"Our goal is to see Runescape grow again"
Welp, that was short lived. Earlier this month, Jagex made some big RuneScape announcements, namely that they're making a fourth version of the MMO (aptly, currently called RuneScape 4), but also the arrival of RuneScape Reignited, a new character type that would come with its own, new economy. The intention here seemingly was to bring new people in to breathe some life back into the game. This did not go down well with the old timers. And now, it's been flat out cancelled.
"First of all, thank you for all the feedback since the announcement at Runefest," a blog post from Jagex explained. "We received a ton of different perspectives from all of you, and we truly appreciate everyone sharing their views. It is super important to us because the last time we didn't listen to player feedback, combat changed forever. And it has taken us over a decade to recover from that. Now I said on stage that we would not repeat the same mistakes of the past, and I truly stand by that. Considering this, we have made the decision to cancel Reignited."
Jagex go on to note that it was clearly they "missed the mark on this, and so we are not moving forward with it. Our goal is to see Runescape grow again, with returning players coming back and new players joining, but never at the expense of our existing community." That kind of leaves that original December 2nd launch date in an awkward spot, so to make up for that, the developer will be "releasing the Adventure Guide and the first part of the Remastered Journey, alongside a host of other improvements, some of which you've all been talking about over the last week."
A 10 day free trial is still running between December 2nd and 12th, with any new characters, or any that haven't been in active membership since June 2nd, "will be able to freely access RuneScape Members worlds and content during the 10 day period." So, if you were someone considering jumping into the game thanks to Reignited, it sounds like this is an in at the very least. Quite the mess Jagex have got themselves in here! Hope they can all weather the storm.