Update:Behind the Scenes - July (2007)

We kick this month off with a very barbaric update. After the creation of the Barbarian Assault minigame, the Baxtorian Barbarians have been investigating several of the local features in the hopes of finding a new challenge for their hairy brethren... and they have not been disappointed. Lying deep beneath the surface they have found the resting place of an old, nearly forgotten, yet strangely familiar foe... the Mithril dragon.

This dragon, who is going to weigh in at an impressive level 300, will hold several interesting items in its treasure horde, not least the fabled Dragon full helm.

The location of this dungeon is a closely guarded secret, though, so you’ll need to prove yourself worthy to gain access. Construct burial ships, wield new one-handed spears, start fires the old-fashioned way, modify potions and go bare-handed harpoon fishing... then, with a bit of luck, they’ll invite you in.

July also sees another update to the game's audio effects by improving the timing and synchronisation of various sound effects associated with several of the skills and characters. We are also working on improving instrument sounds and a feature which will allow the player to access information about where a song can be unlocked. Keep your ears open for more musical developments later in the month.

Some people might say that the graphical improvements planned this month are a bit quackers, especially when its ducks, birds and terrorbirds that receive the make-over tweetment. Be sure to pop down and coo at their shiny new plumage later this month.

We are making more changes to the Random Events in the game with the removal of specific events and the addition of a new one, this time featuring a dragon headmaster and some monstrous classmates. Let’s hope you do well, or it’ll be the dunces' hat for you.

After the scandal in Sinclair Mansion, little activity has been seen in the area from the rest of the Sinclair brood. Recently, however, some of the family have been seen in the dark corners of RuneScape plotting some kind of revenge... But on whom? Brave adventurers, misguided siblings? Perhaps their greedy minds are drawn back to the fact that Camelot was Sinclair property before their overly-generous father gave it away to those high and mighty knights. No doubt your previous experiences dealing with family affairs will come in handy as you try to solve the problems behind a King's Ransom. Expect high court hijinx and a rather interesting reward for those who accept the challenge.

As mentioned last month, we are continuing to release small changes designed to improve your overall experience of RuneScape. In July we will be launching several more changes including:


 * Increasing the maximum number of rooms you can have in your house to 30.
 * Altering how damage is taken in a player-owned house.
 * Clarifying what items you keep on death BEFORE you die.
 * Clarifying what a one-handed duel actually is.
 * Restricting the opening and closing of doors to stop door spammers.
 * Changing how kebabs damage health.
 * Changing the appearance of magic logs.

On the website side of things, this month you'll be getting all the usual goodies, as well as a story about the Barrows for the Lores and Histories section.

Enjoy!