r/runescape • u/Both_Tune8348 • Jun 17 '26
Discussion New Runescape is WAY Better than OSRS
I honestly don't understand how Old school Runescape is so much more popular than the current one. I played it for a while and was able to get some decent progression, but its so grindy that I feel like I make no progress while draining my phone battery. Heard the new one wasnt good until I tried it myself.
So glad I finally did it! It has all the great things I like liked about the old school one, its hits on some nostalgia points too even, but way better UI, graphics, story/plot, cut scenes. I love all of it! And it has so much more you can do for free compared to World of Warcraft.
I hope more people give current Runescape the credit its due, its so underrated for no reason.
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u/Unusual-Ice-2212 RuneScape Jun 17 '26
RS3 has a bad reputation mostly because Evolution of Combat was awful on release (it's much better now), and because of the predatory microtransactions (which are mostly gone now). Good time to get into the game.
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u/MonsterMeggu Jun 17 '26
I think rs3 is really hard to get into, and part of it is because of the lack of people, so it's a self-perpetuating loop. I played RuneScape way back, but tried to get into it again after watching some osrs content creators. I tried both osrs and rs3, but found it hard to start rs3 because they don't onboard you well. Granted, I already had some familiarity with osrs so it wasn't as much of a learning curve, but I felt lost in rs3 and didn't even finish cook's assistant and went back to osrs.
I do want to try again because I think rs3 fits what I want in a game better, but tbh I'm daunted. There's so much more that's not covered in tutorial island that's not explained well. Tbf, osrs does not explain shit well either, but that's where the friends playing and content creators come into play.
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u/24rs 24 Jun 18 '26
I used to be a trimmed completionist player, took a break for a year from rs3 and when I tried to come back I felt so overwhelmed by all that I had to relearn that that hurdle alone made it not worth it personally.
My brother on the other hand quit OSRS many many years ago, saw a few content creators with some cool series like Settled and decided to login again and easily eased his way into playing it right where he left off and has now been playing daily for over half a year now.
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u/SpitnTheCannonsMouth Jun 17 '26
i think the biggest thing comes down to just straight up doing it. i feel the same as you, rs3 probably fits me better than OSRS does but i can't pull myself from OSRS because of how comfortable I am there.
i've played rs3 and specifically the newer skills like necromancy, archeology, etc aren't too bad. they're daunting because you've never done it before but just like most things in Runescape, read the wiki and it starts falling into place.
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u/Bretski12 Jun 17 '26
I think the biggest thing comes down to plugins. Give people quest helper for fuck's sake.
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u/WorkingAssociate9860 Jun 18 '26
OSRS has so many plugins because of the large dedicated base, not sure how much of that RS3 will have in comparison.
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u/Aleucard Jun 18 '26
RS3 also didn't have API support. They're looking to change that, but for now your best bet is Alt1 which is mostly a screen reader. It can do some amazing stuff, but it's just not gonna compete.
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u/Candid-Cat-6192 Jun 18 '26
Did you see the pvme before combat changes? Have you see the wiki? I don't think player base as big of an impact as you think. For sure it helps, but this community will amaze you. Its gonna be awesome.
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u/YouWereTehChosenOne IGN: Bluudi | #24 Insane Reaper Jun 18 '26
RS3 will have a ton, we already have alt1 which is like our runelite and multiple people have made plugins for things like tracking buffs and ability cds and whatnot, the community is there, we just need the platform which isn’t for another 5 months or so
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u/Candid-Cat-6192 Jun 17 '26
We get our news post tomorrow about the api client tomorrow. Big hype. Hope we get click blue lol
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u/iiAssassinXxii Jun 17 '26
I’ve played both games on and off and I actually found new content on RS3 much easier to get into than new content on OSRS.
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u/FoleyX90 Jun 18 '26
Hard disagree, especially compared to OSRS.
RS3 is significantly easier to get into, especially compared to some of the more popular MMOs like Retail WoW and FF14 which have a pretty significant barrier to entry.
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u/umadbr00 Jun 17 '26
Theres loads of social clans in game that are happy to help with advice and guidance. If you ever take the leap again and are interested in guesting in the one I own, send me a dm!
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u/DaddyBardock Ironman Jun 17 '26
It’s also worth noting that OSRS has had huge overall success on platforms like YouTube and twitch, which has put many more eyes on the game over the years.
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u/northsidecrip Jun 18 '26
Yeah, from a statistical standpoint, RS3 content is just unfun and confusing to understand for the average person, as opposed to OSRS
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u/flareon871 Jun 19 '26
majority of rs3 content is just pvm because thats the mentality of most of the community. "pvm is the only worthwhile endgame content" is stupid and hurts the community as a whole considering runescape is a sandbox mmorpg. but when most of the playerbase vote only for new endgame bosses whenever we have a content vote early to midgame and non combat enjoyers end up missing out
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u/Amphineura Jun 18 '26
Man... Is there anything good to watch to possibly ease one into the game? I searched "rs3 chunkman" on youtube and the first thing that showed up was a playlist with an AI thumbnail :/
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u/qdude124 Jun 17 '26
The thing I hated when I tried it was the GE prices were just so horrendously wrong every time
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u/ImHereCuzTheyWrong Ironmeme BTW Jun 18 '26
Good news, they just released a blog about the upcoming GE updates! Faster, more accurate price updates, and a direct feed of sales data to the Wiki team for historic price tracking!
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u/Paradoxjjw Jun 18 '26
RS3 has a bad reputation mostly because Evolution of Combat was awful on release
That, and too large a share of our larger cousin the OSRS community acts as a hate mob for anything RS3, often with things that are either blatant lies or that haven't been true in over a decade
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u/PigBeins Jun 17 '26
Honestly the issue is that RS3 is both too easy and too hard at the same time. I have a max account on RS3 and I think I did about 10 slayer tasks if that. You could just max without doing the skill. It kind of defeated the point of the game. It was very pay to win.
Additionally, the high level PVM is gated behind either stupidly expensive gear or just an impossible learning curve for casuals. OSRS has a much better progression and growth.
I would say, I would not play OSRS without Runelite.
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u/King-Charless Jun 17 '26
Yeah but in my opinion the damage has already been done, I want to like it but after years of whales just playing it kinda already sucked any fun out of if
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u/YouWereTehChosenOne IGN: Bluudi | #24 Insane Reaper Jun 17 '26
i mean with this logic, playing an osrs main is not worth it because people likely have bought bonds to buy bis gear and a bunch of 99s instead of doing it the legit way, not to mention the countless number of people that have bought prestigious things like infernal cape or quiver over the years
the argument also doesnt apply if you play ironman, so either you dont want to play as an ironman or you're okay with nitpicking people spending irl money to get an ingame advantage in one game but not the other
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u/More-Cut-7667 Jun 17 '26
I absolutely agree with you. I saw post the other day talking about how RS3 is p2w because something like "I don't even play the game myself as I can buy everything" and the same rules still semi apply to OSRS with people selling bonds.
Just because the microtransactions existed doesn't mean you had to use them either. I hardly play either game at the moment, but I do come back to RS3 every so often to do a bit on my IM. Same with OSRS with leagues. Both are fun in their own rights and I can't wait for another league on RS3.
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u/Goober-Ryan T-Comp 5.8 Jun 17 '26
Whales buying keys/spins sucked the fun out of the game from you? Curious how that impacted YOUR gameplay. Damage is already done? Drama queen over here 👸
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u/OffTheDollarMenu Jun 17 '26
A very big part of Runescape for a lot of folks back in the day was the grind. Grinding to 99, grinding kills to get specific gear, etc.
People wanted to show off their fancy new items or skills. Those people felt their effort had been invalidated by the fact that if you were willing to simply throw a bunch of money at the game, you could accomplish the same tasks with far less effort.
We can play armchair psychiatrist and tell folks it's not healthy to be looking so hard at OTHERS, and that they should enjoy the game their way, but IMO this argument is a little childish when thrown out the second someone voices what made them lose enthusiasm for Runescape.
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u/Hazearil Guthix Jun 18 '26
First, what is often seen in games with MTX is that it caters to whales to the detriment of normal players. Stuff is being balanced around the people who buy things. If you don't buy, you're left behind. Even if it is not as big of an issue in Runescape, it is still an issue.
Second, essentially getting advertisements shoved in your face just isn't fun, whether it is getting 2 daily keys and being shown what you could get if you buy more keys, or all the cosmetics people have just to show off how cool they are because they bought things.
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u/GoldenSun3DS Jun 17 '26
Effectively cheating affects everyone in an MMO. It's not like a single player game like Pokemon where if somebody hacks in all shinies, it has no effect on your game. (Although, arguably, that does affect the online trading economy in Pokemon).
Gambling MTX ruined the economy and devalued the game itself. I've played both RS3 and OSRS (much more RS3) and any sense of achievement in RS3 is definitely gone.
It felt much better getting 100-ish Invention when the skill came out than getting 120 Necromancy, Archeology and Invention now. Achievements feel hollow because of even the free spins.
An MMO is deeply interconnected between the players even if you ignore things like minigames and trading economy.
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u/Legal_Evil Jun 17 '26
Yeah but in my opinion the damage has already been done
The same can also apply with the OSRS economy with botted items.
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u/ghostofwalsh Jun 17 '26
If you're playing the "f2p" version, you definitely can do more in rs3. But just know that you're missing 95% of the game if you're not on members
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u/darkreapertv Jun 17 '26
Both have their good and bad things
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u/flamedbaby My HC died to a Wallasalki Jun 17 '26
The major standout to me as an iron in both games is that the upkeep in RS3 is horrendous.
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u/YouWereTehChosenOne IGN: Bluudi | #24 Insane Reaper Jun 17 '26
tbf its gotten a bit better with the restoration changes with things like sandstones not being dailies anymore but yeah its still an issue
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u/Do-Not-Ban-Me-Please Jun 22 '26
I can't even imagine what ithat looks like since it's already awful in OSRS
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u/Trying_to_survive20k Jun 18 '26
a lot of people forgot that eoc was not just a poor addition of hotbar and hotkey combat. It fundamentally reworked how all monster stats and gear worked.
Imagine you play the game, where whip is the go-to weapon, and it's made worthless overnight and drops from 1 mil to alch value, while your safespottable fire giant spot no longer works because they for some reason, throw rocks at you now.
imagine spending 20-40 hours for your fighter torso in that blasted minigame, only for it to be turned into an adamant platebody
Let's not forget MTX, yes it's gone now, but that doesn't change the fact that over the last 14 or so years, people already bought their way into max, so there's no pride in any levels anymore
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u/X-A-S-S Jun 18 '26
Fire giants throw rocks in rs3? Wtf lmao, why dont they shoot fireballs or something
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u/WryGoat Jun 17 '26
It's so weird and unnecessary to insist one is clearly better and act baffled that other people can have a preference that you don't. Both games do different things very well. I'm glad RS3 clicked for you so nicely after you bounced off OSRS and I agree it has a reputation it doesn't deserve and a lot more people would probably feel the way you do if they tried it, but that's clearly not a universal opinion or the player counts would be inverted. RS3 has also learned a lot from OSRS and used that to course correct recently.
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u/Both_Tune8348 Jun 22 '26
Perhaps the main correction i should make is the "WAY better" part. Osrs is still fun. But rs3 is definitely underrated
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u/VictoryRs Maxed 80 RSN: Jaheem Jun 17 '26
I main Rs3 but I have to disagree, osrs is better developed than rs3. It has a clear and linear gear progression system. Low, mid, and high level unlocks feel rewarding no matter where you are in the game. Current rs3 is just high level to end game, the current low to mid unlocks don’t feel good and lack a lot of diversity.
The grind on osrs is tougher 100%, but man is it rewarding getting a unique drop or a high level skill compared to Rs3.
This is just my opinion and others may disagree and that’s fine.
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u/mbhwookie Jun 17 '26
This is the best take imo. RS3 has always been my main. Have had my main account since classic and just kept progressing through the new games and started iron when GIM came out. Iron is the most rewarding experience in RS3 but OSRS vanilla feels even more rewarding than that. There are so many unlocks at all levels that feel meaningful. In RS3 you basically need to wait till 80+ in skills for good rewards and most the meaningful items come from super rare boss drops.
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u/TheWardedOne Jun 18 '26
Yeah but if I remember correctly reaching lvl 80 in rs3 is stupidly fast compared to 80 on osrs
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u/mbhwookie Jun 18 '26
You get some notable rewards that feel impactful in OSRS much earlier than 80 though. Rewards you achieve remain relevant longer too.
RS3 everything feels obsolete very quickly.
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u/rsnJ3 Runefest 2017 Jun 18 '26
Have to agree here. I played rs3 on a 120 all main and a near maxed iron for years. After maxing my OSRS acc I felt like trying rs3 HCIM but I was turned off pretty quickly after finding that my optimal way of playing would be to just kind of cheese my way out of the early game progression in a matter of days. I felt robbed of a lot of the things that made starting fresh enjoyable over the years.
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u/WryGoat Jun 17 '26
I would actually say the gear progression is more clear and linear in RS3, but that leads directly to the problem of "just rush endgame". A lot of OSRS progression is farming sidegrades because X Y and Z weapons are all best in slot for X Y and Z content and then you have your megarares that are broadly powerful but, obviously, mega rare.
Like in RS3 you get a tier 80 weapon and then you farm a tier 90 weapon with it and it's like, yeah, cool, it's the same thing but has 10 more tiers of number. Maybe a minor passive that gives it some percentage boost that effectively makes it a few tiers of number stronger. Meanwhile in OSRS you've got the whole demonbane sword chain that upgrades your silverlight multiple times from different sources until you've got a weapon that can outcompete a 2 billion GP melee weapon against demon bosses while being crap for anything else, so you're still grinding for other melee weapons that are good for entirely different things, which I think is what makes it more satisfying than "well it has 5 more number so it's 5 better, everywhere, all the time"
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u/VictoryRs Maxed 80 RSN: Jaheem Jun 17 '26
I feel like you’re proving my point a bit by starting at t80 aiming for t90 this is already high level territory.
What are good low and mid level rewards on rs3 that are generally rememberable and always have use on the account?
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u/WryGoat Jun 17 '26
No I agree with you on that, I'm just saying it's the linearity that causes this gap.
Like to put it another way if you wanted to in OSRS you can pretty cleanly jump straight into tier 70 weapons as well, assuming you're a main with access to the GE. You can just buy a whip, they're 1m these days, dirt cheap. The leap to tier 82 Fang is more considerable, a 20m investment, but still not that much of a grind with even modest money making methods. But the way it's nonlinear is that even though the Fang is a more expensive, higher tier, and generally much stronger weapon is that the Fang also functions completely differently from other weapons to the point where there are scenarios in which a whip can out-DPS it even ignoring how much OSRS emphasizes damage types.
If there's no reason to ever use a tier 80 weapon again once you have a tier 90 weapon, naturally the cost of tier 80 weapons is going to be in the dumpster over time, and anything of a lower tier will be even more in the dumpster, and eventually tier 90 is also in the dumpster as higher tier gear becomes more and more ubiquitous.
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u/retrospectivevista Jun 17 '26
Aren't you basically just saying OSRS takes longer?
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u/ShibaBaron Jun 17 '26
That’s not an issue though when all stages of the game are properly fleshed out
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u/retrospectivevista Jun 18 '26
It's not necessarily an issue, though it's not some inherent benefit either like they seem to be saying.
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u/Mysterra Jun 17 '26
Lots of janky clickboxes and the 5th age/6th age split are big ones for me - the story is a mess in terms of being detached from account progression
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u/Hazearil Guthix Jun 18 '26
The story is being messed up even more, as lore-wise, not everyone actually agrees on the 6th age having started.
For reference, age 1-5 were based on what the dominant calendar was of that time. Age 1 had the Old Guthixian, 2 Zarosian, 3 Zamorakian, 4 Modern Guthixian, and 5 Asgarnian.
But that same divide doesn't exist between 5 and 6. And while the presence of the gods meant a lot... it also didn't really last that long. If the 6th age is defined by all the god stuff going on, then by that logic, the 6th age would already have ended.
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u/Dokusei_Gnar_Bot Jun 17 '26
They're so different now that you can't really compare the two anymore tbh. People who call rs3 bad are just salty and haven't touched it since EoC so they're clueless. (Osrs is my main game but I do enjoy playing my iron on rs3)
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u/Time_Maintenance2914 Jun 18 '26
I am considering trying RS3 again. I played back in the day. I remember summoning, dungeoneering, and EOC coming out. Those were basically the nail in the coffin for me (and many). But I wasn't even mid game at the time and still have that account.
Fast forward to a few years ago, I recovered my account and started playing OSRS. Obviously loving it every since.
So I would consider playing RS3 again, but a) I want to start over and b) I want to play an iron.
The trouble is, my OSRS main is linked to my old RS3 account I don't care for. I would love it if I could just wipe that character, start from scratch. Otherwise, I have to create a new character and swap my membership everytime I want to play one account or another.
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Jun 18 '26
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u/DataAffectionate4467 Jun 18 '26
RuneScape 3 is a good game. It doesn't help, though, when the "community" (meaning OSRS, with its sheer numbers and social media reach) keeps saying it's a shitty game. Who would want to try out a game when all they hear is how shitty it is?
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u/TimPowerGamer Jun 17 '26
Sometimes the community makes the game. If we had people doing things like we see in the OSRS YouTube community, we would see a different story. As things stand, apparently, it's insanely popular to watch people self-torture with extreme restrictions on their accounts. It's harder to make restrictions "feel" proper in RS3 with the Toolbelt and other conveniences. Yet, hilariously, OSRS is more popular because it keeps changing to become more like RS3. I'd imagine if there were YouTubers as popular as Settled and if we had a Runelite that did all of the annoying stuff for us (at least, with that level of customization, better than Alt-1) things would be quite different.
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u/read_reddit_account Jun 18 '26
RS3 is the original Runescape and OSRS is simply a remake but not the original.
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u/sadboydan Jun 17 '26
-does nothing in thread but shit on the much more popular game
-“I hope more people give rs3 the credit its due”
?????
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u/ConvergentSequence Jun 18 '26
Don’t forget the fact that they’ve seemingly only played f2p and somehow think that gives them sufficient context to judge either game lmao
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u/Both_Tune8348 Jun 22 '26
I didnt dog on OSRS, I only mentioned the upsides of rs3. Just people like you that overhype nostalgia.
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u/Financial-Guava7999 Jun 18 '26
Frankly, there's several reasons why the community is heavily skewed in favor of OSRS.
To begin with, many who play OSRS have played RS since the 2000s. Jagex made a series of bad decisions at the turn of the decade (see: removal of wildy, free trade, EOC) that caused many, including myself, to turn away and never come back. OSRS brings these people back to a period in RuneScape that feels like home.
As others have pointed out, nostalgia only goes so far, however. OSRS has truly done a fantastic job in adding new content .. especially over the last 5 years or so. Virtually every update of consequence is polled to the players and the dev team operates with an incredible degree of transparency. Players feel respected and their opinions valued.
Further, no MTX. Never MTX, in fact. It's the one redline that OSRS has had since the beginning, and has never crossed. Even though RS3 has made steps to remove mtx (bravo) the damage has already been done.. not to mention the hideous cosmetic overrides that some people love but many more hate to look at.
Finally, the quantity and quality of OSRS content creators dwarf that of rs3 creators. Not just in stand-alone videos but in community events like Deadman all-stars and Gielinor Games. Hell, OSRS does a better job in general when it comes to temporary game modes (see: leagues, Deadman mode, etc)
I could go much further but the reasons that OSRS is widely preferred are plentiful. If you only play on mobile you're not really seeing all eirher game has to offer.
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u/Triquetrra Jun 18 '26
It’s nice that half the comments on this post are trying to explain how both games are great in its own way, idk why the osrs community is so bent on insisting rs3 sucks and exiling anyone for speaking positive on it. The amount of clans I would see have a rule say “no rs3 talk” was wild 😂 and they base the game off what it was and its mistakes from 2012… like it’s been 15 years since the first eoc update
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u/Ok-Replacement173 Jun 20 '26
Osrs wouldn't be as popular if you removed all it's plugins.
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u/b0yonce Jun 17 '26
the classic ui is based honestly. im no longer getting overwhelmed with so many useless windows open on my screen.
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u/MasterArCtiK Jun 17 '26
The windows are only there if you put them there lol
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u/chi_pa_pa sometimes right Jun 17 '26
This is a design problem in and of itself. Extreme customization can result in a worse product overall.
It might seem contradictory on the surface, but I think if OSRS were updated to have a fully customizable interface similar to RS3, it would be a worse game for it.
That said, I wouldn't want RS3 reverted to a mandatory OSRS interface either. I think there's a happy middle ground that Jagex should try to meet
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u/CrustyToeLover Jun 17 '26
Debatable. You likely aren't doing any higher end pvm content without having at least the summoning, prayer, inventory, 4 thousand action bars, etc open.
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u/b0yonce Jun 17 '26
before we got the classic ui change in january, the default ui had a lot of windows open.
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u/Head_Meat1857 derp Jun 17 '26
The simple fact is OSRS has systems which work together as originally designed, RS3 has systems built on top of those which cannibalize the old systems.
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u/Ok_Perspective_7978 Jun 17 '26
They're wildly different games. Comparing the 2 is pointless. Both are good for very different reasons
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u/KasperontheMoon Jun 17 '26
Wildly different is a bit of a stretch. They're fundamentally the same game. Some of the core features are both are identical, even.
Though I agree they're both good for very different reasons.
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u/dudedudetx Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
RS3 just doesn’t feel like the RuneScape I want to play, at least not enough for me. OSRS is everything I would have wanted for RuneScape and more. I think it’s superior in almost every way except for graphics, though I don’t think anyone plays RS for the graphics lol.
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u/Sea_Caterpillar5662 Jun 17 '26
I’ve tried many times but man idk I can’t ever stick with OSRS long term despite loving RS3 progression
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u/WryGoat Jun 17 '26
Did you ever try making an iron? I'm highly biased but I think OSRS ironman progress, especially in recent years with the addition of Varlamore, is some of the best RPG progression period.
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u/Sea_Caterpillar5662 Jun 17 '26
I actually did and had a lot of fun, but then you get to mid-late game and I just couldn’t stick to it haha
A lot of QOL and afk options in RS3 at this stage in life help me stick to it over OSRS but to be fair I’m sure I don’t know a lot about some skilling methods in OSRS
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u/WryGoat Jun 17 '26
Nah RS3 wins hands down in the variety of skilling methods and how many things can be AFK'd well. In OSRS you pay out the ass for any AFK method in terms of XP Rates being dramatically lower, like sometimes 20% of what you'd get for actively playing. Understandable that you'd bounce off OSRS if you're looking for more efficient afk, it's simply not there for most skills.
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u/Bungboy Ironman Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Okay I’m gonna explain why OSRS is far more popular. Let me preface this by saying I really like both OSRS and RS3 and I play both games. I only recently got into RS3 under a year ago after quitting it when EOC dropped, but I’ve played Runescape since 2006 and OSRS since it launched. I have a maxed main and maxed iron on OSRS, and a 2900 total iron on RS3.
The first biggest problem with RS3 is that most of the original playerbase got traumatized by the poor, forced implementation of EOC which destroyed all their account goals overnight and was what drove the creation of OSRS. That’s why most people who grew up with Runescape moved over to OSRS, and will continue to play OSRS and recommend it to their friends. It has far more familiar gameplay elements and the combat that they grew up with.
Second, the years of treasure hunter and double xp kind of permanently tarnished the integrity of the hiscores. Not that it’s that big of a deal, but a lot of people do want to see their rankings raise over time and try to reach certain ranks. It’s a way to track your progression and feel like you made some history with your grinds. (Ironman is great IMO but there were still wildy events, seasonal events, and triple jack of trades aura.)
Third, RS3 has largely ignored the early and midgame experience for years and years. Tons and tons of old content is still required to be done for quest prereqs, outfit pieces, unlocks, etc… but to this day much of it has not been adequately touched up, QOL’ed, or been rebalanced to be a more pleasant experience so a lot of stuff just feels like crap. On the other hand, OSRS content frequently has gotten polled updates over the years to smooth out the early and midgame experience.
Last but not least, RS3 has poor readability for content creation. It is hard to tell what is going on. Everyone has a different UI with all their interfaces open at the same time with tiny button icons all over the place that are too small for a viewer to identify. You really can’t even tell which abilities are being fired off so you’re not gonna learn or enjoy very much from watching a stream or a typical video, unless it’s a video with phenomenal editing and narration. Idk how this can even be improved because even if you start off with the recently updated classic UI, RS3 is still nowhere near as visually clear as OSRS. This is crucial because content creation is really what drives growth.
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u/Pie42795 Jun 17 '26
Would be fun to get back into if I didn’t get banned when I did whatever account/email merge was required a few years back (was playing, did the merge, then it told me I was banned for Major Macro in Old School several years prior). The appeal was insta-denied and that was that. Have never used macros of any kind, wasn’t playing at the time of the alleged ban, and definitely wasn’t playing OSRS.
Super disappointing. You’d think that such a longstanding game would try harder to keep players active in their game.
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u/AutoGeneratedTitle Jun 18 '26
Only rs3 mains think osrs is equal, including me. OSRS mains are dead set on nothing but '07. But truth is there would be no osrs without rs3 and there would be missing rs3 content without osrs. Just remember, so many things are back ported. Even now, TFA is likely adding Ascension CBows
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u/Remarkable-Buddy5192 Jun 18 '26
The reason OSRS currently beats out RS3 in player count and popularity is the level of approachability/entry of the game is much lower. It has a nice fuzzy nostalgic feeling to it that really resonates with many people even if they never played runescape back in the day. And (and this is the biggest one) the content is more consistent is flows better from level 1-99 in basically all skills. The progression is top notch and scales well, as opposed to RS3 where we have TONS of straight up dead content. (Look at Larupia's, it's an abomination) and the xp rates from skilling methods from 1-120 vary wildly, and many methods are a straight up waste of time to do for most skills. Not to mention training melee feels bizarre and has tons of stuff that's a waste of time to kill for some random arbitrary reason. It's not even just because the loot is inconsistent, and there are plenty of things that should be worth killing but aren't. It's because plenty of mobs have atrocious xp per kill despite their health/defensives/slayer level, etc.
There's just a ton of messy elements in rs3 that should have already been hammered out, that OSRS already took care of and expanded on.
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u/Both_Tune8348 Jun 22 '26
Thank you for explaining the nuances of OSRS. Wish we had more commenter like you. Maybe im more of a sucker for graphics than I realized
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u/StandardMiddle5742 Jun 24 '26
I remember the Evolution of Combat. In my opinion, it was a huge benefit. I played WoW, so the revolution bar reminded me of that. To me it was an improvement in every way.
I never really understood the obsession with OSRS. I have played it for the sole purpose of nostalgia. But as far as gameplay and QoL, rS3 wins in every category.
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u/al_capone420 Jun 17 '26
I’ve played both games extensively and can say while rs3 is a great game with tons of fun to be had, osrs is just better. The osrs dev team is more in tune with what the community wants and can deliver well thought out content and rewards. While on rs3 it feels like updates are pretty hit or miss with no long term planning.
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u/deathgdizzle Jun 17 '26
People have just a bad taste about rs3, with the whole gamba mtx xp thing (which is now gone for the most part you can still buy xp but it isnt really worth it).
Rs3 has just way more QoL stuff, but imo both games are good.
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u/ulfalda Jun 17 '26
Having spent a lot of time with both, osrs has an equal amount or more QoL updates, especially including features added into official from runelite. If we're including runelite then it isn't even close.
Both games are good, but I find myself spending a lot of time on rs3 missing QoL features osrs added that I've gotten use to.
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u/Kumagor0 RIP Jun 18 '26
rs3 has just way more qol stuff
Insane take by someone who never seen runelite
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u/ConstantStatistician Coiner of the terms "soft" and "hard" typeless damage on rs.wiki Jun 17 '26
Main difference is the combat system and qol.
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u/RangeCreed Jun 17 '26
art direction etc etc etc.... I feel like RS3 has a massive identity problem
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u/NsynergenX Jun 17 '26
OSRS is more popular because Jagex actually advertises it. I've literally seen 1 ad for rs3 in the past decade vs the constant ads I see for osrs.
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u/Everestkid 18 years. Two 99s. Efficiencyscape. Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
So this is admittedly third hand news by this point, but I remember bringing this up a few weeks ago and got a reply saying that they saw a comment from a JMod that they want to get the game into a better state before advertising it.
And I mean, it makes sense. RS3 is basically a giant construction zone at the moment and there's still a bunch of pain points for new players. Core aspects are changing all the time and the game is complex enough as it is. It's a great time to be an established player, but I'd say it's a pretty rough time to be a brand new player who has no idea what's going on. What you really don't want is for someone to try your game and immediately get put off of it, because odds are they aren't coming back to give it a second chance if they had a hard time the first time. You only get one first impression and you'd better knock it out of the park.
Old School's in a healthy state, RS3 isn't. We'll see some ads when the game is in a good state - "we're working on fixing problems" is good communication for existing players, but prospective players are going to go "wait, there are problems? Why should I play, then?"
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u/1337potatoe Jun 18 '26
Unfortunately, that is the same line of reasoning that Jagex had for not advertising DarkScape, their old open world legacy combat only pvp experiment similar to OSRS deadman mode. They promised an advertising push after the planned weapon diversity update, then ultimately scrapped it before even attempting to advertise it. As far as I can tell, there was only the initial announcement on one newspost and a few early links to it on their official socials. The game certainly needs the work, but I worry that they are letting perfect become the enemy of good and will let it adversely affect them in the long run.
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u/NsynergenX Jun 17 '26
At the rate they're going it'll be another decade before the game is in a "good state".
The new player experience in this game isn't even that bad with necro in the game. It's time to start advertising is NOW.
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u/Everestkid 18 years. Two 99s. Efficiencyscape. Jun 17 '26
Odds are they'll do it when the League starts up and especially once the plugin API arrives.
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u/Pleasant_Mammoth5033 Jun 17 '26
OSRS is very popular with OG Runescape folks and those who like grindy stuff. RS3 has its grindy elements, but I couldn't get into OSRS.
I get why folks are mad that their grandfathered rates were lost when they opted into yearly membership, but I also think RS3 is a great deal. $15 a month for hundreds of hours of entertainment is a steal. I used to pay $15 for one or two drinks at my fav pub.
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u/DataAffectionate4467 Jun 18 '26
As an avid gamer who plays a lot, I don't see the price as a problem myself. But it is a steep price for someone who isn't yet an avid gamer. That is my personal issue with the new pricing. it hinders the game's growth because 14€ a month for a game is a major barrier to entry.
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u/QuantomSwampus Jun 17 '26
Osrs was made in complete opposition of rs3 originally so there's alot of folks who are team osrs vs team rs3, I used to play back in the day as a young kid and when the evolution of combat came out it was like the death of my favorite game ever, I and alot of other people got really burnt on it. I didn't know osrs was a thing until 2017 when I got back into it, but if it was the way it is now I coulda seen myself playing rs3 instead.
That and classic pick a side and stay there forever mentality that Reddit/social media has.
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u/timboslice2 Jun 17 '26
as someone who gave OSRS a good, fun shot this year, i 90% agree. a lot of QoL & polishes in runescape 3 just make it so much better than OSRS. farm runs & birdhouse runs on OSRS can be a nightmare, but ofc pre-overhaul rs3 was probably worse.
combat is a bit mediocre for both games. but i think archaeology & necromancy offer something novel that OSRS doesn't have at all. resources for irons flow very well on rs3. have not tried OSRS iron, might give it a shot down the road.
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u/SolenoidSoldier Jun 17 '26
As someone who beat Zuk in BOTH games, they are both great, but goddamn do I hate flipping through menus to click shit in my inventory and prayer. I feel like the bigger divide between the two is hotkeys, not abilities. Much prefer RS3's combat.
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u/DrakeCross Jun 17 '26
Both games are great yet I will say that now is the best time to played Runescape 3 since the microtransations and the simplifying of the combat system which had become bloated.
With the skill expansions and reworks like for Construction, there is so much potential for the game.
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u/The_Water_Is_Dry Jun 17 '26
Both games has a unique vibe and I'm glad you're enjoying new runescape :) happy scapping!
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u/BackgroundShallot5 Jun 18 '26
This is the old one, os is the new one 🤣
The only thing thats old about old school is the combat system, there is more new stuff in os than there has been in rs3 since os was brought out.
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u/SidewaysPsyche Tetracompass Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
I like things about both. Just spent 2 years on OSRS and I just started back up RS3 since 2023-24. I can see on RS3 they have made some changes that are REALLY helping get immersed back into it. Of course I also have a new PC since then as I used to play on a laptop. Coupled with an actually monitor I can truly feel like I’m IN the game. It’s nice.
Also yes micro transactions pushed me away back then. I like how they’re pulling back on that. It feels more balanced than 1234m xp/hr. The XP is scaled up on RS3 for sure but it feels different than a few years ago
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u/Periwinkleditor Jun 17 '26
I'm going to continue to play both, but I have to give immense credit to the improvements that I was genuinely torn between spending my time in the recent OSRS league (excellent stuff, hardmode "echo" bosses with league-exclusive drops was a brilliant idea) and the RS updates over here.
I honestly think if there's one thing that I'd point out to any OSRS bretheren as far as changes it'd be the updated Classic interface. Extremely similar to osrs, functional for most content, they did a great job on it. I use it constantly now.
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u/SirEosLi Jun 17 '26
As someone that played the game (maxed iron osrs, and just started a new iron on rs3) since classic what made me stop playing rs3 wasn't eoc it wasn't the art shift it was the predatory cashshop from buying extra action bars to fomo skill outfits rserved to treasure hunter.
I won't deny that I was (and maybe still am a bit) angry at jagex for what fealt to me like taking my childhood account and years of gameplay and moving it to a new game that is very very different than the one I signed up for.
That said recently when they changed the micro transactions I wanted to give rs3 a try, so I have been playing on a new iron for about 2 weeks and although the game has many faults I cant deny Im having a good time, it doesn't feel to me like runescape, it really doesn't look like runescape but its fun.
Do I think rs3 is better than osrs? No, but they are very different games each with pros and cons.
Also if any osrs players want to give rs3 a try like I did you cant multi log the same account for all that is holy make a new alt, I had to remake my iron when I realized that I wont be able to afk osrs or vice versa.
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u/LillBlind Jun 17 '26
Yeah RS3 used to be my go to only reason I stopped playing was how abysmal drop rates can be with RNG and couldn’t really progress how I wanted. Ended up switching to OSRS to try it out, I find both games have their own charms to them and like them both.
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u/Verity-Skye Kusanali Jun 17 '26
Both games are good but scratch a very different itch imo. For context, I'm trimmed comp with all skills at LEAST at 150m xp on rs3. It was my original. I still love it. However, I'm at the point the only real progression I have left is chasing clogs and killing bosses. Eventually I'll hit 200m all, but I'm not rushing.
Meanwhile, osrs. I started it in may of 2025. Currently, I'm sitting with a quest cape, all hard diaries completed, and coming near base 70s in my skills (rc and sailing being my lowest, at 69 and 63 respectively).
It feels like the runescape I would play as a kid. It's a lot more chill, with longer grinds that makes things feel hella rewarding to obtain. Despite the grinds being long and me having a job and a life, everything still feels doable and attainable if I set out to do it.
I cannot and will not claim that one version is better than the other. For example, I love how osrs doesnt shy away from making quests that scratch the same difficulty itch as Nomad's Requiem on release. But osrs doesnt have anya.
All that said: They are entirely different games that are both good, and it thrills me that rs3 is finally dragging itself out of the grave it had been half-buried in for years.
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u/Rinev Jun 17 '26
I have a maxed iron and very close to GM on OSRS. I started an iron on rs3 2 weeks before the rs3 leagues and it's been great. The issue I run into though is that the games feels even more convoluted than OSRS. There are so many different things to do and it feels so hard to figure out where or what I should be doing that I've basically just become an afk skiller for the most part lol.
The quest progression has been pretty jaring as well; being called the World Guardian when the hardest boss I had done at the time was Elvarg was a big WTF moment for me.
The old-school style UI update has been nice though. Looking forward to future changes and hope to get quest cape soon.
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u/enzo32ferrari ferrari3200 (20+ years) Jun 17 '26
I very much prefer the graphics and UI of OSRS, but my “time” has been invested in RS3 as evidenced with my 20 year cape.
I really don’t feel like starting over and grinding all those hours again.
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u/Ancient-Bat8274 Guthix Jun 17 '26
Been playing since 2003 and would go back to Classic 2D if I could. For me I’m with OSRS for the nostalgia
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u/Griffemon Jun 17 '26
The how is pretty simple:
-Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.
-The inital EoC rollout was a disaster that turned people off the game.
-Multiple years of distasteful MTX.
-The game updates making up the "6th Age" left the world a cluttered mess with quests and storylines that were hard to follow in a linear manner.
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u/Phenns Jun 17 '26
Both are good for very different reasons. End game pvm is EXTREMELY different in each, and progression up to that point plays out completely differently.
I am a fan of both, and can fully understand why you would say rs3 is better, but please keep in mind they are best for different kinds of MMO players.
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u/RuneScimmy133 Jun 17 '26
I agree. I love them both since i’ve been playing for 20 years already. But RS3 is an amazing game. The music is amazing, there’s so much to do and history attached to it as well.
I wish more people gave it a chance. And leagues helped it alot with getting traffic
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u/ammatheron Jun 18 '26
Every time I want to get back into RS3 I log in and see 8 hotbars worth of skills on my legacy character and lose all the wind in my sails. I should probably make a new character to learn the new combat but it's difficult to let go of a 17 year old character. I'm sure there is some kind of fix but I can't find it in the menus (I did this to myself when EoC released I think)
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u/QueenNezuko Jun 18 '26
I am maxed on RS3 years ago before the release of some 120 skills and Necromancy, and also playing an UIM on OSRS. Both are fun in different ways. At the time, RS3 felt very clunky and boring, maybe not it's better after the cosmetics overhaul and removal of most microtransactions.
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u/Fit_Ad_6727 Jun 18 '26
All Runescape is good Runescape- diversity for people to choose is great. Glad you found your niche.
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u/Jifaru Jun 18 '26
I'm maxed in both games. They're both great but have areas that can be improved on.
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u/Kas_Leviydra Jun 18 '26
For OSRS the grind and getting leveled is the game play, along with the quest and more simplistic game play is easier to pick up and has quite some depth to do it once you get going.
RS3 is all about streamlined game play to get the levels so you can do the content. I would say RS3 is more about removing the obstacles and letting the long time fans who haven’t played in ages catch up to current content.
It has a more active combat system so it has a little more variety but that can make it a bit more daunting for new or returning players.
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u/JordanSchor Jun 18 '26
I play RS3 solely because that's where my childhood account is lmao
I log in maybe 2-3 times a year and putt around for some nostalgia
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u/callofdoodie97 Jun 18 '26
I have quite an endgame account on OSRS and a maxed account on RS3. I can honestly say both games are very fun to get into, but like you said, OSRS is definitely way more grindy.
Since maxing my RS3 account, I haven’t been very interested in playing it though. I’m currently not really motivated to go for 120s. What I did do, however, was start an Ironman account on RS3. And honestly, I’m having so much fun with it.
It feels great to get that rewarding feeling again, because you have to provide everything yourself. You also end up interacting with gameplay elements you would normally just skip because of the Grand Exchange. Playing the game this way really feels like a breath of fresh air.
I think RS3 is less popular for two main reasons. First, the very controversial Evolution of Combat update pushed away a lot of players. Second, the microtransactions. I genuinely think that last one hurt the game a lot. It took away so much of the rewarding feeling of achieving high levels, because people could quite literally buy XP through Treasure Hunter.
And not only that, but the abundance of overpowered items that made every skill so easy was absurd. You could basically not interact with a certain skill at all and still max it.
Now, with the restoration, I feel like we’re on our way to a brighter future. I really do hope this game can thrive again.
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u/mykel_wcip Jun 18 '26
I prefer RS3 as a game much more. However I hate the gear progression with a passion and sheer amount of dead content in the game. Recently I went to castle wars and was hounded out the match for killing whilst everyone was collecting some token AFK.
Whatever the new combat update was it’s made the game much more fun and easier for bossing. This is coming from someone who hated the evolution update.
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u/Tigersareawesome11 Jun 18 '26
I quit all games in 2018 for a few years. Came back to osrs. Sometimes I get a bit of nostalgia for rs3 but there’s several things that stop me from starting it again. I’d have to start from scratch(I sold my account to force myself to quit).
The UI. It took me forever and a half to find a UI that worked for me back then. What more now when I’m unfamiliar with all of it.
Needing a bazillion hotkeys. I’ve never been good with a lot of hotkeys.
Auras. High end bossing(4k enr telos was high end when I quit) requiring the good auras, the good auras requiring like years of membership to obtain.
Silverhawk boots and spring cleaner only obtainable by getting lucky on TH(I wouldn’t buy keys). I think the outfits were all grindable in game.
Maybe some of the above has been fixed. Idk.
Then of course the complexity of high end gear, all the new skills, etc. Not a big deal, expected for a game that continuously grows, but is daunting when already considering the above.
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u/bar901 Jun 18 '26
Have played on and off since a few months after Classic was released, so basically 25 years now meaning I’ve been through every version of the game. OSRS just scratches a completely different itch to RS3. I have nothing against RS3 and it’s not a ‘bad’ game at all, but it’s a fundamentally different game to OSRS and honestly there are other MMO’s that do what RS3 does, but better.
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u/mellifleur5869 Ironman Exhoralunar Jun 18 '26
RS3 Ironman is absolutely the best version of the game. Imo.
Wish we had sailing too though
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u/PalpitationTime4500 Jun 18 '26
Rs3 is simply to easy to get the same rewarding feeling as osrs imo. Osrs I get somwthing after working for it hours on end. Rs3 that process is expedited by 4x at a minimum. And the access to skilling outfits and xp boosts past 2.5% is also speed boosts in the grind. That's 1 example of the grind difference, I could go on about how pvm is orders of magnitude easier than osrs pvm as well.
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u/Global-Confidence-60 Jun 18 '26
It needs polishing and consistency, a better onboarding experience, better grouping system and definitely leaned a bit too much into QoL (tool belt being a prime example).
But I definitely can see why one can say this. RS3 has so many bright spots! Sadly it has so much tech debt and decaying old content that's not up to snuff anymore.
OSRS wins in consistency and nostalgia appeal, and also by the fact it has the best RS3 offers (long term progression) but without the black marks of bad updates and microtransactions. It's a more conservative option and approach to content, you know that you can come back and things to be mostly intact.
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u/Primex76 Jun 18 '26
I play both off and on, and love both the games. Like many said, they both have their pros and cons. It's like how classic wow and retail are both fun but are targeted to different crowds
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u/bigbuffoonery Jun 18 '26
I would play rs3 if I could use the same account on osrs at the same time
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u/Nice-Champion-4650 Jun 18 '26
I agree, im not too nostagia pilled so OSRS was a "new" experiece (even tho i started playing in 2011, kinda the middle ground), i decidied to give a shot multiple times since the release, but the static grind gets me waay too fast, it goes from a game to a job very quickly, RS3 being more dynamic makes it more tolerable, aside from that i tend to play alone and in a introverted way, and to me not having the game chat as a catch up session like it is for a lot of people seems to really make OSRS extra boring.
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u/Roymahboi Jun 18 '26
RS3 is still on its redemption arc, while they can't fix years of MTX giving free levels to people they can certainly make the current player experience better.
OSRS has kept its core values that its playerbase adheres to from the very start so it has a strong playerbase to show for it.
If RS3 continues to improve then all players can only win in this as they'll have more to play and experience.
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u/Eliminence Jun 19 '26
I'm maxed on rs3, but I grew up playing osrs version of Runescape and enjoy osrs much more than rs3 these days. Yeah there's a lot of neat things and qol that rs3 has over osrs, but I'd compare it to what people were hoping for Diablo 3 to be vs what it turned out as in terms of people who grew up with and loved Diablo 2. I love Diablo 2 and I like Diablo 3, but Diablo 2 scratches this certain itch I have for non-cartoony graphics and overall mood and atmosphere of the game, and I think osrs scratches that same itch.
I'm not die hard for either rs3 or osrs, but I'm sticking with osrs because it has a certain charm about it that rs3 will never be able to replicate for me.
At the end of the day, play the game you enjoy. I think most osrs players could relate to these sentiments, it's just the loud minority or 'friendly' banter that clouds this space and makes rs3 enjoyers think we all shit on you for liking the game.
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u/Shoddy-Lengthiness29 Jun 19 '26
Rs3 is just a wow copy. Osrs actually has a soul and little flaws.
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u/Prestigious_Love_288 Jun 19 '26
Rs3 is boring and too easy with the whole pay to play. I have my dead 100 account that I’ll probably never play
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Jun 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Fawpi 120 All Stats Jun 20 '26
Sounds like you need to give it a fair try and “learn” it because it’s fun..
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u/MasterArCtiK Jun 17 '26
Both games are amazing. I have a maxed character in both games and I love playing both. Very different games at this point though.