New Year, new quest!
Children of the Sun
We’re back with our first update of the new year! We hope you all had a holly, jolly time over the festive season – we’ve missed you!
As the new year dawns, we bet you can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2024. Well, wait no longer, because today marks the launch of a new quest which will introduce the Varlamore storyline and prepare you to explore the Shining Kingdom as soon as it launches. Exciting stuff!
Children of the Sun begins on the familiar streets of Varrock, where a delegation from Varlamore has arrived to sign a treaty with the rulers of Misthalin. It’s a day for celebration, but something’s amiss… you’d better find out what’s going on!
Speak to the citizens in Varrock Square to start your investigation!
Quest Requirements and Rewards
Requirements
- Members-only
Rewards
- 1 Quest Point
- Access to Varlamore
- Please note: this reward will be unlocked when Part One of Varlamore releases later this year. Completing the quest now, however, means that you’ll be able to hop right in and explore on day one!
Kourend Changes
Let’s move a little further north now, where we’ve been busy shaking things up in the kingdom of Kourend!
For a detailed breakdown of what’s changing, check out the original poll blog. Meanwhile, here are the highlights of this week’s update:
- The Kourend favour system has been fully removed. This includes:
- The favour interfaces (side panel, reward interface and UI overlay).
- The ability to earn favour (including favour reward scrolls).
- The Architectural Alliance miniquest.
- Transport within Kourend has been significantly improved:
- Minecarts no longer need unlocking, and no longer have any requirements. For the low low price of 20 GP (down from 50 GP), you can ride the rails all across the kingdom.
- You can still unlock the ability to use the minecarts for free, but this will now be locked behind The Forsaken Tower quest, and any players who previously purchased the unlock will be refunded.
- New minecart stations have been added to Kingstown, the Farming Guild, Kourend Woodland, the Wintertodt Camp, the Shayzien Wall and near the Tithe Farm.
- Charter ships have been added to Port Piscarilius and Land's End.
- Players no longer need to fix the Fairy Ring in Arceuus to use it.
- If you already paid the fee, speak to the nearby NPC to reclaim your GP!
- We've also added an extra Fairy Ring near the Hosidius Vinery.
- The Kourend Castle Teleport has been improved:
- The teleport is now unlocked by completing Client of Kourend, instead of through the library activity.
- The Magic requirement has been reduced from 69 to 48.
- The Runes needed for the spell have changed to 2 Law, 1 Fire and 1 Water Rune.
- Added the ability to craft Teleport Tablets for this spell in your Player Owned House.
- Improved Kharedst's Memoirs:
- The maximum number of charges has increased from 8 per page to 20 per page – 100 in total.
- Completing A Kingdom Divided and obtaining The Book of the Dead will grant an extra 150 charges rather than an extra 20, for a total of 250 pages.
The spellbook interface orders spells by Magic level, and while we offer the ability to filter the spells, we don't currently offer any way of changing the order. With the Magic requirement for the Kourend teleport spell going down, it will change position in the spellbook, causing other spells to move as well. Here's an image showing the before and after.
While this has happened before, it's been quite a few years since it last did and we know that you will be very used to the current spell positions. In the future, we're keen to explore offering spellbook reordering as part of our own client, but that's not something that can be implemented soon. In the meantime, we're exploring changing our guidelines for third party clients to allow spellbook reordering (like they've already done so for Prayers).
About The Year In Review
Over the last few weeks we've been sending out the Old School Year In Review, and it's led to a lot of questions which we'd like to answer in this newspost. Let's start with a simple one...
What is the Year In Review?
It's a lot of fun stats covering what you've done in Old School during 2023 - a bit like a RuneScapey Spotify Wrapped!
How were players able to receive it?
Players who were opted into marketing email communications by December 22nd were eligible to receive it. As of today we have sent out 743,772 of them!
Why was it email-only?
Last year we made a lot of progress on behind-the-scenes projects to improve our data and communications tools, but that work isn't entirely complete just yet. This year we expect to be able to add the shareable Year In Review image to the Jagex Launcher itself, but that wasn't ready. It was either send it via email or don't do it at all!
I was opted-in but didn't receive the Year In Review, why is that and when will I receive it?
There were technical issues that affected approximately 1% of eligible players, we’re actively trying to solve those issues but we don’t have a timeframe to give just yet, but we’re working hard to make sure you will receive it as soon as possible.
I wasn't opted-in but I'd still really like it, is there any hope for me?
Due to how we had to set-up the data-gathering (ie. capture data for eligible players between certain dates) it is unlikely to be possible. However, once we have resolved the issue for players who were opted-in we will investigate the possibility. No promises though.
What will you do differently next time?
We'll do a better job of communicating that this is a thing, we'll endeavour to make it more accessible (like adding it to the Launcher), we expect the technical issues we faced this time will be solved (after all, this was our first time doing it!), and we may even be able to run this sort of thing for Deadman and Leagues too!
Saying Goodbye to Leagues IV and Christmas
It was fantastic to see so many of you getting involved with Leagues over the festive period. Sadly, the fun can’t last for ever, and Leagues IV has now ended. But don’t worry, the memories we made will live in our hearts forever – and if that’s not enough, we’re already cooking up some ideas for Leagues V…
Similarly, Jack Frost has been turfed out of the Lumbridge cow field and the area has returned to its usual unslippery state. The goose, having lost its main source of entertainment, has sulkily relocated to another nearby field where it is attempting, somewhat unsuccessfully, to blend in. Go say hello!
Other Changes
- A new engine update brings improved loading times to the Player Owned House!
- The new loading times should be consistent regardless of the house’s size.
- The Teleport options on the Slayer Ring now refer to the cave near Rellekka as the Fremennik Slayer Dungeon, for consistency.
- Clay can now be softened with water from Vials.
- The level-up messages for 70 Attack no longer mention the Dragon Hunter Lance, which requires level 78 Attack.
- The non-Special Attack animations on the Soulreaper Axe no longer stall the attacker’s movement.
Merch
With the end of Leagues IV, it’s your last chance to pick up a Leagues IV commemorative pin before they’re gone for good! Celebrate your Trailblazer: Reloaded journey with this stunning work of art from Angels Scapes!
Orders will close on January 16th – get ‘em before they’re gone right here on the Merch Store.
By the way, we love all the photos you’ve shared of your Nieve, Wise Old Man, Gnome Child, and Bob the Cat plushies. Here are our favourites!
These cuddly companions are the result of our first-ever partnership with Makeship. If you missed this campaign, you might want to keep an eye on the Makeship Store over the next couple of weeks… there just might be a snuggly surprise in store!
PvP Rota
The PvP rota has moved to Period A:
- 539 - (US) - PvP World
- 318 - (UK) - Bounty Hunter world
- 548 - (Germany) - High-Risk PvP World
- 577 - (US) - Free-to-Play PvP World
- 559 - (UK) - LMS Competitive
World 390 (AUS) for LMS Competitive has been activated with this rota.
World 569 (AUS) for Bounty Hunter has been activated with this rota.
The PvP Arena will be using '1 Def Pure' loadouts in Ranked Duels and Tournaments this week.
You can also discuss this update on our official forums, on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.
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