Recently, an incident involving the return of a large amount of wealth to a content creator has surfaced several concerns and spirited discussions among the community, primarily pertaining to our item return policies and practices.
Your voices, your frustrations, and your genuine care for the continuity and fairness of our actions have not gone unnoticed. The decision to return lost wealth to a content creator, after their account was compromised, has shed light on inconsistencies and provoked rightful questions about our policies and commitment to all community members, irrespective of their following or status. In this instance, it was an unfortunate case of miscommunication between teams and differing approaches to item returns.
Our policy, as stated on our website, currently indicates a universal inability to return lost items to players. However, we acknowledge that recent actions have diverged from this message, creating confusion and feelings of inequality among our valued community.
We’d like to shed some light on this. We have been exploring item returns for a while now and have successfully been able to carry out returns for specific instances. You may have seen various discussions around Group Iron players losing items due to a rollback, or items lost due to character linking issues (which have since been resolved). In these instances, we pledged to explore the options available to us to return any items that may have been lost as a result.
We have since been able to successfully return lost items to over 380 players. Going forward, where we are at fault, we will continue to strive towards restoring items that are lost as best as we can. This process can be carried out entirely on our end and does not require players to reach out to inform us of their loss.
Item returns in Old School is a sensitive topic. We know there is potential for a full item-restoration service to be abused - it would be almost impossible for us to remove items that were stolen from an account. With an inability to remove items, it would mean we are injecting items into the game economy, which could have irreparable damage to the intricate player-run system that the health of the game so heavily relies upon.
We are not presently equipped to manage mass item returns for all players. The intricacies of verifying claims, managing restorations, and ensuring fairness to all players present formidable challenges that we must navigate with caution and due diligence.
Moving forward, we will be adjusting the language and information presented on our website to accurately reflect our current capabilities and limitations in terms of item returns. This is to assure that our communicated stance is as transparent and accurate as possible, aligning with our actions and avoiding future confusion.
Moreover, we apologise for the upset and frustration caused by our recent actions. We recognize that in attempting to address an isolated issue, we inadvertently sparked discontent and concern among our community.
Navigating the delicate balance between fair play for all and acknowledging the influential role of content creators within Old School has always presented a nuanced challenge. Content creators, with their widespread reach and impact on our community and potential players, undoubtedly play a pivotal role in amplifying and enriching the gaming experience, and often assist in showcasing our game to a wider audience. Occasionally, this has led us to extend our support in instances that are significantly public and can adversely impact the perception of the game on a larger scale. While we recognize that this can create feelings of disparity among our general playerbase, our ultimate intention is to safeguard the reputation of Old School RuneScape, ensuring sustainability and continued enjoyment for all members.
Rest assured, your feelings are legitimate, and this incident will guide our future decisions as we strive to serve the best interests of our entire community.
The Old School Team