Update hints

An update hint is a message which offers clues about an impending update that Jagex releases on one of its official off-site accounts. Currently Jagex posts hints on Twitter and Facebook. The hints are in the form of a picture, a different picture for each account, both referring to the same update. Together the images provide clues about an update scheduled to be released within a few days. The hints are usually posted on a Sunday or Monday.

Twitter
Jagex has four English Twitter accounts, @OfficialJagex, which is used for general Jagex news, @JagexMobile, which is used for news about Jagex's mobile games, @WarofLegends, which is used for news about War Of Legends, and @RuneScape, which is specifically for RuneScape, and is where the hints are released. The actual hints are pictures accompanied by "coming soon" message that does not offer any additional insight into the content of the hint. The images are attached to the Twitter messages using TwitPic, an image hosting service designed to be linked to a Twitter account. Jagex's TwitPic account is Runescape. Jagex also has a number of foreign language twitter accounts.

Historical
Originally, Jagex only had one Twitter account, @OfficialJagex, where all their messages were posted. However soon after Jagex made separate accounts for each of their major products. Initially the hints posted were a few sentences with no accompanying pictures. However after the return of Behind the Scenes in June 2010, the hints were changed to the current system. A list of all of these text-only twitter hints can be found here

Facebook
Jagex started posting update hint images on their Facebook account, RuneScape, on 4 July 2010, a day before the release of Love Story. The images are different than the ones released on Twitter, but are of the same update. The images are always released on the same day, and together they can reveal many aspects of an upcoming update. A few image hints have been posted on the Swedish RuneScape account, RuneScape.Svenska.

Response
The Twitter hints initially filled a void left by the removal of Behind the Scenes due to the time pressure they put on developers. Players missed knowing what would be released in the coming weeks, so Jagex started posting hints on Twitter which still provide players with a small amount of information about upcoming updates when they were ready to be released, thus no longer putting pressure on developers to meet a deadline.

After Behind the Scenes returned, players were given the unprecedented opportunity to see upcoming content instead of just hearing it, since previous Behind the Scenes and twitter hints were never accompanied with images. Any time a new hint is posted, players eagerly speculate on what it means, and many threads are created on the RuneScape forums containing theories and guesses.

TwitPic Feed
"TwitPic"=

TwitPic Hints: http://twitpic.com/photos/RuneScape/feed.rss|charset=UTF-8|date|max=1 "Updates"=

Runescape Updates: http://services.runescape.com/m=news/latest_news.rss|date|max=3

Current hints

 * {|class="wikitable"

!Hint release date !Twitter image hint !Facebook image hint !Update
 * 1 October 2010
 * The_Void_Stares_Back_-_Twitter_Hint.jpg
 * The_Void_Stares_Back.jpg
 * The_Void_Stares_Back.jpg



(Released: 1 October 2010)
 * The Void Stares Back
 * 26 September 2010
 * Oktoberfest twitter hint.jpg
 * Oktoberfest twitter hint.jpg
 * Oktoberfest
 * Oktoberfest
 * 19 September 2010
 * Tweet hint 19 09 2010.jpg
 * Fb hint 19 09 2010.jpg
 * Fb hint 19 09 2010.jpg

(Released: 21 September 2010) (Released: 7 September 2010) (Released: 1 September 2010) (Released: 25 August 2010)
 * Gunnar's Ground
 * 6 September 2010
 * RS Elite Achievement diary Twitter hint.jpg
 * RS Elite Achievement diary FB hint.jpg
 * Elite Achievement Diaries
 * Elite Achievement Diaries
 * 31 August 2010
 * RS_court_cases_2_twitter_hint.jpg
 * RS_court_cases_2_facebook.jpg
 * Court Cases: Back in Session
 * Court Cases: Back in Session
 * 22 August 2010
 * Rs_conquest_twitter_hint.jpg
 * RS_conquest_facebook_hint.jpg
 * Conquest
 * Conquest
 * 15 August 2010
 * RS_twitter_hint_dungeoneering_batch_1.75.jpg
 * RS_twitter_hint_dungeoneering_batch_1.75.jpg


 * RS_facebook_Dungeonnering_update_1,75.jpg

(Released 19 August 2010) (Released: 10 August 2010) ( Released: 4 August 2010 ) (Released: 19 July 2010) (Released: 5 July 2010) (Released: 24 June 2010) (Released: 15 June 2010) (Released: 9 June 2010)
 * Dungeoneering - The Occult Floors
 * 8 August 2010
 * RS_a_VOID_dance_twitter_hint.jpg
 * RS_a_VOID_dance_facebook_hint.jpg
 * A Void Dance
 * A Void Dance
 * 25 July 2010
 * RS_TT_UPDATE.jpg
 * RS_facebook_TT.jpg
 * Elite Treasure Trails and New Rewards
 * Elite Treasure Trails and New Rewards
 * 11 July 2010
 * Dungeoneering Twitter hint.jpg
 * RS Facebook dung.jpg
 * Dungeoneering Update
 * Dungeoneering Update
 * 4 July 2010
 * Love stories.jpg
 * Love Story Facebook.jpg
 * Love Story
 * Love Story
 * 21 June 2010
 * Twitter hint void quest.jpg
 * N/A
 * Quiet Before the Swarm
 * Quiet Before the Swarm
 * 14 June 2010
 * Ancient Effigies.jpg
 * N/A
 * Ancient Effigies
 * Ancient Effigies
 * 6 June 2010
 * Court cases twitter.jpg
 * N/A
 * Court Cases
 * Court Cases
 * }

Related
At times Jagex will release hints which are not necessarily a game update yet indirectly linked to Runescape, such as iOS applications.


 * {|class="wikitable"

!Hint release date !Twitter image hint !Facebook image hint !Update (Released: 16 September 2010)
 * 12 September 2010
 * Unknown jagex hint.jpg
 * Unknown jagex hint.jpg
 * Update:Undercroft - Free iPhone Game
 * Update:Undercroft - Free iPhone Game
 * }