Behind the Scenes - September 2014

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September’s all about Player Power, with no fewer than three updates chosen by you in past polls. Looking through the heaps of stuff coming this month, you’ve got exceedingly good taste.

Read on for more information about the following updates - coming to RuneScape this September:

Elf City: The First Four Families
You waited ten years for it, you voted for it, and this month it arrives! The Elf City is coming near the end of this month and it’s huge - glittering with activities for high-level players.

Tower of Voices
At Prifddinas's heart is the Tower of Voices. You’ll be stopping here to trigger the Elf City lodestone, and to activate the golden shattered heart.

There’s a crystal tree farming patch (level 94 Farming), Grand Exchange, a permanent bonfire and portals to well-loved locations, including ports and clan citadels.

Clan Iorwerth will offer a new slayer master (level 85 Slayer), offering sought-after slayer assignments.

You’ll get to prefer assignments, extend them and even unlock the Hall of Fame challenge: nine solo bosses that must be killed while managing an inventory of debuffing crystals.

We haven’t even touched on the Rush of Blood weekly Distraction & Diversion (level 85 Slayer), which throws waves of monsters at you until you can’t take it anymore.

Clan Cadarn will be the home of the Max Guild.

If you have a quest cape or at least one skill at 99, you’ll gain access to the Max Garden, which contains a portal to skilling areas such as divination colonies and high-level Runespan.

If you’re maxed, the Max Guild building itself will be your hub of choice. It includes its own Grand Exchange, bonfire, bank chest and challenge master, plus a combat portal offering near-instant access to a series of high-level bosses. For those who like a lofty vantage, the completionist throne is the ultimate must-have.

Clan Crwys will have magic trees, choking ivy, a spirit tree and various farming patches, including a new elder tree farming patch (level 90 Farming).

Clan Trahaearn will offer boulders full of high-level ore, including new Seren stones (level 89 Mining), which are roughly equivalent to choking ivy for mining - giving you bumper XP rates without filling your inventory with ore.

Max Guild
Know that there is much, much more than is listed here. We haven’t mentioned crystal implings, elf slayer creatures, crystal weapons, a less infuriating pickpocketing method (level 91+ Thieving), lore drops, hidden titles, Easter eggs and the Voice of Seren: an hourly event that will give a random elf clan an additional 1.2x XP, as well as other benefits!

Finally, the formalities. You’ll need to complete the Plague’s End quest before you can get in, and meet additional requirements for the new training methods:

Level 85 Slayer to access the slayer master
Level 85+ Slayer for Rush of Blood
Level 90 Farming to access the elder tree patch
Level 94 Farming to access the crystal tree patch
Level 77-84 Mining to access harmonised rocks
Level 89 Mining to access Seren Stones
Level 96 Smithing to smelt corrupted ore
Level 91-98 Thieving to access various pickpocket targets
Level 99 in at least one skill to enter Max Garden
Maxed skill levels are required for the Max Guild itself.
Note that there will be access to existing training methods for those who have lower levels.

We can’t wait for you to get your hands on the Elf City. The final four families - coming November – have a lot to live up to!

Grouping System
Grouping for minigames and bosses has not always been easy in RuneScape. Coordinating can be tough, each game having its own multiplayer lobby.

The Grouping System will make this process much smoother - a centralised multiplayer lobby that doesn’t require you to travel or stop what you are doing while you wait.

Select the games you want to play, and the system will gather a suitable group as you get on with the important stuff.

If you know the group you want to play with, you’ll also be able to invite players across worlds, as well as from your clan list, friend list, public chat or by name. Chat to them via a new group chat channel, and let the system form a group for you - 100% hassle-free.

When you're ready to play, you'll click the ready button and the group leader will be able to teleport the entire group to the starting area.

If you just want to jump in and play with others, you can select from broad categories such as 'Skills,' 'Minigames' or 'Bosses'.

Or you can be more specific. Want a group to try hard mode, non-combat-only Stealing Creation games? Medium-sized warped Dungeoneering floors? Veteran Pest Control landers? With the Grouping System, all of those - and many more - are possible!

Rune Goldberg Machine and other Rune Improvements
In May, you voted that we should ‘Make runes valuable’ from a range of tasty update ideas. This month we're doing just that, with a bizarre contraption called the Rune Goldberg Machine.

Wizard Goldberg
In this daily D&D you can experiment with turning runes into a sticky goo called vis wax. This wax will extend the duration of most auras by either 50% or 100%, reroll daily challenges, double the duration and reward of daily challenges, or increase your divination location gathering limit by 50% or 100%.

You’ll need level 50 Runecrafting to access this newest addition to the Runecrafting Guild.

There'll be general improvements for runecrafters, too. Click an altar once and all the essence in your inventory, familiar and pouches will be used in one go. Abyssal familiars will last longer and carry more essence, and nearly two-hundred monsters will have their drop tables reworked to give fewer runes - heartily boosting the value of runecrafting.

Pure Resets
Maintaining a pure account has been tricky with the advent of Evolution of Combat. Now that Legacy Mode’s firmly established, we feel it’s time to offer two completely free packages to those interested in reclaiming their pure accounts: one resetting Constitution and Prayer levels, the other resetting Defence.

The Constitution and Prayer pack will take you down to level 10 and 1 respectively, but you’ll need combat stats no greater than 5 if you want to use it. The Defence pack takes you down to level 1, but your total level in Attack, Strength, Magic and Ranged must be 10 or greater. Both packages will reset any quests or tasks that require the corresponding stats.

Surprise September
September brings you an unexpected treat every day this month. From the people who brought you Super September and the RuneScape Road Trip, you can expect to win prizes and meet JMods in-game. More news will come on the 1st of September, when this month-long bonanza kicks off.

Ironman and Hardcore Ironman Modes
Think you know RuneScape inside out? Do you prefer to be completely self-sufficient? If you’re the RS version of Bear Grylls, we have something for you at the end of this month.

Taking inspiration from the popular community-invented ‘Ironman Challenge’ we're creating an official mode for it within RuneScape. This is an experimental project, so we expect lots of feedback, and if it proves popular we may further enhance this first version.

On account setup, you’ll be able to choose between Ironman and Hardcore Ironman modes. These can be toggled off but never on.

Ironman Mode stops you from trading, using the Grand Exchange, staking in the Duel Arena and gaining XP in several multiplayer situations. Basically, you’re on your own. Anything you want to use or fight with, has to be made or gained by you. You must be utterly self-sufficient.

Hardcore Ironman adds a twist. If you die, you will not be able log back into that character again. Death is a very final, permanent end, so you better think twice before you wander into a hazardous situation. Think seismic wands are a cinch to get hold of? Try to get one - we double-dare you.

Ironman and Hardcore Ironman players will be identified in-game via a unique chat badge, similar to the Premier Club badge, and hiscores will celebrate the most iron of men and women. Let’s see who rises to the challenge.

Expert Skillcapes and Seasonal Hiscores
Expert Skillcapes make up the first of two Ninja Team updates this month, giving 99ers new capes to aim for.

These capes represent 99s in groups of similar skills, and they can only be gained by finding shard items when skilling at level 99. The shards won’t be common, so watch out for them in your inventory! Expert Skillcapes are looking cool, and each has a brand new and extravagant emote.

The second Ninja update is a result of Player Power polls: new seasonal hiscores. You asked for a ‘Most Herbs Grown’ seasonal hiscore and - by George - that’s what you’re getting. We’re also running the popular ‘Solo Zilyana Killcount’ hiscore table.



What is Behind the Scenes?
Behind the Scenes is a sneak peek at the planned game updates that we hope to launch in the coming month.

This, however, is only a plan - not a promise - that a particular update will be released in a particular way or at a particular time. To get you the highest quality updates as quickly as possible, we usually keep on tweaking and testing right up until the moment before release, so sometimes things change or take a bit longer than expected. We aren't afraid to change our plan if necessary, as we will never launch an update before it is ready