Runescape History

The History of Runescape

The game of Runescape has changed very much since its original release and some who looks at both games will not think that they are the same game. Here are some of the major milestones in the game's history:

On January 5, 2001 The original version of Runescape (now dubbed "Runescape Classic") was released. This version used 3D graphics and 2D sprites, very different from the engine the current game uses. This version had only a fraction of the map the current version has, had only 11 of the current 21 skills. Also it used a very different combat and PK (player kill) system and most of all this version did not have any banks, making it much more difficult to level up. Monaye banks were added shortly after making it possible to store your money so that when you die you won't lose it.
On April 6, 2001 the map size was doubled with the release of Asgarnia. Also in this release 4 new quests were added.
On May 18, 2001 the crafting skill was added.
On May 24, 2001 the magic skill was revamped and the parayer skill was added.
On June 11, 2001 the fishing skill was added making getting food much, much easier.
On July 29, 2001 the ability to store items in your bank was added and a more powerful weapon family was added, rune.
On August 13, 2001 the PK system was changed. Instead of being able to fight everywhere in the map you could now only fight in the wilderness located at the top of the map. Also you could now see how many experience points you have in every skill.
On September 23, 2001 the Dragon Slayer Quest was released. This quest allowed gave you the ability to buy Dragon Plate Mail, the strongest armor in the game for a couple years.
On December 25, 2001 Christmas Crackers were dropped. They were only dropped for a few days and are by far the most expensive item in Runescape.
On Febuary 27, 2002 the members version of Runescape was launched. This added much more content for paying players, which would later include 6 new skills and many new quests and a much bigger map, but from then on very few updates made it into the free version of the game.
On March 25, 2002 the fletching skill was added for members. This added the ability for members to make bows and arrows.
On April 30, 2002 the theiving skill was added for members.
On June 17, 2002 the fishing guild was added for members.
On November 13, 2002 fatigue was added to the game. This was a failed attempt to stop cheating in the game and after a few reincarnations was removed from the game when RS2 was released.
On December 12, 2002 the agility skill was added for members.
On April 17, 2003 3 new quests were added and new ranged weapons were added. Both were only for members.
On November 7, 2003 items were duplicated through a bug in the game. This changed the Runescape economy and made christmas crackers and party hat prices drop.
On December 1, 2003 the beta of RS2 was released.
On March 29, 2004 RS2 was launched and its name was changed to Runescape and the old Runescape's name was chanegd to Runescape classic. This update was the biggest update in Runescape history. It totally changed the graphic system to full 3D added a new skill and made the game more automated. The free version that came out this day is almost identical to the current free version, although the member version has changed quite alot. This update also added a whole new anti-cheat system making it much tougher to cheat.
On September 21, 2004 a new quest was released that added a whole new range of weapons (halberds) for members.
On January 17, 2005 a new dungeon was released that added Dragon Plate Legs.
On January 26, 2005 the slayer skill was added for members.
On May 9, 2005 the Barrows were released which added a whole new line of equipment.
On July 11, 2005 the farming skill was added for members.