MTX Experiment: Cosmetic Mega Drop

MTX Experiment: Cosmetic Mega Drop

We're at our final Experiment launch of our announced MTX Experiments (where did the time go?!). For this last MTX Experiment, we'll be launching a suite of cosmetics available for Runecoins in the Marketplace.

Not sure what this is all about? This Experiment is part of a series of Experiments, running from July to September, which will help lead us to big changes on our approach to monetisation.

Learn more about what we're doing and what to expect in our full blog here.

What Are We Doing

We'll be adding 66 Combat Ability Overrides and 18 Cosmetic Outfits to the Marketplace, purchasable directly for Runecoins, from September 1st - September 30th.

The items included come from a variety of previous sources, including Treasure Hunter, Hero Pass and Yak Track.

What Are We Trying To Learn

Cosmetics have traditionally come from a variety of sources and in limited releases of around 1-2 items per drop.

With significant reductions in other MTX offerings being explored, it's important we understand the value players have for cosmetics in RuneScape and how they preferred them to be offered.

Here's a summary of what we're primarily looking at during this test:

• Player Feedback: How you feel about a multitude of items available at once, their pricing and how it impacts your interest
• Data: The number of items players decide to purchase and which specific ones performed best
• Data: Volume of new or infrequent cosmetic purchasers who decide to pick up a cosmetic through this approach compared to previous methods

Don't worry if these experiments aren’t for you or don’t change as much as you’d like. They are simply the quickest and most straightforward way to gather data and test the key aspects we want to address, while keeping the rest of our roadmap on track.

The data we collect will help us build a clearer picture of what the final solution might look like. In particular, the nuance in your feedback will be invaluable and one of the most important inputs shaping the final outcome. These experiments are just the first step, and one of many opportunities to come for all players to help shape the direction of MTX.

What To Expect

All items within the test will be added to the Marketplace for purchase through Runecoins.

(Remember you can also convert Bonds to Runecoins if you want to grab some through your hard earned GP!)

Ability Overrides

66 Combat Ability Overrides will be available.

Cosmetic Outfits

18 Cosmetic Outfits will be available.

How To Give Feedback

Your voice is critical to every Experiment. We need to know directly how these changes impact you, whatever your perspective, and what you think is right - or wrong - about what we are trying.

The best way to give us your thoughts are through our Survey, which will be available in this Newspost from September 8th.

Not the Survey type? All good. Head on over to our official Reddit thread and Discord channel on September 1st to share your thoughts and participate in discussions with the community.

Whether you are watching from the sidelines or actively playing, please do let us know what you think. Thanks for helping us find a better future for the game, together!

FAQs

Are these prices final?

For this Experiment, we've priced each Cosmetic based on the level of intricacy in its design or creation process. As an example, a recolour of a base combat override animation is cheaper than one with unique VFXs - and so on.

These prices are experimental at this stage, and don't necessarily fully reflect any sort of future pricing structure.

Do I keep what I buy during this Experiment?

Yes! Anything you purchase through the Experiment is yours forever regardless of where the future takes us on how cosmetics are offered.

Isn't this in conflict with the Cosmetic-Free Worlds Experiment?

Not at all. Cosmetic-Free Worlds are for giving us a read on the preferred visual identity for the game and potential feature demand for people who prefer a gameplay-visuals only experience.

We do see Cosmetics as part of the future of RuneScape, but one where they are a better fit in their visual design - and perhaps with more player control on how much of them they see.

Is the limited window of availability an intentional approach?

For the purposes of the Experiment, absolutely. Everything we do needs to be focused so we can learn and return things to normal while we identify our final proposal.

Beyond that, we haven't got any firm plans on how often we'd offer cosmetics and how many at once. We'll learn some really important things from this, and then we can start properly designing what the future of cosmetics could look like.

There's so many other items I'd love to buy. Can you add those?

We've purposefully limited the test to a big selection in a couple of areas to make sure we're not overspending the team's development time on prepping a store that's not used to this!

If our final proposal includes cosmetics available for direct purchase in any form, we'll definitely be looking across our history of cosmetics for what we could offer.

- The RuneScape Team