- RuneScape has evolved since its launch in January 2001, having two versions now called RuneScape 3 and Old School RuneScape.
- Old School RuneScape was originally created as an exact copy of RuneScape from August 2007 but receives regular content additions, it is now available for cross-platform play on both mobile and PC.
Back in the days when RuneScape was still a thing together with MapleStory and Ragnarok, everyone in school literally played at least one of the games and if you didn’t, you probably sat at the corner without any friends.
For those who didn’t play RuneScape, it’s a a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Jagex, first released in January 2001.
For those who did play RuneScape, let me give you a quick refresher course with where the game is at now. There are two versions of RuneScape now called RuneScape 3 (RS3) and Old School RuneScape (OSRS). RuneScape 3 was the original game that you most likely played back in the days during its prime time but most of the player base has died down thanks to the major updates such as Evolution of Combat and the introduction of microtransactions.
As for Old School RuneScape, it was first released on 22 February 2013 and originally created as an exact copy of RuneScape from August 2007 but receives regular content additions. Old School RuneScape is entirely community based, there is a voting system in the game specifically for players to vote on any proposed update or idea.
It needs at least 75% of the community to vote ‘Yes’ for the update to go through, and if it does not pass the threshold, it will either be dropped or reconstructed and re-polled so that the players may find the update more acceptable.
For those looking to get back into the game, I suggest that you sign up for Old School RuneScape as that’s where the community is and it is the closest to when most of the players left the game around the year of 2010.
During the month of October the average number of players on RS3 was around 22,000 and for OSRS it was around 57,000. However those numbers include real players and bots, so it’s not 100% accurate as bots are still a problem in both games.
The great news is that Jagex just announced that OSRS is now available to play on mobile on both iOS and Android. The team at Jagex mentioned, “The mobile version of Old School RuneScape offers full cross-platform play with PC, meaning when you’re out and about you can just pick up from where you left off at home.”
So as an ex-max level RS3 player, I wanted to try my hands at OSRS and created an account to start from scratch.
Getting Membership
Starting again from level 3 in tutorial island brings back memories as you run through the basics of RuneScape again, after that it’s off to the real world where you have to grind to earn your levels.
If you haven’t been playing the game for years and aren’t sure of where to go or what to do, here’s a video that I chanced upon on YouTube that shows a great guide to gain XP and gold. As the ultimate goal here is to get membership without paying a single cent.
Yes there are ways to get membership without the need to pay money, now called bonds. OSRS bonds cost 4.2 million in-game gold and one bond will provide you 14 days of membership.
To get membership you can either pay for bonds and it will cost you RM19.99 for one bond and if you prefer to get a months worth of membership you can buy membership packages that cost RM33.99 a month. However, you can resell bonds for in-game gold and it can give you an edge.
However, I don’t recommend getting membership as you won’t have enough gold and it’s only worth to get membership when you have a higher combat and skill level, as there will be more content unlocked.
Tips and Tricks
After watching hours of videos on YouTube to prepare myself for the launch of OSRS mobile, here’s what I did when I first started. After you complete tutorial island, you will spawn at Lumbridge and then start making your way north to Varrock. Then once you reach Varrock, head west to Barbarian Village.
Grab some cooked Salmon and Trout from the riverside as players usually drop it there. Then click on an opening in the ground and you will be in the Stronghold of Security. The dungeon includes four different levels filled with aggressive monsters from levels 5 to 159, so be prepared!
It’s recommended to set up the Authenticator for your account before heading in as you will need to have it activated to get the rewards. The RuneScape Authenticator is an additional layer of protection players can utilise on their accounts.
Once you have the Authenticator set up, just run through the levels by answering some questions; don’t worry, even if you answer it wrongly, you won’t get penalised. For completing the Stronghold of Security, you are provided a one-time reward of 10,000 coins as well as four unique emotes, and your choice of either a pair of fighting boots, or a pair of fancy boots.
After that you can buy some iron gear and go back to Lumbridge to kill cows. They are fairly easy to kill and they drop cowhide which you can then sell at the Grand Exchange for a decent profit. You can check out this guide for a basic tutorial for beginners.
I’m currently level 25 combat level and trying to get my Magic level to 33 so I can grab some Wine of Zamorak as it’s still one of the best money makers out there for Free-to-Play. So I suggest you try your best to focus on your Magic level too.
You can find me on OSRS grinding levels by adding me ‘Just Valor’. If you have extra gold that you’re willing to spare, I definitely won’t say no.
- If you would like to play Old School RuneScape on mobile, you can download it on iOS here and Android here.
