Sep 14, 2021

Old School RuneScape - Jagex Sarnie

Play and compete on teams of 2 to 5 players and forge your team of Ironmen to become legends in Old School's new & innovative game mode.

Polling and Release Date

Quite a few questions have been asked about Group Ironman.

Why is it a single poll question? Why haven't we split the poll up into more bits? Why are we polling it all?

In the past we’ve polled Ironman, UIM and Hardcore Ironman, so it’s only right that we poll Group Ironman. We’re also adopting a similar polling strategy as we did with those updates, too.

Our main priority is the long-term health and success of the mode. Currently, each design decision we’ve made has been taken on the basis that we know the following groups of players exist, and we want to accommodate them:

Those who want to play casually
Those who would prefer to be more competitive
Those who want a very hard-core experience.

In addition to all these benefits, our approach also ensures that meaningful content choices (such as Individual Prestige, which aims to hinder illicit activities) are present from release. Rather than have to address potential issues in the future, we’re building them into the overall Group Ironman design from day one. They will be something players are accustomed to from the start of their Group Ironman journey.

We're continuously learning from past mistakes, taking into account what works well for players and what doesn't. We hope you understand the reasoning behind our approach. But rest assured, as with other updates, we’ll continue to make adjustments and improvements with your feedback in mind. We want to see you all enjoying Group Ironman as much as you want to get your hands on it - it's certainly been a long time coming!

Should Group Ironman pass the polls, we anticipate it will be ready to release on October 6th!

Shared Storage

We know that you were looking forward to Shared Storage, and we have good news!

Our wonderful engine team has made a breakthrough and we are delighted to confirm that we will be able to offer the Shared Storage functionality at launch!

Do note that only one player at a time will be able to use Shared Storage. It will be accessible from your regular Bank via a new button on the Bank interface, which is only visible to Group Ironmen and Hardcore Group Ironmen. Try to be courteous with your group members, everyone - no lobster thievery!

Prestige System

We've seen your feedback regarding the Prestige System, as well as your thoughts about its perceived complexity.

To clarify, there are two different forms of Prestige:

Group Prestige is a purely cosmetic indication that your group consists of the original members, and that you've not engaged in certain PvM activities with other players outside of your group.

It is highlighted in-game via a star icon shown next to the group's name.
Prestige groups will be shown on the Group Ironman HiScores alongside non-Prestige groups.
Losing Group Prestige has no in-game impact other than losing the cosmetic star next to your group name in-game and on the HiScores.
You can still trade freely between other Prestige group members even if Group Prestige is lost.
Group Prestige is only lost if a new member joins your group, or if someone within the group opts to do certain PvM activities with someone outside of your group.
Individual Prestige determines whether or not wealth and item transfer restrictions are applied to an individual group member. This system is vital to combat illicit activities.

It is highlighted in-game via a start icon that shows next to all original group members.

Losing Individual Prestige has gameplay consequences - it means that you are subject to the wealth and item restrictions as we outlined in the blog.
Individual Prestige is only lost if you join a group other than the one you started with.
New players added to the group after formation will not have Individual Prestige.

We know that many of you just want to focus on playing Group Ironman with your friends, and we don't want you to have to worry about maintaining Group Prestige. To reinforce this, we have also added an option for leaders to opt out of Group Prestige entirely upon creation of the group. Unless you intend to play this game mode competitively (we expect only a small portion of players will), losing Group Prestige should not have a significant impact on your Group Ironman experience.

Group Ironman: Design Overview

Are you ready to band together and become the stuff of legend? This is your chance to build and grow a team of Ironmen that is greater than the sum of its parts and battle for top spot on the leaderboard. It's a whole new way to play Old School RuneScape!

As launch day approaches, it’s time to dive into the who, what and why of this innovative new mode. Whether you’re an Iron novice or an experienced Ultimate, this is everything you need to know about the newest addition to the Iron family! Let’s take a look…

What?

Group Ironman is a new way for the toughest ‘Scapers to explore Gielinor. Enjoyed Ironman? Hardcore Ironman? Ultimate Ironman? Well now it’s time to bring together your most trusted companions to take on the challenge together.

If you’ve never played Ironman before, here’s a quick summary: imagine Old School RuneScape with no trade, where you have to earn every item yourself. It’s about earning everything with blood, sweat and tears, through gathering, crafting and fighting. Needless to say, it’s a real challenge – and one you would normally have to face alone.

Group Ironman is a little different. Groups of two to five players can join together and take on Gielinor’s nastiest beasts. They can also trade their resources among one another, delve into new Shared Storage, and visit each other’s Player Owned Houses. Groups will even be able to compete for leaderboard positions and prove that their gang is the greatest supergroup of Old School RuneScape. It’s Ironman with a little help from your friends – pushing you to your limits while allowing you to share in the glory with your mates!

Why?

Ironman Mode has been a big success for Old School RuneScape, and we’re always looking for ways to build on popular content. We’re also keen to bring in new adventurers and encourage our current player base to explore the game in new ways.

Group Ironman has been requested by players for a long time. It was promised at RuneFest 2019, and interest hasn’t abated since. Plus, with the events of the past year and a half, there’s more appetite than ever for shared experiences in Old School RuneScape. Group Ironman is another way for us to bring people together and encourage cooperation and community-building in Gielinor.

We know it’s going to be a lot of fun and we can’t wait to see you forming your groups and battling together to break new records!

How?

Keen to hear more about how we're making Group Ironman? Well, that’s lucky because we’ve got plenty:

General Rules

Group Identity

A Group Ironman (GIM) group is made up of two to five players. All normal Iron restrictions apply to them when interacting with the world outside their group: in contrast, interactions within the group are more like regular Old School RuneScape.

Group Ironman players have a unique icon next to their name to distinguish them from other Iron players and regular ‘Scapers. Their outfit also shows off their GIM status.

GIM will get to show other players which group size they're playing with a unique armour set. Roman numerals on their chestplates indicate the size of their group (i.e, II-V).

Players jumping for joy at their awesome new armour!

Combat

In Combat, GIM are pretty much like regular Ironmen to outsiders. This means that if someone outside the group hits an NPC, the drop would either go to the person outside the group or disappear, just like it would with a regular Iron. However, if only group members have been hitting the NPC, the drop would go to the group member who dealt the most damage.

Group content

GIM players can tackle all the group content that regular Irons can. For example, they can kill the Nightmare with other players, and they can team up with other account types outside their group when playing Theatre of Blood, The Chambers of Xeric and Nightmare.

In Chambers of Xeric, GIM will be just like playing Iron, where items would drop to the floor for anyone to take (provided they got the kill credit).

A group of players fighting the Muttadile in CoX

Trading

It goes without saying that GIM can't trade with people outside their group. They can only trade regularly within the group, and some trade restrictions do still apply to new members joining the group (see the gradual wealth transfer system).

GIM can only do this with fellow group members.

De-Ironing

A player must leave their group before they can de-Iron. (See leaving a group.)

Highscores

One of the major draws for GIM is group HiScores: this is your chance to prove your group is the best of the best! There are HiScores for each group size too. This is because a five-player group would have a much easier time than a two-player group, so listing them separately is fairer. HiScores are listed under the group’s name.

Ranks are determined by combined total skill level for your team first, then by combined total experience. Additionally, only XP gained while in the group count towards the group's total level. This means that players leaving a group and joining a new one won't be able to transfer their experience over to the new group.

Player Owned Houses
Currently, your regular Iron accounts can have a Player Owned House of their own, but can’t enter other Player Owned Houses or invite anyone into theirs. GIM is a little different – players can access each other’s houses. Additionally, Ironmen will now be able to let other players into their own house too, although they still can’t enter other players’ houses.

Players partying hard in a Player Owned House

Recruitment

You can form a group of between two and five players. One player will be the leader of the group. You’ll establish your group before you arrive at the mainland – you will need to find players to join your gang on the Node, a recruitment hub off the coast of Tutorial Island, before leaving (see below for more details). You will be able to pick a group name, but please note these share a name space with Clans – so you can’t use a name for your group that already belongs to an existing Clan.

Once your group is formed, you are free to recruit new players as you progress, should you wish.

The Node

This is a new island off the coast of Tutorial Island. It’s a place to learn the core elements of Group Ironman and form groups!

[/code]Tutorial Island with The Node

Talk to the Iron tutors on Tutorial Island to select the GIM game mode, then run South to jump on the boat after completing the tutorial. Once you get to the Node, another tutor is on-hand to explain GIM in more detail.

The new Iron Man Setup menu

Once you’ve figured out what you’re doing, it’s time to talk to other players! Communication will be key for succeeding in this game mode, so find teammates you really click with. Once your group is formed, you can always come back to the island to recruit fresh players (although you can’t return to Tutorial Island).

Get grouping on The Node!

If you can’t find the right group, or wish to go ahead as a regular player instead, you can leave the Node without a group. At this point you will choose between any of the other game modes before being teleported to the mainland.

There's only one way outta here!

Remember, GIM isn’t like Clans – you can’t recruit for your group any place other than the Node. You’ll have to come back here to add more players. To return from the mainland either speak to the Iron tutors in Lumbridge or teleport using the GIM Helmet. This can only be done if you're a GIM player.

A new addition to Lumbridge. The portal will only be visible to GIM and HCGIM.

Before you head to the mainland, you might want to try out combat in your group. There are a few low-level NPCs on the island and you can practice bashing them about together before you leave. If you've not left the Node before, your player inventory will be wiped and you’ll receive the standard items you normally get from Tutorial Island.

Boars, ores and mores.

Forming a group Time to find a group! You will be able to apply to any groups you like the look of, simply by using the ‘apply’ option.

If you want to start your own group, this is what the process looks like:

Click "Create Group" to start forming a group.
Right-click players to invite them.
Choose a group name (this will only be saved once your group has sucessfully formed).
Select "Confirm" once you have enough players in your group and a chosen name. You'll then be presented by the following confirmation boxes:
- Are there enough people in the group?
- Are you sure you want to create this group?
Congratultions, you've created your team for Group Ironman!

Recruiting into existing groups If you are the leader of your group, you will see an ‘Invite’ option next to the players you meet around the Node. Clicking this option will check if they are part of a group. If they are not, they’ll receive your invitation. All new group members must be fresh accounts. The second they leave the Node, players can no longer join a group. This is to ensure that no groups or accounts get an unfair advantage or headstart by bringing in experienced players. If a player chooses to leave their group or is kicked out (see Hot Topics), this will leave a gap. For example: what used to be a group of four will still be considered a four-player group in HiScores, but in reality will only have the three remaining members and an open gap. This group can go to the Node to pick up a new group member.

Hot Topics

Abdication of the leader Every group will have a leader – by default this will be the player who created the group (see Recruitment). However, this person may wish to quit the game, play another account or focus on other activities for a bit. At that point, you wouldn't want the group to be fully dependent on this individual because it might ruin the fun for everyone else! An absent leader can be really bad for morale and potentially lead to more people quitting. So, we’ve made it possible for the leader to abdicate. Stepping down This works exactly like stepping down in Clans. The leader can choose to step down from their position at any time. There is a seven day grace period before their decision takes effect. This is to prevent hijackers taking over accounts and maliciously making players step down as leader of their groups. When a leader steps down, another player must take their place. The abdicator chooses the new leader, and they will not be able to step down until a successor has been chosen. If the leader has been inactive for 30 days, leadership will be assigned to the group member who has been in the group the longest. If more than one member joined the same day, leadership will go to whichever member joined the group first. Oh, and don’t worry - the leader is not removed from the group, just demoted. If there's no one else in the group, the leader can't step down. Instead, the group will be disbanded only when they themselves leave. Leaving a group Starting GIM with your friends, you may think you’re in it for the long run, but you never know what might happen! Sometimes life gets in the way or priorities change. You can always leave a group by speaking to the Iron tutor on the Node. Leaders can also remove members of the group. There are grace periods for members leaving or being removed, so let’s look at that next… The Grace Period If you choose to leave, you have seven days to cancel the request. This serves several purposes:

It allows time to change your mind.
Safety. In the case you may mis-click or their account is hijacked, a grace period will hopefully give time to get back in control.

A player who is kicked from a group will also have a short grace period of seven days. This is so that they can settle things with the group. They can still trade freely within the group in this period. Account status If you decide to leave a group, you must pick one of two options. You can choose to:

Keep GIM status – if you choose this, you will be placed in a new group where you are the leader. Their group size remains the same. You'll keep your levels, stats, quests, variables and untradable items. However, tradable items are deleted.
Become a regular account. You will lose GIM status and will also be removed from the GIM group and HiScores. You will also keep all levels, stats, quests, variables and untradeable items. You also get to keep your tradable items.

Boosting We want to avoid GIM boosting being meta and prevent a situation where experienced players come in and artificially boost new groups. We certainly don't want new groups being tricked into paying anybody to get a good start! However, assisting your friends and long-term group members is not against the rules, and we want to allow for that. The following systems are therefore in place to prevent boosting: Prestige groups and highscores Groups that remain the same after formation have ‘Prestige’ status. This means they are distinguished from other groups that have changed over time. This will encourage groups to stick together, and is our way of recognising the loyalty of a group and the progress they’ve made together. Prestige status is ON by default for every group, and is lost upon inviting anyone else into your group after it has been formed. The gradual wealth transfer system When a member joins a new group, there are hard caps on how much wealth that player can receive from the existing members of the group, and from the shared storage. This prevents existing groups transferring all their wealth to new members before leaving. By prolonging the transfer, this should deter boosters while not being too much of an inconvenience for legitimate players. The caps start off very restrictive but quickly become more lenient, increasing weekly as follows:

Week 1: Wealth caps at 1m.
Week 2: Wealth caps at 20m.
Week 3: Wealth caps at 50m.
Week 4: Wealth caps at 100m.
Week 5: Cap is lifted.

Content restricted items To ensure that the players using certain items are deserving of them, we will restrict the use of them until that new player has successfully completed the relevant quests at least once. For example, if a player wishes to use the Ghrazi rapier they must first complete Theatre of Blood. They would then be able to use all the weapons from that Raid. Similarly they must complete at least one Chambers of Xeric to use any of the items from there. All boss uniques would require at least one boss kill of the relevant boss.

Hardcore Group Ironman

We know that not everyone likes to take things easy. Perhaps you and your friends like to be seriously challenged – and can rely on each other to pull through every time. This is where Hardcore Group Ironman comes into play!

Hardcore Armour for Group Ironman.

A Hardcore Iron group begins with a number of lives equal to the number of players in the group at the time of formation. Any death, from any member, will result in one life being subtracted from the group’s total lives – this will be broadcast to the group members who are online at the time. Offline players will get the message once they log-in. If a group’s total lives hit zero, the whole gang has their Hardcore status revoked. The group will remain together but will be considered to be regular Group Irons. All items and stats remain. Hardcore groups cannot accept anyone else into their group. This means that by default, a Hardcore group is Prestige. If they wish to invite anyone else, they must first lose their Hardcore status.If anyone leaves or is kicked, the group keeps its Hardcore status – but loses one of its lives, unless it's their last life. Normally, Hardcore Iron Players are able to die in certain areas of the game without losing their Hardcore status. These are termed ‘safe deaths’. In PvM, there are safe deaths within places such as the Chambers of Xeric, the Fight Caves, Inferno and Pest Control. On the PvP side of things, there are minigames where Hardcore status is not affected – e.g. Last Man Standing, Soul Wars, and Castle Wars. We reckon that’s way too easy for Hardcore Group Ironman! For a Hardcore Group, we want to remove all safe deaths across the entirety of PvM. Any PvM deaths will be unsafe and result in a group life lost. Existing PvP safe deaths within minigames would remain the same as normal, and this change does not affect regular Hardcore Iron players - in fact, none of these changes will impact regular Hardcore Iron Players. Our aim is to maintain prestige within the HCGIM community – and provide some of the most challenging content in the whole game. Naturally, Hardcore Group Irons will want to show off their astonishing achievements in this merciless new mode. Although we can’t provide HCGIM HiScores on release, it is something we’re working towards including within the year. We’ll let you know when things are confirmed.

That's everything for this blog. Questions? We'll be holding our regular Twitch Q&A Livestream on Thursday at 17:00 BST, so go ahead and submit your questions for us and we'll answer them when we're live! We'd love to hear your feedback so please do... Join the Official Old School RuneScape Discord server and head to the #group-ironman channel in the Summer Summit area. Use the #GroupIronman hashtag on Twitter. Reply to this Reddit Thread or make your own thread with #GroupIronman in the title. Mods Arcane, Archie, Argo, Ash, Ayiza, Banjo, Boko, Bonsai, Brow, Bruno, Curse, Daizong, Deagle, Dibber, Ditto, Dylan, Ed, Elena, Errol, Fed, Flippy, Gecko, Grub, Halo, Havik, Husky, Jndr, John C, Kandosii, Katies, Kieren, Kirby, Lenny, Light, Lottie, Mack, Maylea, Morty, Nasty, Nin, Oasis, Roq, Ry, Sarnie, Skylark, Sova, Squid, Steve W, Sween, Tide, Vegard, West, Wolfy & Zuko The Old School Team

Sep 14, 2021

Character Creation With Four New Forms

Book of Travels - MaD_Helen

Dear Traveller,

Some time ago we took a look at the Book of Travels character creation process in a post that explains how character creation is one of the ways in which the game will allow you a wide range of personal expression in your roleplay (you can get a video insight with Programmer, Game Designer and Discord hero Arvid right here on Youtube).

Today we’re excited to be sharing four new Forms, and just like last time there will be Discord roles available for each one, so if you haven’t joined us there yet, please do dive in and get roled up! It’s been really cool to dip into Discord chat these last few weeks and hear your thoughts and ideas about our videos and reasons for our final date push – it’s also becoming clear that choosing Forms is something of a topic and not always easy! So it should be good to know that you’ll be able to create many characters in the game, and it’s not too early to start thinking about yours - this is a game for creative souls and character creation is just the beginning. We’d love to hear your ideas here or on Discord. And please know that while the Forms represent a kind of archetype they are only the starting point and it’s up to you to develop personas, backstories with as much detail, complexity and nuance as you see fit.

We hope you like our latest additions! And to keep things in one place we’ve added the previous Forms here too, what a varied gallery they make…

The Crested and The Ribboned

While The Crested shows no vanity, they are naturally dignified and uninhabited about their sophisticated ways. Their ease and clear mindedness finds them accomplished in many arts and well placed to succeed in all kinds of company. The Ribboned’s love of home and nature manifests a spirituality that makes profound connections with all things living. Home and community are where The Ribboned is most energised, but their grounded, centred soul means they take both in heart when travelling.

The Larker and The Veiled

Likeability is not The Larker’s goal but merry times are in the offing when The Larker is around. Adventures come in many forms and are rarely serious - so long as leisure and idle times abound, a Larker’s day is as it should be. The Veiled is at once inconspicuous and remarkable, holding to the edges of activity where they absorb goings-on from a place of detachment and stillness. But obscurity comes with mystique, the allure of which makes this solitary watcher an enigmatic type with a quiet penchant for power.

The Mirther and The Dimmed

The Mirther is creative and embodies honesty and youth. They echo rural Romantic archetypes such as shepherds, wandering musicians and artists. They are a daydreamer and find much mirth in or out of company. By contrast The Dimmed is an older, wiser type whose light shines less brightly. Their stoic attitude in company does not temper their thirst for exploration, especially when the quest is enlightenment.

The Moss Walker and The Weatherer

The Mosswalker has feet that are deep in the earth and finds magic in all things mundane. They live a relatively ordinary life but their values are wide and true, making them something of an unconventional, Bohemian type. Striding and far from domestic, The Weatherer’s spirit is forged by exposure to elements literal and metaphorical. Their unequivocal thinking and broad experience finds them well placed in exploration and adventure.

-------

Finally, we’d like to say a word about what has been termed our ‘indefinite postponement’... it is not indefinite! With every day that passes we get closer to securing our new release date, and while we’re not yet ready to reveal it, it really isn’t that far away! It’s so important to us that we have your trust and that means that we want to be sure that the date we give really is the date we release and not a day later. So when we know for sure, you will too. Book of Travels is coming! Stay tuned and stay in touch!

Best Wishes,

Helen & the Dev Team xx

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1152340/Book_of_Travels/

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