers, and Go. It's a new game with a new set of rules, which means it's potentially interesting to a different audience (or even just the same audience). You can just play your favorite game in a given genre exclusively, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to do games.

Of course, the new game may still be terrible, but it seems premature to judge it as being without merit just because digital card games already exist.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

I'd be willing to give it a try. It sounds like they're taking a more adventure focused route (similar to Naxxramus), which I imagine will be more appealing to a lot of people. Whether it will be good enough to entice people away from Hearthstone is another matter, considering the fact that people now feel invested in Hearthstone having spent money on it.

 

[MorganL4]

I don't think it's fair to say Runescape is in the "shadow" of WoW, considering it's been around longer than WoW, plays much differently than WoW, and has its own very strong player-base.

RuneScape's still a thing?

Do people ask if WoW is still a thing?
XD

Yes actually they do.

The question I have is "Whatever happened to Hex?" Last I heard Wizards of the Coast was suing them for copying their trademark on tapping land for mana, which oddly expires next year. So is Hex just delayed until next year because of that?

 

[Grumman]

That does not look good. Aesthetically, it would have been cool if all the creatures were represented by those virtual miniatures on the board and cards in your hand, but the cards themselves do not look very good, and are poorly designed: the mana cost should always be in the same place, and there's no excuse for putting it in the bottom left of some cards and the top left of others.

Mechanically, it is not at all promising that the board seems to only have 5x2 positions on it. The game I abandoned Hearthstone for, Might&Magic: Duel of Champions, has 4x4 positions, which it uses to allow more strategy when it comes to positioning. For example, being able to block enemy soldiers from attacking you by physically blocking them with your own soldiers is much more satisfying than being entirely at the mercy of the Taunt keyword.

 

[Extragorey]

I don't think it's fair to say Runescape is in the "shadow" of WoW, considering it's been around longer than WoW, plays much differently than WoW, and has its own very strong player-base.

RuneScape's still a thing?

Do people ask if WoW is still a thing? XD

WoW's still a thing? I thought everybody quit after the Misty Pandas fiasco.
Anyway, I'm not into digital card games, but that screenshot does look kinda neat.

 

[Spudgun Man]

Laughs all round, next you'll be telling me the Guild Wars Card game is going to storm the market.

 

[Qvar]

Basically, why this over Hearthstone? I dont really see a reason.

Now, Jagex isnt completely braindead, so we will have to wait and see what they do with it.

I can think of quite a few reasons why I would play this over Hearthstone. Which basically are the same reasons why I think HS sucks, assuming that this game manages to avoid them.

After much grind to climb to the 3rd rank against all those multi-legendary deck (yes, yes Blizzard, I know everybody can have them with time, but that doesn't mean it's uberfun to face them while you're getting there), what I found there was mindnumbing. Always the same 2 or 3 decks, with pretty much exactly the same cards. Not only that, but those are decks that play alone. What some call "autistic gameplay".

Due to the way the cards and rules are designed, the player just has to keep doing his thing and hope for the best (ie the 2 damage per turn poke from the opponent doesn't kill him before he pulls the supercombowombo off). Throwing some board cleaner once in a while, or basically summoning every single creature that lands in his hand (murlocks, i'm looking at you), depending on the deck.

I played it for dozens of hours and enjoyed it for a while, but now I honestly don't know why people keep playing it, and even paying for it.