A thing I find a lot of joy in is the fact that despite there’s technically a new, shinier, perhaps by some people’s standards better version of it, Old School RuneScape is still kicking around. Before the Old School was tagged on the front end of it, RuneScape was an MMO I put many hours into (and found little success in) as a youth with too much free time, so the fact practically two decades later it’s introducing a brand new skill into the game simultaneously impresses me and strikes existential fear into my heart because of how old this game actually is.
Moving on swiftly, sailing! That’s the new skill coming to Old School RuneScape, the first new one since its launch. According to a blog post, sailing is quite the undertaking, described as “bigger and more expansive than any content that’s come before it,” and a skill that “touches almost every aspect of the game.” With this new skill, you can own up to five boats at any time. These boats are upgradable, and there’s three sizes to choose from: the raft, small boat, and large boat.
There’s ship combat, which apparently mostly works the same as land combat, and you can also take a few different NPCs with you out on the sea – or your real friends too! Levelling up requires, technically, just one thing, which is, well, sailing. This includes “interacting with facilities on your boat” like trimming your sails, an action that nets you some XP as well as a speed boost.
On top of all that, you can salvage shipwrecks, chart the oceans you travel across, do some deep sea trawling, complete new quests, gather new resources, and while this one’s a bit more secretive, there’s new areas to explore too, including 30 new islands, some of which have some new dungeons.
The sailing update is coming to Old School RuneScape pretty soon too, as it’s currently planned to launch in just under a month’s time on November 19th.
