Appreciation - J-Mod reply
I think we'll look back on 2026 as the year everything started getting better
I'm sitting here nerd watching in Rimmington and I'm feeling very nostalgic. I think it's because the joy and excitement of "I wonder what they'll do next" has come back to Runescape.
I know we have the roadmap, but I can't shake the sense of wonder that comes along with these recent updates, and the excitement I have for the future.
It won't be perfect, and there will be bugs (I'm still whining about my missing Zuk cape,) but I am really excited for everything that's coming this year, and I can't wait to see what we get in the years to come.
I agree! There's a lot of haters saying the updates this year haven't brought the game up to OSRS concurrent player numbers and so are bad and we shouldn't have done them, but it's going to take time before these seeds bloom into flowers. In the meantime, we should enjoy this fun and whismy with our current base and continue engaging in our back and forth with the team working on the game.
People also tend to forget there was a time where RS3 had double the player count of OSRS. OSRS got to where it’s at due to consistency and time.
I’ve been mainly playing OSRS and afking RS3 (currently taking a break from both) and seeing these updates on RS3 is tempting me to play it actively again.
Once OSRS started getting updates, it started to tick up. But it didn't overtake RS3 on a regular basis until 2016, and IIRC RS3's double XP events had it occasionally overtake OSRS up to September 2017.
The fact that we had even half the players with a 2 man skeleton team and having to pay members fee to even create a account says more than enough lmao.
I don't think you're making the points you think you are.
You're kind of just repeating what the dude said.
The big difference here is that you are being an asshole and they presented an actual graph of what they were talking about before you started shouting at clouds like a psycho.
Yeah the road to restoration is the thing that bought me back and I hope that it brings other in too!
Nothing's perfect but they are actively looking to change and improve things which is still awesome to see.
Not who you’re replying to, but it brought me back in general. I last played when archeology came out in 2020. Always liked runescape but after a big break all the seemingly good changes brought me back.
I really enjoyed Necro, fort forinthry, a few big quest lines, decluttering the map, removing MYX/dailies, cleaning up graphical clutter and outfits, improved area looks, some skill expansions, combat reworks, better bossing accessibility, and now the PoH. It’s been a good streak.
I haven’t even gone to havenhythe yet because I want to reclaim comp first on older content before going to the new place, and I know it’ll have more soon anyways.
Pretty much same as Jake, had about a 5 year break before coming back at the start of the year, saw a post about the restoration and have been loving the changes, it's been good to get back into it and even starting an iron to get to see all the changes to the lower level activities too.
"You mean an MMO DOESN'T suddenly go back in time overnight? Imagine my shock!"
Seriously I've seen this among alot of people pulling up player numbers and going "Look Look, OSRS still has more. Removing MTX isn't doing anything". I've seen people give more time for paint to dry before judging if it worked out....
I actually started playing RS3 as an oldschool player for the first time 3 weeks ago. I'm having so much fun with it. Just unlocked invention yesterday and I haven't felt this addicted to Runescape in years lol.
My combat skills are still in the 20s and 30s because I’ve been mostly skilling so I haven’t gotten to a lot of the new armor and things.
Lodestones are super nice and Fort Forinthry is a must have unlock.
If you’re familiar with OSRS, it’s really not as hard to pick up as people say. If you don’t understand something, google is a couple clicks away (trust me, I’ve already googled a lot of shit lol).
Also, the classic layout has been super helpful while I’ve been getting more familiar with the game. I might mess with the modern layout more in the future when I start bossing but classic is working for me for now.
Everything in runescape can be a lot when you go at it with an efficiency/wide view. You just gotta see something that interests you, shut off your brain (in regards to decision paralysis) and see where the game takes you.The best part of runescape for me is all the random rabbit holes you get stuck into. Archeology is a great skill to get started with in that regard between the lore, it taking you all over the map, the relics that affect different skills, the quests that tie into it, and the mix of being either afk or more active - keeping you engaged as you figure out what collections you're building up, what materials you need to go gather. Unlocking better material caches, etc.
And Necromancy as a combat skill is just great in regards to its constant progression and how it has its own quest line and tasks, and tying into crafting and smithing, and just getting you situated with how modern RS3 combat is. (Do not be scared of the bar, look up revo bars on the wiki, you can just set up abilities to auto fire and forget about them, or get as manual as you want to)
You'll get stuck into skills, look up what upgrades exist for said skill, that might lead to you to a quest, back to archeology for a relic, that might lead you to another quest, to lead you to a potion from herblore to boost a skill, an incense stick from firemaking to boost your damage or quality of life, a familiar from summoning to help you survive a quest boss or help your woodcutting. The wiki of course is as amazing for RS3 as it is for Osrs.
At its very core, its Runescape as it always has been - we've just gone down a different path and the game is only improving every update.
If you love osrs.. you'll find something to love in RS3 too - you just gotta take a dive (and a surge hehe)
(Fuck I started tearing up writing this, it got away from me a little bit. Whatever you end up doing bro - I hope you have a great time doing it, whether in Osrs or RS3, we're all playing one of the best games of our lives)
Nah bro this actually hit home and helped me a ton. You’re right I need to learn how to turn that decision making part of my brain off and just find the enjoyment in something again. I haven’t had that in forever. What better place to do it then the place it started?
Remember that if you have membership on osrs you also have it on rs3! (Obviously not necessarily the same if it's like your old rs3 account and want to start fresh) Also if you get into it, it's a great time honestly because we have a leagues coming in August so you'll have that to experience too!
I just picked it up as a hcim for the first time ever last week and I’m totally enjoying it! I set my ui layout to the classic mode and it’s very neat and not overbearing at all. I’m thoroughly enjoying everything the game has to offer, I’m only 1000 total level right now 70 combat but I’m hooked dude
As a new player (3 months in) I will offer one counterarguement to this. The clunkiness/ambiguity has forced me to interact with the community a lot more than I would in other mmos that are kind of just on the rails. It definitely can be frustrating but in a way I'm feeling more immersed learning new things on the wiki and learning from my veteran clan members. It has helped to make me feel more like I'm part of a community and kept me engaged.
Haha yeah! I built a pet house, and then in your "Customizations menu" under pets, check the box that says "Appear In Menagerie" and it will appear in your house.
Came back because i was able to recover my account from 2016 when i last played. But boy has the game become sooo much easier, in both good and bad ways. But overall there is enough nostalgia-y things where it feels like 2012 all over again and enough new updates and skills that make the game more enjoyable. There is a lot to work through to catch up on basically 10 years of updates lol but i missed this so much and am so happy i have my OG account. I created it back when it was only runescape 1 ie what was classic but before the rs2 update. Sleeping bags anyone?!
Hey glad you got access to your old account!
Hans can give you your 20 year cape if you speak to him in Lumbridge. There might even be a 25 year cape I dont remember.
Yes, I agree completely. Things are finally starting to get better with the Road to Restoration and what Jagex has planned for RuneScape 3. It took a while, but with multi-casting Aspects for 1-hour durations, potion cauldrons providing 1-hour potion buffs, and the Dungeoneering remaster making the Chaotic Grimoire affordable to use for magic, or even for melee if you're running a crit build the game is absolutely moving in the right direction.
Dare I say it, RuneScape 3 is actually starting to feel fun again.
While I'm not wanting to stop playing OSRS, I am thinking about pulling the trigger on making a brand new RS3 account, going Iron, and experiencing all of the new stuff after many years away from RS3. Im a little intimidated and overwhelmed, but the game looks fantastic, the updates are so wildly interesting, and the direction is looking great! Any suggestions?
I would highly recommend Necromancy if you want something that can give you early goals and direction.
Additionally, getting started on building your fort (new foundations quest) and of course your Player Owned Home now can get you some great quality of life.
Beyond that, as you know quests are always the way to go on building a new account. I personally love "One Piercing Note" and it has a fantastic quest reward.
Finally, dungeoneering rewards are just mint and it's a great way to train early levels.
If you're a heavy Runelite user, I'd hold off until the winter if you can. I started an RS3 iron last year and had great fun but it is a lot. The one thing that made me quit playing was just honestly no quest helper as sad as that seems. They are building a plugin API so I'm personally waiting for that to come out to pick it back up again.
This is fair, Runelite makes osrs feel much better, but i did see there was a quest helper addon in the alt1 toolkit that looks passable for now, so i may just send anyway. Will see!
I just wish there were Asia servers. I unsubbed from osrs just because of the price hikes, but now that Asia servers are here, they became 100% worth it. I love rs3 but it's hard to do pvm on there with 190+ ping.
Its certainly the first time I genuinely tried RS3 after only having played OSRS.
Not everything is clicking with me right now but I do enjoy it having more QoL and some "easyscape" features. Like the ore boxes or metal bank. Like ugh its so, so comfy!
The early game is super confusing though. I am at times really struggling because you get bombared with stuff and the map and minimap are frankly a mess thats painted with icons. Despite having played OSRS for a couple hundred hours I really have issues navigating RS3 at times because theres just so much stuff.
I've always thought RS3 offered more than OSRS, I have to admit I did think the removal of TH would have done more to get people playing, it's a shame it hasn't reflected in the player count.
I haven’t logged on in a while but keep hearing and seeing post that the game is improving. Can someone give a quick summary on why the game is better now than before?
Having spent over 500hrs in each runescape recently, I'm having an absolute blast with RS3 and decided to stick with it. Hope they keep it up! Such an underrated gem of an MMORPG.
It makes me happy seeing people loving RS3. I've been on OSRS for roughly a year now since my irl friends are 100% against anything to do with RS3.. I really hope more and more people start giving it a chance, I still truly believe it to be the better of the two games.
Jagex has definitely made RS3 a more playable game this year. With the removal of MTX which was rotting the core game, and then the stream of quality updates which have since followed.
Aside from the part where they stole a bunch of people's grandfathered rates and didn't say a single thing in response to the community outrage until people just forgot about it
November 2025 onwards for me. Beginning with that Lumbridge graphical update it feels like we’ve been playing an entirely new game at times and I’m finding so much enjoyment in things I didn’t even pay attention to before
I hope so. RS3 really does deserve more and the road to restoration has been great so far (and other projects ofc such as the area reworks mod blkwitch has done etc).
The Player-Owned-House remake just dropped alongside Construction 120. Overall though, RS3 has been on a “road to restoration”. MTX has been completely revised, most of it is gone especially the predatory/gambling aspects. Early/mid game xp is being rebalanced. A new continent was released called Havenhythe. Updated player avatar, regrounding of cosmetics, updated visuals for multiple locations, and many other changes. The devs are on a roll and doing well so far with the changes.
Sounds like they're putting the RuneScape back in RuneScape.
I'm just peeking over from OSRS to keep an eye out for your next league, but it does look like things are getting better on this side of the game. I'm happy for you all, you deserve it.
It's fun. If you get choice paralysis I recommend making a list of furniture you want, and their ingredients, and just make a whole bunch of furniture all at once, and then go into your home and just start popping things down till youre content.
There are a handful of changes I wish they didn't do, but overal the game has improved a lot. Really wished they had gotten rid of the mtx years ago but I guess better late than never.
I think the next league will seriously jump the player count but 20% lol and even though it’s temporary I think it will give a lot of unsure or curious player a chance to feel it out this “new rs3, plus imo the winter API changes will be the single biggest gamer changer for rs3.
I have just gotten into rs3 after stopping when the evolution of combat originally came out, having so much fun look forward to becoming a member and crabbing out for 30 straight hours a weekend.
2026 will be known as the year Jagex sold the community a bunch of false promises and removed grandfathered rates for their most loyal customers. It is a shame to see people still supporting this nonsense.
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u/Linc7991 Hardcore Ironman Jul 14 '26
I agree! There's a lot of haters saying the updates this year haven't brought the game up to OSRS concurrent player numbers and so are bad and we shouldn't have done them, but it's going to take time before these seeds bloom into flowers. In the meantime, we should enjoy this fun and whismy with our current base and continue engaging in our back and forth with the team working on the game.