Old School RuneScape

Remember 2007?

In the UK, Gordon Brown was the prime minister of Great Britain, the Weeping Angels had knocked the Daleks from a supposedly safe spot as Doctor Who's scariest monster, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl introduced us to Generation IV and the Playstation 3 was still new on the market.

But that aside, a lot was going on in RuneScape. In August 2007 was the last complete back up of RuneScape - and that is what Jagex is offering to players, specially reserved servers for players wanting enjoy the old school RuneScape of 2007.

A reminder of how things have changed since then;

• Herbs were still unidentified rather than dirty.
  
• The ZMI hadn't uncovered the Ourania altar.
  
• The assist system didn't exist
  
• Trading for rare goods relied on bank sales and the forums since no Grand Exchange existed
  
• Original wilderness and free trade were still open (RWT was rife)
  
• Summoning hadn't been announced
  
• In terms of questing, Lucien was still satisfied with the Staff of Armadyl, Glouphrie hadn't yet attempted to spy on the Tree Gnome Village, Sigmund's plan to start a war between Dorgesh Kaan and Keldagrim was foiled by the player and the ancient mace, Mother Mallum had been freed, but her plans remained unknown and the quest that made you boss was still Recipe for Disaster.
  

So yeah, players can now return to a time such as this on dedicated servers very soon.

What are you opinions?

I have mixed reactions to the proposal to release a specially designed 2007 server for players.

It's a good thing for nostalgia purposes (although I didn't do much in 2007 game wise), but aside from aesthetics, I don't see many positives.

In my opinion, I feel this move has been initially designed to appeal to players who failed/refused to adapt to changes in the game. The whining babies who want "old wilderness" and keep shouting "rip runescape" should have grown a pair by now, six years on from one of the most controversial decisions, made for the greater good. I have no respect for those pathetic quitters who gave up rather than try to find reasons to play.

I'm sorry I have other things to do.

MorbiusMonster wrote:I have mixed reactions to the proposal to release a specially designed 2007 server for players.

It's a good thing for nostalgia purposes (although I didn't do much in 2007 game wise), but aside from aesthetics, I don't see many positives.

In my opinion, I feel this move has been initially designed to appeal to players who failed/refused to adapt to changes in the game. The whining babies who want "old wilderness" and keep shouting "rip runescape" should have grown a pair by now, six years on from one of the most controversial decisions, made for the greater good. I have no respect for those pathetic quitters who gave up rather than try to find reasons to play.

While I am liberal and open to change, I have no respect for people who don't respect other peoples' reasons against it - especially if they are valid. The fact that Jagex overturned the removal of the wilderness and restricted trading proves that it was a bad decision. And your entire argument about having to "find a reason to play" is somewhat illogical to the point of a game - you shouldn't have to force yourself to enjoy it. You make it sound like playing RuneScape is the equivalent to being born white/blace or in the US/UK, and that you should have some sort of patriotic pride - and anyone who gives up is letting down their people.

As a social experiment standpoint, I am actually very excited for this. Triple-A games are becoming too much about making money and less about the games themselves. A lot of people say that Bioware died when EA bought them - along with a lot of other smaller companies. What this is effectively saying is, "Hey, we're going to release a couple of servers that predate us "selling out". This is hoping to prove one way or another whether RuneScape was more popular when our bots ruled or when our financiers ruled." Because honestly, who is to say that the bots weren't for the greater good if it meant preserving a game that people enjoyed - when the alternative is Soloman's Store and the Wheel of Fortune.

I didn't realize that the evolution of combat was so unpopular - I've just been reading reviews and speaking to some of my friends that *used* to play. I can't help but get the feeling that LegacyScape is actually just some die-hard old-school employees who hate what RuneScape has become, and are currently doing all this work off their own back and are basically planning on re-releasing RuneScape. 500,000+ supporters and LegacyScape will feature content updates - which I assume will be things like the new Runecrafting, etc.

I can honestly see LegacyScape becoming more popular than RuneScape.

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Even though it didn't stop them adding it last time, I'm just bookmarking this.

Wow. Some people really need to modernise and grow a pair.

I'm honestly surprised by your attitude. Not that you disagree with it being added - but your attitude toward the people who want it. It comes across as ignorant and immature; the sort of statements you'd expect between people arguing on Halo or COD - completely irrelevant to the topic, and generally falling into the logical trap of trying to win an argument by insulting the other person rather than their argument. I mean really, how does "manning up" relate to content updates in a game?

Irrelevant note: Whatever people say, EoC needed to happen. RS's combat system was severely lagging behind those of other games.

I don't have any objections to having old style RuneScape servers -it's quite good - but I object to the fierce attitude some players have against the new combat system and latest updates. I feel this update has mostly been designed with them in mind and they form the majority of the people who want an old school server.

A time when melee was overpowered and pvp combat was owned by people who piled rather than planned.
A time when graphics were choppy they deserved only to be in a PSX game.
A time when the story was so under developed most people wanted to write their own.

I think part of it is that 2007 is back when I was still having fun playing. That was the era in which I got hooked. I'll admit the game has gotten much better technically, but 2007scape is the game I started playing. And the newer incarnation of scape is the game I eventually got bored of playing and quit. I probably would have quit 2007scape earlier...but meh.

It seems to me that it is the personalities of the Jagex staff that is causing the problems with the game rather than updates like the Evolution of Combat which I think actually falls under doing too little too late to save their image.

The problem with the game is the class with the 'veteran' player base and the new markets. Runescape has SERIOUS shortcomings when compared to other games, yet, the player base is so attached to the game 'how it was' that any attempts to correct it may lose them. LegacyScape seems to be a good way to pacify the player base and guarantee their support in coming updates.

Honestly, if I were interested in economics I'd be thrilled to see the way that a community of people who likely know the game like the back of their hands will develop an economy in a world where there are literally no resources.

How the hell did we cope back in those days? The display is so tiny!

It's wonderful

What I think isn't fair is the lack of a "No" button in the vote. We had one when returning the Wilderness and in a lot of other content updates. I don't really want game servers being reserved for players wanting to effectively start all over again with an inferior model when they could go towards improving current gaming experiences.

Jagex is a company, I don't know if you noticed that. Someone there realized that Runescape probably isn't a game that wins a lot of new customers, instead its business model is one of loyalty.

Why would there be a no button?

By "vote", this is more of a petition. Generally, a petition has no effect on the people who don't want it - and those that do are weighted such that the minimum number of signatures represents a majority (for example, 500000 signatures is 50% of the member population - or near enough). LegacyScape's existence has entirely no effect on people who don't want it, because it is an optional, non-intrusive feature that the people who want it have to pay for (so you can't even argue that part of your subscription is being used on things you don't want).

I'm sorry, but what kind of douche does a person have to be to want to sign a counter-petition?

One who wanted to see the World Wakes on time rather than being delayed loading something six years old!

I honestly don't think that World Wakes is being delayed for the new servers. It's just not out yet, and wouldn't be out yet even if LegacyScape wasn't happening - plain and simple. Jagex isn't a one-man company whose doing all the work; and the fact the servers were ready to go within a few days of the poll being up means the work had *already* been done (servers are not that easy to set up so seamlessly).

Also, counter-signing wouldn't have changed squat because it's a milestone based petition.

I happened upon a very interesting point with the Old School servers.

One of the arguments brought up in favour of Old School servers is that it shows that Jagex are more player orientated and less money grabbing. Really though?

Old School servers mean you start all over again with an outdated version of the game - one that will not ever be updated save for patch upgrades and you PAY for the privilege! And not a one off fee, but a continuous one! Looks a bit like a bid to grab money to me.

Think about it!

Yeah. I know. I think its a good idea from the company's perspective.

The only money they're making over the next 6 months (at least) from Old School is any new members that subscribe. The "privilege" is currently a "free" feature of membership.