Those of you logging in from this weekend will find a refreshed and revised list of worlds in the game’s “World Select” screen. We’ve not done an update to the worlds in a while, so we’re taking this opportunity to make some adjustments, better reflecting your current needs and preferences. We’re making three types of change:

1. Updated World Activities

We’re updating the activity labels for many worlds to better reflect your interests and most popular activities. Mod Emilee has been running brainstorming workshops on the forums for the last month to gather ideas and feedback, and we think we’ve been able to accommodate the vast majority of your requests! We’re added a bunch of new activities and reducing the quantity of duplicates for the less popular activities. Of course, remember that the activity labels are just recommendations - you’re free to use the worlds however you wish!

2. Member/Free Player Distribution

Over the last few years, members have come to be a higher proportion of our player base. As such, we're changing several previously free-to-play worlds to members' worlds. Members should have the best possible experience, and we hope that this will allow members more breathing room and choice of worlds.

3. Server Load Balancing

We’ve re-examined which worlds are placed under heavier burden and are better configuring our server architecture around this. It should mean lower latency during busy periods.

We hope everyone can benefit from these changes, so please continue to give us your ideas and feedback on these topics on the forums.

The RuneScape Team

FAQ

• Are you removing any worlds?
  No. We’re just relabelling or changing the configuration of existing worlds.
• Is this because of the lag during the last Bonus XP Weekend?
  In part, yes. The event really highlighted the need for us to better balance server load for events and peak times, and especially underscored the burden being placed on members' worlds.
• What else are you doing to address lag and server performance?
  We’ve put renewed effort into code optimisation, and just in the past two months have improved script efficiency by around 20%, making “two-step lag” less likely to happen. We will continue to make these improvements in the future. We are also intending to update our server infrastructure again in the new year, to further improve performance.
• Why did you switch some free worlds to members worlds?
  The majority of active players are members, and generally free worlds are less populated than their members' equivalents. Also, we feel that those paying should get the best possible service and the most choice.
• What about ___?
  We’ve tried to fulfil as many requests as possible, but some activities haven’t had enough demand to warrant a specific label. Give us your feedback and we’ll make adjustments if there’s enough demand.
• Why aren’t you adding any more skill total level worlds?
  We are still considering this. We aren’t yet decided on whether this is the right course of action, so we’re not making any such changes at this time.