RuneScape Forums

---Introduction---


In 2009, I heard a lot of mixed views about the quality and quantity of updates and whether they were increasing or decreasing, and whether nostalgia had an impact, or updates really were getting worse and less frequent. I decided that I would make a thread to actually compare the updates as opposed to making unfounded claims, and so my comparison thread was born.

In my opinion, the thread was quite successful as it seemed that quite a lot of people were interested too. By the end of the year, a final score was reached which represented the views of the majority, and did conclude what many people had predicted, and that was that 2009 was worse than previous years. In case you are interested, 2008 narrowly beat 2007.

As we entered 2010, Jagex promised their biggest year yet, and confirmed both a new skill and a grandmaster quest. This thread will compare updates from the last three years; 2008, 2009 and 2010, and compare the updates to see if 2010 really is their biggest year yet, or whether updates really are decreasing in quality and quantity.

In case you don�t want to read the rest of the thread, here are the results so far:

[2007 - 12.8]
2008 � 13
2009 � 11
2010 � 12

Read on to see how I got those figures.

---Table of Contents---



~Page 1~

Post 1 � Introduction
Post 2 � Table of Contents
Post 3 � How the Thread Works
Post 4 � How the Thread Works (continued)
Post 5 � January - Updates and Results
Post 6 � January - Reasoning
Post 7 � February - Updates and Results
Post 8 � February - Reasoning
Post 9 � March - Updates and Results
Post 10 � March - Reasoning


Page 2

Post 1 � April - Updates and Results
Post 2 � April - Reasoning
Post 3 � May - Updates and Results
Post 4 � May - Reasoning
Post 5 � June - Updates and Results
Post 6 � June - Reasoning
Post 7 � July - Updates and Results
Post 8 � July - Reasoning
Post 9 � August - Updates and Results
Post 10 � August - Reasoning


Page 3

Post 1 � September - Updates and Results
Post 2 � September - Reasoning
Post 3 � October - Updates and Results
Post 4 � October - Reasoning
Post 5 � November - Updates and Results
Post 6 � November - Reasoning
Post 7 � December - Updates and Results
Post 8 � December - Reasoning
Post 9 � Final scores
Post 10 � Conclusion


Page 4

Post 1 � Other Statistics - Running Total
Post 2 � Other Statistics - 1st, 2nd and 3rd Tallies
Post 3 � Other Statistics - Results of Each Quarter
Post 4 � 2009�s Thread - Results
Post 5 � FAQ
Post 6 � Closing Comments
Post 7 � Reserved
Post 8 � Reserved
Post 9 � Reserved
Post 10 � Reserved

---How the Thread Works---


IMPORTANT - On the scoring system, a larger number is better. Therefore, a '1' doesn't mean rank #1, it means 1 'point' which is worse than 2 or 3 'points'.

This thread is not meant to be seen as fact, but as close to fact as possible. Clearly, it is based originally on my opinion, but I will continually update the thread if the majority of people disagree with my judgment, and have a valid point.

I will compare threads by using a ranking system as opposed to a rating system, and the reasoning for that can be seen in the FAQ. My ranking system works by comparing the first month of each year, and ranking the best year with 3, the second best year with 2 and the worst year with 1. I will then repeat this for the other 11 months, add the scores up and get a final result.

With the thread I created last year, which compared 2007, 2008 and 2009, I already compared 2008 and 2009. Therefore, I will be keeping the order of 2008 and 2009 the same as in those results, and will just place 2010 either above them, between them or below them. I will not provide reasoning for the comparisons between 2008 and 2009 as it takes up too much post space and they are not disputable � I have already discussed them a lot on my old thread and will not be making any changes. Feel free to post and I will discuss why we made those decisions, but note that nothing will be changed. 2010�s results, on the other hand, can be changed throughout the year, so even in December somebody could convince me to change the position of 2010 in January.

Only game updates will be included in this thread. That means updates which, when viewed in the archives, have �Game Update� on the left. Patch notes are not included because they would take up far too much space, and are a recent addition. Patches always existed, obviously, but only since 2009 have we actually been told what these patches were, which means it would be impossible to compare them and unfair to include them. I do understand that some of the �In Other News� updates from previous years would have gone into patch notes had they existed though, so I will not include any updates which come under the heading �In Other News� or similar. Note that I will use some common sense when choosing which updates to include, since Jagex seems to include things like FunOrb news as game updates.

For game update titles that are not obvious, I will provide a short description underneath. In order to only use 2,000 characters per post, these will have to be kept brief and some abbreviations may be used, so for the full update you will have to check the archives.

---January � Updates and Results---




~2008~


02-Jan-2008 - Unbalanced Trade Removal

02-Jan-2008 - Dealing with Scabaras

15-Jan-2008 - Chaos Tunnels, Interface Improvements, Extra Bank Space and More!
-Chaos Tunnels added, Taverley gets graphical rework, minimap icons, logout button moved, 64 more members� bank space and Clan Wars + Bounty Hunter added to games necklace.

15-Jan-2008 - Summoning!

17-Jan-2008 - Summoning Changes
-Shards go from 50gp to 25gp, some items have increased prices and Grand Exchange limits and some pouch prices changed.

17-Jan-2008 - Grand Exchange Changes
-Maximum and minimum price walls.

22-Jan-2008 - Pawya and Grenwall Hunter Creatures

29-Jan-2008 - As a First Resort...



~2009~


06-Jan-2009 - In Pyre Need

13-Jan-2009 - Logout Timer Increase
-Logout timer changed from 1.5 minutes to 5 minutes, some words removed from the filter + can change Varrock teleport location to the Grand Exchange.

20-Jan-2009 - Seers' Village Achievement Diary

27-Jan-2009 - Magic Interface Features
-New magic interface that enables you to arrange spells by category, level, combat or teleport spells, a �you are here� arrow on the world map, Fist of Guthix added to duel ring, Teleblock is F2P, gardeners chop tree down easier, wider Lootshare range + the Slayer helmet can be enchanted to store scrolls.



~2010~


11-Jan-2010 - Nomad�s Requiem

19-Jan-2010 - Agility Benefits for Fishing, Hunter and Thieving
-High agility gives chance of catching 2 tuna, swordfish or sharks at once for no extra xp, pickpocketing 2, 3 or 4x as much loot and to catch + release butterflies with no net for extra experience.

19-Jan-2010 - Barbarian Assault Improvements
-Penance horn, new abyssal whip colours, penance trident, penance armour changes and gloves reduce more weight, gamble points rebalanced, high score table, bigger waiting rooms, ticket system for saving progress + blue penance eggs reduce their stats and do damage.



~Results~

2008 - 3
2009 - 1
2010 - 2

---January � Reasoning---


From last year�s thread, 2008 comes above 2009.

The Barbarian Assault improvements are all pretty much useless other than the penance horns which make the fastest agility xp in the game. At the time of writing this, I�m unsure if the horns affect anything other than agility in terms of the fastest experience though. EDIT: + mining, doesn't affect score EDIT: I now do like these rewards, but this doesn't affect the score

The agility update is decent for fishing and thieving, but for hunter it adds the best xp in the game at high lvls, which is good because having a lvl 63 hunter monster as the fastest xp in the game was silly, and this problem needs to be addressed in other skills.

Nomad�s Requiem was a decent quest - it was basically four puzzle rooms followed by a great boss. Yes, the boss was really fun but the quest itself lacked depth and storyline, and I would even go as far as saying it could have passed as a miniquest, certainly not a grandmaster quest. Having said that, the boss was fun and although disappointing, this update was still good compared to an average update.

I would balance Nomad�s Requiem with Seers� Achievement diary as they both seem fairly good to me � the Enchanted Excalibur being the only thing making the diary worth it, while the boss being the only thing good in the quest. The rest of 2009�s updates were small upgrades and the terrible quest which was In Pyre Need. Both the hunter update and the Barbarian Outpost update actually took skills forward and the hunter update was decent high-level content, and so 2010 beats 2009.

Although 2009 and 2010 were quite close, I don't think there's any argument that 2009 was better really.

---February � Updates and Results---




~2008~


05-Feb-2008 - Audio Week and Improved Edgeville Dungeon
-Songs play in full before a new track is played, track hints, �air guitar� emote, sound effect improvements + Edgeville Dungeon graphical rework.

13-Feb-2008 - Catapult Construction

19-Feb-2008 - Vinesweeper and Amulet of Nature Update
-Vinesweeper, amulet of nature lets you contact farmers + teleport to diseased patches + amulet of farming added

19-Feb-2008 - Bounty Hunter Combat Changes and Rewards
-Bounty Hunter changed to single-combat other than against targets and gets cash and runes rewards. Bounty Locate made F2P and has its requirement lowered.

22-Feb-2008 - Bounty Locate and VineSweeper
-Bounty Locate disabled in combat.

25-Feb-2008 - Changes to Vinesweeper and more...
-Vinesweeper requirements removed, the farming xp rewards increased + more



~2009~


10-Feb-2009 - Soul Wars

25-Feb-2009 - Random Event Update and More
-Some random events removed, some overhauled, none assigned to specific tasks +the rewards are gift boxes. Price checker + quest list filter and sort function added + being able to find quest start on world map.

25-Feb-2009 - Evil Tree

27-Feb-2009 - Temporary Closure of the Bounty Hunter Craters



~2010~


01-Feb-2010 - Machinima Tool � The Orb of Oculus

01-Feb-2010 - Trading With Friends
-Time spent with friend added affects trade limit.

01-Feb-2010 - Chance of Double Law, Death and Blood Runes

01-Feb-2010 - Rune Mechanics

08-Feb-2010 - Music Playlist

08-Feb-2010 - Standard Detail and Safe Mode
-Standard Detail changed to Safe Mode and new Standard Detail added.

08-Feb-2010 - Strykewyrms

16-Feb-2010 - Familiarisation

22-Feb-2010 - Impetuous Impulses Improvements
-Spirit, Zombie and Kingly impling. Xp rates of implings improved. Free implings jars available every day, bare-handed impling catching added and crop circle bonus added.



~Results~

2008 - 1
2009 - 2
2010 - 3

---February � Reasoning---

From my previous thread, 2009 beats 2008.

I'm going to compare 2009 and 2010:

Familiarisation = Evil Tree
Rc updates (2010) = useless EDIT: people are arguing with this but it doesn't affect the results anyway
Soul Wars = Strykeworms (good piece of solid content - can't decide which is better) EDIT: Strykeworms are arguably better but it doesn't affect the results anyway EDIT: After some discussion it is obvious that Strykeworms are better, especially since they also provided the Staff of Light and the Slayer items for mage/rangers... This doesn't affect the score

That leaves the random event update (2009) vs:

Music playlist
Rune Mechanics
Imp improvements
Orb of Oculus
Trade limit with friends increased
Standard detail improved
EDIT + advantage from Strykeworms and RC updates mentioned in above edits

2010 has to win.

---March � Updates and Results---




~2008~


04-Mar-2008 - CoinShare and Grand Exchange Changes
-Coinshare, Grand Exchange quantity buttons, items noted when buying >5.

04-Mar-2008 - Chaos Tunnels: The Hunt for Surok

11-Mar-2008 - Stronghold of Player Safety

11-Mar-2008 - Kennith's Concerns

18-Mar-2008 - Easter 2008 - For All Players!

31-Mar-2008 - Summoning 2
-Familiars stay out for set amount of time and have stand-out ability, cb familiars give xp and have higher cb, charms added to slay monsters and Dorgesh-Kaan chests, mini obelisks added, BoB �dump� buttons added, new scroll-holding headgear, Bob�s and Foragers� inventories are bigger, new familiars and more.

31-Mar-2008 � Gnomecopters



~2009~


03-Mar-2009 - Deposit-all feature and more
-Deposit-all buttons added, note buttons now default when bank is closed, Items Kept on Death interface shows how much you are risking and carrying and items worth over 1k cannot be dropped when in PvP combat on PvP Worlds.

17-Mar-2009 - The Chosen Commander

17-Mar-2009 - Route-finding Update
-Characters no longer sometimes run in the wrong direction before the correct direction.

25-Mar-2009 - Pre-purchase advice and more
-Pre-purchase advice, ranged strength shown, dragon platebody graphical rework + quick-prayers. Quest list options now saved.



~2010~


03-Mar-2010 - Changes to the Hitpoints Skill
-'Hitpoints' renamed 'Constitution' and 'Life Points' added as a replacement. X10 to all damage, food, etc.

03-Mar-2010 - RuneScape Lobby/Login Changes
Runescape Lobby replaces log-in screen.

03-Mar-2010 - Improving Success when Smelting Iron (Free and Members)
-Sliding scale added to smelting iron chance, from 50k% at lvl 15 +.

03-Mar-2010 - Shattered Heart

15-Mar-2010 - The Blood Pact and Lumbridge Catacombs

23-Mar-2010 - Fish Flingers

29-Mar-2010 - Egg-streme Management (Easter 2010)



~Results~

2008 - 3
2009 - 2
2010 - 1

---March � Reasoning---

Summoning 2 > 2009.

Chosen Commander > 2010.

An easy one.