If there's one thing I've learned about Old School Runescape, it's that it's very much a community-driven project. For me, it feels akin to Final Fantasy 14 or World of Warcraft Classic: the players are at the core of the experience. But, when I ask senior narrative designer Ed Pilkington how the team balances enacting with safeguarding the game's health, he says that, sometimes, "tough" choices need to be made.
For instance, new, unique finale" that better suits OSRS.
While the response to the new and improved Defender of Varrock seems to be relatively positive, I ask Pilkington how the team balances implementing player and standing its ground.
"Striking that balance on community is always a tough one," he tells me. "Much of Old School's success comes from our community interaction and we should never be going against community desires without good reason. That said, it is sometimes necessary to do so.
"The main thing for us to focus on is making sure that, even if something we're doing isn't necessarily what the players want, it should still benefit them," he continues. "For example, while people may not like it when we rebalance equipment, doing so can open new gaps for future equipment, giving people new unique items to play with that otherwise may not have existed."
If there's one thing that never ceases to amaze me, it's Jagex's communication with its playerbase. In many ways, it's quite special – we've seen how well players have reacted to Arrowhead's transparency with Helldivers 2, and Jagex paved the way for that. So sure, some decisions aren't easy, but having communicative devs makes any disappointment go down a little easier.
If you've already completed Defender of Varrock and are waiting for the next chapter of the iconic saga, we have a list of fantasy games instead.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or grab our PCGN deals tracker to net yourself some bargains.