Old School RuneScape uses a unique model for new content. The players can decide in polls which content should come. After 150,000 fans have decided on a new skill, there are now 3 skills to choose from. However, they cause heated debates among the players.
Why is a new skill so special? In 2013 the developers released Old School RuneScape. The MMORPG was at the level of 2007 – both in terms of content and graphics. At the same time, the old RuneScape – often also called RuneScape 3 – continued with new graphics and new content.
Over the years, Old School RuneScape has evolved, but in a different direction than the original MMORPG. The players were allowed to vote in polls and only if a feature got at least 75% approval was it implemented. By the end of 2022, 80.9% of the 191,000 participants in the survey were in favor of a new skill.
What kind of skill will this be? This is exactly what the players can now vote for. You can choose from:
The developers have roughly outlined all skills to give the players an insight into their ideas. But these are hotly debated.
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What is behind the skills? Sailing is all about exploring the seas in the game with a ship. You can buy, craft or steal ships. Depending on the quality of the ship, you should be able to travel at different speeds.
You can then experience various adventures on the sea, including fighting sea monsters, finding hidden treasures or new fishing spots, and navigating through difficult zones. There should also be obstacles, such as storms or blockages.
Taiming allows you to tame creatures in the world and make them your friends. To do this, you must provide it with food and a home, and train it in various activities. Flying creatures are said to be able to find hidden treasures in high places that would otherwise be inaccessible. Other creatures can dig up such treasures from the ground.
Natural and spiritual objects that you can collect in the game world, such as stones, mushrooms, berries or certain animals, play a major role in shamanism. Most of these items are intended to be non-tradable to encourage players to collect and explore.
The items are then used to set up ritual circles in the world. There you can then create items such as totems or oils and add magical bonuses to your armor.
In a more than two-hour developer video, the three skills were presented in more detail and questions from the community were answered:
How do players react to the skills? Very different. All three skills have fans and detractors. This causes heated debates on reddit:
There is a lot of discussion about the skills on Reddit and everything seems possible at the moment. In any case, there is no clear favorite in the community. And even if this emerges from the survey, the skill does not necessarily have to come into play.
After the poll is before the poll
What’s next after the survey? After a winner has been determined, the developers sit down again and work out the concept of the skill further. This is then presented again in detail and there is another survey. Theoretically, a majority of the players could speak out against the skill there and then it will not be implemented.
However, if the skill passes this third survey, then it will be implemented and there will be a beta phase.
What are your thoughts on the polls model of Old School RuneScape? And which skill do you find most interesting?
By the way, players in Old School RuneScape just set a record that’s totally insane:
Player creates an insane speedrun record in an old MMORPG in just 711 hours