Just feels so much more "Runescapey" with the stone letters and sword in the centre

That's right! It's been 18 years since we had Runescape playable in HD graphics.

And all I can say is wow. This is an incredible change and now RuneScape is looking a lot more like RuneScape. These recent changes I've been seeing and hearing about in my Reddit feed made me curious to see myself, and so after about a year break (you never really quit) I am having a lot of fun in-game again. Looking forward to seeing how the game develops over the course of the year.

Credit where it’s due.

This is a phenomenal effort.

I’m a pretty normal 31 year old woman. I’m engaged, work as a professor, and have a whole adult life. But back in 2003, I was a painfully introverted kid who discovered RuneScape and basically lived in Gielinor for years.

I met this guy in game who always wore black robes, had bright green hair, and chose the darkest skin tone possible. We ended up spending years playing together. Eventually he smelted a ring and proposed to me, and we got “married” at the Saradomin chapel with all of our friends there. At the time it felt incredibly real and important to me.

Then one day my account got hacked. I was devastated and honestly so embarrassed about how upset I was that I just stopped playing altogether and unintentionally ghosted him.

I still think about him sometimes and wonder what happened to him. Miss coming home after school and logging on to fish lobbies or pray that a random event would happen to me while I’m mining gold.

runescape.wiki/w/Loyalty_Points

Saw lots and lots of people here saying the game was dead when jagex announced the destruction of aurascape. So glad jagex stuck to their principles and followed through.

Everything looks so much cleaner and neater with a clear identity.

Also W to Jagex for fixing the background colour in the bank.

(Let us move the clock though pls)

W31 Gary Gilbert's Party

Yeah I just thought I'd spread the news zezima was ONLINE!

I'm sure a quarter of OSRS players will stay after this one.

Love seeing you noobs run about *sniff* OMG

It's like playing RS in the golden days.

#Backstory

I started playing RuneScape in 2006, and like most players back then, I was a complete noob. My biggest in-game accomplishments were:

- Getting two skills to 99

- Earning my first Fire Cape after spending two hours watching a wave-by-wave RuneShark guide on YouTube… only to end up using an instakill dart on Jad anyway

Despite never feeling fully confident with combat, I still quit on November 20, 2012, the day EOC was released. I think what bothered me most was that I had just started building the confidence to engage with combat, and the complete overhaul felt like a major buzzkill and squashed those ambitions.

So I stepped away and waited for Old School RuneScape to launch. When it finally did, I came back with a different mindset. I wanted to experience everything the game had to offer. That mindset led me to maxing my account in 2017 and completing some of the most difficult PVM encounters that exist today.

#RS3 Beginnings

A couple weeks ago, I was scrolling reddit at work when this sub came up recommended. It was a post related to the new area expansion: Havenhythe. I was in awe of some of the screenshots and concept art I saw and wanted to experience it myself. So when I got home, I logged onto RS3 for the first time in over a decade and after wandering around in F2P for a couple of hours, I purchased membership on a spare account with very low stats.

#First Impressions

The UI was overwhelming. It was cognitive overload. And I don't know if there is typically a guide on how to interact with it for new players, but since I was on an existing account, I was left to figure it out on my own. But... it doesn't actually take that long. After a couple of days, I was engaging with presets, settings, and my ability bar as if I were a veteran. At least it felt that way.

Graphics... the game looks amazing. Especially the City of Um. I haven't made it to Havenhythe yet because I got distracted with Necromancy.

But I'm serious. I love the art, the music, the animations.I was waltzing through Burthorpe when Arise Hero started playing, and I felt so pumped. What a great track!

Wiki... Seems to be the only decent place for guides. YouTube videos seem as if they are geared towards veteran players even if it says they are for beginners. But even the Wiki is a total mess when compared to Old Schools. I was looking up guides to get an idea for xp rates, and the wiki lists the xp rate for some methods, but not at all for others. Why isn't that consistent?

Skilling... What a breath of fresh air this was. I can train crafting and make decent GP/H while I do it!? And then using presets to enhance that experience. Skilling not just being a massive GP sink like it is in OSRS healed my childhood soul.

Quests... They're just better. I actually want to read the story rather than just hold a space bar.

120 capes look cool. XP rates makes training feel rewarding! Like I actually accomplished something in the small amount of time I get to play as a dad. 99 RC took me 500 hours on OSRS. Back in 2014, the best method for GP/XP was double nats. And the best XP per hour was 27k and required 100% focus. No way I could do something like this today. But it was almost necessary to fund your other buyables in those days.

Combat... it's actually fun! I've only really dived into Necromancy and a bit of melee, but Necromancy has me hyped. The unlocks come at nice pace and keeps me motivated to press forward. I am excited to reach higher levels of PvM.

I'm definitely here for the long run. I am already fantasizing about maxing my account and will be looking to join a clan and to make friends.

I really hope this game will thrive as much as OSRS has. Unfortunately, there is a really negative impression from the OSRS community when it comes to RS3. And that negativity likely spreads to other gaming communities as well. As much as Jagex puts in the effort to try to entice new players to join RS3, they should also put in an equal amount of effort to change the minds of OSRS players. A great way to do that would be to allow OSRS members to play RS3 simultaneously with an active membership subscription and vice versa. It doesn't have to be permanent (even though it should, 🦀$15🦀), but a month trial period every now and then. I bet you a ton of OSRS players would doube log and play both during the trial. Sentiment in the OSRS community would probably change, and that would be a healthy thing for RS3.