LorecraftLP

As someone with an actual degree in archaeology, I just can't bring myself to care. There's soooooo many other problems, bringing this out now just seems like a distraction tactic, rather than something the devs are actually excited about. When the dev team is excited and invested in a project they love, it invariably turns out better than when they are handed something from on high and told "do it". This is going to disappoint me.

Not sure where you are getting this impression from. As part of the core dev team that has been working on Archaeology for ~18 months, I can hand on heart say this is among (if not tops) the best projects I have had the pleasure to work on in my 9 years as an RS dev (and 14 years working at Jagex).

I'd not worked directly with Mod Ryan or Mod Iago before Archaeology - though have a bunch of times with Timbo over the years - and it's been re-invigorating for me. I've personally been in a bit of a slump through working on Invention and Menaphos, and they and this project have pulled me back out of it.

No update is universally loved and every update has its issues, but I am confident we've got a great update here that will find its fans. Even if not, I am super proud of what we've managed to create, regardless of how it ends up being received by the community. You develop a feeling for which updates are going to hit home and I have that feeling with Archaeology.

Given that some other...

Dinkpants

They never said first week, just first update. And obviously as you can see we do not get weekly updates aside from patches.

"January" is what was said at Runefest, but we were always aiming for the last Monday in January, so the push back has give the update an additional two months.

They won't have a use in Archaeology at release (maybe in the future, but I can't see a good way for how they could be used).

Janexa

I've just been worried that it would basically go up to 99 with content, and that orthen would then try to bridge the gap between 99 and 120.

If it's in addition to a fully filled 1-120, simply for more lore/rewards, that's really really great and I'll enjoy it a lot.

All five sites have unlocks in the 115-119 range, even the first site, which you gain access to at level 5. A bunch of rewards too.

I don't want to suggest that means it's going to be perfect from day one, but we've been working on this update for a long time, and the ethos of the core team has been to try not to repeat mistakes of past skill releases.

We'll make all new ones instead, I'm sure. ;)

Janexa

Oh right, batches

No, not batched. Arch is launching fully formed. What we release at launch is more than enough to stand alone. Orthen would be additional content.

the_summer_soldier

They actually plugged in achievements this week or last. Maybe some people would consider that polish. I would lean that way as I am not an achievement hunter or anything, but I have a feeling that the majority of the player base would not consider this added polish.

Don't get me wrong though I am quite happy they are taking time to polish it more and more.

To clarify, this week was adding MORE achievements. We already had 100+ Arch cheevos ready for the Jan release date.

Sure, communication can always improve (and I would assume that is part of the purpose of whatever this survey is), but the Runefest demo (search for videos) speaks for itself, as will the skill. I don't feel the need to change anyone's mind (Great Minds' post) or try to convince with words, nor do I think any words I could say would convince. Not to say I don't have a bunch of convincing arguments, but 'show not tell' and all that.

And on that note, just hang in there a little while longer...

jorgelucasds

Yes, all skills

No, only Archaeology (to start with). IF that goes well (and I don't see why it wouldn't), then we will most likely expand it to all P2P skills. I can see why this point has been misunderstood, but it's best to be clear.

Torezx

Tremendous, I just feel like all major updates these days feel like the take a long time to come out (and by that I mean from their announcement until release) - not meant as a criticism but you can really feel the work going on in the background as the standard has become much higher.

There's already so much pressure on you guys from the community I can only guess that there's pressure from Senior Figures down to meet 'our' expectations.

Do you think the skill will come with a release date given a couple of weeks (or longer!) in advance? Really would love to book the day off and just get stuck in for hours uninterrupted :)

You'll get advance warning, for sure; should be enough time to book holiday days.

DiscombobulatedDelay

I think one of the mods said it most likely wont be during the first quarter. So April at the earliest. Plus they want to release teaser vids beforehand.

None of us here should be even hinting at a new date, so if you heard one of us saying that, either they misspoke or what was said was misinterpreted.

When the new date has been announced, it will be clear and obvious (and I really hope we can announce a new date soon^TM - the stream yesterday suggested it might be announced later this month).

We are still planning to release a Road to Archaeology video series ahead of the skill release, so there should be enough time for anyone making plans to play from launch/taking holiday, etc.

In the meantime, feel free to drop into the #archaeology-discussion room on our Discord server.

Torezx

Ah good, so hopefully the last Monday this month.

I think given the push back that happened already, they'll have the poor Mods working overtime to meet that deadline.

A part of the reason for the push back (or, at least, a byproduct of it) was so that we could finish to the level of polish we feel everyone (you and us) deserves WITHOUT needing to rely on overtime. In fact, the overtime I'd already put in pre-Xmas I've been able to claim back as time off in lieu. I know others put in some overtime and may not have claimed it back yet, but they're able to.

It's still the plan to release a Road the Archaeology video series in the run up to release. I'm looking forward to it.

In the interim, if you want to ask me any questions, you should drop in to our Discord server's #archaeology-discussion. I'm only answering general questions and talking about our overall progression for now, until we start that video series, but feel free to pop in.

It is typical of us to make puns, yes. :)

It was originally slated for release in January (would have been the last update of the month), but has been slightly delayed (just the one delay). A new date has yet to be announced, but it should not be too long before one is.

Dialogue doesn't have to be (nor should it always be) grammatically correct, though it should be consistent with the rest of a character's dialogue. Of all the grammatical errors in the game, this isn't one that needs fixing.

Archaeology will not give you Mining XP.

However, you may or may not want/need to do some Mining while training Archaeology for other purposes, so I would suggest you leave a bit of wiggle room if you want an untrimmed Arch cape.

It has already been partially integrated last summer, with the dig site area and quest rework update ahead of Anachronia's release. It plays a (tiny) role within the skill. We would like to integrate it more fully (have a task to do so), but as the vast majority of players have already completed it, it's not exactly the smartest use of our time to do so, especially not right now.

The quest is themed with the player as a student, the skill with the player as an employee. You can get the job (train the skill) w/o formal education, and formal education can help you get ahead in your career whenever you do it.

xhanort7

It'll also help lots to take player feedback into account as soon as possible. Be prepared to gather player feedback and implement changes as necessary before the skill even goes live. Please avoid waiting months or years to make massive xp balancing decisions like with invention, hunter, player owned farms. I don't want to see things like people getting 200m xp in a day with jank, unfair methods or people pouring bils into a skill for nothing.

I'm not sure how long it will be for now (since the delay), but we had time built into our schedule for post-release support, and would be surprised if we still didn't.

xFlem

Is that before or after March 3rd. Cuz ff7 remake is coming in marchhhhhhh so I would appreciate no skills released 2 weeks before or after. Else my eye hand brain coordination is gonna break apart doing both x.x at the same time. I can just feel the heavens plotting March 2nd release, to totally mess with me

Believe me, I know. I already have the first week of March booked of so I can play. :)

Narmoth

Take your time. If you all are getting sick of the new skill while playing it, imagine how we will feel being required to pay to play it.

Happy to report those playing are enjoying it. That doesn't immediately equal that players will, and certainly not all because when does that ever happen, only suggests we are on the right track.

STCLAIR88

How long is the delay estimate?

To be determined. All we have said so far is 'not January'. We will confirm the new date once we have figured it out and have high confidence in it.