RuneScape Classic

RuneScape Classic is the older version of RuneScape. It was replaced on March 29, 2004, with what was then known as RuneScape 2, which is now RuneScape.

It is kept on the site for those who prefer it to the new version. The same account is used for both games, but items, progress and skills on each are quite different.

On August 3, 2005, Jagex removed the free version of RuneScape Classic. On January 14, 2006, Jagex made it that only players who have logged in between August 3, 2005 and January 14, 2006 can play RuneScape Classic.

Woodcutting
There were originally only regular trees. However, Jagex later updated the game and introduced many more trees once they created the fletching skill.

Firemaking
Only the logs of normal trees can be burnt. Experience allocated per log depends on the firemaking level itself. It is the only skill to work this way, meaning experience is gained more quickly as levels are gained. Before fletching was added, woodcutting worked the same way. After the update, some players (especially free users) complained that regular logs didn't give as much experience as they used to.

Mining
Originally, rocks wouldn't change color when there was ore present. It was much more a matter of guesswork and repetitive clicking. It wasn't until the introduction of Fatigue that rocks began to show when they had ore in them.

Prayer
For the longest time, bones and big bones were the only forms of experience for Prayer. This made it very hard to train. It wasn't until someone suggested making dragon bones that there was anything better, and those were the only three bones available until RS2.

Armour
Armour had many differences in RSC, one of the main being that male and female armour differed. Female tops had more of a curvy shape and lower neckline with plates on the shoulders and gauntlets (part of the top). The skirt went all the way to the ground. In the case of male armour, it went for a more "6 pack" approach, though the entire upper body was covered right down to the hands. The legs had a rather baggy looking, sometimes being referred to as "snow pants". Some players were slightly annoyed by the fact that male characters were blocked from wearing female plate, but female characters could wear male or female plate as they wished.

There was a character just south of the east bank in Varrock that could switch male plate and legs to female plate and legs for free, but he disappeared during the transition to RS2. While it was hinted at one time that he might eventually return, this has never come to pass.

Another key difference was that plate could not be worn at the same time as gloves, and legs couldn't be worn at the same time as boots. However, if a character wore chain, they could wear gloves. Some pkers preferred wearing chain in order to wear gloves and get the slight attack boost gained at the expense of some defence.

Inventory
The inventory in RSC was actually larger than it is in RS, having 30 slots instead of 28. However, armour counted as an inventory space even when equipped, so it ended up taking up more space and meaning less food could be brought along.

While the ability to equip items was greatly appreciated, some were upset with the change, since it upset doing things like Herblore (then called Herblaw), which could be trained with 10 vials, 10 herbs, and 10 seconardy items at a time, making for an even 10 potions per inventory.

Fatigue
Fatigue was introduced shortly before RS2. Using skills would increase fatigue until it reached 100%, at which point you wouldn't receive any more experience, making it harder to train. At first you could only reduce it by sleeping in bed, but then after a while sleeping bags were introduced. They didn't reduce fatigue as fast as beds. Either way, it was neccessary to type in a random word to wake back up again. It was an attempt to hamper those using autoers.

The concept was greatly disliked despite the fact that the time it took to actually train skills was balanced by taking less attempts to successfully mine rocks and catch fish. It went through a few incarnations before being dropped entirely in the transition from RSC to RS2.

Certificates
Before RS2, trading large numbers of items was much more of a hassle. At first, the only way to create stackable items out of those that couldn't be stacked normally was to turn them into certificates. Or "certs" as they were referred to. Lobsters, Sharks, and certain logs could be traded for certs, 5 items for 1 cert. This was done by Niles, Giles, and Miles. Nowadays, these three can be seen making cameos as a Random Event.

Player Killing
Many people believe that player killing was much more fun in RSC. All weapons had the same speed, so the R2H was used by almost all F2P pkers. Members used Dragon weapons, Mage Arena staves or the Dwarf Cannon. Once attacked, a player could not run away for three rounds of combat so pures worked to get high enough strength to kill their opponents in three hits. There was no running in RSC, so "catching" was a vital skill. Good pkers could time it so that when someone tried to run away, they would immediately attack them and keep them stuck in the fight for three more rounds. Plus, you could only eat out of combat, so it made things hectic as a player waited to get a chance to run and eat, then try to eat as much as possible before combat started again.

Dueling
Dueling used to be possible at any location at any time. All the player had to do was right click on a player, and "Duel" would be an option along with "Walk here", "Follow", and "Trade". It was often used as a cheap and easy way to return to Lumbridge, since dying in a duel would send the player back there, but if nothing was staked, nothing would be lost.

Many players have complained about the removal of this feature, since now everyone has to go all the way to Al Kharid to the Duel Arena there.

Problems
A major complaint of those who remain loyal to RuneScape Classic over RuneScape is that there are too many people who use macros to make playing it worthwhile. These players regularly complain to Jagex to do something about the problem but as they consider RSC to be a more or less abandoned project they are reluctant to allocate resources to combat the problem.