Jagex, makers of the world’s most popular free-to-play MMORPG - RuneScape, today announced the opening of their highly anticipated Combat Beta, Evolution of Combat. An elite band of 50,000 testers have been carefully selected from the hundreds of thousands of players who applied for access to the Beta, and have been granted the unique opportunity to shape the development of this colossal update before anyone else.
Through the Evolution of Combat, RuneScape has undergone the most significant change in its 11-year history. Rumours and speculation have been rife among the RuneScape community as players have tried to guess just what this exciting new content will contain. With the developers promising a totally revolutionary change to the game - upping the level of immersion and player involvement while, critically, retaining the features and overall charm that have made the browser-based adventure so popular - players have been rushing to sign up for the chance to take part.
"The Evolution of Combat update is the biggest change we’ve ever made in RuneScape’s long history and we’re incredibly excited to finally let our players take part.” commented Mark Ogilvie, RuneScape's Lead Designer. “We really wanted to make our conflict game play more about the actual art of combat, so we've added amazing abilities which will give the player a wealth of choices to use in PvE and PvP combat, and the way those abilities relate to each other will bring a completely new sense of tactical depth to the game. We’ve also made huge improvements to the look and sound of combat, meaning the entire game has become a far more gritty, visceral and adrenaline pumping experience. ”
The Evolution of Combat update includes a host of new features designed to add even more excitement and skill to the game. These features include the ability to dual wield weapons; the introduction of action bars; new abilities which unlock as the battle progresses and the new adrenaline bar fills; the ability to cast buffs and weaknesses on your allies and opponents respectively; the ability to produce critical hits and - finally - a whole host of new character animations.
Ogilvie continued, “The entire update has been built to play to RuneScape’s strengths and has been designed to refocus combat to be more about player skill, encourage variety in combat equipment and to make combat more enjoyable and challenging. This will revolutionise the way the game is played, making the experience ultimately more rewarding, while not diverting from the essential heart of the game which has made RuneScape so hugely popular for millions around the world.”
In addition to the initial 50,000 Beta entrants, all RuneScape players who have been members for the last 12 months and have signed up for access will automatically qualify to take part, and all other members will be able to access the Evolution of Combat Beta during members-only open weekends. These weekends will run from the 7th July till the end of the Beta to give all members the chance to log on and hone their skills before the new combat system is released to the wider community.
RuneScape is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most popular free-to-play massively multiplayer online game. Launched in 2001, RuneScape is played by millions of people around the world every day and is racing towards the mammoth milestone of 200 million accounts created.