I know your goal with 2004scape is to preserve an authentic 2004-era experience, which I really appreciate.
That’s why I wanted to flag something I’ve observed since the rares update: even without confirmed mechanics, the possibility that some activities might affect rare drop chances has already shifted the meta in a major way.
Support-role activities i.e. essence running — which were previously core to the player economy — are now basically abandoned on weekends.
Other support examples: Fishing Drop-Catch Partners Smithing Assistants (Bar Runners) Ore Runners / Bank Mules
It’s completely understandable that speculation will happen, but in this case, the mere doubt around certain actions seems to be steering player behavior pretty dramatically.
Out of curiosity: would you be willing to clarify whether essence running has any effect — positive, negative, or neutral — on a player’s chances of receiving a rare?
Even a small statement could go a long way in restoring confidence in old-school support roles.
At least one person already got a rare (Christmas cracker) while mining ess and there’s a few people that i have talked to that plan on trying that method more.
Caring about a temporary things effect on “support roles” seems pretty trivial to me. Just play the game It’s insane how creative everyone can be with asking for the secrets lol!
I don’t think he’s asking for the secrets. I think he’s making an observation on how the event affects the community, which I think is a good observation.
To further distill it, you might have noticed in your own behavior you chose not to maybe:
Do a clue scroll.
Worry about buying or selling items.
Spend time changing cosmetics.
Had you had those thoughts you probably would’ve said I’ll do those during the week.
Are you upset that you’re not able to get your slaves to play the game for you on the weekend because they’re not able to get rares running you essence?
I read that wrong. Runners and support rolls will probably be slower on weekends now i see your point. Hopefully the week days should be the same or even better.. I’m also hopeful people stay that came back or more will that are still joining. The game def took a shift over the weekend!
Not at all. Just pointing out that the rares update has had a ripple effect on support roles that were actually a big part of how people played in 2004 — including things like running essence for XP and GP, not just for someone else’s benefit. Players chose to do that because it was part of the meta and the economy.
If that dynamic is going to change because of how rares work (or how people think they work), it’s worth at least being aware of. That’s all I was trying to raise.
Honestly? I’d rather run ess. It’s chill, social, and was a legit way people trained and made money back in the day.
That’s exactly why I made the post — I want to help make sure roles like that still feel worth doing in today’s meta, especially since the Lost City Project is meant to reflect the original 2004 meta as closely as possible. If players are skipping support roles due to rare drop speculation, that’s worth examining.
There isn’t really any evidence that lobsters are better — or worse — than anything else for rares.
But if you’re choosing not to fish them on weekends just in case it affects your drop rate… well, that kind of proves the point I was making about how speculation alone is already shifting player behavior.
Glad you’re enjoying the conversation — even if it’s not in good faith.
Wild that encouraging classic 2004 gameplay loops is now getting meme’d as “slave ownership.”
Honestly, good point. True, preserving the code is a core tenet of the Lost City Project and that’s what makes it special (insert comment about unpublished rares code).
This is a free, open-source, community-run project.
We are trying to preserve a moment in time for posterity.
Our server was written from scratch after many hours of research and peer review. Everything you see is completely and transparently open source.
Preserving the way players actually interacted with that code is part of what honors that moment in time. Of course, two decades of community knowhow cannot be purged and the 2025 meta won’t 1:1 match 2004 — but the emergent gameplay from that code can remain aspirational.
Things like essence running, drop trading, and other support roles were all emergent parts of that original experience.
Sort of off-topic, but happy to reply because I get what you mean. I have benefitted from playing with and receiving help from others.
That said, streaming is not a privilege or exclusive - Pazaz even had a “right to stream” message at the top of the game window for the first few months of the server. Building and fostering a community is part of the grind, and honestly, part of what makes an MMORPG like this so great.
Synergizing with other players to achieve something bigger has always been core to games like this. You don’t need an audience - just a few like-minded friends in-game or on Discord.
And for what it’s worth, the #1 Runecrafter, doesn’t stream at all, nor do any of the top players AFAIK (correct me with wrath and fury if I am wrong).
essence running — which were previously core to the player economy — are now basically abandoned on weekends.
Fishing Drop-Catch Partners
Smithing Assistants (Bar Runners)
Ore Runners / Bank Mules
JoshBrownGames