RuneScape is removing the threat mechanic from the wilds due to lack of player interest in the zone

Sometimes it’s best to admit when a plan doesn’t work out, which it seems to do RuneScape and its wilderness zone. Readers may recall that last year it morphed from a PvP area into a high-risk, high-reward PvM location, but Jagex has decided to admit that players just don’t like the change and time and divert energy elsewhere.

It’s possible that a different implementation could have different results, but we’ve seen very little interest from players in actually wanting this type of gameplay, with most seeing it as either a nuisance or just an opportunity for even faster, more aggressive spawns kill,” explains the newsletter. “[The Wilderness] was an experiment to see if PVM could achieve the same sense of unpredictable risk, and the answer, at least for this version, was no.”

As a result, the threat mechanic in the wild has been removed, as have the cursed will-o’-the-wisps, which were originally in the area as an incentive for PvP but are instead used by players to lure others into combat. The Wilderness area itself will remain where it is as the developers claim that classic content still has its fans, but other than that the team is moving on.

The weekly newsletter also hints at an upcoming AMA on Thursday regarding changes to Animated Dead and The Fractured Staff of Armadyl, while this week’s patch notes detail another set of specific gameplay fixes and adjustments.

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