RuneScape News

Welcome to the latest edition of This Week In RuneScape! Today's update includes the final instalment of The Grand Party, the Celebration of Skilling - plus the first miniquest in our 20th Anniversary series, a long-awaited look at how we're updating the player avatar, and all sorts of changes and fixes across the game. It's also your last chance to grab the special 20th Anniversary discount price for Gold Premier Club, so there's a quick reminder of how to do that. Let's jump right in!



[h2]RS20 Mini-Quest Series: Once Upon A Time[/h2]

We hope you're not all partied out just yet, because our 20th Anniversary celebrations are far from over! Throughout the year, we'll be releasing a series of miniquests that combine, megazord-like, to form 'Once Upon a Time', our 20th Anniversary story arc.

Here's even better news - members can play Foreshadowing, the first miniquest in the series, right now!

Head to the Blue Moon Inn to get started. Relomia, Sliske's former emissary, is holding an exclusive party for Gielinor's best and brightest - and no party would be complete without the World Guardian in attendance! So get ready to dance until you drop as you kick off an epic journey through RuneScape's past, present, and future.

Rewards include an extra-fabulous Party Hat override and a prismatic lamp - and of course, completing Foreshadowing will ensure you're ready when the next miniquest in the series comes along!

[h2]The Grand Party: Celebration of Skilling[/h2]

The birthday celebrations continue this week with the Celebration of Skilling!

Throughout the week, you'll get 50% increased XP in all gathering skills - those being:

• Archaeology
  
• Divination
  
• Farming
  
• Fishing
  
• Mining
  
• Hunting
  
• Woodcutting

There's a couple of things to bear in mind. Firstly, the XP bonus won't apply to Archaeology's restoration activity, but to make up for it you will get 50% extra precision while excavating. Secondly, it also won't apply to the animals on your Player Owned Farm, including those at The Ranch Out Of Time.

Lastly, Iron players will NOT get the XP buff.

Now, the eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that there's been some changes around the Lumbridge Crater. Since we won't be needing that portal after next week, our good friend Aubury has turned it into a skilling rift, which will grant both Summoning and RuneCrafting XP.

And don't forget - when the event ends next week, The Wise Old Man will no longer be able to supply you with the special edition 20th Anniversary Cape and Outfit - so have a chat with him and pick it up while you still can!

[h2]Vault of Shadows Miniquest[/h2]

This miniquest will be familiar to all you keen-o archaeologists out there - it's the Vault of Shadows mystery, condensed into a more easily completable form.

Whereas previously you needed 107 Archaeology ( in order to restore the relevant Spell Scrolls) for this you only need 58 Archaeology, which will get you access to all of Kharid-Et.

To get stuck in, have a word with Dr Nabanik at the Kharid-Et dig site. He'll hand over four fully-restored Spell Scrolls for you to use and replace any you accidentally destroy.

You won't get the usual Archaeology XP for completing this miniquest. To do so, you'll have to get 107 Archaeology and hand in your own restored scrolls to Dr Nabanik, as usual. Should you have already completed the mystery, speak with Nabanik to complete the miniquest and get a well-earned 'thank you'. If you're partway through the mystery, don't panic - Dr Nabanik, in his infinite and totally human wisdom, has accounted for that too.

There's no new rewards for this miniquest, but you will unlock something that'll come in handy fairly shortly. What is it? We're not telling! Let the wild guesswork begin...

[h2]Last Chance for Discounted Premier Club[/h2]



You only have until February 1st to pick up the Premier Club Gold package at a discounted price!

It's been a while, so here's a reminder of what the Gold package includes:

• 12 Months of RuneScape Membership
  
• Exclusive monthly drops for the duration of Premier Club Membership
  
• Free Premier Pass for Yak Track events for the duration of Premier Club Membership
  
• 150,000 Loyalty Points
  
• Ozzie pet
  
• Ceremonial Guard Armour
  
• Extra daily Keys
  
• 3 Premier Club Reward Tokens
  
• RuneMetrics Discount
  
• 1,000 Oddments each month
  
• Premier Club Vault access
  
• VIP Premier World access
  
• 1 free Boss Instance a week
  
• 100 Premier Bank spaces
  
• In-game chat badge

And for just one more week, you can get all that for just £44.99 (or $74.99, or €64.99) - this is the very best value for money deal we offer, so if you want to enjoy the big savings, now's the time!

[h2]Free Bank Presets[/h2]

All additional Bank Presets are now free! Options to purchase them have been removed from all interfaces, including Solomon's General Store.

You should automatically receive the Bank Presets you're entitled to upon log in. Members will receive 10 presets, and free-to-play players will get seven.

Now go, run free, and customise your loadouts to your hearts' desire!

[h2]Rare Item Tokens Have Been Removed[/h2]

One of the projects we've been working on lately is to consolidate the various stores and remove unnecessary currencies from the game. This week, we've been looking at Rare Item Tokens.

As you know, Rare Item Tokens were a prize from Treasure Hunter, which could be used to buy various items in the Rare Token Store. However, once you've unlocked all the items, the Tokens themselves are useless - and as more and more of you do so, they become more and more devalued compared to other Treasure Hunter prizes.

As a result, we've removed Rare Item Tokens from the Treasure Hunter loot table and they are no longer claimable in-game.

Any existing Rare Item Tokens will be converted into Oddments at a rate of 10 tokens to one Oddment - so 50 Rare Item Tokens will net you five Oddments. You can convert up to 100,000 Rare Item Tokens - any Tokens above that limit will be removed.

All new rares have been moved to the Oddments Store. These include:

• Bad Weather Umbrella
  
• Octopus Backpack
  
• Glowbug in a Jar
  
• Oriental Fan
  
• Springy Pet Token
  
• Telescope
  
• Balloon Rest Token
  
• Polly

[hr][/hr]
An Update On Rare Item Token Changes

Hi there ‘Scapers,

As many of you already know, we released an update yesterday that converted Rare Item Tokens into Oddments, as part of a migration of the Rare Items into the Oddments Store. When we decided to implement this change, we set out with a goal of maintaining the value of Rare Item Tokens vs the cost of Rare Items in order for there to be as little impact to you as possible.

While that ratio holds true, it's clear from your feedback that we didn't meet expectations. Frankly, we misjudged the value Rare Item Tokens held by not fully considering the opportunity cost to acquire them and we're sorry for getting this wrong.

After a thorough investigation since Monday, we have unfortunately confirmed that this is something we’re unable to resolve or change without entire server rollbacks – which would have even farther-reaching ramifications.

As an apology for this misstep, we’ll be gifting all players 15,000 extra Oddments to spend within the Oddments store. We'll also be awarding all players 15 Treasure Hunter keys to use too. These will roll out with next Monday's Game Update and be available for players who login within 3 months of the update. (Note: Accounts created on or after January 26th 2021 will not be eligible).

Also in next Monday's update, based on your feedback, we will also be bringing the Limited and Current Rare Items into the Oddments Store to ensure you can still pick up the items you want.

Yesterday's change was just one part of a long term plan to consolidate our currencies for a better user experience. We do believe this change adds very beneficial improvements for all players moving forward, but yesterday it under-delivered on converting the value you already had.

In the future, we'll provide ample notice of any currency change before it happens and spend particular care on any currency conversion rates based on opportunity.

Thank you again for your feedback and patience.

The RuneScape Team
[hr][/hr]

Like we said, this change is part of an ongoing initiative - so keep your eyes peeled for similar updates later on!

[h2]Forum Avatars: Fixed![/h2]

Well, this was going to be a surprise, but there's no getting anything past you forum-dwellers!

The issue where players were unable to update their avatar on the Official Forums using the Photo Booth has been fixed. Here's how you can get a snappy new photo of your own:

• Equip your finest finery and head to your nearest Photo Booth
  
• Smile! (this part is very important)
  
• Snap a picture

Your Forum avatar should update shortly after performing these steps. If it doesn't update immediately, just wait a bit.

We can't wait to see your lovely faces again!

[h2]Treasure Hunter: Mosaic Crystals[/h2]

A new Treasure Hunter promotion has arrived. In Mosaic Crystals, you'll get a grid of different-rarity crystals to pick from. Select all prizes in a line, and you'll get extra rewards - and every time you do, you'll get points on your progression track and unlock even more. Once you reach the end of the progression track, you can prestige and get even better prizes the next time!

Mosaic Crystals will run from January 26th to February 1st.



[h2]RS20[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• The 20th Anniversary Invitation is no longer given to players on Tutorial Island.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Players doing the Dragon Slayer portion of the Grand Party miniquests can now reclaim the Frying Pan from Duke Horacio if they've destroyed it.

[h2]Other[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• A new miniquest called 'The Vault of Shadows' has been added, which takes you through the Vault of Shadows Archaeology mystery.
  
  • The requirement to do so is now 58 Archaeology, although you will still need 107 Archaeology to restore your own Spell Scrolls and receive XP.
    
  • If you have previously completed the mystery, speak to Dr Nabanik to complete the new miniquest.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• It took him a while, but Max has finally reclaimed his Max Cape!
  
  • ... and he's now wearing it!
• Max has also reclaimed his 'Master of All' title.
  
• Fixed an issue which caused Max's skilling pets to desync sometimes.
  
• Players will no longer crash when spying on Agent 007. You're good to go, Scaramanga.
  
• Resolved an issue with one of the tooltips during the Prayer section of Tutorial Island.

[h2]J-Mod Livestreams[/h2]

[h3]January 26th | 17:00 Game Time | Next-Generation Player Avatars[/h3]

Join our artiest J-Mods as they walk you through the development of the new Player Avatars, from the goals behind the project to what they look like so far.

[h3]January 27th | 16:00 Game Time | Big Fat RuneScape Pub Quiz [/h3]

It's back and it's bigger and better than ever! Join Mod JD at the Blue Moon Inn for an extra-chunky Pub Quiz covering 20 Years of RuneScape. There's loads of prizes on offer, so be sure to bring your a-game!

Want to get closer to the action? We'll be live from World 83, so come along and buy a round - it's only one coin!

Don't forget, you can catch all of our livestreams over on our Twitch channel, here.

[h2]Creative Corner[/h2]

[h3]Awesome Art[/h3]



This week we were transported to a magical land by u/xPluisje's beautifully drawn Spirit Tree. What an absolutely terrific piece of art. Look at its lovely smile! We'd love to give it a huge hug and perhaps a little peck on the lips. Glorious.

[h3]Steam Screenshots[/h3]



By Julia_



By Mtwarrior



By pwnthybytes

[h2]Community Corner[/h2]

[h3]Pink Skirts Event[/h3]

This week's spotlighted Pink Skirts Event is a Town Square Q&A hosted by Princess Rae! Bring your burning questions to the Varrock West Bank on World 3 this Saturday, January 30th from 23:00 to 23:59 Game Time.

To see the rest of this week's Pink Skirts events, check out their page here!

[h3]Community Shout-Out[/h3]



This week we'd like to shine the spotlight on the FashionScapers! This Discord is the place to be for those avatars that are just really, really good looking. Take a look at these outfits by Stephano#9928 for a sample of what this community has to offer - and if you think you can do better, come show off your looks!

You can join the community at this link.

[hr][/hr]The RuneScape Team

It’s the Celebration of Minigames week over at The Grand Party, but that’s not the only fun we’ve got planned. We’ve got a farm-tastic Ninja Strike, some exciting freebies and a pair of livestreams chock-full of behind-the-scenes info. Let’s take a look!



In the third week of our marathon Grand Party event, we're all about the minigames! Meanwhile, the Ninjas are back at the farm and Bank Presets will shortly be made available for free. Exciting stuff!

[h2]The Grand Party: Celebration of Minigames[/h2]

Our birthday celebrations continue this week with the Celebration of Minigames! This week's buff is sure to please: from now until next Monday, you'll get double currency rewards from every minigame!

That's right - every minigame, including Soul Wars, Pest Control, Shattered Worlds, and more. You'll also get double Thaler and double Ports Resources.

But that's not all - the Anniversary Portal in the Lumbridge Crater will now teleport you to any of the Games Necklace locations, so it's super-easy to hop between your favourites.

In addition, you can speak to Gilly Willikers at the Lumbridge Crater once per day to receive a free Clue Scroll. The quality is dependent on your total skill level, but don't let that put you off - even the easiest clue has the potential for fabulous rewards.

[h2]20th Anniversary Mini-Quest Reveal[/h2]

The Grand Party event finishes at the end of this month, but the fun doesn't stop there! There's a year-long mini-quest series on the way that'll see you adventuring through RuneScape's past, present and future - and you'll be able to play the first part very soon.

Eager to learn more? Be sure to tune into Tuesday's livestream at 16:00 Game Time, where the Lore Council will tell all. Ooh... mysterious!

[h2]Ninja Strike 17: Player Owned Farm[/h2]

Yeehaw! The Ninjas have been back at Manor Farm, adding a big ol' trough of homegrown new features and mending a few fences here and there.

First up: you can now track your favourite farm animals via the Pen interface. Favourited animals can't be traded, given away, or sold when you hit 'sell all' - you can hold onto your cherished fluffy bunnies forever!

Food troughs have also been much improved. The 'Make-X' menu will now automatically pick the most appropriate food based on what's already in the trough, or whatever you last put in it. In addition, the 'Make-X' option starts at the max value. Much faster!

There's also a new set of buttons to make feeding honeycomb to your animals easier than ever. Tasty!

Lastly, you can once again set animal buyers to appear through word-of-mouth. To do so, simply speak to either Granny or Prehistoric Potterington, ask about contract options, and clear your existing advertisements.

There's plenty more changes to check out in the Patch Notes tab, so don't forget to check them out before you don your dungarees!

[h2]Free Bank Presets[/h2]

As of January 25th, all additional Bank Presets will be made available for free! Just like the Action Bars we made free back in October, this is part of our ongoing commitment to re-evaluate our premium offerings and ensure we're providing value in all the right places.

You'll receive your Bank Presets automatically when you log in, so we'll be removing them from Solomon's General Store and all other interfaces once this update goes live.

Free-to-play players will get 7 Bank Presets and members will get 10 - that's more than enough to store all your favourite loadouts!

[h2]Pawsome Outfits![/h2]



Next week, a feline surprise will be making its way to the Oddments Store in the form of all three outfits from the Catwalk Treasure Hunter promo!

The Santa Paws outfit comes as a three-piece set, sold as one single piece. However, the Sameowrai and Meowsketeer costumes are sold in seven individual pieces. For each item you already own, you'll get 15% off the remaining parts - stacking up to a whopping 90% discount if you own six out of seven pieces!

Purr-chasing the costumes will also unlock the prestige versions and all the new fur textures, exactly as if you'd unlocked them by playing the promo.

And of course, you'll be able to get your paws on Felix for free if you haven't already brought him home. Hope you've got plenty of doogle leaves to hand…

[h2]Yak Track: The Knight Before Christmas - Last Chance![/h2]



Yak Track: The Knight Before Christmas ends this Sunday, January 24th - so now's your last chance to grab those wintery goodies.

If you're yet to get started, have a word with Robin the Christmas Yak and complete your first task to get the Permafrost Knight armour override set right away - or if you're closer to the end of the track, why not pick up a Premier Pass for 2 Bonds and get all the Premier Track rewards from the tiers you've already finished?



[h2]Ninja Strike Notes[/h2]

[h3]Player Owned Farm[/h3]

• You can now mark favourite animals with a new right-click/long-press option or via the Animal Pen or Barn interfaces
  
  • Favourited animals cannot be traded between players, given to requesters, or handed over when attempting to 'Sell all' to a buyer
• New buttons have been added to the Animal Information interface to make it easier to feed animals honeycomb
  
  • Long-press or right-click the button to feed the maximum amount of honeycomb
• Animal buyers can once again be set to appear via 'word of mouth' based on what animals are in the pens
  
  • Speak to one of the Potteringtons about contract options and clear your advertisements to try it out!
• Adding food to troughs via the 'Make-X' menu will now pick an appropriate food based on the type already in in the trough, or the type used last
  
  • If neither of these options are possible it will default to the first appropriate food you have in your Backpack
• The 'Make-X' trough menu will now start at the maximum value
  
• The warning which first appears when attempting to harvest an animal under 100% health and happiness can now be toggled back on
  
  • You can find this toggle in the Farming options
• Player owned farm paddock requirements are now listed in the Construction Skill Guide
  
• For consistency, various messaging on Manor Farm and The Ranch Out of Time has been turned into info-boxes:
  
  • Activating and deactivating overhead icons for animals
    
  • Changing and checking season with the Seasonaliser
    
  • Placing, removing and checking Farming totems
    
  • Trying to use The Ranch without completing the Anachronia Base Camp tutorial
    
  • Not having enough materials to build dinosaur pens
• Quick-selling animals to buyers will now trigger an info-box stating the total amount of Beans gained
  
• Dinosaur eggs dropped by feral, ripper, brutish and venomous dinosaurs now trigger lootbeams
  
• Tooltips for animals' health and happiness meters now appear when they are tapped on mobile devices

[h2]Textual[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Motherlode Maw dialogue now explicitly states that all skills have to be levelled up to 95 in order to claim the reward.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed a typo on boots enhanced with a Shadow Spike.
  
• Fixed a punctuation issue on the Quest Complete screen on French worlds.

[h2]Archaeology[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• You can now disable the Archaeology skill on both cinder and pulse cores.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• You can no longer attempt to change the Cosmic Pendant to the Archaeology style. Trying to do so will now send a message explaining that no such pendant exists.
  
• The textbox that appears to inform you of the inspect function on Artifacts will no longer remain indefinitely.

[h2]Other[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Adjusted the default camera sensitivity for new users on mobile.
  
• The prerequisites for the 'Not Such a Rotten Idea' Achievement have been tweaked. You'll now need to complete Darkness of Hallowvale instead of achieving the level 500 reward in Temple Trekking.
  
• All three extant Felix outfits are now available on the Oddments Paw - er,
  
• Raksha has been added to the list of Bank Presets.
  
• You can now bless extra fine sand at Lumbridge Altar.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed an issue on mobile which caused the information on the Death Tutorial to not appear when tapping the information icon.
  
• The Always Adze Relic and the Inferno Adze will no longer burn logs in the Temple Trekking minigame.
  
• Logging into a free-to-play world no longer swaps Action Bars designated to members with the primary Action Bars.
  
• The positioning of 'Requirements' in the Beasts tab has been adjusted.
  
• Steam players will now see promo-specific banners.
  
• The Top Tip in the Sinkholes minigame will no longer overlap other UI elements.

[h2]Hotfixes[/h2]

Fixes made during the week!

• Erethdor's Grimoire now correctly deactivates on death.
  
• Ironmen no longer benefit from the 20th Anniversary Event's increased Slayer XP buff or Elder Overload Golems.

In this week's Community tab, you'll get the chance to tune into the brains of our Lore and Combat Councils.

[h2]J-Mod Livestreams[/h2]

[h3]Tuesday, January 19th | 16:00 Game Time | 20 Years Of Lore [/h3]

Join a couple of our Lore Council J-Mods as they look back on the rich history of Gielinor in this extra-special livestream! Alongside loads of lore tidbits, you'll also learn the title of the first mini-quest in the 20th Anniversary series, so it's well worth tuning in!

[h3]Wednesday, January 20th | 17:00 Game Time | Combat Council Cast[/h3]

On the other end of the spectrum, this week you'll also get the chance to sit down with the Combat Council to talk all things fight club. That's the rule, right?

[h2]Creative Corner[/h2]

[h3]Awesome Art[/h3]



Clockworks

Artist Tifa_says_Hi shared this adorable drawing of a player crafting a clockwork mouse on our Steam page just before the holidays. Their cat must be spoiled rotten!

[h2]Social[/h2]

[h3]TikTok[/h3]

Birthdays are a time to get nostalgic - but they're also a time to embrace the new! That's why we've released the most iconic rune tunes on TikTok, for you to create all the 60-second Sea Shanty memes your heart desires.

To use our sounds, just create your video, click 'Sounds' and search 'RuneScape' to see what we've got to offer.

We can't wait to see the new memes you lot come up with - and if you'd rather watch us, give us a follow for some behind the scenes content over the coming months.

[h2]Community Corner[/h2]

[h3]Pink Skirts Event[/h3]

A little birdie's told us that week's Pink Skirts Event will see you taking on Kree'arra Hard Mode! Join Dj Whiggsy and Capt Obv at the Armadyl God Wars Dungeon Lobby on World 68 from 20:00 - 21:00 to join the fight.

For more events, check out the Pink Skirts page!

[h3]Steam Screenshots[/h3]



By Zakkari



By Neeh



By Mtwarrior

[h3]Community Shout-Out[/h3]

This week we're shouting out the RuneScape Forum Community - the original, and best! Back in the day this was your one-stop-shop to chat RuneScape with fellow players all over the world. Why not drop by and have a read through the threads, or make one of your own?

[hr][/hr]The RuneScape Team

This week we're keeping up with our resolution to celebrate ALL YEAR LONG with more frolics in the Grand Party event. In other news, we've got a hefty selection of Patch Notes incoming, plus, you'll get your chance to see what the Gower brothers have been up to in the Community tab.



Our birthday shindig continues this week with the Grand Party: Celebration of Combat. Plus, you've still got time to grab some festive rewards from the Yak Track!

[h2]The Grand Party: Celebration of Combat[/h2]

We hope you haven't had your fill of 20th Anniversary Cake just yet, because the Grand Party's only just beginning!



Image courtesy of Knight Mod

Week two of our month-long event is the Celebration of Combat, where you'll get all sorts of exciting combat-based buffs.

• Better chance for Rare Drop Table drops, with a further increased chance when using luck-enhancing items
  
• A greater chance to receive the better loot from the Rare Drop Table
  
• 50% more Slayer XP on all tasks
  
• No death costs

With these powers combined, you'll be filling out your boss collection logs and showing Raksha what you're made of in no time.

Oh, and do you see that golem chap pottering about the place? Give him a whack on the noggin and you'll get an hour-long Elder Overload buff. Nice!

On top of that, the Lumbridge Crater's been spiced up with a few new additions, including a boss target dummy that changes to various iconic bosses. There's a reward for interacting with them all, so keep checking back throughout the week.

You'll also notice that the special anniversary portal will now take you straight to War's Retreat.

By the way, don't forget to grab your free 20th Anniversary cape and outfit from the Wise Old Man! He spent all of December sewing those little buttons on.



[h2]Yak Track: The Knight Before Christmas[/h2]

Technically it's now the Knight After Christmas, but anyway… You've still got until January 24th to keep the holiday spirit going, help Robin the Reindeer Yak check off his list, and get rewarded with some fabulously festive cosmetics - including Robin himself, who'll follow you on all your adventures.



If you've already made your way up the tiers, why pick up the Premier Pass for just 2 Bonds? As well as getting you access to the Premium Track, you'll also unlock all the prizes from the tiers you've passed so far. It's a real deal - and if you're a Premier Club member, you'll get it for free!



In this week's Patch Notes we've got improvements to various miniquests, quests and Achievements, along with a selection of fixes and changes all across the game!

[h2]Quests[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Updated Violet's facial animations.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• The tasklist given by Mandrith during the 'Rebuild Edgeville' miniquest now displays text correctly.
  
• The progress messages in the 'Mahjarrat Memories' miniquest now count up towards the correct number of memories retrieved.
  
• The Herald does not reference Seren being in pieces after completion of The Light Within.
  
• Leela will no longer interrupt your dialogue with Senliten during the Do No Evil quest.
  
• A certain cutscene will now play properly after using Leela to teleport during the Do No Evil quest.
  
• You are no longer required to unequip and re-equip the Mourners' Outfit in order to enter the Head Mourner's House during Mourning's End Part I.
  
• The hat worn during the Rune Guardian's test in Rune Mysteries will now change colour as expected without having to re-equip it.
  
• The Slayer masters can no longer assign corrupted creatures as a task when the prerequisite quests have not been completed.
  
• The Skull Mercenary now has dialogue during the 'Ghosts of the Past' miniquest.

[h2]Achievements[/h2]

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• The hard Seers' Village Achievement, 'Beware of the Dog' can now be completed by using the right-click 'select destination' option.
  
• Fixed an issue where the 'Catching Some Rays' Achievement listed the wrong requirement for Ironman accounts.
  
• The 'Sharks are Good for the Elf' Achievement can now be completed using the 'Deposit all' button.
  
• The duplicate Draccles plushie has been removed from the Lost Toys Achievement. This won't affect those who've already completed it

[h2]Text-Based Changes[/h2]

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed a large number of grammatical issues and inconsistencies in level up messages.
  
• A duplicate examine text on Olaf's sunken boat has been corrected.
  
• Removed duplicate text dialogue from Sir Amik Varze and replaced it with the correct messaging.

[h2]Other[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Various bosses around RuneScape have taken their Santa Hats off for another year.
  
• You can now add runes to urns from your Rune Pouch.
  
• More information has been added to the Amulet of Zealots' effect tooltip.
  
• Raw beast meat can now be fed to carnivorous animals on Manor Farm.
  
• Updated the 'Destroy' message for pieces of the Athlete's Outfit.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Players who have not fully completed Tutorial Island can now receive their Prime Gaming rewards on log in.
  
• Mackers can now be spoken to in the Player Owned House.
  
• The green smoke in the Phite Club boss fight will now be cleared during the cutscene transition so that it won't KO players.
  
• Tightened security in the Oddments Store and Rare Token Store.
  
• A configured Spring Cleaner 3000 will no longer display popups asking the player to configure it.
  
• You will no longer be told you have a cannon to claim from Nulodion when you do not.
  
• Seren spells now display the correct icons when used.
  
• The Hunter & Agility training Minimap icons now display correctly when using the Legacy Map Icon option.
  
• Bank booths on the west wall of Varrock West Bank will no longer prevent you from using other booths on the same wall.
  
• The Teasing Stick can no longer be equipped from the Bank.
  
• Erethdor's Grimoire is now deactivated on death.
  
• The Dowsing Rod now works as intended.
  
• You'll no longer receive popup messages regarding deposits in the ore box when smelting gold or silver before completing Family Crest.
  
• The Mining animation is no longer continuous when clearing rocks in Shredflesh's Cave.
  
• You may now interact with a furnace with daeyalt in your Backpack without receiving a message saying, "You're not sure what sort of effect you would get by putting this into the furnace."
  
• While on mobile, Interface tutorial highlights are now hidden if a different interface is opened on top of the current one.
  
• Dreadnip will now only leave if you move too far away.
  
• The adrenaline urn buff icon no longer persists when removing it from the Bank.

[h2]Hotfixes[/h2]

• The Violet is Blue Too music tracks are now unlockable. If you were unable to unlock them during the quest, they will be made available on log in.

Welcome to the Community tab, your one-stop-shop for all things RuneScape! This week you'll find out what the Gower brothers have been up to in a not-to-be-missed livestream, learn to bake a cake fit for a Duke, and find out how you can use all your favourite music tracks on TikTok. Let's get started!

[h2]J-Mod Livestreams[/h2]

[h3]Tuesday, January 12th | 17:00 Game Time | Leads Q&A [/h3]

The RuneScape leads are here to talk all things 2021 and answer all your burning questions about the year to come.

[h2]Creative Corner[/h2]

[h3]Birthday Celebration Feast![/h3]

Our friend The Cook's Assistant has been busy in the kitchen, whipping up a feast for the ages - and it's all RuneScape themed! There's a veritable buffet of tasty treats to try, so take a seat and watch the kitchen wizardry happen!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

If that's got your taste buds tingling, then you can find the recipe cards for all three dishes below. Made something truly scrumptious? Then post it on social media, and tag #20thAnniversaryRuneScapeFeast so we can see!

[h3]Awesome Art[/h3]



The noble Wizanthony of the RuneScape Art Community Discord has shared these alternative versions of the 20th Anniversary Cape! Which one's your favourite?

If you'd like to see more fabulous artwork every single day (and maybe even put pen to paper yourself) you can join the server here.

[h2]Social Media[/h2]

[h3]Giphy[/h3]

Don't forget, we've got a sweet selection of animated RuneScape stickers on Giphy! To use them, just open up Giphy on the platform of your choice and search 'RuneScape'.



Now go, go! Spread the message of 'NICE' far and wide!

[h2]Community Corner[/h2]

[h3]Pink Skirts Event[/h3]

This week's Pink Skirts event is a Town Square Q&A, hosted by the lovely PrincessRae! To join in, head to Varrock West Bank, World 3, on Saturday January 16th between 23:00 and 23:59 Game Time. Get those burning questions ready!

Find more events here.

[h3]Steam Screenshots[/h3]



By Les Yeux Plus Gros Que Le Monde



By The End



By The Shining Jochem of Destiny

[h3]Community Shout-Out[/h3]

This week we'd like to give a big ol' shout out to the RuneScape Reddit Community! It's a place where RuneScape fans new and old come together to share their experiences, discuss the latest updates, and upvote the dankest memes we've ever seen. But don't take our word for it - go see for yourself!

[h3]A Quick Thank You[/h3]

Last week we kicked off the Grand Party with a celebration of our own! The turnout was fantastic, and the J-Mods loved spending the evening partying it up with all of you.

You've all shown RuneScape so much support over the years, and it was so heart-warming to see so many of you gathered together to celebrate the best MMO in the world. So here's to 20 more years of RuneScape and 20 more years of fun!



Screenshot shared by Sere on Twitter

[hr][/hr]The RuneScape Team

Welcome back, 'Scapers, to a new year of adventure! This year, RuneScape turns 20, and you can find out how we plan to celebrate in the Game News tab. Meanwhile, we've got the first Patch Notes of 2021, and the Community Tab is back with some fabulous fan art. Fireworks at the ready...



We're kicking things off with a bang this January with the first of many updates to celebrate RuneScape's 20th Anniversary: The Grand Party! Read on to find out how you can join in the fun, hang out with the J-Mods, and get yourself some swanky new clothes to party in.

[h2]RuneScape Turns 20![/h2]

It's hard to believe, but this little game of ours is 20 years old, and we're throwing a massive birthday party to celebrate!

We're not just celebrating our game - we're celebrating all of you. Without our wonderful 'Scapers, there'd be no RuneScape at all. Your passion, dedication, and community spirit are what have held us together all these years - so give yourselves a round of applause and have a big ol' slice of birthday cake on us.

The celebration kicks off with a month-long Grand Party, to be held in Lumbridge Crater - but the fun doesn't end there. Keep your eyes peeled for the prologue to a multi-part, year-long 20th Anniversary Quest series later this month.

Now... I believe you were promised cake?

[h2]The Grand Party[/h2]

Come one, come all, to The Grand Party! Make your way to Lumbridge Crater (you know, the gigantic hole behind Lumbridge Castle) to celebrate RuneScape's 20th birthday in style with your fellow fans. Over the month ahead, we'll be celebrating different aspects of the game by offering buffs and rewards, as well as a juicy 10% XP bonus while in the Crater.

Got nothing to wear? Don't panic - the Wise Old Man has been putting some of that bank robbery money to good use with some fancy duds: have a word with him at the crater to claim your exclusive 20th Anniversary Outfit and Cape.



Then we're ready to party! This month-long extravaganza will feature weekly events, each celebrating a different aspect of the wonderful world of RuneScape, featuring incredible bonuses.

This first week is the Celebration of Quests, where you can take part in three miniquests featuring iconic characters from the RuneScape roster. Head to the crater to have a go to earn some special prizes like the new 20th anniversary cake, XP lamps and more!

While you're there, be sure to catch up on some skilling - you'll get a not-too-shabby 10% XP buff while you're training in the crater.

Well, what are you waiting for?

[h2]Join the Anniversary Celebrations Today![/h2]

What, you didn't expect the J-Mods to sit back and watch you lot have all the fun, did you? We're hosting a series of community activities so we can all party together on RuneScape's big day.

To kick off the month-long celebration, we're hosting a schedule of community events so we can party together with our best buds (that's you!) on RuneScape's 20th Birthday!

[h3]Celebration Hour with the J-Mods[/h3]

Join us after-hours in the crater as we celebrate 20 Years of RuneScape.

Where: Worlds 1 and 16

When: 17:00 Game Time

[h3]FashionScape Competition[/h3]

Don your rarest and most fabulous FashionScape for a chance to take home some prizes. Who's Gielinor's next top model?

Where: Worlds 1 and 16

When: 18:00 Game Time

[h3]J-Mod Scavenger Hunt[/h3]

Those pesky J-Mods are hiding again! Track them down to win some prizes - and maybe even a stroopwafel or two...

We'll also be surprising fans throughout the day with love letters, transmog photo ops, and more!

Where: World 16

When: 19:00 Game Time

[h2]RuneScape 20 Merchandise[/h2]



Get this: you can also celebrate out of game with our range of anniversary merch. Angels Scapes has crafted a range of collectible pins and keyrings, including the RS Classic Logo Pin (which also comes in an antique gold limited edition), the Bronze Knight pin, a special 20th Anniversary Baroo collab, and a 20th Anniversary Tutorial Island pin that's just perfect for reliving your first steps into the world of Gielinor. Look! The doors open to reveal Lumbridge Castle decked out for its own tiny 20th Anniversary Celebration.

For those of you looking to max your FashionScape, we've got limited edition mystic robe pins in dark, light, and classic blue colourways.

And have you heard about the Mining and Smithing Skill Cape keyrings?

Plus, check out these magical mini runestones, which come in two collectible sets.



Last, but definitely not least, get your groove on with this new gold pressing of the Original Soundtrack Classics album! The track list follows the very first journey you might have taken through Gielinor, and it looks mighty snazzy, too.

Find it all at the official merch store.

[h2]Prime Gaming[/h2]

A new Prime Gaming gift drops on January 5th! This time you'll get five knowledge bombs - nifty little things that when consumed will net you 50% extra XP for a whole hour - and the smoke is Twitch purple, which we think looks pretty cool.

Now, these things come with some caveats: you can't stack the strength of the effect, although you can stack the time. They're subject to the same restrictions as Double XP events, and on that topic, the XP effect doesn't stack with Double XP Live - so there's no point saving them! Lastly, they cannot be banked or traded away, although they can be converted to Oddments if you like.

To get your knowledge bombs, simply link your RuneScape and Prime Gaming accounts. For more information, see our Prime Gaming page here.

[h2]Premier Club[/h2]

The season for giving might be over, but Premier Club members can still look forward to a little pick-me-up this month, and indeed, every month for as long as your Premier Club package lasts.

This month, your gift contains:

• A Variety Pack
  
• 2 pulse cores
  
• 1000 Oddments

You can find out more here.

[h2]New Year's Sales[/h2]

Don't forget to pick up some bargains this New Year! Until January 31st you can get great deals on all sorts of goodies in Solomon's General Store, including Rory the Reindeer, the Pegasus Teleport, and the Assassin Pack.



[h2]Violet Is Blue Too[/h2]
[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• The Fairylight Whip and Necklace can now both be worn as cosmetic overrides once you've completed the quest.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• A stack of letters found in Violet's room after completion of the quest no longer shows as 'ph'.

[h2]User Interface[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• Mobile users can now read the titles of the coloured books while rearranging them during the Broken Home quest.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed an alignment inconsistency between bought & sold text in Grand Exchange history.
  
• The UI for both space dusts and meteorites of all sizes will now display properly.

[h2]Mobile[/h2]

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• The flags on the Friends List now appear in line with the text.
  
• Miner Magnus' chat will no longer loop after choosing a particular dialogue prompt on mobile.

[h2]Other[/h2]

[h3]Improvements[/h3]

• As the festive period has now finished, Gielinor has returned to its pre-Christmas state.
  
  • The Grand Exchange has been reverted.
    
  • The Christmas Cracker has been removed.
    
  • Various trees around Gielinor have returned to normal.
    
  • Prifddinas has reverted to its usual look.
• The text of the 'Gonna Need a Bigger Range' Achievement description has been corrected from 'Cook five sharks in Catherby using the Cooking Gauntlets' to 'Cook five sharks on the range north of Catherby Bank using the Cooking Gauntlets.'

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed a typo regarding the duration of the Immortality Defence ability tooltip.
  
• The Magical Jingle Bells will no longer direct players to the wrong floor during a Present Hunt.
  
• Players who previously owned Snowboards from the 2017 event can once again claim them from Diango.

In this week's Community tab, we're ready to PARTY! Join the J-Mods for some celebratory livestreams, peruse our fan-tastic selection of art and screenshots, and learn how you can get your zoomer on, RuneScape style.

[h2]Livestreams[/h2]

[h3]J-Mod Livestreams[/h3]

Tuesday January 5th | 17:00 Game Time | The Grand Party, Partied!

Join us as we celebrate RuneScape's 20th Birthday with our favourite players... Psych! You're ALL our favourite players! There'll be fun and games galore, so be sure to tune in.

Wednesday January 6th | 17:00 Game Time | Tales from The Campfire

Were you playing back in the good old days? Then you'll love this cosy nostalgia stream, where our veteran team members tell tales from times gone by. A must-watch for all you Stutorial fans!

You can catch all our livestreams over on the RuneScape Twitch Channel.

[h2]Creative Corner[/h2]

[h3]Awesome Art[/h3]

When we last spoke, you were all still battling Raksha in the depths of Orthen - and some of you were immortalising this slice of RuneScape history on pen and paper! Check out this fantastic - and very funny - artwork by KeyLimeSiren and Prezleek.



Art by @KeyLimeSiren



'Death's Office Today' (Raksha Release) by @Prezleek

[h3]Steam Screenshots[/h3]



Screenshot by Les Yeux Plus Gros Que Le Monde



Screenshot by Psychic Fox



Screenshot by RS_Zorander

[h2]Social[/h2]

[h3]#20YearsofRuneScape[/h3]

Keep an eye on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts this week, 'cause we'll be sharing tons of RuneScape trivia to get you in the anniversary mood. Got some memories of your own to share? Then don't forget to tag #20yearsofrunescape so we can share the joy!

[h3]Giphy[/h3]

Hey, did you know we have a Giphy account? We opened one right around the Mining and Smithing rework - did you hear about that?

Anyway, you'll want to check it out now, because it's chock-a-block with fun RuneScape GIFs (that's 'Gielinorian Image File') for you to share with your friends, and we've just launched a bunch of new ones featuring iconic RuneScape phrases, icons, and items.

They'll show up everywhere you use Giphy: just search 'RuneScape' to see 'em! We can't wait to see 'Nice' spreading out across the internet. Fly, my pretties, fly!

[h2]Community[/h2]

[h3]Pink Skirts Event[/h3]

Hear the call to liberate Mazcab! On January 9th you can take part in a Mazcab Raid and fight Beastmaster Durzag, the Airut warrior, in the Pit of Trials, and the dastardly corrupted water spirit Yakamaru in the surrounding canals. To join the fight, head to Mazcab in World 71 at 6pm for the event hosted by Good Nap, Silence, Raid FC and Boss School staff.

Want more events to sink your teeth into? Check out the full schedule here

[hr][/hr]
The RuneScape Team

Happy Holidays 'Scapers!

I hope you've all been well through what has been a tough year for many of us, and that RuneScape played a part (however small!) in making your year more enjoyable.

I'd like to extend a personal thank you to everyone who has reached out to, supported, or been kind to other players during a year that has been scary, isolating and unpredictable for many. Our whole team wishes you and your loved ones well this festive period. Be excellent to each other - fill it with good times and good people!

A Look Back At This Year

As we close out 2020, I have some really, really great news to share.

The game and community we all love is in a significant state of growth. This year, the number of daily players and active members has peaked at the highest levels we've seen in over five years. The member population is growing, thanks to a continual stream of returning players and brand new adventurers. And best of all, the new players that are joining RuneScape are sticking around more than ever and giving us great, positive feedback.

This is an amazing thing for a game heading into its 20th year, and is testament to how we've all banded together to welcome new faces from far and wide.



I am really proud of what the team delivered and achieved under difficult conditions this year, and for launching on a brand new platform like Steam. When I think of the incredible quality bar we hit with the release of Archaeology, the switch to a monthly release schedule that featured quests, skilling content, DnDs, combat content, the community focused Ninja Strikes and continual improvement of our time limited events... it blows me away.

Our team delivers over 50 weekly releases a year and run an incredibly stable game operation. They adapted, executed to plan and honoured their commitments. We found new ways to build awareness for the game and community we love, and stepped up our engagement and support. There's always things to improve or learn from, but I believe it's been a really great year for RuneScape. I hope you feel the same way.



Then there is you, the citizens of Gielinor, who continue to bring the world to life and light up the internet with your tales, feedback and creations. There were so many highlights this year, but my favourite is how you turned out for the Steam launch. The passion for the game you poured into thousands of reviews (94% positive now!), the incredible content you showcased in the Community Hub and the way you offered help to new players in-game said so much about this passionate community that we are lucky to have. I have no doubt your efforts and spirit have played a huge part in players joining - and staying - in RuneScape over 2020. Thank you.

Speaking of community togetherness - no better way was that shown than with our friends at Old School RuneScape during the global Play Apart Together initiative earlier this year. This was designed to help those struggling to adapt to a changing world through socialising whilst playing games (like RuneScape!). Thanks to your help getting involved with The Drop (and loads of other events), we were able to donate over £100,000 to our mental health charity partners You Are RAD, The Prince's Trust, and CPSL Mind.

Combine that with our Gielinorian Giving events for Mental Health Awareness Week and World Mental Health Day this year, together we've been able to donate over £330,000 to this increasingly-important mental health support network for vulnerable people across the globe - as well as a cool £26,000 for our friends at Special Effect for their One Special Day event earlier this year! As a company, we've been able to donate more than ever before - and at a time when our charity partners needed it the most, with reduced access to funding during lockdown and a corresponding increase in demand on mental health support. Give yourselves a well-deserved pat on the back - it's the season of giving, after all.

Looking Forward

But now, to the future. I have a few updates I want to share that I hope will whet your appetite over the holiday break. As we go into 2021, we will build on this significant momentum and stack our efforts to grow RuneScape, all while delivering even more awesome updates into your hands.

Firstly, we're substantially growing the RuneScape Team over the coming months to up our capabilities and continue delivering a fantastic mix of monthly headline content drops, great holiday events, Yak Tracks and bi-monthly Ninja Strikes.

This is going to be most evident in how we approach Elder God Wars. Instead of one moment to experience EGW content, we found several ways for it to be a dominant story arc throughout the year. This will stretch across a variety of content types, including the release of the Dungeon itself. This is an epic war years in the making and it will all come to a head next year.

We'll also continue on our mission to modernise RuneScape, including a project that I'm particularly excited about – improving your player avatar! Over the next year, we will start a journey to deliver an evolving series of improvements to how the World Guardian is represented in-game. This is a very complex project with many steps, and we'll be involving you regularly throughout development as we work to get the look of the avatar just right. You can expect to hear more early next year... but as it's Christmas, here's a very sneaky look at our visual target for the new quality bar we want to set.



Growing RuneScape continues to be a major goal for us, and next year we'll bring in even more new players and become a true cross-platform MMO with the launch of RuneScape Mobile. Our team have been hard at work working on improvements to the early game experience, onboarding and the optimisation of our UI that will enable us to provide a great experience to all our new mobile adventurers!

And of course, last but by no means least, the headline for 2021 is undeniably RuneScape's massive 20th Anniversary! This incredible milestone is a huge testament to the strength of the world we all love, and we're going all in on celebrations.

The party will start on January 4th (RuneScape's actual birthday!) as part of a month-long event, with even more Anniversary content to sink your teeth into coming throughout the year. All will be revealed next month, starting with those invitations you received last week.

There will be many more surprises to come, but you know me... I keep these cards close until it is the right time to share!

See You In 2021!

And with that, it's time I sign off for the last time this year. We can't wait to celebrate across Gielinor with you this January and kick start what I'm sure will be an even better year in 2021. On behalf of the entire RuneScape team, we wish you all the best this Christmas and Holiday in whatever way you can celebrate it.

Just make sure you keep hold of those party hats - you never know when they may be worth something! We'll see each other again very soon.

Mod Warden