Timeline of Mechscape development

Timeline of Mechscape

1999
Jagex release Cyber Wars, an online strategy game featuring battlemechs, mechanoids and aliens. Probably has little to do with MechScape. (Source) (Source) (Source)

15/12/2003
The domain mechscape.com is registered. (Source)

16/12/2003
The domains Mechscape.net, Mechscape.org, and Mechscape.co.uk are registered.

??/04/2005
John Seru becomes “Lead modeller, for an online space mmorpg” at Jagex. (Source)

10/08/2005
Constant Tedder, one of the founding members and managing director of Jagex Ltd, is listed as the registered owner for the domain, with Jagex Ltd listed as the company.

11/10/2005
Jagex Ltd files for a UK trade mark on the word Mechscape. This trademark was successfully registered on June 16, 2006. (Source)

25/10/2005
Press release announces that Jagex has secured an investment from Insight Venture Partners, who say that Jagex “has a dedicated community of users, innovative technology that allows for maximum player experience, and more exciting games in the pipeline”. (Source)

31/03/2006
Jagex file for a US trademark for the term MechScape. Amongst other things, the usage covers “entertainment services, namely, providing an online computer game”. The trademark was published for opposition on the 23rd of October 2007. (Source)

30/06/2006
Jagex advertises a job vacancy, and want a content developer to “build creatures, shape virtual worlds, design quests and storylines for our new, undisclosed game”. (Source)

04/09/2006
The domain records are updated to to show Jagex Ltd at Legal Surfing Centre as the registered owner. Jagex is the owner of the listed domains, as updated on 12/11/2007.

17/05/2007
User claims a J Mod told them a game called MechScape would be “a whole new RPG, as a sister RPG to Runescape”. (Source)

03/09/2007
Different user claims a Jagex accountant informed them that “Jagex are making a futurustic version of rs” to be called “Mechscape”. The thread was swiftly deleted from the official RuneScape forums.

23/10/2007
Geoff Iddison, former head of PayPal Europe, is hired as Jagex CEO. The press release says he will “drive the continued growth of RuneScape and bring new online games to market”. (Source)

??/10/2006
Oscar Gillespie is hired as a content developer to work on “a new MMORPG”. (Source)

13/11/2007
Jagex CEO reveals that Jagex “plans to launch a couple of new titles” in 2008. (Source)

16/11/2007
Jagex re-designs their billing system and re-brand it with the Jagex logo. (Source)

16/11/2007
The Junior Graphics Artist Job Vacancy features a Junior Graphics Test which contains a Word document sporting a team logo debatably featuring a mech or robot. (Source)

27/11/2007
Jagex advertise for a RuneScape Game Team Leader to lead a team of 15 content developers, but the Jagex credits list 25 people doing content development. Could 10 content developers be working on non-RuneScape projects? (Source) (Source)

30/11/2007
Jagex is advertising for a 3D Modeller to create “models for environments, objects, vehicles, characters and special effects”. (Source)

04/02/2008
Jagex employee Imre Jele states in an interview that there will be a new MMO going live “next year”. (Source)

26/02/2008
Jagex advertises for the vacancy “Game Development Team Manager (Upcoming Project)” with a key duty being “leading a team of 12+ content developers ranging from new to senior staff”. Desirable qualities include “Anime, graphic novels and general interest in sci-fi.”

04/05/2008
Jagex advertise for a graphic artist to design a website “for one of our upcoming games”, giving a preliminary timescale of 2-3 months. (Source)

09/05/2008
Jagex CEO Geoff Iddison said they have “got a very, very big investment into another MMO” and that “you can expect it early next year, Q1 2009″. When asked if it was the rumoured MechScape brand, he responded “I can’t say too much more, I’m afraid”. (Source)

Domains

The following domains are registered under Jagex:

24/08/2005 - mechscape2.com
24/08/2005 - mechscape.biz
24/08/2005 - mechscape.info
24/08/2005 - mechscape.us
24/08/2005 - mechscape.info
26/08/2005 - mechscape.biz
15/05/2006 - mechscapecoin.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapecommunity.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapecredit.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapegold.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapeguide.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapehq.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapeinfinite.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapemillions.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapemoderators.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapeproject.com
15/05/2006 - mechscaper.com
15/05/2006 - mechscaperealm.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapeshopping.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapetrades.com
15/05/2006 - mechscapetrading.com
15/05/2006 - mechhq.com
12/07/2006 - mechscape.es
26/09/2006 - mechscape.mobi
04/10/2006 - mechscape.tk

This can be confirmed by performing a whois on the domains.

Employees

Thomas Woode - CV, RuneScape Credit

“Jagex produce on line java games. I was originally employed to work on ‘Rune Scape’ a MMORPG currently with 4,000,000 users (of which over 800,000 are Paying members). I have more recently moved to the role of Lead concepter for a exciting new MMORPG title currently in development.“

“Establishing a style guide covering all visuals for new Jagex MMORPG. Includes characters, environments and interfaces.”

“Producing designs and plans for all in game vehicles (a few hundred ). Ensuring all vehicles are original, look great and have an equal and sustained level of development.”

John Seru - CV, LinkedIn, RuneScape Credit

“Lead modeller, for an online space mmorpg. This was also for Jagex Ltd, release date and official title, not yet known.”

“Assistant concept artist, for an online space mmorpg. This was also for Jagex Ltd, release date and official title, not yet known.”

Oscar Gillespie - LinkedIn, RuneScape Credit

“I’m developing content for a new MMORPG, from the makers of http://www.runescape.com - this involves a combination of design, coding, mapping and writing, all the skills that I’ve been trying to hone during my career basically.”

I’ve been trying to find ways that we can take the genre forward in terms of story telling and player grouping, while also developing cool missions and minigames.

Job Vacancies

Content Developer - (Source) (Source)

“Your role will primarily be to build creatures, shape virtual worlds, design quests and storylines for our new, undisclosed game… Also useful: …Anime, graphic novels and general sci-fi interest”

3D Modeller (Junior) - (Source)

“Creating models for environments, objects, vehicles, characters and special effects… Ability to work with maximum size/complexity limitations and create great looking low-polygon count models”

Junior Graphics Test - (Source)

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StellarDawn Game Info and Screenshots

StellarDawn has been registered by Jagex Ltd. Now we know they are making another game beyond Mechscape. Could this be a new game completely? Or perhaps it is just a fake domain name to get us to go crazy. Maybe it is just another crappy Funorb game.

Whatever the case, we won't know what Stellar Dawn is until several years from today when Jagex Ltd accidentally let us know in an interview when they accidentally wear a "StellarDawn Team leader" badge.

Great. Now we have another game to expect other than Mechscape. One annoying thing is that StellarDawn sounds very awkward and hard to spell (for most kids) and stuff. Anyways, here's the info you've been wanting:

TradeMark

Mark text:

STELLAR DAWN

Status

Status:

Examined

Classes:

09, 16, 25, 28, 41

Relevant dates

Filing date:

28 January 2009

List of goods or services

Class 09:

Downloadable telephone ring tones; downloadable screen-savers; downloadable wallpapers

Class 16:

Books; player's guides; instructional and teaching materials (except apparatus); printed publications; leaflets; brochures; posters

Class 25:

Articles of clothing; T-shirts; hats; caps

Class 28:

Toys, games and playthings; board games; playing cards

Class 41:

Entertainment services; electronic games services; provision of games by means of local computer networks, global computer networks, the internet, cable or wire communications services, wireless telecommunications services and broadband telecommunications services

Names and addresses

Proprietor:

Jagex Limited
St Andrews House, 90 St Andrews Road, Cambridge, CB4 1DL

Incorporated country:

United Kingdom

Residence country:

United Kingdom

Customer's ref:

SC/STELLARDAWN

ADP number:

0820133001

Service:

Sally Cooper
141 Hale Road, Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA15 8RT

ADP number:

0656646001

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Blizzard Declines To Exhibit At E3 2009 Blizzard Declines To Exhibit At E3 2009 - World of Warcraft develope

Blizzard Declines To Exhibit At E3 2009

Blizzard Declines To Exhibit At E3 2009 World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment has stated that it will not be attending the newly expanded E3 2009 event, just days after merger partner Activision confirmed their involvement.

Although Blizzard owner Vivendi Games became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision in July of last year, Blizzard has continued to operate largely autonomously. Even so, it was assumed that Activision's confirmed E3 attendance also included Blizzard, who regularly attended the event during its heyday.

Blizzard confirmed its plans to pass on E3 with a single sentence statement to consumer website Giant Bomb: "Blizzard Entertainment will not be attending or participating in E3 2009".

No reasons were given for the decision, but the popularity of the annual BlizzCon event, which traditionally occurs in late summer or early autumn, is likely to be prime amongst them. Key titles to be previewed this year include StarCraft II, Diablo III and a still unannounced new massively multiplayer online title.

Activision’s withdrawal from the downsized E3 2008 -- and from the Entertainment Software Association, the trade body that organizes the event -- was seen as one of the major factors forcing a rethink for the expo.

The 2009 event now seems very much in line with the pre-2007 expos, with most major third party publishers, including Electronic Arts and Ubisoft, in attendance.

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Runescape Del.icio.us

A great collection of Runescape bookmarks in an organized manner. They also include some good Mechscape ones, but you can't expect too much from such a short list, you know?

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RUNESCAPE GAMES

There are many webpages for Runescape that are just great fun to read online. Of course, like all websites, they are all free. Some of them have online flash games, and others are about Runescape.

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Runescape is freaking awesome

As you know, the best game on the Internets is ... solitare. Okay, I joke. It can't be solitare because it isn't exactly on the Internet. In reality, the most addicting game online is Runescape and it is freaking awesome! (Sorry, i can't use bad language here)

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Alexa vs. Quantcast vs. Compete for traffic accuracy and tracking

I'm here to tell you that I've tried all three of these services for traffic tracking and they all suck, except for Quantcast, which is fairly good. Alexa is the worst of all showing very outdated and inaccurate information. For example, Alexa.com listing for Runescape Help shows random graphs and things that I just don't understand. Why the complicated stuff?

Then, moving on, we see Compete.com. Another disaster. Just look at it: RunescapeTop traffic on Compete.com. What is that? It's making no sense to me at all! I'm a gamer and I'm used to fighting monsters; not fighting graphs! Why are there graphs here?

Finally, we look at Quantcast. This is the best traffic service imho as it gives information without line graphs. It has bars that look like hitpoints (health). And I like that. Just take a look at the pretty bars for RunescapeTop. Aren't they green and red and beautiful?

Now, let me ask you a question: Hello. That is all.

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Another Mechscape Website

Yet another one has popped up on the blagosphere and it is my duty to let you know about it.

This website is strictly a Runescape and Mechscape website. I may be right, or I may be wrong, but this site is for gamers and MMORPG players of free online java games.

It has screenshots and informations about the Runescape and Mechscape games.

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Mechscape and Runescape Screenshots

Pictures of Runescape and Mechscape

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Runescape Zybez Radio in Second Life Game

Check out DJ Shrt mixing it up on Zybez Radio!

Read more about it at Zybez Atlas's Second Life Blog.

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Runescape - 1-99 Ultimate Cooking Guide [Values and Amounts!] Brand New! [P2P]

Good Fishing Guide - all video.

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Funorb adds new game:

FunOrb added a new game today. This reminds us of the press release that took place a year ago from now:

Jagex launches FunOrb games

New games portal offers greater depth of gameplay and community features

UK, Cambridge, 27th February, 2008 – Jagex Ltd, the online games developer behind RuneScape, today launched FunOrb, their latest games offering. FunOrb is an engaging website that offers an array of online games, which have greater depth of play than traditional casual games.

FunOrb has been designed with time-pressed gamers in mind. “For the first time, there is a generation of experienced gamers, turned young professionals, who want to play and be challenged, but are unable to devote large amounts of free time to gaming. FunOrb addresses this niche by blending quality entertainment with social functionality, offering players of all levels a complete social gaming experience,” said Geoff Iddison, CEO, Jagex.

FunOrb will encompass a broad range of game genres, including classic shooters, puzzlers, 3D platformers and strategy games. FunOrb offers a mix of single and multiplayer games, complete with virtual ‘lobbies’ enabling users to choose who to play against from hundreds of other FunOrb players. Additional features such as friends league tables, player achievements, forums and instant messaging will also be available in-game or on the website.

While a large portion of FunOrb is free, those who become members will be granted complete access to the site with additional game levels, achievements and community features. A new game or feature will be added to FunOrb every two weeks and new multiplayer elements will be rolled out as the site continues to evolve.

FunOrb games use the same Java technology that helped to make RuneScape so successful. The proprietary technology means that the games can be played using any internet browser, without the need for long downloads or access to a high speed internet connection. Once downloaded, the games are cached and available almost instantly.

Pricing and Availability
FunOrb games are available to play by visiting www.funorb.com. Membership costs just £2.00/$3.00/€2.50 per month or alternatively, if players purchase a combined FunOrb and RuneScape package, FunOrb membership will cost only £1.40/$2.00/€2.00 per month. The service is fully localised into English and German and will be launched in new languages throughout 2008/9.

About Jagex Ltd
Jagex Ltd is an independent developer and publisher of online games based in Cambridge, England, with over 400 employees. With proprietary graphics compression, game engine and network communication technologies; Jagex has proved its effectiveness with its most popular browser based game, RuneScape, with over 6 million active players of the game.

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Seers Village Achievement Diary

Seers Village Achievement Diary is online now at Zybez Runescape Help.

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