Jagex's Reignited reassessment: veteran progress, community and membership

What Jagex's October 6 response said about revising Reignited and the concerns it still needed to answer.

October 6, 20263 min 41 sec

The October 6 response

Jagex said it was re-evaluating RuneScape Reignited a few days after the RuneFest announcement. It apologised for making existing players feel that they were no longer the focus and said it was exploring substantial revisions.

Jagex said every option remained on the table and aimed to put revised proposals in front of players by the end of that week.

October 9: the first revision ideas

Jagex followed up on October 9 with ideas for using existing membership, switching between Veteran and Reignited versions of one character, and easing cross-character play restrictions after the fresh economy and World Firsts were established.

It was also exploring carrying cosmetics and other non-gameplay items across, and shortening or removing Reignited-only worlds. A separate economy would remain even on shared worlds. Some ideas still needed technical feasibility checks.

Why the original proposal caused concern

Reignited was announced as a permanent character type with a fresh economy, separate hiscores and no paid progression. Existing characters would keep their progress in the veteran economy.

Both character types could share worlds and clans, but they would use separate Grand Exchanges, be unable to trade with each other and be unable to share boss instances. Being in the same clan would not mean you could take your main on a boss trip with a friend playing Reignited.

The extra subscription was another concern. Under the original plan, a Reignited character would need its own membership after the initial free-access period.

Why existing accounts matter

Jagex's response acknowledged worries that existing accounts would become less relevant, veteran worlds would lose players, and people would feel pushed to restart. It also mentioned untradeable items and cosmetics left on existing characters, and players feeling judged for having played through an earlier era of RuneScape.

For someone who has spent years on a character, keeping that character's levels is only part of the issue. The people you play with matter too. If your friends move to a different economy, an intact account can still leave you without the group you used to spend your evenings with.

Jagex said it was looking for ways to keep veteran progress intact and represent it meaningfully without destabilising the appeal of a fresh start.

The community split is the part I want answered

I can see why a fresh economy appeals to new and returning players. My biggest concern is whether a permanent separation leaves both communities healthy over time.

Jagex said it would focus on making sure a hard community split did not persist, so existing players could enjoy RuneScape alongside new players. That is the part of the revision I want to see explained in practical terms: who can trade, who can boss together and what happens to the choice a player makes when creating a character.

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