Hello 'Scapers,
When RuneScape first launched, it was clear that our players would need a separate location to discuss and socialise outside of the game. At the time, it was much more common practice for online communities to gather in forums – and so the official RuneScape Forums were born!
Since then, however, usage has declined to the point where most players now prefer to use external platforms like Discord, Reddit and Twitter (‘X’) to connect with us and their fellow players. With that in mind, we've decided to refocus towards being actively present where our players prefer to be, and allocating more of our resources accordingly.
Consequently, we will be taking our forums offline - initially transitioning them to be read-only from January 25th, and then removing them entirely on March 28th.
Why the decision to retire the Forums?
Right now our forums represent a very small fraction of the discussions happening in the RuneScape community. While we acknowledge their historical significance, their current functionality falls short compared to what external platforms can provide.
It's evident that vital conversations and community voices often get lost, whereas external platforms offer enhanced functionality, including livestreaming 'Stages,' voice chat channels, and more convenient shortcuts to the topics that are most relevant to you.
Given the strong preference for other platforms among our players, we've therefore decided to channel more of our staff time and resources into those platforms for improved engagement.
Naturally, we're eager to help communities find new homes for Clan Recruitment and similar ways to connect – we've already helped our respective Discord servers prepare so that Clans can continue to enjoy the same functionality as before, but with a more direct and timely method of connecting with our JMods and other players.
Where can the community expect to interact with J-Mods?
We've been using Discord for some time now, which has proved very effective in all sorts of ways, for example giveaways and supporting Clans with new features. With the official forums retiring, we will be fully embracing Discord and utilising its capabilities even more, incorporating further changes to offer even greater functionality.
Clans will continue to enjoy the same features but with a more direct and timely means of connecting with our JMods and other players via Discord. The team will also maintain high levels of activity on Twitter ('X') and our subreddit, as we recognise that these are also great places to connect with the community.
What about saving forum interactions?
We understand that this decision might feel like a chapter of our history has been lost. We want to give everyone ample time to preserve the content that matters to them.
Starting January 25th, players will no longer be able to post, but existing posts will remain visible, so you can view and capture anything worth keeping.
On March 28th, the Forums will be taken offline and will no longer be viewable.
To those of you who have contributed to the forums throughout the years: thank you. Our community is truly one of a kind, and we do not say goodbye to such a rich and important part of our shared history easily.
The time and dedication that our players have given to forum threads has not gone unnoticed - they wouldn't still be here without the sustained effort of an incredible community, as well as the vital contributions from the Forum Moderators and Community Helpers who have supported us!
We're incredibly excited to continue embracing newer platforms such as Discord, and we're looking forward to seeing your personal favourite interactions and moments from the forums in the coming weeks.