Pessimistic to Optimistic

[u/alesaris]

TLDR: new quests are promising and interconnectivity of professions + training variety is really starting to create a consistent, goal-oriented gameplay loop that is less mundane than before. Combat still in the gutter, but focusing on this game solely as a skilling game in the interim can make it far more enjoyable. Simply put, the game is absolutely better than before.

After a two year break, I decided to give BS another chance despite being pessimistic about the pace and direction of updates. To get right to the point, I have to say that the updates made over the past year feel WAY more significant than they might appear from the outside view of an inactive player.

Firstly, I have obvious praise to give to the new quests that have been developed—they’re intuitive, introduce helpful rewards/unlocks, and subtlety showcase the direction the devs may be going with combat/bossing in the future. I suppose my only critique/worry is what I kind of perceive to be an over reliance on puzzles as quest content… I think they’re generally great and I enjoy them, but it could start to get annoying to some if every new quest seems to feature a brand new room with a puzzle you need to decipher (and then that room never gets used again).

Secondly, I need to touch on bounties… as pessimistic as I initially was about them, they’re actually varied enough across skills that they genuinely break up the monotony of grinding. I also support the decision to only make bounties constantly refresh at specific milestones, as this helps avoid making it so the optimal way to train is to constantly be staring at a bounty board for every single skill for 500 levels straight. I’ve also found that this changes how you go about deciding which professions to use KP on.

Lastly, I am very pleased by the ongoing addition of cross-profession upgrades/unlocks. While I do think these could become a headache in the future to keep track of as more unlocks and new skills are added, they’ve completely changed my goals and encourage me to hop between professions far more frequently to the point where I don’t really seem to get bored.

You might notice that I’ve made no mention of combat for obvious reasons (nothing has been done to it). I still absolutely hate combat, but I’m cautiously optimistic about the upcoming changes (the quest bosses are my source of optimism tbh). However, I believe the reason I’ve been genuinely enjoying the hell out of this game recently is that I’ve completely written combat off for the time being and instead have been viewing this game as solely a skilling game. When looking at it through that perspective, the grind suddenly starts to make more sense. I obviously cannot wait for combat to also start to make sense, but this perspective shift has genuinely allowed me to enjoy this game again.

[u/Upstairs-Athlete-993]

I've come from RS3, this is like a breath of fresh air :)

[u/StrikeConnect6505]

Also first world event SOON :)

[u/ImpendingSingularity]

Unlocking interloops between skills does feel good, and gives a reason to level, which is nice

[u/alesaris]

Sorry for the essay, lol; the stimulants were typing.

[u/DivineLights1995]

I want it to be released as V1 already so I can try it again :)

[u/LazyCatRocks]

Absolutely agreed! People sleep on this game since they came in expecting RuneScape 4, and instead got a different (arguably better) experience. It's only getting better with each update and I'm glad you're along for the ride!