RuneFest is the name of an annual Jagex-run real world event for RuneScape players.
RuneFest 2011
2011 RuneFest logo
On 10 June 2011 Jagex announced that RuneFest 2011 would take place over two days from 29 October to 30 October 2011.
Venue
RuneFest will be held at Old Billingsgate in London (1 Old Billingsgate Walk, City of London, Greater London, EC3R 6DX) which is a three floor venue overlooking the river Thames.
Tickets
Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 13th of July at 7PM BST and are £59 for a one day pass or £99 for the weekend.
There will be a Halloween after party costing £49 which is open exclusively to RuneFest attendees aged 16 and over.
For the first time VIP tickets will be available. Jagex have said that the VIP tickets will be "a truly individual weekend with priority seating for all presentations, private insider sessions with senior developers, signed concept art and a private J-Mod staffed area with your own VIP bar". VIP tickets also guarantee access to the Halloween after party and costs £179.
In-game commemorative item
The Flagstaff of festivities will not be renewed for the 2011 attendees, but instead a new dragon-themed headgear item will be released. It has been confirmed that the Runefest 2011 item will be a Runefest Hood. The design for the Runefest hood was decided in a competition held by Jagex. The winning design will be made ingame.
Mod Nexus Talks about Runefest 2011 Reward
Runefest 2011 ad banner.
RuneFest 2010
RuneFest 2010 logo
RuneFest 2010 was held in London, United Kingdom, on 28 August, 2010. Jagex officially launched the RuneFest commercial website on 24 April, 2010.
The RuneFest wall(paper) of fame. Click to enlarge.
Venue
On 9 July, 2010, Jagex confirmed that RuneFest 2010 was to be held in the "Dungeons of Vinopolis" in London[1].
Tickets
RuneFest tickets went on sale to those who pre-registered on Friday, 30 April, 2010. People were given a unique code to purchase the tickets twenty-four hours before general sale and they could buy no more than four tickets per order. Tickets went on general sale on Saturday, 1 May.
Tickets were sold via TicketMaster, both online and on the telephone. The face value of the tickets were originally £75 each[2] (not including £4.95 booking fee and £2.50 for TicketFast, which enabled you to print out your own ticket).
On Friday, 9 July, 2010, Jagex announced that tickets to RuneFest had sold out and that all ticket holders would have the full costs of their tickets refunded. Jagex would instead be using money from their marketing budget to cover the cost.
Tickets were printed on 10 August and posted to the address given on purchase. Anyone who had not received their ticket by 21 August were told they should contact Ticketmaster. Anyone who lost their ticket could show identification and their confirmation email at the doors to gain entry to the event.
RuneFest Events
The doors opened to RuneFest at 12-noon on the 28 August 2010 and the event ran until 9pm.
Jagex announced on 9 August to ticket holders that they will be providing a more detailed itinerary shortly. The full itinerary was announced on 20 August.
Draynor Market
- Jousting (All Day)
- Archery (All Day)
- Tarot Cards (All Day)
- Market Stalls (All Day)
- Food and Drink (All Day)
- Wrestling (All Day)
- Diango's Toy Store (All Day)
- Photo Booth (All Day)
- Sword Fighting Display (on the Hour)
- And More!
Draynor Manor (gaming zone)
- 12:00-12:30 Free Play
- 12:30-13:30 Dungeoneering
- 13:30-14:00 Free play
- 14:00-15:00 Dungeoneering
- 15:00-15:30 J Mod Clan Wars
- 15:30-16:30 Dungeoneering
- 16:30-17:00 Free Play
- 17:00-18:00 Dungeoneering
- 18:00-19:00 Break
- 19:00-19:30 Free Play
- 19:30-20:00 J Mod Clan Wars
- 20:00-21:00 Free Play
Poison Arrow Pub
- All Day Food and Drink
- 14:30-15:00 Pub Quiz
- 16:30-17:00 Pub Quiz
Varrock Insider Sessions
- 13:00-13:45 RuneScape Genesis
- This will be a relaxed chat show style session with Mod Mark (RuneScape’s Lead Designer), Andrew and Paul Gower about RuneScape. From the beginnings of Devious MUD and RSC to the modern day Runescape and Dungeoneering.
- 14:00-14:45 Development and Dungeoneering
- Special session and Q&A on Dungoneering, it's design, development, and future.
- 15:00-15:45 Quiz Show
- 16:00-16:45 The Big Questions
- 17:00-17:45 Storytelling Panel Session
- 18:00-19:00 The Golden Gnomes Video Awards
- An awards ceremony for The Golden Gnomes video competition. There were awards for:
- Short Story in Machinima
- Short Story in Animation
- Short Story in Live Action Video
- RSMV in Machinima
- RSMV in Animation
- RSMV in Live Action Video
- Jagex shortlisted two finalists for each category and then the winners were voted on by the attendants of Runefest. Finalists were contacted by Jagex via the message inbox by the end of Friday 20th when they were be asked to film an acceptance speech incase they won.
Images from Runefest 2010
Trivia
- On 30 April 2010, the Flagstaff of Festivities was released in game. This item is only available for players who bought RuneFest 2010 tickets.
- In an email to Runefest ticket holders on the 9 August an image showed a graphically updated Draynor Village.
- Originally it was speculated that RuneFest 2010 would be held at the Olympia Conference Centre, in West Kensington, London, due to a leak on the RuneFest website[3].
- Jagex have stated that all money earned will be spent on the event and that any profit made will be donated to charity[2].
Information from YouTube and Jagex Mod clan chats
On 24 March, Mark Gerhard's second interview was released on the RuneScape YouTube channel. At two seconds into the video, the words "RuneFest 2010" were visible on a whiteboard behind Mods Paul M and Mark G.
On 7 April, Mark Gerhard was asked in his Clan Chat, "Mark, can you shine a light on RuneFest for us?" to which he replied:
| “ | Aah RuneFest, seems our worst kept secret so far. We are planning a real world event for the players currently code named RuneFest. I cant give too much away otherwise the team will be beat me with my own shoes But I suppose I can say that I'm really excited about meeting the player(s). As are the rest of the Jagex family. Take care and hopefully see you all soon Irl. | ” |
— Mark Gerhard
|
On 11 April, Mark Gerhard said the follow regarding RuneFest in his Clan Chat:
| “ | Runescape nation was the project name for RuneFest. No RuneFest will go international afterwards, the 1st will be in England. Yeah it will go on tour :) I cant say too much about RuneFest though as the will club be to death with my own shoes if I do :) There will be official coms on RuneFest to follow shortly I'm sure | ” |
— Mark Gerhard
|
In response to, "Will there be a music element to RuneFest as hinted in the trademark apps?"
| “ | Yes Rule :) | ” |
— Mark Gerhard
|
Trademarks
- On 18 March 2010, RuneFest.com was registered by Jagex[4].
- On 29 March, 2010, trademark applications were filed for "RuneFest"[5], "Jagex Nation"[6] and "RuneScape Nation"[7]. Both RuneScapeNation.com and JagexNation.com are owned by Jagex[8][9].
The trademark classes for RuneFest, RuneScape Nation and Jagex Nation are:
| “ |
Class 09: Audio recordings; video recordings; audio-visual recordings; pre-recorded publications; downloadable electronic publications; data-carriers for audio and visual and audio-visual recordings; CDs; DVDs. Class 16: Printed publications; printed matter; books, leaflets, brochures; posters, postcards, stationery. Class 25: Clothing, footwear, headgear. Class 41: Entertainment; organising, promotion and production of entertainment and events; organising, production and presentation of shows, staged events, theatrical performances, concerts, live performationces and audience participation events; musical entertainment; live musical entertainment; production, presentation and distribution of sound and video recordings; provision of recreational facilities; arranging and conducting festivals; arranging and conducting competitions; arranging and conducting events relating to computer games and video games and Internet games; information and advisory and consultancy services relating to all of the foregoing. |
” |