This Week in RuneScape [Feb 23rd]

Community Topics:

In Case You Missed It + Our Reactions to Last Week

• Last week we launched our Early-Game Rebalance, which was followed by a Tuesday Thieving Rebalance to address feedback regarding how Thieving had been affected with a view towards AFK options. We used that same Thieving Rebalance to share our views on what AFK gameplay should offer in RuneScape - you can read more about that here. The associated coldfix launched last Thursday. You can read the patch notes below.

• On Wednesday we launched our fifth and final beta update for the upcoming Combat Style Modernisation. You can read more about that here.

• On Friday we shared a preview of our plans for the Aura Overhaul, with the intent of getting your feedback in and seeing what resonates (and what doesn't). Since then we've been actively reading your discussions and asking follow up questions where possible (see JMod links below). While it's still too early in the week to commit to any completely revised designs, the discussions have been valuable! For example, we have understood your feelings around moving aura effects into either the Pocket slot or the Relic System, so we will look into better alternatives for these and will not look to add any aura effects into the Pocket Slot or Relic system. Other feedback will need more time to be reviewed and considered, so we won't yet be able to respond on that.

We also want to better highlight where our JMods have provided some smaller insights into non-megathread discussions over the last week. Here are a few highlights

• Mod Anvil on alternatives to Pocket Slot and Relics as hosts for Aura effects

• Mod Breezy on the potential to use Summoning Familiars as hosts for Aura perks

• Mod Breezy on why Quarrymaster isn't part of the proposed Skiller's Totem

• Mod Ramen on Player proposed 120 Construction Rework Ideas

• Mod Breezy on Silverhawk Spawns on an Agility Course

• Mod Anvil on Optimization of game performance

• Mod Hooli on the mistaken assumption of purposefully inflated nerfs, our feedback cycle and approach to communicating

• Mod Yuey on how we react and our commitment to transparency

• VOD of Mod's Yuey, Breezy and Desert Rebalance Deep Dive Stream on Twitch

The Week Ahead:

• Combat Beta - "Final Run"

  • We're spending this week preparing the overall Combat Modernisation update to be ready for the week of the 2nd of March. We've still got some minor feedback to implement and bugs to squash - most of this will be done in time for launch, but a few bits may be actioned in the post-launch period. As mentioned before, Combat is something we're keen to maintain a close eye on, and it will continue to receive tweaks every now and again.

• Grand Exchange Improvements

  • Part 5 of our Road to Restoration blog series, the "Grand Exchange Improvements" project is about enabling players to able to trade quickly and fairly through a modernised, transparent and functioning Grand Exchange.

    • We're planning to share some early thoughts on this project on Thursday February 26th. This project is still in pre-production, so the associated update won't be launched for a while yet (which gives us a better opportunity for feedback!).

Patch Notes

Fixes and Improvements in this Week's Game Update

General

• Thanks to Mod Nixon, the Still Night music track is reborn! Busy Night and Still Night music tracks are once again unlocked from the mining site south-east of Varrock.

• Broken fences should now appear correctly on