Old School RuneScape has always had a tightrope to walk—honor the past it exists to keep alive without completely stagnating while modern RuneScape, or RuneScape 3, does whatever it wants—which makes today a historic occasion for the long-running MMO. While past additions have been abstemious, largely in line with the school of design and scope you’d expect from RuneScape’s humble 2007 version, the new sailing skill adds a whole dimension of play.
Players voted it into existence two years ago with a 71.9% majority, but it’s finally available in alpha testing on every client version except mobile, with PC players of all stripes able to get a taste of that long journey to level 99 (so long as they have an active membership). Players will load into bespoke sailing alpha worlds rather than their usual home server, which will get them right to Port Sarim and ready to test the new features.
Granted, Jagex has said many of sailing’s features are not implemented or remain unfinished, and that the purpose of this playtest is to get players toying with the basics so they can collect feedback. The test will last for one week, sailing levels will be capped at 30, and any progress made and quests completed will not affect your non-alpha account.
Even with all the restrictions, though, there’s a hefty amount of stuff to do: an opening quest will teach the basics, and from there players will get their very own customizable boat, which they can upgrade with new facilities and better materials to brave more dangerous waters. Players can sail together on the same boat or on their own if they please, with up to 25 ships rendering on screen at a time.
Once they’ve got a worthy vessel, players can dig into the skill’s meat and potatoes: explore islands, sail between ports to complete new quests, dredge up salvage, and journey to every corner of the newly explorable sea areas to fill out their captain’s log. At level 30, the new Barracuda Trial becomes available, letting players test their skills running rum and supplies through a gauntlet of whirlpools as quickly as possible.
As someone who mostly dips into OSRS for the novelty every now and again, I’m positively stoked that it’s finally adding a new skill. It’s uncommon enough for such an old-fashioned MMO to thrive this long, let alone implement new features in line with its antiquated sense of design. Time will tell how it’ll measure up to the game’s other 23 skills, but its ambitious scope is a breath of fresh air—something you can’t always count on in a game built to live in the past.
If you’re itching to hoist the sails, Old School RuneScape is free to download on Steam.
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