Poll 76 Game Improvements Blog

Poll 76 is here! We’ve had absolutely loads of player suggestions recently, but as we’re juggling a number of commitments at the moment, this poll will focus on smaller changes for the most part. It's all good stuff, though - including some tweaks you've been asking after for a while.

Let's start with Elite Clue changes. We know there is interest in seeing Elite Clue Challenge Questions working like they do for other Clues - this is a big job and one we'll probably look at in a future poll. In the meantime, however, we've focused on the fact that Elite Clue Scrolls work inconsistently compared to the other tiers.

This is because when we added Gilded Armours to the mega-rare drop table, we didn’t adjust the rate for 3rd Age as well. In fact, 3rd Age pieces were actually made rarer because of the additional items! This was a mistake on our part. We have made the adjustment in other tiers since then, but Elite was not included.

Here's how the numbers crunch in practice:

• 3rd Age from Elite is 1/5,750
• 3rd Age from Hard is 1/3,250
• 3rd Age from Master is 1/1,270

As you can see, it's actually harder to get 3rd Age from Elite Clues than Hard ones. So, we plan to fit 3rd Age between Hard and Master clues, at a rate of 1/2750 - and that rate will remain static, even if new items are added to the Clue reward pool!

Should this question pass the poll, it would affect new and existing caskets.

Poll Question #1: Should we change the rarity of 3rd Age items from Elite Clues to fit proportionally between Hard and Master Clues (1/2750)?

On the subject of Clues, we'd also like to award them when you’re completing runs of the Hallowed Sepulchre - a hopefully welcome distraction from those long Agility grinds!

We think we could add Clues to all floors, but it won’t be meta to Clue hunt here.

Here are our suggested rates (per Coffin):

Poll Question #2: Should we add Clue Scrolls to each floor of the Hallowed Sepulchre, as explained in the Poll 76 Blog?

The release of Nex brought a new best-in-slot armour, and your feedback has been divided. Some of you really love how nostalgic it looks, and others feel that it doesn’t quite fit the Old School style.

As a backport from the original Torva Armour from 2011, we tried to keep as close to the original design as possible, but we can see that it may not be everyone's cup of tea!

Our artists have been paying attention to what you've had to say and they would like to present a simplified version:

Poll Question #3: Should the Torva Armour be simplified as shown in the Poll 76 blog?

Next up, let’s talk pets and insurance!

We've had a few unfortunate situations where a player has lost their pet, either because they weren't able to get it insured, or because they didn't realise they needed to. In the past, we've justified insurance costs for the purposes of sinking gold, but with the recent introduction of the Grand Exchange Tax and purchasable storage space, we might do things a little differently.

What if your insurance fees were automatically covered, so that once you've unlocked a pet, it will always be reclaimable from Probita?

Any pet achieved (with the exception of Cats and Pet Rocks) would be automatically insured. If you are unlucky enough to lose your pet, we could make a design change so that your pet could be redeemed from Probita for her usual fee of 1million GP.

Poll Question #4: Should we automatically insure pets? Cats and Pet Rocks would not be automatically insured.

In even rarer circumstances, players may receive a message letting them know that they ‘would've’ been followed if they achieved a pet drop with a follower out and a full Inventory. While we've taken measures to prevent this happening in the future, we also want to ensure that players receiving this message will also able to get their pet from Probita for her usual reclaim fee. This would not count for duplicate pets.

Poll Question #5: Should we make a change that if you ‘would've been followed’ by a pet, it would not be lost but instead be reclaimable from Probita for a reclaim fee of 1million GP? This would not count for duplicate pets.

We can also ensure that pets marked in the Collection Log as 'received' are reclaimable from Probita in the same way described above. This would mean players who had previously received a pet and lost it through death could reclaim it, as long as it's been tracked by the Collection Log. Unfortunately we won't be able to track pets which have been received and lost before the Collection Log was released. Would you like to see this change?

Poll Question #6: If Question #4 passes, should we allow players to reclaim any pet that they have already unlocked in their Collection log from Probita for the usual reclaim fee of 1million GP?

Lastly, many of you have already forked out millions of GP to insure your pets appropriately. Should the above questions pass, you may reasonably expect your money back! We can ensure that any previously paid insurance fee would be added into a reclaim fee coffer from Probita. The reclaim fee coffer could be used to discount any pet reclaim.

For example, if you had previously insured two pets at 500,000 GP each, your reclaim fee coffer would contain 1million GP, meaning one free pet reclaim.

Poll Question #7: If Question #4 passes, should a player's previously paid pet insurance count towards a coffer from Probita to be used for the purposes of reclaiming unlocked pets?

Since the release of Combat Achievements, a common discussion point has been around Kill Count (KC) tasks. Some players enjoy them, but they’re also pretty time-consuming.

We knew that these types of tasks would be time intensive and we planned it that way to guide players into trying new strategies in PvM. We wanted to encourage you to practice, but some tasks feel longer than necessary and others take almost 100 hours to complete!

We think we can tackle this issue by reducing the quantity of tasks across the board. We won't be able to give specifics on precisely how each task will be reduced, as they're all slightly different. But, as an example, we'd be looking to reduce the Chambers of Xeric Grandmaster Kill Count task from 250KC to 50KC. The lower KC tasks would stay the same.

Poll Question #8: Should the quantity of Combat Achievement Kill Count tasks be significantly reduced?

A while ago we fixed a bug that was allowing some players to kill NPCs without gaining XP. This meant 10 HP accounts could do various types of content that they wouldn't otherwise be able to do!

We jumped in to fix this bug without warning, and unfortunately this sudden change impacted various account builds.

However, we’ve come up with a new item which will allow the affected accounts to resume their journey.

'Poison Dynamite' would be a new item, created with one Dynamite and three Nightshade. It can be lit and deployed with a Tinderbox.

After 5 cycles, the Poison Dynamite will explode, rolling off your highest accuracy stat against the targets appropriate defensive stat. For example, if your Ranged stat is highest, roll your Ranged vs the target's Ranged defence.

• It will deal 0-4 damage, only hit the target on the coordinate it was deployed on, and have a 25% chance to poison the target if it deals damage.
• It will only hit the target if it's multi combat or if it's a single target and the player is in combat with it.
• It will grant kill credit to the player that deployed it, equal to damaging the NPC normally.
• A player can only deploy one at a time.
• Poison Dynamite is untradeable.
• Lighting the dynamite will give a small amount of Firemaking XP.
• This cannot damage other players.

We hope that this is a sensible way to let those players resume the content in a way that feels fitting to Old School and not reliant on a bug. We'd like to gather your feedback on this idea and then proceed with it as part of the unpolled changes in Poll 76.

Now, onto max hits. It feels good to hit your max hit on an NPC, knowing you did the highest damage possible, right? Well, in light of player feedback we've been tinkering with ways we can make this feeling even better. We'd like to introduce a visual indicator that distinguishes between regular hit splats and max ones.

Check out what we've designed below and let us know if you like it! We didn't want the design to be too extravagant because we wanted to ensure that the 'max' hit splat is still readable and consistent with the Old School style.

From the left: The dark hitsplat on the left refers to someone else's hit. The hitsplat in the middle is your regular hit. The hitsplat on the far right would be your 'max' hit.

At present we will not be able to offer this toggle in PvP. Unfortunately, this setting gets technically complex when we try to put it on a player - because it's toggleable, each player would have to have the setting enabled to see the max hit splat in PvP.

Poll Question #9: Should we add a toggleable setting that would display a new hit splat when you hit an NPC with your max hit?

Now onto Slayer equipment. Players have pointed out that while V's Shield should feel like an upgrade to the Mirror Shield, it actually feels a bit underwhelming in practice. Despite requiring players to complete the Fremennik Exiles quests and needing several better stats to wield, the best we can say at the moment is that it just… looks a bit cooler.

So, here’s what we could do to make V’s Shield feel like a proper upgrade for Slayer:

• Remove the negative offensive bonuses to Ranged/Magic.
• Improve the Magic defence to +5 to match the Mirror Shield.

Poll Question #10: Should we improve the Magic defence of V's Shield by +5 and remove the negative offensive bonuses to Ranged/Magic?

Next up, a highly popular request regarding Bryophyta's Staff. Many players have requested to use it in free-to-play, which seems only fair considering that Bryophyta is a free-to-play boss.

We’ve previously asked whether Bryophta's Essence should be free-to-play and this failed to pass the poll.

We'd like to see whether your thoughts have changed:

Poll Question #11: Should Bryophyta's Staff become a free-to-play item?

Poll Question #12: If Question #11 passes, should Bryophyta's Essence also be available as a drop in free-to-play?

If this passes, free-to-play players would be able to take the essence and 50,000 GP to Zaff to acquire the Bryophyta's Staff.

During the Clan release, a hugely popular request was for customisable scenery and hospitality features.

We had a little think and we think drop parties for Clans sounds fantastic! We're excited for players to bring these fun events into their Clan Halls and make them more of a home.

Poll Question #13: Should we add a Combat Ring with safe death and a Party Room Chest and Lever to the Clan Hall?

We can't wait to see you having fun with this!

Speaking of Clan Hall upgrades, we'll also be releasing several unpolled ones, many of which were notes during the release of Clans last year.

Firstly and MOST IMPORTANTLY, we're going to be allowing players to interact with the cat in the Clan Hall.

We'll also be allowing players to use more keys on the piano.

Finally. if you've ever wanted to see the total numbers of players online in your Clan, you're in luck! The side panels for your Clan, the Clan where you're a guest, and the legacy Chat Channel will show a total of how many players are in those places. It would also be possible to separate totals for Clan members and guests if desired – and if space permits.

Moving on to more changes! As a noob, you might remember being surprised by some of the projectiles from certain spawns in the TzHaar Fight Cave (or not! Some of you are scarily good at the game).

During our process of looking into the Enhanced Client, we noticed a discrepancy. The Inferno allows players to see NPCs beyond the usual draw distance, while the Fight Caves do not. It's always been this way and we thought it would be worth asking whether you want us to offer the same draw distance in the Fight Caves, so that you can always see where NPCs have spawned.

We know that the surprise might be part of the fun, which is why we pass it over to you. We considered that this change might also have some impact on speedrunning, though we feel the types of players speedrunning the Fight Caves will already know about where everything is going to spawn based on their earlier observations.

Poll Question #14: Should we allow increased NPC visibility in the Fight Caves, similar to the Inferno?

While we're on the subject of visuals, let's discuss camera effects. There are not many places in the game with these, but they can be distracting when we do include them! As an unpolled change, we’re going to offer a toggle on the Settings menu that will allow you to turn on or off any camera movement and screen effects.

You’d be able to toggle based on the game mode, so we can include the following:

• Baba Yaga's House
• Fishing Trawler

We also have some specific plans about how we'll handle the tunnel vision effects in Icthlarin's Little Helper, so watch this space for that one!

Please note, this would not apply to effects that interfere with gameplay, such as the Last Man Standing fog.

Fishing Guild Changes

Have you ever found yourself stuck without a Net in the Fishing Guild? You can already grab a Harpoon and a Big Fishing Net from the entrance room, but not a regular Fishing Net.

Poll Question #15: Should we add a Fishing Net spawn inside the Fishing Guild? This would be Ironman-friendly.

We've also noticed that players might find themselves short on other gear while in the Fishing Guild. What if Roachey could provide players with Rods, Harpoons, Nets, and Small Nets? Currently, he just offers Bait and accepts fish.

Poll Question #16: Should we add more items to the Fishing Guild store? This would include the same items as other fishing stores across Gielinor (Rods, Harpoons, Nets, and Small Nets).

To make skilling easier, we'd also like to give you the option to use your spacebar to ‘Smith the last item.’ Should this pass, there would be a clear visual indicator included to let you know what that item is.

Poll Question #17: On the Smithing interface, should we allow players to use the spacebar to 'Smith last item'?

We can also offer the same improvements for the Jewellery Crafting interface.

Poll Question #18: On the Jewellery Crafting interface, should we allow players to use the spacebar to 'Craft last item'?

And how about we give Cooking some love? There are various locations across Gielinor which we think could include a left-click ‘Cook’ operation, similar to ranges. We would ensure that players would not be able to walk on top of the fire, to prevent anyone ‘dinner-griefing’ you by stepping on your beautiful meals!

Poll Question #19: Should we add a left click ‘Cook’ option to the Rogues' Den and Barbarian Village fires?

Next up, it's time to talk about the Pharaoh's Sceptre! We've seen various community requests for us to buff this item, and we'd like to meet you in the middle. What if we made the Pharaoh's Sceptre one-handed instead? This would allow you to flex your Book of Darkness while wielding the Sceptre at Pyramid Plunder!

Poll Question #20: Should we make the Pharaoh's Sceptre one-handed?

We'd like to offer Hellhounds, including Cerberus, the ability to occasionally drop an Ensouled Head, which would give players more of a reason to complete Hellhound tasks.

The Ensouled Heads would count as part of the 'Expert' Reanimation tier and offer 1,000 Prayer XP. It will also work with the Soul Bearer and contribute towards your ‘Hellhound’ Slayer task!

Poll Question #21: Should we give the ability for Hellhounds (including Cerberus) to occasionally drop an Ensouled Head? The drop rate for regular Hellhounds would match other Ensouled Heads at a rate of 1/40. The drop rate for Cerberus would be 1/15.

Too many Giant Keys and Mossy Keys in your inventory? We propose to make them stackable, to avoid Inventory clutter! Note that these items wouldn't stack together, but as two separate stacks.

Poll Question #22: Should we change Mossy Keys and Giant Keys to make them stackable?

We’d also like to add a log-in message that appears when you have items stored in an item retrieval service like at Hespori or Vorkath. If the player dies, the items will still be deleted as usual.

Poll Question #23: Should we send you a log-in message to alert you when you have items stored in an item retrieval service?

Next up, we're looking at removing the prompt given when right-clicking Robin to 'Claim Slime'. Players have been teleporting away by accident without pressing the spacebar after the dialogue!

Poll Question #24: Should we allow players to instantly acquire Slime and Bonemeal when clicking 'Claim Slime' on Robin?

Should this pass, you'll instantly be given Slime and Bonemeal after using the right-click option. We'll also be changing the text to say 'Slime and Bonemeal' rather than 'Bonemeal and Slime'.

During the Guardians of the Rift feedback process, players raised a frustration about the slight delay after clicking on a Runecraft Altar. This delay restricts the player from performing any action for a couple of cycles, which may affect opening Runecraft Pouches or clicking Teleports.

Considering that this delay is not present when crafting combination Runes, we are open to removing it. This change would have an effect on existing Runecraft methods by increasing the XP/hr for conventional Runecraft. All non-combination methods of Runecraft would therefore be slightly buffed. Let's put it to a poll and see what you think!

Poll Question #25: Should we remove the existing delay after using Essence on Runecraft Altars?

Last but not least - Soul Wars! We think an additional Fairy Ring would improve accessibility to the Soul Wars Island, so we'd like to add one to the north coast.

Poll Question #26: Should we introduce an additional Fairy Ring to the Soul Wars Island as shown in the Poll 76 Blog?

Let's talk about a couple of unpolled changes next, which we'd like to introduce as part of the work for Poll 76.

We'll be looking to allow Soul Wars to be playable in every world. We think this would entice organized Clans to go to their own world and allow players who enjoy the sport of it to play it more competitively on themed worlds.

Back in April, we also mentioned that we were looking to allow players to 'Buy X' in the ‘Other’ tab at the Soul Wars Shop. Players will be able to purchase Blighted items and Spoils in custom quantities.

Finally, we'll also be looking to increase the XP from Soul Wars Rewards.

We originally communicated that the XP would be equivalent to intermediate Pest Control at around 80,000 XP per hour. However, at present players achieve around 60,000 XP per hour at best. For this reason, we'll be adjusting the XP calculations to better reflect what was polled, ensuring that players spending their Zeal tokens receive the intended XP for their effort in the minigame.

That's it for Poll 76!

We hope to have more regular polls throughout the year, keeping them relatively short to ensure that we can get the changes out as soon as we can. Let us know your feedback!