Behind the Scenes: February 2013
Sinkholes (members only)Sinkholes is a brand new distraction and diversion focused around the Dungeoneering skill. Each sinkhole - found on the main surface world - is like a mini dungeon, previously used by Bilrach to store his vast wealth and hoards of materials, ready for the day he reached his goal... or at least, that was his plan. The Gorajo - the strange race of creatures tormented by Bilrach - have taken it upon themselves to raid and clear out these sinkholes, and they will be looking for teams of five dungeoneering heroes to help them do it.
The content is designed to be accessed by a player of any level, and one to three main objectives must be completed before the dungeon warps out of control. Players will need to work together in a fast-paced race against time, gathering enough resources, killing enough creatures and finding enough totems to open up the dungeon's treasure room. However, there is a competitive element to this update. While you'll work together, you will be judged on your own. Outwit and undercut your teammates to have the strongest chance at the best rewards.
Once in the final room, the competition switches to a battle of wits, as players seek to shift the distribution of the treasure in their favour. You'll have an advantage if you did well in the first phase, and you'll use special cards - which were collected in the dungeon - in an attempt to grab the best rewards from under your fellow dungeon-delvers' noses. Dungeoneering XP and tokens and unique Gorajo-themed cosmetic gear lies within the treasure vault!
Slayer Tower Rework and Slayer Contracts (members only)We’re totally revamping the Slayer Tower this month, improving the layout of the building to give easier access to its inhabitants and graphically reworking its walls, decoration and furniture. We are also adding a new floor, with an Agility requirement to access and more monster spawns to be found within. In addition, we are adding more stories explaining General Viggora (the tower's original constructor) and his life during the 2nd Age.
Finally, the Slayer Tower will be far more rewarding if you pick up a contract from the wannabe-warrior outside. Extra combat XP and cash rewards await, with an Early Bird Bonus for those completing one of these contracts soon after launch. For players who've got a suitable Slayer task already, special contracts will be available to offer some bonus Slayer XP - plus other rewards - for performing the task in the Slayer Tower.
The World Wakes (members only)It’s not often that I write a Behind the Scenes article and find myself lost for words, but this is one of those times. Quite frankly, this is one of the most epic updates we have ever worked on and words alone can’t describe just how monumental it is. So, I’ll keep it brief:
It’s a Grandmaster-level quest, centred on...
the original resting place of Guthix. Sought by treasure hunters and historians alike for hundreds of years, its discovery will shake the very core of Gielinor. But how will you choose to progress through it? It’s packed full of choices and the path that you take will have world-shaking consequences. Huge amounts of history and the story of the Guardians of Guthix can be found, as well as direct contact with some of RuneScape’s most powerful characters.
In terms of requirements, we’ve tried something a little different. The only requirement to access the content is a combat level of 140+, although to unlock all of the rewards, on offer in the quest you’ll need to have completed several other Grandmaster quests, and a few others beside. In addition, you’ll need specific skills like 80 Prayer or 70 Slayer (to name a few) and fully explore all of this fabled home of Guthix. Rewards include over 800k in XP, new combat abilities for all points of the triangle, a magical ring, new cosmetic torso gear, and access to a brand new Slayer area with targets that drop shiny level 85 gloves and a pet. Not to worry, though - if you don't have all of the requirements for the rewards, you can come back later and claim them when you do.
Put aside a good few hours for this one, It will define this age and will be remembered in the hearts of every creature on Gielinor.
Requirements for The World Wakes:
Requirements for the full rewards:
- Ritual of the Mahjarrat
- The Chosen Commander
- The Void Stares Back
- The Firemaker's Curse
- Branches of Darkmeyer
- 74 Firemaking
- 80 Prayer
- 70 Slayer
Re-homing Old Friends (free players and members)A small update this month is dedicated to finding new homes for some of our old, retired NPCs. We turned off the old random events last year, but we wanted to find a way to keep these iconic RuneScape characters in the main game. We had some great suggestions of how to do this on the forums, and we've used some of these in the characters' triumphant returns.
All of these characters will be given new jobs, or allowed to live out their retirement in the peace and tranquility they deserve. Importantly, the Mysterious Old Man is being given a new home in Draynor Village, which will act as an unofficial museum to the old content that he - and the rest of the random event characters - were associated with. He can also let you know where they all live too, if you want to go visit.
On top of that, Mr Mordaut - now 'Professor of Unnatural Histories' in the Varrock museum - will have a nice XP reward for anyone that can help him finish his research. He'll also have some new bits of information about the dragonkin that've not been revealed before!
Other characters have earned an early retirement and are busy holidaying, or in the case of the frog prince and princess, a honeymoon in the enchanted valley. Do feel free to pop by and say hello - I’m sure they would be hoppy to see you!
What Else?Talking of weddings, Yelps and Solomon have a selection of Valentine-themed and wedding-oriented items up for grabs in this month. There’s certainly love in the air, but for those that hate all that soppy stuff there'll be some darker themed alternatives on offer! There are also dragon pets, god-themed teleports, D&D tokens and deity robes coming this February, as well as another bundle of combat updates, including reduced armour values on low to mid-level Dungeoneering monsters.
Keep your eyes peeled for special teaser events and hidden content throughout February too. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
Have fun,
Mod Mark
What is a 'Behind the Scenes' article?
Behind the Scenes is a sneak peek at the planned game updates that we hope to launch in the coming month.
This, however, is only a plan; not a promise that a particular update will be released in a particular way or at a particular time. To get you the highest quality updates as quickly as possible, we usually keep on tweaking and testing right up until the moment before release, so sometimes things change or take a bit longer than expected. We aren't afraid to change our plan if necessary, as we will never launch an update before it is ready.