In an announcement from Runescape’s developers, the results of player input polls will now be hidden while the polls are on-going. The idea behind the change is to keep results hidden from players until the polls conclude, thus encouraging participation and discouraging a potential bandwagon. As of today, the changes to the player input polls are officially in effect.
Player input polls are a long-standing tradition in Old School Runescape. Through the periodically-occurring polls, the game’s developers are able to see more clearly into what the community wants, and add content or make changes accordingly. This development model is a big part of what makes Runescape so great, and still enjoyable to so many even after almost two decades of playing. In fact, when Runescape 3 came out in 2013, it was the results of a player poll that decided the creation of Old School Runescape.
According to the developer blog, hiding the poll results is the first in a series of steps to improve the entire polling process. Because Runescape relies so heavily on understanding the needs and wants of its player base, it is essential for the polling process to work as intended - i.e. help developers understand what players want. Prior to the change, poll results were displayed to players in real-time. This opened the polls to a host of unwelcome factors. For example, what if players see that there is overwhelming support for one option but little to no support for the option they actually want? They might think that their vote would be meaningless and choose not to participate in the polls at all. This is exactly the kind of scenario that Runescape devs want to avoid.
Old School Runescape is an iteration of the classic game, presenting it the way it was back when it was first conceived in 2001. Of course, all the content that followed is still included, but the idea was the to keep the game separate from Runescape 3. Runescape 3 is the game’s latest iteration and features enhanced graphics and several quality-of-life improvements compared to the more rustic, hardcore approach of Old School.
Whether you’re for or against the changes, there’s no reason to worry. Developers are implementing this change on a trial-basis. They want to figure out whether or not hiding the poll results will be good or bad for the game and its vision. If you want to read more about what the developers have to say, follow this link to the official dev blog.
