The RuneScape team has announced that voting in the most recent poll has closed with over 440,000 subscribers taking part in just over two weeks' time. The poll asked players if they would be interested in an 'old school' server that would bring back the 2007 version of RuneScape. The response? An overwhelming "YES".

“Although this is only a fraction of the overall RuneScape membership, it’s incredible to see how such large numbers of our community are prepared to mobilize for issues they are passionate about,” said Phil Mansell, RuneScape’s Executive Producer.  “It was clear very early on that there was a dedicated movement in our community for this project. We can therefore commit to the promise that the future of these servers are secured and their updates will be left entirely in the hands of our community to decide.  We’ll be holding regular content polls which will allow them to help shape and direct which content or fixes they want implemented into the game.”

Find out more about Old School RuneScape.

It was higher than 440,000 by quite a bit I think... unless i'm remembering wrong.

I was really hoping they would hit the 500,000 mark but they are giving old school runescape to existing members free of charge regardless for the first six months because they came close to 500k.

Over a decade later and Runescape can still get around 450,000 subscribers to vote in a poll... never thought Runescape would be such a success back when I first heard about it.

Originally posted by sanshi44
Still need to pay to play the old school server?

Yes. You need to be subscribed to the main runescape. The first month with a new account has a 75% discount though, so you can start off with less than 2 euros which is an amazing deal.

Originally posted by sanshi44
Still need to pay to play the old school server?

It's free if you're an existing member in current runescape, the poll results were substantial enough that they are not charging extra...

I'm actually thinking of subscribing, I sure do miss a good ol' classic MMO with a player run economy.

Originally posted by The_Oddler
I was hoping this would be the very first Runescape, like it was back in 2001. Though it looks like the 'oldschool' is actually Runescape 2 :(

Content wise this is old school. There is no grand exchange, no assist system, no wilderness ditch, no evolution of combat, no gravestones. The differences between the 2001 and 2007 game are very minor, aside from tons of additional content and better graphics. Most of the 'dumbing down' happened between 2007 and 2013.

Perhaps someone who played both back then and now can enlighten people who have no idea what the difference is.

Is there a way to summarize or list the most distinct differences or reasons you would enjoy the old school way to play than the new?

Originally posted by Arkangel32

Perhaps someone who played both back then and now can enlighten people who have no idea what the difference is.

Is there a way to summarize or list the most distinct differences or reasons you would enjoy the old school way to play than the new?

 

- No grand exchange. The game forces you to think about how to acquire gear, food, armor, potions. There isn't a single go-to place where you can sell all your junk and buy any items you need.

Lets take a simple goal like getting into archery. The new game has ranged weapons with no ammo requirement (sling). In the old game, you need to cut wood to make arrow shafts, kill chickens for feathers, mine tin/copper to make arrowheads, and finally pick some flax to make a bowstring for your bow. You don't have the luxury of selling off your bones and cowhides for 150 gold each like you do in the current game, and this limitation makes the 2007 game a lot less linear. You have to think and actively solve problems to progress your character, instead of getting everything from G.E.

- No gravestone system. If you die, you have 1 minute to loot your stuff before it becomes visible to all other players.

- Old combat system is something the players have gotten used to in the past 10 years, and it is borderline insulting to assume that we want some generic button mashing system that is already present in all other MMOs.

- The new game is, for the lack of a better word, heavily dumbed down. There is a beginner zone surrounding Lumbridge, there are things like the barbarian village security dungeon, which basically gives IN-GAME advice how to keep your account secure. Absurd. There is an assist system. Not only can you buy everything from grand exchange, you can borrow skills from other people if you can't be bothered to train skills yourself.

- The current game has a very 'kiddy' feel. This is acheived with the happy goblin of the squeal of fortune and the tutorials that are shoved down your throat every step of the way. "You just picked up a bone, open your prayer skill list to find out what bones are used for." It's like the developers are trying to say that they don't trust their players to find their own way around.

- New quests have started introducing quest markers and pointers, while the old ones let you figure out yourself where you need to go and what to do.

Originally posted by Arkangel32

Perhaps someone who played both back then and now can enlighten people who have no idea what the difference is.

Is there a way to summarize or list the most distinct differences or reasons you would enjoy the old school way to play than the new?

The most noticeable difference is the graphics, the most important difference is no grand exchange(auction house). Aquisition of all materials in-game is done character to character. Like someone else mentioned, no gravestone, you die, people can loot your stuff very shortly after it falls, no carebear systems either, when mining, gathering, etc, events can happen that summon you places, can break your harvesting material or mobs can appear that will kill you if you're not prepared. You die, well, you lose your stuff.