254 replies to this topic

[Murdoc]

Hi everyone,

Last week, Mod Mark posted a thread on our forums highlighting some of the nostalgic and often passionate discussions within the community around a desired return of an ‘old school’ version of RuneScape. Specifically, the fine vintages of 2006 & 2007 appeared to be the high point of collective interest. Our team then set out to see if we had a backup that went that far back; if restoring the backup was even technically possible; and what specific content these potential old RuneScape backups might contain.

The team has spent many late nights and the past weekend digging through dusty old backups and restoring them, in the hope of finding more than just the old IT manager's MP3 collection of 80s rock power ballads! ☺

Finally, I’m very happy to report that we have indeed managed to recover a full RuneScape backup from August 2007. This is a complete snapshot of the game, which we have been able to verify would work, with some time and effort invested in it. Ironically, in October 2007 we actually changed our backup systems, so we have no complete content versions from August onwards that are viable for this purpose.

As I said at the start of the year, we’re all very focused on making this year fun, memorable and special to you, and a significant part of realising this mission is giving you a big say in what we focus on. That said, a huge amount has either changed or been improved since the heady days of 2007. The game has evolved, as have our tech, systems, and infrastructure. There will be a substantial amount of work involved to get these ‘old school’ servers back up and running again. However, if enough people support this project, this will be neither unachievable, nor a hindrance to the main game.

So, just like the poll for the return of the Wildy & Free Trade, which saw a jaw dropping 1.4 million votes , we will be running a similar poll and letting you - our valued members - decide the fate of ‘Old School RuneScape”, given that you directly fund the game's ongoing development and supporting services. This decision - along with the level of service, investment and potentially any additional fee for the service - is truly up to you to determine.

However, before we invest any further resource into this project, we need to accurately gauge your level of support by understanding how many of you are really behind ‘Old School RuneScape’ as it was in August 2007. As such, we will set up a poll this week for players to show their interest in the 2007 service.

But before I get into the specifics, there is one thing that is very important to note. If this idea gathers sufficient support, then we will not need to take our current talent away from all of the exciting updates to be implemented into the current version of the game, as we will be able to hire a new dedicated team to work specifically on this project.

By giving you the choice to play either version of the game, we are demonstrating our commitment to listen and - wherever possible - incorporate your feedback. In the long term, we hope that this project will bring back many veteran players, as well as possibly encourage new players to join. They will be able to relive their old game experience to their heart's content, and - if they so choose - perhaps even join the main game. Over the next couple of months and subsequent years, we have an ever-growing plethora of exciting content waiting to be deployed into the Evolution of Combat, regardless of the reinstatement of old servers.

That being said, we have set out the following targets to help us figure out how much focus and resource we should put into this project:

Level 1 - 50,000 or more votes:

2007 servers will come back as a separate entity to the current Runescape game, with an additional membership fee of around $15. These servers will receive no content updates and only critical maintenance.

Level 2 - 250,000 or more votes:

2007 servers will come back as a separate entity to the main Runescape game, supported by a small development team, with a smaller additional membership fee of around $5 extra. These servers will receive basic maintenance for bug fixes and little improvements, with the possibility of integrating our modern anti-bot technology over time, if it becomes necessary.

Level 3 - 500,000 or more votes:

2007 servers will come back as a separate entity to the main RuneScape game, with a dedicated development team, with no extra membership fee. These servers will receive regular maintenance, some content updates and integration of anti-bot technology if necessary.

Level 4 - 750,000 or more votes:

2007 Servers will come back as a separate entity to the main RuneScape game, with a larger dedicated development team with no extra membership fee and the free portion of the game available to all. These servers will receive continuous maintenance, modern anti-bot technology if necessary and - crucially - regular members' polls to determine which updates you want to see prioritised.

These servers, at any of the above levels, would be the exact version from back in 2007 and would maintain the ‘old school’ vibe and rules. The old graphics, hiscores, log-in, are all part of the same archived build and would be retained. We wouldn’t ever add any MTX updates.

This will be a members-only vote. While all types of players have invested time in the game, it is our members that ultimately fund the initiatives and therefore get to set the priorities. Your support allows us to continue to evolve this amazing game that we all care deeply about. Making the vote members-only has the benefit of ensuring the votes cannot be rigged, and is a reliable, secure way to calibrate interest from dedicated players.

If you are against the idea, then you should - naturally - abstain from voting. However,if you are supportive, or would simply like to do a cool thing for your fellow Runescape friends (both retired and active) by making it a no-charge service as well as a benefit for free players (which is very much our aspiration), then please do register your vote and encourage all your friends to do the same!

If you choose to abstain from voting, before you do so, please understand: the Evolution of Combat will not be removed from the main game in any event. Although some of our resources and time would be reallocated initially to the reinstatement of the 2007 servers, the main game would still continue to receive its regular updates, as well as the massive updates promised for 2013.

The poll will be live on the website this Friday 15th February for two weeks. We will also be uploading a video on YouTube expressing these ideas, and opening a thread on the members-only forums to discuss this topic. In light of the poll, we will be moving our next Q&A session - Around the Campfire with Mark Ogilvie - to next week, where we will be focusing on discussions around the ongoing poll.

On a side note, I want to remark that we truly appreciate how passionate and devoted our players are to the future success of the game. I’ve never seen any other community as active and passionate about shaping the future of their game experience. It’s truly an honour to be part of this community and I very much hope this initiative positively engages the current - as well as the lapsed - community.

Thanks for reading, the team and I are really looking forward to seeing what you decide!

Have (old school?) fun! ☺

Cheers,

Mark Gerhard
CEO

Discuss this here.

[~ Darky ~]

I cant be bothered to go through updates atm as i have class in a bit, anyone know were August 2007 would put us?  that is still pre god wars etc? as I think pre Wildy removal with no God was/summoning would be the most ideal place to make a new server if thats what they intend on doing.

on another note, 15 bucks a month lmao? honestly as much as I miss the old days I don't see myself spending more on this game to play 06 servers unless things like the clan world really came back full swing and I don't see that happening.

[Darkruler633]

Shame about those prices.
I hope people vote enough to make it all free

[Murdoc]

~ Darky ~, on 13 February 2013 - 11:18 AM, said:

on another note, 15 bucks a month lmao? honestly as much as I miss the old days I don't see myself spending more on this game to play 06 servers unless things like the clan world really came back full swing and I don't see that happening.

That's only if 50,000 people or less vote for this, and it's safe to say we'd be expecting a lot more people to lol.

[Blackenese]

Woop!, its ashame its only members only vote.. they do say its the members that fund the initiatives but also say thier hoping to bring back older players which can't vote since they don't have p2p and the whole point of the vote is to see how many would play.

Edited by Blackenese, 16 February 2013 - 05:34 PM.

[Milktea4me]

Secretly, I'm really excited to see an old version of Runescape be official, but I doubt we'll get enough signatures to do it. I have a feeling if the servers were ever to be become live, it would fold within the year. I will be voting for the servers to return and I'll let fate do the rest.

[Ramu]

I will vote to bring them back so other can enjoy them, however I probably won't do much more than poke around on them for a few days if it is free.

[Ste.]

P2P to vote, yeh.. no

[Magick]

Murdoc, on 13 February 2013 - 11:19 AM, said:

That's only if 50,000 people or less vote for this, and it's safe to say we'd be expecting a lot more people to lol.

I somewhat doubt it - only Members can vote. I think it is fair to say that a large portion of the current players were not even playing as far back as 2007, so they do not really know what they were missing. I hope it gets enough votes, though. I can imagine some people paying for membership just to vote.

Edited by Magick, 13 February 2013 - 11:27 AM.

[Spliffy.]

Oh lawd. There's no reason not to vote in favour tbh, it's an added extra to what players already have. But I'm F2P so I have no say

[spoonheb]

That's a monthly fee, not a one-off I'm assuming.
It would be interesting to see how many people vote 'yes' then decline to pay for the service they so feverishly demanded.

Personally, I'd like to see it in either level 2 or 3 if it does come. I feel the anti-bot feature is almost necessary but the fourth level would take a lot of resources away from the current game development, while generating no membership revenue to replace the workers who would be shifted over.

As of posting this, Mod Mark Pip is in his friends chat answering questions
Edit: Mark has gone AWOL.

Edited by spoonheb, 13 February 2013 - 11:39 AM.

[Sefket]

I'm down to start fresh again and pay $15 monthly. You all wanted this, now dont complain.

[Manga]

Oh hell yes. I think we can get 700k because this is going to be spread everywhere and people will pay the 7 bucks just to vote for this.

[Murdoc]

Magick, on 13 February 2013 - 11:27 AM, said:

I can imagine some people paying for membership just to vote.

Yeah I was going to say this, and whilst it's still probably a longshot - if it's a choice between that and a full $15 I'm sure there will be a fair few players who'd be desperate enough to go for it anyway. I guess you really do have to hand it to Jagex for displaying such stunning business acumen. Why not squeeze some more out of people if you're sure everything will still go to plan?

[Fregs]

Since we begin from level 3, and for me the only point of having this server would be to war, I'm not really too excited by the poll.

I also think that there may be trouble getting to the 500k vote minimum for free play

[Renkotsu]

Well, I'll be sure to cast my vote. Glad that they're choosing 2007 instead of 2006.

[Dannnyy]

I'll vote for them to bring the servers back because I know how many people want it but personally I would rather play the game in it's current state.
I don't like living in the past, I like things to move on and improve...

Edited by Dannnyy, 13 February 2013 - 11:38 AM.

[homaosapian]

While this was a popular request... How many people will vote. I know alot of pvp clanners will be excreting in their pants at the sight of this, but have too many people made it over the quitting wall and haven't looked back?

[Magick]

Murdoc, on 13 February 2013 - 11:30 AM, said:

Yeah I was going to say this, and whilst it's still probably a longshot - if it's a choice between that and a full $15 I'm sure there will be a fair few players who'd be desperate enough to go for it anyway. I guess you really do have to hand it to Jagex for displaying such stunning business acumen. Why not squeeze some more out of people if you're sure everything will still go to plan?

Lol, yeah, it is a good plan. Even if the server does end up dying, the money they receive from those who paid for membership to vote will probably be enough to fund the server for a year. Copied this from another topic:

50,000 or more votes: Jagex made 397,500 Dollars
250,000 or more votes: Jagex made 1,987,500 Dollars
500,000 or more votes: Jagex made 3,975,000 Dollars
750,000 or more votes: Jagex made 5,962,500 Dollars

[~ Darky ~]

I don't agree with making it a fresh start, It would take me alot to start playing again if i had to start at lvl 3 again unless the server is made into more of a private server then a reflection on the real runescape server.  With money being easy to make and like huge exp multipliers.  I don't see it taking off very well if the people that want the nostalgia of pking and what not back then have to spend months to max out again.