Exciting news for Old School RuneScape players! Jagex, the developer behind the popular game, has announced the kick-off of the refinement stage for the highly anticipated new skill, Sailing. The community voted for Sailing as their favorite new skill, and now, the development team is working with the community to refine the design and make it the best it can be.
Over the next few months, the Sailing refinement process will cover four key topics, each of which will receive around two weeks’ worth of feedback time. The first topic to be addressed will be the Core System and Gameplay Loops, followed by Navigation and Map/Sea Scale, Reward Space, and finally, Game Integration and Lore.
The team at Jagex is looking for community input to help them choose the best skilling methods for Sailing, which will create an exciting gameplay loop that feels 100% ‘Old School’. They’re also interested in hearing how much time players would like to spend out at sea, instead of exploring the islands they’ll discover on their adventures.
Navigation and Map/Sea Scale will be the second topic of discussion, where the team will consider how players will navigate the seas and how big those seas are supposed to be. They’re also looking to add new islands and hidden secrets, making the new world map large enough to harbour hundreds of players and their ships on the open sea.
Reward Space is the third topic of discussion, where the team will explore how to offer more from Sailing, including an array of utility benefits for players’ accounts and the ability to own and upgrade their own ships. They want to ensure that Sailing is a free-form exploration method that lets players go wherever they want, rather than a pre-defined, speedy route to a destination.
Game Integration and Lore will be the final topic of discussion, where the team will explore how Sailing can blend seamlessly with existing skills, lore, and areas. They’ll consider how ports in the game can serve a greater purpose in Sailing and how they can tie existing lore to the new skill.
The Sailing refinement process will involve community feedback, dedicated blogs, and Discord ‘Stages’ calls for each topic. The team will present initial ideas and surveys, which can be updated following feedback from the community.
Adding a new skill to Old School RuneScape is a big undertaking, and the development team is committed to working closely with the community to refine the new skill and create content that surpasses players’ expectations. All feedback is valuable, whether players are a Sailing skeptic or a Sailing superfan.
Old School RuneScape players can participate in the Sailing refinement process by joining the Discord server and taking part in the surveys and discussions. The team at Jagex is looking forward to working with the community to make Sailing the best skill it can be.