Old School RuneScape: A Summary of the Winter Summit

New and exciting ideas have been disclosed by the J-mods during the Winter Summit stream on December 10th.

The Winter Summit was an event that Jagex extensively promoted throughout November and December via blog posts, YouTube video trailers and teasers, and social media. Jagex even held several giveaways on different platforms celebrating the Winter Summit. The giveaway prizes did not consist of OSRS GP, but came in neon lights resembling trendy items such as the Home Teleport Tablet or Elysian Spirit Shield, an item worth over 600m OSRS gold.

The Wait is Over

Once the wait was over, the event took place, and the J-mods introduced some fantastic ideas relating to early 2023 content updates. Amongst the presented content, the following stood out: a new skill, a PvP update in the form of the return of the Bounty Hunter, a new grandmaster quest, and an official account builds. This means that Jagex has thought of everything to appease most of the categories of players: from those who love the fun of PvP to those who enjoy questing, to those who enjoy skilling and teamwork, to those who love bossing and earning OSRS GP, and even to the highly dedicated PvPers who restrict their OSRS account build and progression.

New Skill Incoming

Adding a new skill to Old School RuneScape was an idea that Jagex had extensively discussed on the forums and social media before their proposal. The new polling system seems to have also been adjusted to enable bringing a new skill into the game, and even the majority percentage has been adjusted to fit Jagex’s agenda regarding introducing a new skill. According to various surveys Jagex had with a limited number of players earlier this year, only 78 percent voted for developing a new skill. This did not meet the required 80 percent majority, which the devs mysteriously changed with the polling system in the Fall of 2022.

It is also important to note that the J-mods explained that once the players vote to add a new skill, there will be no going back as they will explore and go through all the other development and polling stages. Jagex is trying to explain in detail all the steps after the poll results, which were revealed on December 16th. The poll that started the following day after the Winter Summit represented a new opportunity for the community to discuss and for some players to even pay membership for multiple characters in an attempt to influence the vote one way or the other.

Bounty Hunter

Jagex is committed to keeping the PvP in OSRS alive, and what better news than the return of the previously discontinued game mode: Bounty Hunter. The highly loved alternative way of playing was initially stopped because of the extremely high potential for abuse, in a similar way that the other PvP abuse hot spot, the duel arena or the sand casino, was removed from the game to keep things fair.

Similarly to LMS, Bounty Hunter involves a fast-paced PvP that can feel extremely rewarding for the PvPers. However, Jagex wants to poll different aspects of the Bounty Hunter and has already decided on bringing it back, which is enormous for anyone who fell in love with the rhythmical OSRS PvP. Unlike some kills you might get in the Wilderness, Bounty Hunter involves full consensus from all the parties involved.

Forestry

Forestry represents an expansion of the Woodcutting skill that Jagex spoke about during the Winter Summit and could potentially hit the world of Gielinor in early 2023. The need for such an expansion comes as a result of all the gathering skills except fishing are competitive in a very negative way and do not encourage team play at all. What this looks like in the game is that you'll be hopping worlds until you find a free spot to woodcut, mine, or even hunt, while you won't be bothered and might engage in conversation with other players leveling fishing in the same fishing spot as you do. Jagex is determined to bring the spirit of cooperation even further with the foresting and is still discussing ways to make this the best and most cooperative woodcutting experience you could get.

New OSRS Quests

The two new quests Jagex is planning to add to Old School RuneScape in early 2023 are Desert Treasures 2 and the Phantom Boss quest, which has been given the name of the Secrets of the North quests. While Jagex has already given extensive info through numerous blog posts and polls on the latter, the former has been exclusively presented during the Winter Summit event.

Desert Treasures 2 will bring you four new repeatable bosses, which you can use to earn OSRS GP after you complete the quest. You will also need to unlock new areas by completing four quests as a requirement to start this one: Temple of the Eye, Below the Ice Mountain, the Garden of Death, and Secrets of the North. The bosses you’ll be able to face after the quest for OSRS gold have already been given four unique names: The Whisperer, Duke Sucellus, Vardorvis, and The Leviathan. They will most likely represent the four ancient elements you encountered during Desert treasure: Blood, Ice, Shadow, and Smoke.