RuneScape News

They say that April showers bring May flowers, so we hope none of you have hayfever, because we're anticipating a total deluge of content this month. But more importantly, this week those who have been affected by the Login Lockout can start to collect on our 'Making it right' care package, as well as news about the latest Ninja Strike and the next part in our time-hopping anniversary miniquest series.



[h2]Login Lockout[/h2]



[h3]Latest News[/h3]

Last week we welcomed back the first waves of players impacted by the March Login Lockout, and those of you who haven't yet returned to the game can expect to be processed soon. We'd like to thank all of you for the patience you've shown throughout this situation.

Find out more information and updates, click here: https://rs.game/LockoutRestore

[h3]The Returned[/h3]

Those of you taking your first steps back into Gielinor this week will find a care package full of goodies waiting for you. Upon logging in on or after April 6th, you'll receive a box in your Inventory (or your Bank, if your Inventory is full), which you can open to find your compensation gifts.

For more information on what we're doing to make things right, check out this newspost.

[h2]RS20 Miniquest | Once Upon A Time: Flashback![/h2]

Last time in our 20th Anniversary miniquest series, you attended the party of a lifetime and wound up in Closure's office. Now, it's time to undo Relomia's mischief - but to save RuneScape's future, you'll need to revisit the past! Help Closure restore key memories, meet up with old friends, and earn yourself some great rewards!

[h3]Requirements[/h3]

To play Once Upon a Time: Flashback, you'll need:

• RuneScape membership
  
• Completion of Once Upon a Time: Foreshadowing

We also recommend completing the following quests:

• Merlin's Crystal
  
• Diamond in the Rough
  
• Animal Magnetism

[h3]How to Start[/h3]

Head over to Closure's office, accessible through Death's realm.

[h2]Ninja Strike 21: Pets & Logs[/h2]



The Ninja Team have returned from their mountaintop dojo with another awesome update, this time focussing on Pets and Logs. No word about pet logs just yet, but here's what else they've been up to!

First up: more follower pet conversions! This time the Ex-ex-parrot, Sneakerpeeker, and green, blue, red and black baby dragons have all been converted from object to follower pets in the Customisation interface.

Speaking of interfaces, completionists will be glad to hear that all Collection Log interfaces will now stay open while in, or while entering, combat. They'll also stick around while interacting with objects, and they'll update in real time, too.

In addition, a whopping 70 new playlist slots have been added to the Music Playlist - so go on, set up your favourite rune tunes and rock your way to the Patch Notes tab, where you can see the full list of this week's Ninja shenanigans.



[h2]Ninja Strike 21: Pets & Logs[/h2]

[h3]Pets[/h3]

• The Ex-ex-parrot has been converted from an object pet to a follower pet in the Customisation interface.
  
• The Sneakerpeeper has been converted from an object pet to a follower pet in the Customisation interface.
  
  • Dungeoneering Tokens have been refunded for any additional Sneakerpeepers you may have had.
• The green, blue, red and black baby dragons have been converted from object pets to follower pets in the Customisation interface.
  
  • The corresponding eggs will now only drop if the respective pet is yet to be unlocked or is still required for the Collection Log.
• Recently converted interface pets now have a despawn animation.

[h3]Collection Logs & Interfaces[/h3]

• All Collection Log interfaces will stay open while in or entering combat and when interacting with objects. They will also update in real time. For example, the Clue Collection Log will remain on-screen and update as you open clue caskets.
  
• The Archaeology Material Storage interface will no longer force close when in combat.
  
• Players can now use the worker icon in the Base Camp Management interface to manually input numbers and quickly assign workers.

[h3]General Quality of Life[/h3]

• The Music Playlist has been expanded from 30 to 100 slots, more than tripling the number of favourite songs you can blast on your journey around Gielinor.
  
• The Music Playlist now lists the number of tracks that have been added to it.
  
• The 'Order of Slayers' Achievement has been updated to include Jacquelyn & Mandrith.

[h2]Other[/h2]

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed an issue with the Effigy Incubator that was causing players to lose effigies.

[h2]J-Mod Livestreams[/h2]

[h3]Wednesday April 6th | 16:00 Game Time | April Content Preview and Leads Q&A[/h3]

One stream, two big topics! First up we have the rescheduled April Content Preview, followed by a Q&A with the leads. Not to be missed!

You can catch us live, over on https://www.twitch.tv/runescape

[h2]Creative Corner[/h2]

[h3]RuneTube[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We love to see our lorehounds in action, and Jaxyys' story-driven playthrough is no exception! In this latest video, she's heading to Falador, home of the surprisingly stoic White Knights. She's also just hit 1,000 subscribers on YouTube, so don't forget to drop your congratulations in the comments!

[h3]Awesome Art[/h3]



Elej has done a fantastic job of drawing this perfectly ordinary, nondescript cactus... hey, wait a minute! This sneaky KGP agent really had us going for a second, but thanks to Elej's spectacular observations, we'll be able to keep him under surveillance. Excellent work!

[h3]Steam Screenshots[/h3]

This week's screenshots came from the RuneScape Art Community! Join them here: http://discord.gg/8gnAwuZ



By meteor#5442



By Elej#8679



By CyanCyborg#9640

[h2]Community Corner[/h2]

[h3]Pink Skirts Event[/h3]

This week's Pink Skirts event is a trip to see Nex: Angel of Death! If you're up to the challenge, meet Pippyspot and LSPVM247 in the Ancient Prison on World 92 this Friday, April 16th from 20:00 - 21:00.

For more information, add LSPVM24 to your Friends' Chat, or head to the Pink Skirts page!

[h3]Community Shout-Out[/h3]

Our shout-out this week goes to the RuneScape Wiki, your one-stop shop for everything RuneScape! In this mystic portal of knowledge you can learn everything you could possibly want to know about the game, from the drop rates on the rare item table to the number of toilets in Gielinor (the answer may surprise you!).

While you're there, be sure to check out the One Small Wiki Favour initiative. Wiki users can contribute to a number of ongoing tasks and qualify for special in-game rewards, including Bonds!

[hr][/hr]

The RuneScape Team

After a March that few of us will ever forget, we're ready to begin the process of returning accounts impacted by the Login Lockout situation.

That's right, the first Returned are soon going to be walking the paths of Gielinor again, after what we know has been a stressful and uncertain few weeks for many. We can't wait to see you back in game, and we can't wait to deliver on that Awesome April of content we spoke about in last week's livestream.

[h2]Wave Updates[/h2]

As we mentioned last week, returning accounts is the start of a journey rather than the finish line. With our learnings from the Beta, this will be a rolling process of returning accounts. Keep this page bookmarked as we bring you all the latest updates on account return waves as we have them.

[h3]Wave 7 - Final Wave & Next Steps | 12:45 Game Time, April 9th[/h3]

Hello everyone,

We are very excited to let you know that our final wave of has now released, which means that almost all affected accounts have been returned to the game. Thank you so very much for your incredible patience over the past month as we gave it all we could to restore your accounts to the highest possible quality. It's fantastic to see so many of you back in game.

However, this isn't the end of our journey. A small proportion of accounts require additional attention before we can restore them, and Aftercare will still be necessary to resolve outstanding issues for some of you.

If you're in either situation, here's what to do:

MY ACCOUNT STILL HASN'T BEEN RETURNED
If your account remains locked, the batch telemetry translation process used for other accounts hasn't been sufficient to restore your account to the highest possible quality. This means your account is going to require individual attention before it can be returned, which may take some time.

If you are in this situation, firstly, we want to apologise for the extended wait. Getting you playing again is our top priority. We will work with you on an individual basis to ensure that we more than make up for the wait, as well as covering any membership time spent. You'll also still be eligible for the care package, which includes 'The Returned' title and several other goodies.

Everyone in this situation will be notified by email, so keep an eye on your inbox. We'll also be keeping you updated throughout next week whenever we have new information to share.

SOMETHING ON MY ACCOUNT ISN'T RIGHT
Aftercare is the term we're using for the individualized support we'll be providing to players whose account still doesn't look quite right.

First, we recommend you check our Restoration FAQ for details on some of our most expected issues and the actions you can take to help resolve them. Then, head on over to our Aftercare Form to submit a ticket for anything you need us to work on.

Aftercare is an ongoing process, so if you find something a month from now that you've suddenly realised isn't right, you'll still be able to submit a ticket. Please be patient in these early stages, though - response times will vary based on volume but we're working on getting to everyone as fast as we can. Thanks in advance for your patience.

[h3]Wave 6 | 16:15 Game Time, April 8th[/h3]

[expand]Hello everyone,

Wave 6 has now been released, marking our last wave of the day. Please check your emails for notification within the hour, but as always, we recommend attempting to log in just in case. This brings us up to ~88% of all accounts now returned.

Our next wave will take place on Friday, and with our current projections, we expect this to bring us to almost all accounts having been restored (> 99%).

If anything is out of sorts, please remember Aftercare is here to help. You can submit a ticket here: https://rs.game/LockoutHelp

Note: If you are missing your Returned Package, please log out with an inventory space free and log back in again to receive it.[/expand]

[h3]Wave 5 | 15:15 Game Time, April 8th[/h3]

[expand]Hello everyone,

Wave 5 has now released, our first of two planned for today. Please check your emails for notification within the hour, but as always, we recommend attempting to log in just in case.

Wave 6 will take place later this afternoon should everything go to plan, and we'll let you know as soon as this has rolled out. By the end of today, we expect to have returned around 88% of all accounts.

Tomorrow, we intend to release Wave 7 which we currently project will bring us to almost all accounts having been restored (> 99%). We'll be back later today with more news on Wave 6 as soon as we have it.[/expand]

[h3]Wave 4 | 13:15 Game Time, April 7th[/h3]

[expand]Hello everyone,

We have just released our fourth wave of accounts back into the game, bringing the total share of impacted accounts restored up to ~70%.

Emails will be sent to notify anyone returned to the game within the hour, but as always, we recommend also checking by attempting to log in just in case anything happens with your email.

What's Next

Our aim is to have the vast majority of accounts back in game by the end of this week and we remain on track to achieve this as it stands today.

We are currently working on our fifth wave of account restorations, which we expect to be ready to deploy tomorrow. We expect this wave to tip us well into the 80-90% range and we'll confirm the percentage of overall accounts returned as soon as we have this locked.

We are also lining up plans for a sixth wave which could potentially release on Friday - though this is strictly provisional at this time.

As we mentioned earlier, this is an active development situation - anything can happen and we can't risk the quality of the process at any stage. Things have gone mostly well so far this week, but there's always a potential for change. We'll do our very best to keep you updated along the way.[/expand]

[h3]Wave 3 | 15:30 Game Time, April 6th[/h3]

[expand]Hello everyone,

The third wave of returning players are now being released (as of 15:30 Game Time). This wave is much larger than previous waves and we hope to continue scaling in this way as we restore more accounts in future waves.

Restored accounts have been emailed, though we also recommend attempting to log in just in case any issues occurred with receiving your email.

Please check back soon for more information about future waves.

- The RuneScape Team[/expand]

[h3]Wave 2 | 12:00 Game Time, March 31st[/h3]

[expand]Hello everyone,

We've just released another larger wave of accounts back into the game as of 12:00 Game Time. It's great to see some of you back playing out there and to see more accounts returning to Gielinor.

We wanted to let you know that this will be our last wave before the UK Bank Holiday weekend, with our next wave planned for Tuesday, April 6th. We've done everything we can to expedite the process of getting you back into game, but given some of the now-fixed surprises Wave 1 provided, we need to make sure there's time to monitor for more abnormal behavior before proceeding. The time spent to do this now will inform the rest of our waves, ensuring we can move at a good scale and pace when we pick up next week.

Thank you for the continued understanding. We hope you have a great Easter break and we'll see you next week for more waves of accounts back in game.

Take care,

- The RuneScape Team[/expand]

[h3]Wave 1 | 12:00 Game Time, March 30th[/h3]

[expand]The first wave of returning players will be rejoining the game shortly, as accounts begin to become unlocked. Those in the first wave will have received an email inviting them to log in.

This wave is a smaller one in order for us to build confidence in the restoration method. More players will have their accounts restored in coming waves, so please check back for more news.[/expand]

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

While it'll be business as usual for many of us (Game Updates will continue, content will release, etc.), there might be some unexpected side effects for accounts impacted by the Login Lockout. While we've done our best to minimise inconsistencies with account recovery, unfortunately a few issues remain unresolved. Rest assured however that we'll be working hard to make even the smallest detail right through that one-to-one aftercare we've mentioned before. More on that in a bit!

So what are those remaining issues? Let's dive into them.

• Bank and Inventory will likely be jumbled, with items shuffled and disorganised.
  
• Invention Perks may have been reverted to an earlier state.
  
  • However, we have been able to refund most components for any perk rolls since the last saved state of your Perks. We have also added 50% extra of any returned components.
• Some player-owned farm animals might be missing.
  
• Some players will have been teleported to Burthorpe or Lumbridge.
  
• Some items might have been duplicated.
  
• Some UI settings might have changed.
  
• Potential for duplicated or missing items under certain conditions
  
• Bonds and Keys may not be restored immediately upon your account being unlocked.
  
  • This is restored under a separate process and should be resolved shortly after deployment.

We've tried our best to resolve as many issues as possible whilst also balancing the desire to get everyone back in-game as soon as possible. We know some of you might be more impacted by these issues than others, which is why we've set up a dedicated aftercare service for all affected players to use. We've also put together a bit of a care package to help kickstart your RuneScape experience!

[h2]Welcome Back Plans[/h2]



You might have heard once or twice over the last few weeks that we're committed to making this right. That's why when you log back in on (or after April 6th) you'll be greeted by a box filled with goodies in your Inventory.

What's inside?

[h3]Exclusive Cosmetic Gifts[/h3]

• Title: 'The Returned' (or 'The Returned Ironman' for Ironmen)
  
• Cloak of Returning
  
• Disc of Returning Weapon Override
  
• Disc of Returning Inventory Object
  
• 'Returned from the Abyss' Teleport Animation

[h3]Consumables[/h3]

• 10 Restoration Pods (custom made versions of 'Knowledge Bombs', worth 1 Hour of Double XP each)
  
• 10 Advanced Pulse Cores
  
• 10 Cinder Cores
  
• 10 Large Protean Packs
  
• 10 Medium Prismatic Lamps
  
• 10 Yak Track Task Skips
  
• 10 Portable Skilling Packs
  
• 10 D&D Monthly Reset Tokens (Members Only)

We'll also be providing everyone another month of Membership - on top of the month already covered beginning March 18th - and Double Daily Keys from April 6th too.

To help you maximise any gains when you return, we're running three bonus-packed weekly events throughout April that include things like double Reaper Points, double Vis-Wax opportunities and a whole lot more. We've also extended Yak Track: Yak to Basics by three weeks, re-running Vic the Trader later in April and even granting everyone a wish. You can find more details in this newspost.

[h2]Aftercare[/h2]

In order to ensure that everyone's accounts are shipshape, our Player Support teams are on hand to help address any concerns that may have resulted from the account recovery process. They'll be doing their best to make anything right, even when we can't resolve something exactly how it was before the Login Lockout.

Getting in touch couldn't be easier. Simply head to the link here and fill out a quick form. Our teams will be in touch to help resolve your concerns as soon as they can, and you can use the form more than once (but within reason) if needed.

We mentioned it before, but we can't guarantee that everything can be returned to how it was, even with the help of this aftercare program. If this is the case, rest assured that we'll do what we can to make up for anything that's lost. We will do right by you.

Additionally, as much as we'd love to confirm a timescale by which we'll reply to individual tickets, please understand that the speed at which we can resolve them will vary based on volume. Please have patience while we work our way to your request.

[h2]What's next?[/h2]

We will be returning players wave-by-wave, which means we know some players won't be joining us in-game today. Work continues to restore these accounts, and when they are reactivated they'll also benefit from the above goodies and support with more if needed. If you're in this bracket of players who can't play today, please sit tight - we'll have you in game as soon as we can!

Thank you for your patience and support during what was a long March of investigations. developments and Betas. We're glad to finally begin welcoming you home and we look forward to showing you more of what the year ahead has in store!

- The RuneScape Team

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and in Gielinor, the druids are celebrating the Spring Festival! Read on to find out all about that, plus, we've got an update on the Login Lockout situation.



[h2]Login Lockout[/h2]

We're still working hard to bring affected players back into the game. For all the latest news, check out our update post.

https://secure.runescape.com/m=news/account-returning-begins--making-things-right

In addition, please be aware that we'll be compensating all players who as a result are unable to participate in the Spring Festival event.

[h2]Spring Festival[/h2]



Spring has come to Gielinor, and the druids are busy celebrating the season with the Spring Festival! From March 29th to April 11th, head to the area south of the Archaeology Guild to partake in a range of springtime activities:

[h3]Guthixian Butterflies[/h3]

It seems that that unusual-looking tree has attracted a special species of Guthixian Butterfly! Catching them adds to a global counter - the more butterflies you and other adventurers catch, the better your rewards!

[h3]Skilling Stations[/h3]

The druids are always happy to help new seekers explore their ancient traditions - and you'll get a nice reward for helping them out, too.

There's three stations to try, and all of them award Spring Tokens and XP. Use the Activities Interface to select which skill you'd like to train, then get to work!

Please note that Ironman accounts can get rewards from these activities, but cannot benefit from unlocked multiplier buffs.
Potion Brewing

Mix up some magic and earn either Herblore or Cooking XP - mmm, smells good!

Icon Carving

Getting artsy with a tree trunk or two will earn you XP in either Fletching or Crafting.

Stone Celebration

Take a whirl around the standing stone and get XP in either Agility or Prayer!

[h2]Rewards[/h2]

You can spend the Spring Tokens you earn by participating in activities in Thaerisk's Surplus Spring Supplies Shop, which is fully-stocked with seasonally appropriate rewards, including the Crux Eqal and Butterfly outfits, the Invoke Spring emote, and the 'All of a Flutter' title.

You can also pick up various consumables such as lamps, stars, and mystery boxes. Please note that Ironman accounts will be unable to purchase these consumables.

Remember: if you've been affected by the log in lockout, we'll still provide Spring Tokens or the event items themselves, depending on when you're able to re-access the game.

Oh, and one last thing - there just might be something else going on this week. Be sure to pop in on April 1st to find out more!

[h2]Pi-Mas[/h2]

Pi Day is a bit behind us now, but we promised you combat updates, and we'll darn well get you them!

The appropriately named Mod Pi's hard work has resulted in improvements to the Area Loot interface and the Crackling perk, the ability to resize Debuff and Buff Bar icons, and a new unlock at War's Retreat. Check the Patch Notes for more information!

[h2]Premier Club[/h2]

Premier Club members will receive their April monthly drops this week! Log in on April 1st to get:

• 1,000 Oddments
  
• A variety pack
  
• A small knowledge bomb

Be sure to check in next month for your next drop!



[h2]Combat[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• The Area Loot Interface now:
  
  • No longer closes while walking around.
    
  • Periodically updates while walking around and when an NPC drops loot.
    
  • Closes itself after moving more than 10 tiles since it last updated.
• A new unlock is available from War's Retreat which will reset ability cooldowns when using the Altar of War.
  
• Players are no longer able to use the Zaros Godsword's special attack if a different one is already active.
  
• Revolution Combat Mode will now fire off Abilities more consistently after a channeled Ability is used, bringing it more in line with Full Manual Mode.
  
• You can now adjust the size of Buff and Debuff Bar icons on desktop.
  
• Dragonbreath will now prioritise your main target before performing the usual AoE.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Ingenuity of the Human is no longer triggered by non-Ability attacks.
  
• The Needle Strike buff will now apply to the targeted enemy and last for the correct length of time. It can no longer be reapplied by switching targets.
  
• The time you can perform an Ability after using Snipe is now correct.
  
• The Quick Prayer menu will now show available presets more consistently.
  
• The 'Check charge' option in Filtered Chat during combat will no longer spam the Chatbox when pressed or held for gear that's already equipped on the Action Bar. This doesn't apply to the first message but to all further messages within a short time.
  
• The Crackling perk now triggers on the next attack after the cooldown ends, rather than immediately.

[h2]Engine[/h2]

• Various improvements have been made to pointlights.
  
• Switching app or locking your phone in certain circumstances will no longer cause freezing or crashes when on Samsung Galaxy S20 or Galaxy Note 20 devices.
  
• New mobile app icon.

[h2]UI[/h2]

• The Log in Screen has reverted to its previous look.
  
• The 'Temporarily mute this player' button no longer overlaps with the 'Cancel' button in the 'Report player' pop-up within the lobby.
  
• Added functionality to the mobile lobby screen so that the device 'back' button will toggle the display of the side panel.
  
• The Terms of Use screen has had a bit of a refresh on mobile.
  
• Various small tweaks, fixes and improvements.
  
• Added various 'close' buttons to popups in the Log in Screen.

[h2]Yak Track[/h2]

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Hotfixed:The Yak to Basics splash screen and tutorial no longer pops up every time a player opens Yak Track.
  
• Tier 22 Task A now shows the correct options for Smelting.

[h2]Other[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Premier Club monthly drops now feature new and improved messaging!
  
• The Ironman plaque in Edgeville has been updated to include Bikk's achievement of the 'Insane Reaper' title. Congratulations!
  
• Vannaka has left a helpful note in his previous location to point players towards his new one.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• The overlay interface that appears when entering an incorrect password on log in now has a close button, as expected.
  
• The achievement for the Vault of Shadows miniquest has been corrected.
  
• Fixed a typo in Padomenes' dialogue during Azzanadra's Quest.
  
• Changing your Spellbook using a Spellbook Swap spell or otherwise is now more responsive.

[h2]J-Mod Livestreams[/h2]

[h3]Tuesday March 30th | 17:00 | April Comeback Content Review[/h3]

A veritable shower of content is on its way in April! Join the J-Mods for a whirlwind tour through next month's content plus the latest news on the rolling return of accounts affected by the Log in Lockout.

[h2]Creative Corner[/h2]

[h3]RuneTube[/h3]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Check out the latest in the TheBookOfRS series of lore videos, looking back over Gielinor's rich and dangerous past! This latest instalment takes a deep dive into the Third Age - The God Wars themselves!

[h3]Awesome Art[/h3]



This has to be the cutest Corbicula rex we've ever seen! Creator Rallis has captured the fearsome/adorable dichotomy quite perfectly. Rargh! But also, awww!

[h3]Scaper's Screenshots[/h3]

This week's screenshots come courtesy of the FashionScape Discord community. Inspired by their eleganza? Join here to strut your stuff!



By Plegos



By Matthew



By Sgt_Viper000

[h2]Community Corner[/h2]

[h3]Pink Skirts Event[/h3]

There's a Town Square Q&A this weekend with Princess Rae, who is eagerly awaiting your questions! Find out more about the Pink Skirts, get help and chat all things RuneScape! Join the fun this Saturday April 3rd, 23:00 - 23:59 at Varrock West Bank on World 3.

For more info on this and other Pink Skirts Events, check out their page.

[h3]Community Shout-Out[/h3]

Our Diversity Discord is an inclusive space where you can discuss all things RuneScape and beyond with people from all sorts of backgrounds - everyone is welcome in Gielinor!

Join the community by clicking here.

[hr][/hr]
The RuneScape Team

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Hey 'Scapers.

I have some significant news to share today on our progress to restore and return accounts impacted by the Login Lockout. This is a lengthy update that includes the first details on the return of accounts, our planned aftercare process, our plans to make things right and more beyond.

[h2]Beta Learnings[/h2]

The Beta has been our opportunity to put over two weeks of hugely complex work using telemetry to fill data gaps into the hands of players. This was all about getting players into their own accounts, and them letting us know what they thought, and felt, about the state of their accounts.

What's come out of the Beta is clear - the majority of the players feel their account is in a close to or as expected state (some messy banks aside!). This has been really great to see, and pays testament to the hard work of the team over the past few weeks to get this done with the highest degree of accuracy possible.

This wasn't everybody's experience, though. There are some known issues remaining and there are bugs for us to fix. It's also clear some accounts are more adversely impacted than others. We've already made improvements today in the Beta that have had great initial feedback, but there's still more work to be done for some.

[h2]Restoring Accounts[/h2]

Throughout this process, I've promised you that we'll balance returning accounts with the best possible accuracy with the time it takes to get you back into the game. From the Beta, the message is simple - the majority of participants feel their accounts are ready to go.

Based on the Beta results, we are excited to share that we will begin the process of returning accounts early next week. While this is obviously the news everyone has been waiting on, we do want to stress this is the start of a journey rather than the finish line. With our learnings from the Beta, this will be a rolling process, from the way we deploy accounts to the aftercare on hand providing further support as needed.

First, we'll get the accounts that we are confident are in a strong restoration state back into the game. This will happen early next week. We'll also work in parallel to continue improvement efforts for the more adversely impacted accounts to get them back in your hands as soon as possible, too.

As you read this, we know many of you will immediately be wondering if you'll be playing again next week. We'll be emailing anyone who can return to game in this initial rollout as soon as we can - again, early next week.

[h2]Known Issues[/h2]

As I mentioned earlier, despite the return of accounts into game, some known issues remain. While we've been able to overcome so many challenges in this process - that's taken everything from building brand new tools to mind-boggling complex workarounds - not every problem has proved to be surmountable.

While most of these are minor, in the interest of being open and transparent there are a few more significant issues we want to tell you about now.

• Banks will be returned to you in a disorganised jumbled state, so you will likely have to spend time rebuilding it to look as it did before.
  
• Invention Perks a matter of importance to us, and we've done everything we can to restore them including a fix mid-Beta. Unfortunately, we do expect most players to experience some loss of Perks or a reversion to February 8th.
  
  • However, we are working on possible alternative solutions - such as potentially refunding components used within gizmos in the data gap. This is still in progress and we're looking at every solution possible to do what we can.
• Player Owned Farm and Ranch Out Of Time progress has proved difficult to restore via telemetry, and we expect most players to find any progress related to animals in pens and barns back to their February 8th state. Breeding log completions are expected to be up to date.

We will post a more complete list next week alongside the first rollouts as we gather up all the information, but we expect these to be minor impact compared to the points above (pending any new information coming to light that we don't know today!).

[h2]Commitment To Aftercare[/h2]

With all that said, as I've talked about before, returning your accounts is just part of an ongoing journey. Certain things may not be perfect and outliers are completely possible. But, as I promised, we will do our absolute best to put things right - and that's where our Aftercare process comes in.

From next Tuesday's initial rollout, every person impacted by the Login Lockout will have the opportunity to flag anything that doesn't seem right when you return into game. This will be done through an easy-to-submit form to Player Support. Plus, within sensible reason, you'll be able to use this form a few times in case you discover something else is off later on.

To set expectations, we won't necessarily be able to return everything as it was through our Aftercare (for example, the insurmountable problems we mentioned earlier). However, even in those cases, we want to hear from you. We've promised to do right by you and we'll do what we can to make up for anything lost.

Our team will be working incredibly hard to get through any tickets to the best of our ability. With something this complex, we can't fully predict how many tickets we'll be dealing with and at what pace. Please do bear with us, but know that we will get back to every ticket and every person no matter how much time it takes.

[h2]Making Things Right[/h2]

Let's face it - this has proved to be a challenging time for RuneScape. This unprecedented event is something all of us will never forget. As a RuneScape Team, we have grown together and learned so much. Along the way, you've been so supportive, despite what we can only imagine has been an agonising wait to be reunited with your account. As players begin to return to the game, we also want to make April a fantastic month to remember, and this is how we'll do it.



[h3]Membership[/h3]

As we mentioned last week, if you were impacted we’ve already covered your Membership time by a month. On top of that, please enjoy another month on us as a thank you for bearing with us during this downtime - even if your Membership ran out after March 4th.

Impacted Premier Club Members will also be offered an exclusive discount (on top of these extra months of standard Membership) ensuring that if you choose to renew you get all the benefits next year at a price that takes time away into account.

[h3]The Returned Gift Pack[/h3]

Throughout this whole process, the RuneScape Team has been blown away with the incredible patience and support that's been on show. We wanted to recognise how much that's meant to us, so we crafted a special care package as a token of our gratitude to everyone impacted.

• Exclusive Cosmetic Gifts
  
  • Title: ‘The Returned’ (‘The Returned Ironman’ for Ironmen)
    
  • Cloak of Returning
    
  • Disc of Returning Weapon Override
    
  • Disc of Returning Inventory Object
    
  • ‘Returned from the Abyss’ Teleport Animation
• Returners Gift Pack
  
  • 10 Restoration Pods (custom made versions of 'Knowledge Bombs', worth 1 Hour of Double XP each)
    
  • 10 Advanced Pulse Cores
    
  • 10 Cinder Cores
    
  • 10 Large Protean Packs
    
  • 10 Medium Prismatic Lamps
    
  • 10 Yak Track Task Skips
    
  • 10 Portable Skillstation Packs
    
  • 10 D&D Monthly Reset Tokens (Members Only)

As development continues on these items, these rewards will be available for returning impacted players from April 6th.

[h3]Double Daily Keys[/h3]

To boost those daily gains and return missed opportunities of logging in every day, every impacted player will also receive a free month of Double Daily Keys on us, too.

[h3]Making April Awesome[/h3]

We want to be ready to welcome players back to the game they love, re-unite the community, and recognise the loyalty of all RuneScape players - especially after you made it clear you want to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those who were impacted.



Beginning April 12th, we'll be adding weekly themed events to the game on top of our existing content plans, from an upgraded Combat Week including Double Reaper and Slayer points, to a D&D&D week including double vis-wax opportunities, and much more. We'll detail these in full soon. We're also extending Yak Track by two weeks, and Vic The Trader will make a repeat appearance later this April.

And, on top of all of this, we have a packed line up of content to come this April. We'll give you a look at what's to come next Tuesday in our usual Weekly Livestream.

[h3]Oh... And One More Thing[/h3]

Last, but certainly not least, is something a little extra special we're cooking up to thank all players, too. At the end of April, we're going to be granting some special wishes for everyone.

While we're being all mysterious and illusive on this one, we'll reveal more about this later in the month. What would you wish for?

[h2]Final Words[/h2]

As I wrap up this message, I just want to re-iterate that this journey isn't over. We've made huge strides, albeit imperfect, but we'll continue our mission to get you into a happy place.

I'm super stoked about April and we've got the rest of this amazing year still to look forward to.

- Mod Warden

We've partnered with Dark Horse Books to bring you RuneScape: The First 20 Years, a lavishly illustrated, full-colour, hardcover book filled with insider info about the best game in the world - this one!

Dark Horse recruited Alex Calvin, the founder of PCGamesInsider, to interview all your favourite J-Mods, past and present. They also pored over 20 years' worth of illustrations, concept art and various other bits and bobs to create a comprehensive guide to the wonderful world of Gielinor, covering both RuneScape and its precocious younger sibling, Old School RuneScape.

The main edition comes with a swanky red cover and is available to pre-order in the US now from through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your friendly local comic book stores and bookshops! It will shortly be available to pre-order globally from all good book stores, starting with amazon.co.uk.

Or, for our most dedicated fans, we have the Deluxe Edition, featuring a black cover with foil treatments - very fancy! The Deluxe Edition comes with gilded page edges, a card slipcase, a ribbon bookmark and a hard-backed folio containing two archive-quality art prints.



To guarantee your copy of RuneScape: The First 20 Years Deluxe Edition, simply pre-order from the Official Merch Store before April 15th. Some limited stock may also be available after this date.

Both editions will be published and available for delivery from October 2021. Keep an eye out for more details - including sample pages - over the coming weeks!