A Brief Overview of Old School RuneScape

Preface This essay is a response to a joke from Jace’s Twitter account and follows the structure of the mentioned video “A Noob’s Guide to Old School RuneScape” from the official Old School RuneScape YouTube channel. The information is sourced from the mentioned video, the Old School RuneScape Wiki and my own experience with the game.

Table of Contents Preface ...... 1 Old School RuneScape ...... 2 OSRS Mobile ...... 2 Interface ...... 2 Camera ...... 2 Tabs ...... 2 Chatbox ...... 2 Minimap ...... 2 Orbs ...... 3 World Map ...... 3 Skilling ...... 3 Support Skills ...... 3 Gathering Skills ...... 3 Artisan Skills ...... 3 Combat Skills ...... 3 Final Words ...... 4

A Brief Overview of Old School Runescape by Daniel Dippold, December 2018 Old School RuneScape Old School RuneScape (OSRS) is the old school version of RuneScape by the British video game developer and publisher Jagex. When it was released in February 2013, it was an exact copy of RuneScape from 6 years earlier. Since then, OSRS has been regularly updated with new content, engine updates and quality-of-life improvements. Its update structure allows players to vote on proposed gameplay changes, which only get implemented into the game, if over 75% of players1 approve them. OSRS Mobile OSRS Mobile was released in October of 2018 and has since been a very popular way to play the game. Since players can log into the same account regardless of the platform, OSRS mobile is nice to do some afk stuff like cutting trees or mining or something when on the bus or in bed.2

Interface The interface acts as a bridge between the player and the game world. It can be interacted with using the mouse and keyboard on desktop and by tapping on the screen on mobile. Camera The camera is the window into the game. The camera can be rotated with the arrow keys or by pressing the middle mouse button. It is responsible for displaying the game world and its characters and allows interaction with everything.

Left-clicking or tapping anywhere on the ground will result in the player-character walking there and clicking on an NPC will talk to them or attack them. There are a lot of other objects that can be interacted with in various ways and right-clicking or long-tapping them will always show a menu with possible interactions. Tabs The tabs open windows with information about the player character and modes of interaction with the game world and other players. Only one window can be open at a time and it’s possible to open them with the function-keys (F1-F12) and Esc, which can be customized in the options menu. Chatbox The Chatbox is where players may converse with other players and NPCs. While speaking to NPCs, players may select answers by clicking on them or using the number keys or continue the dialog with the space bar. Minimap The minimap displays useful information like the player’s position, other players, NPCs, items and much more. It also allows automatic path-finding by clicking on the target location.

1 Only Members are eligible to vote on update polls. 2 Jace on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jembawls/status/1068574715894276097

A Brief Overview of Old School Runescape by Daniel Dippold, December 2018 Orbs These are small bubbles next to the minimap that display useful information about the characters Hitpoints, Prayer points, Run-Energy and Special-Attack energy. Above the orbs are the XP-tracker that is deeply configurable, and the compass for the minimap. World Map The World Map is a very useful tool available to the player. It displays most locations of the gigantic game world including dungeons, towns, shops and other points of interest.

Skilling The main way to progress in RuneScape is skilling. For Members, 23 skills are available. While advancing in each skill, players unlock more efficient, lucrative and difficult training methods and rewards. They can generally be sorted into four categories. Support Skills These skills are useful in multiple situations throughout the game. Agility allows players to take a variety of shortcuts all over the game world and improves the regeneration of a player’s run-energy. Thieving is the art of permanently borrowing the possessions of certain NPCs and Slayer has players kill monsters that may otherwise be immune to damage. Gathering Skills This group of skills improve the player’s ability to harvest more valuable natural resources. Mining improves the gathering of ores, Woodcutting involves chopping down trees for their logs. The Fishing and Hunter skills are used to catch sea creatures and catch and kill animals respectively. Farming helps with the growing and harvesting of usual and unusual plants. Artisan Skills These skills allow players to process the resources from the gathering skills into useful items and products. Cooking is the art of preparing food items on cooking ranges and campfires created through Firemaking. Herblore allows the brewing of useful potions. Players use Smithing to create melee armour and weapons, Fletching for ranged weapons and their ammunition and Crafting for ranged armour, jewellery and pottery. Through Runecrafting, players create runes used for Magic, and Construction allows player to build their own house for easy access to teleports, altars and much more. Combat Skills The Combat of RuneScape has many different aspects that allow players to develop their individual play style and strategies. Hitpoints is an indicator of how much damage players can sustain before dying. Attack determines a player’s melee accuracy and unlocks new weapons, the Strength skill raises a player’s max hit, and Defence helps players to protect themselves in combat. Magic may be used as a powerful combat tool but has a lot of utility uses, such as teleportation and the enchanting of items. Ranged allows players to attack enemies from a distance, using weapons like bows. Finally, Prayer unlocks powerful temporary effects and combat bonuses.

A Brief Overview of Old School Runescape by Daniel Dippold, December 2018 Final Words Unfortunately, I’m running out of words now. There is a lot more to OSRS I would want to talk about; Fighting, Questing, the game world, Lore, PvP, the Economy, Membership and Ironman mode to name a few. But Jace only wanted 1000 words so I spend the last 30 minutes to reduce this essay to exactly that.

A Brief Overview of Old School Runescape by Daniel Dippold, December 2018