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This article contains information about an upcoming update. It should consist only of facts from official Jagex releases and not speculation or predictions. For further details, see our future content policy.
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Legacy Combat Mode, or simply Legacy Combat or Legacy Mode is an upcoming update which will allow players to select between the current EoC combat style and a revised version of the 2012 (Pre-Evolution of Combat) combat style, as well as the old interface layout (Pre-RuneScape 3). This was announced on 29 January 2014. Players voted in-game using the Power to the Players poll system for or against Legacy Mode throughout 31 January 2014 to 14 February 2014. The option for Legacy Mode won with 81% of the votes. More polls will pass soon again during its development.
Legacy Mode will be released during Summer 2014.
History
Legacy Mode was originally announced on 31 January 2014 and 1 February 2014.[1] The planning history of Legacy Mode was revealed throughout other posts and Dev blogs released later.
Initial research
The history and planning of Legacy Mode was first revealed in a Dev blog posted on 31 January 2014.[2] The idea for a solution to the negative feedback (despite some being positive) from players with the Evolution of Combat update has been developing throughout 2013.[2] At the end of 2013 when Power to the Players started, over 10,000 active players were surveyed through e-mail on their preferred combat system.[2]
| Preferred combat system | ||
|---|---|---|
| EoC | 44% | |
| Pre-EoC | 41% | |
| Unspecified remaining option(s) | 15% | |
| Satisfaction rating of Eoc features | ||
| PvP | 22% | |
| Level 200 calculation | 48% | |
| PvM/Weapons | 70% | |
Original solutions
Due to the polarised feedback from players on EoC, Jagex found it difficult to find a viable solution to create a win-win situation for both players who enjoy EoC and for those who don't.[2] These were the options they considered.
| Option | Details | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|
| Carry on as we are | Continue our approach of adding combat content and making system tweaks. This has helped a little, but hasn’t been enough. | Need to do much more. |
| Major improvements to EoC | We’ve been prototyping the Revolution ability, have been talking about bringing back Special Attacks, and have been building a plan to make PvP much, much better. These changes will be really good for the game, but probably won’t change the minds of players who really didn’t like EoC or couldn’t dedicate the time to learn it. | Do this too, but more is needed. |
| A hybrid system | We considered creating a new combat system, a single design which was a mixture of both old and new. However we concluded that by trying to make a single system to suit everyone, it wouldn’t really be what anyone truly wanted. It would mean big disruption for current players and the game economy, and it wouldn’t be able to bring contain enough of the previous gameplay to really satisfy fans of the old combat. | Not a viable solution. |
| 2012 worlds | We considered running an old version of the game. During the investigation we found that it wasn’t possible to just “turn on an old version” like with Old School, but needed lots of re-engineering across our infrastructure. But even then, it’d be a service requiring a lot of upkeep, and would significantly reduce the amount of game updates we could do. Without many game updates the 2012 version would get stale, and the main game would suffer in a similar way. I also think this approach would seriously split the community. This is not healthy picture for RuneScape’s future. | Not a viable solution. |
| Legacy Mode alongside EoC | This approach is to create a mode within the modern game which replicates the old combat gameplay. A dedicated mode could be customised to contain the features players really care about. It allows players to choose which mode to use, so isn’t forcing a change on anyone. This option still comes with challenges we’ll need to overcome, and probably cannot be completely identical to the old system, but we believe we can make it very close. | Finally - a viable option! Poll it! |
Polling
As announced on 31 January 2014, the addition of Legacy Mode was polled on Power to the Players throughout 31 January 2014 to 14 February 2014.[3] The option for Legacy Mode won with 81% of the votes, confirming its development and release. There will be many more polls in the future as Legacy Mode's development progresses.[1][4]
Polls
Polls help shape and design Legacy Mode through the players' opinions.[2][4] Each poll is polled through the Power to the Players poll system. There are more polls coming soon.[1]
  Poll 1[3]
| |
|---|---|
| 31 January 2014 — 14 February 2014 | |
| Do you want us to develop a 'Legacy Mode'? | |
| Yes | 81% (201,249) |
| No | 19% (47,777) |
| 249,026 total votes | |
Background
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This article is currently under construction. The information contained within should not be considered fully accurate and/or complete.
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Legacy Mode offers players to freely switch between;[1]
- The current RuneScape 3 EoC combat system and RuneScape 3 layout/interface, and;
- A revised version of the RuneScape 2 Pre-EoC combat system and RuneScape 2 layout/interface on or before 19 November 2012
Specifically, Legacy Mode should directly refer to the Pre-EoC combat system only.Template:Cn
| Mode (unoffical name) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pre-EoC (Legacy Mode) | EoC | |
| Version | RuneScape 2 | RuneScape 3 |
| Date | 19 November 2012Template:Cn | 22 July 2013 |
| Combat | Pre-EoC | EoC |
| TBA | TBA | TBA |
Overview
Jagex made it clear that Legacy Mode will only provide a revised version of pre-EoC, meaning that a back-up would not be used, but rather "90% of the old combat gameplay, special attacks and the old game screens as an option that exists as a part of the new game".[4]
There will need to a be few differences to make it compatible (and competitive) with current game, including dual wielding weapons, modern gear and inheriting the combat triangle rebalance which improved Ranged and Magic combat. There are certain features, like the old '138' combat level formula, which have an impact beyond just Legacy Mode, for which we’d need to work with the community to find a solution. That said, our aim is to make it look and play as close to the old system as possible.[4]
This was made clearer in a thread released on 3 February 2014, stating a few clarifications that were made to what would be included in Legacy Mode.[5]
| Legacy Mode[5] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Will have | Won't have | Might have |
| Special attacks | Changes to bosses | Special attack bar starting full |
| Attack damage close to that of EoC | Its own sets of equipment and monster stats | Scaled down damage and health |
| Old style interface and graphical features | Changes to how experience is gained | Legacy-only Wilderness areas |
| Some Legacy-only worlds | Action bar/Abilities | |
| Dual wielding | ||
Legacy Mode will have
- No abilities
- Special attacks
- Auto attack & Special attack damage close to that of EoC
- No action bar
- Old-style Minimap with health, prayer & summoning buttons
- Old-style menu ribbon and side panels
- Chat interfaces in old layout
- Type-to-chat
- Old-style hit splats
- Special attack bar
- Fixed window layout
- Some Legacy-only game worlds
- Dual Wielding
Legacy Mode won't have
- Changes to ‘EoC bosses’ like Kalphite King, Vorago or Rise Of The Six
- Its own separate set of equipment and monster stats
- Changes to how XP is gained
Legacy Mode might have
- Special attack bar starts full
- Legacy Mode only wilderness areas
- Scaled down damage and health number ('relative' damage dealing stays the same)
Release
Legacy Mode will be released during Summer 2014, as stated in the first poll;[3] however this has been the only source so far providing a release date. Players will test this in beta and give feedback sometime before its release.[4]
Reception and controversy
Feedback on Legacy Mode has been polarised. Some players think that this may bring back some former RuneScape players who have left since the release of EoC, but some argue that this idea will not help and has no point.Template:Cn However, the Power to the Player poll results suggest that the majority of players have given positive feedback and this update will be highly anticipated.Template:Cn