If you’re here from the newspost, I’m leaving the below unedited, welcome and see you soon for the live update
I’m working on writing an official newspost giving everyone a status update and previews, we’re quite close to finishing the next version!
But, we (I) still need some time to finish updating the webclient even as these last PRs get merged and tested. Rather than backporting changes, I don’t take any shortcuts for preservation: the protocol gets updated fully, engine changes get added (it’s more than just hitsplats+item outlines). It’s a 244 revision client through and through rather than 225 with 244 bolted on top. I’m also working on a delivery method for the webclient that lets us utilize CDN caching as much as possible, server traffic will go down a bit.
This post is here to ask you guys one question:
Do you want to see a single 225 revision world stick around? (May 18 2004)
We can figure out how to do it best, we’re essentially “launchscape” where we’re at now and the map will continue to expand with each update. I don’t want to simultaneously host every version as we move forward but this is a unique point in time and it’s worth special consideration.
I wouldn’t worry about sharding the playerbase since most will move onto specs and beyond without a second thought, and “multilogging” between them could be on the table! Doesn’t sound so thrilling until this version is far far away…
Regardless of what we do, the game version exists forever in our source code repositories, so people can run it themselves any time they want.
I think the 225 revision being held as-is in a usable form with the quickstart script is perfectly enough, using the server resources to offer more of only the most current version to more regions is a safe bet in my opinion.
With OSRS I liked it without the GE, and that was pretty much right when it launched. I wanted to have an old world for that around to switch between as comparison to see how things were.
225 is the beginning and for historical preservation, it’d also be cool to have the first version hosted!
i think keeping a 225 version hosted its a cool idea but having each version or per year 2005-2006 its a wasted of resources in my opinion( also i think with only 1 f2p world it’s fine as theres only 1 player playing the f2p version).
appreciate the hard work you have put these last days, since you are about to finish the engine update does this means we will have more updates sooner?
I agree with Whiteturtle about the desire to see a separeted world for 225.
As mentioned before, here or inside other channels, fragmenting an already small playerbase divides opinions, not without reasons. It’s a valid question, useful for any similar future situations.
Perhaps WT and me are a minority about desiring a very slow update pace, appreciating the same version for as long as possible to reach some specific goals. Nonethless, as Pazaz asked for players to give an answer, I recommend anyone to read the “Roadmap” and “29th June 2025 - Next Game Update” posts on the homepage and the “Breakdown” wrote here on Forums beforehand to understand what changes between revisions (225 or not), to research for available information about it to form an opinion and reflect if it’s indeed necessary to create a separate world for it.
The mistake Jagex committed should not be repeated: trusting an inept community to make decisions. Of course, it’s not the case as this is a historical project with well-defined objectives and a long trail to follow, independent of who are online or not, but as a gesture of gratefulness to the developers, as well as to the moderators and all those involved, any question directed to us players must be ponderated with parcimony, taking in consideration the effort and resources they lend to us. For all means, the Lost City playerbase is far more mature and trustful than the average gamer, and can deal with responsibilities.
I’m fairly neutral on this specific version, however I would really like to keep a version to play prior to skillcapes entering the game (once we get there). Skillcapes really had a negative impact on the community imo.
IMO all of the rev 244 updates are good, so I wouldn’t have a reason to keep playing 225, but I’m sure others may feel differently and would prefer to continue in 225 for longer or indefinitely.
That number of people is probably quite small, similar to those who play the f2p worlds, so my only input here would be to design the UI of the website such that it’s obvious to new players how to play the ‘live’ version of the game. It’s important to avoid confusion or decision fatigue for people who are looking at the website/project for the first time and might not understand all these details.
I think it’s a cool idea but that world will most likely end up like the F2P worlds with barely any players online. I don’t really think that a live world is needed for 225 as you can always load it up yourself and experience that revision offline.
I think we will see a bigger split in the community as we progress and split up whole years, especially between 05/06 and 06/07.
Thanks btw for taking this in to consideration and thanks to everyone working on this project!
Let the 225 revision stick around for a while I say, then shelve it once the popularity dies.
As for in the future, a single world for each revision in the years to come people want as their cut off point for the specific year. For example, people might not necessarily want the last revision in 2005 to be where the 2005 server should stay. It could be more favourable to that select group of people to choose a snapshot of the game before the Farming skill releases, as an example.
id say 75 + percent of the player base are wait/ looking forward to future updates.
Keeping a world behind when there are only like 5-10 players in the worlds now would be a waste IMO, especially if you have to go to extra effort to do it.
Personally, id like less worlds to increase competition for things and make it more competitive
Speaking as someone who’s just joined. I’m in the boat that splitting the community further is bad in the long run. Yes, its understandable that keeping this version separate has its upsides for preservation.. but to that i say… they can simply make their own backup of the source code and run it locally or make their own server.
As you said. I’ll move forward but I’ve talked to some very passionate players the last few months and they want to stick to this version indefinitely. I think it’s a good move to give them that option even if it’s only a handful of players.
