Old School RuneScape gets a new frontier in the latest update

Old School RuneScape’s sprouted a new region today. The Kebos Lowlands is part of the MMO's first big update since it went multiplatform and launched a mobile edition in October last year. Expect a new town needing help, monsters needing slayed and a new dungeon waiting to be delved into.

The RuneScape spin-off is an unusual experiment. Unlike the now defunct RuneScape Classic and World of Warcraft Classic, Old School isn’t a snapshot of the game that once was. It’s based on the 2007 version of the game and is largely as you might remember it, but like regular RuneScape, it’s still a living MMO, and it receives frequent updates and new features voted for by the community. 

I visited Jagex and went on an Old School RuneScape tour last year, and despite being a bit of an eyesore, it’s easy to see the appeal. Unlike modern MMOs, Old School expects you to do quite a bit of legwork and doesn’t have that developer-guided critical path. You just sort of amble around, meeting people and getting into strange adventures, like learning how to communicate with a ghost or taking a trip to the fey dimension by mistake. 

The latest update adds the town of Brimstone, a new monster—a hydra—and a new slayer dungeon. There’s a farming guild, too, and more novice quests and rewards. Jagex says that it’s the most diverse update the game’s received since it launched in 2013. 

You can play Old School Runescape on your browser or download the client for free.

Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog. 

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