We know you'll have a lot of questions, but here's the key information - we're going to postpone the Equipment Rebalance changes.
The best move for us right now is to take the time to conduct additional analysis, continue to iterate on the design and work further on how we implement it.
We still believe in what we're trying to achieve with the Rebalance, and we strongly believe that important unpolled game balance changes are needed. That said, we know some of you think that our implementation felt rushed. To that end, we're planning on using the extra time to strengthen the proposal. Our blogs, our streams, and the many platforms for engagement are all opportunities for us to better understand your needs and concerns, all while aligning with our desires for integrity and balance.
It hasn't gone unnoticed that even supporters of the Rebalance wanted a better understanding of future game content, and to understand what was coming to fill the gap. Postponing the changes puts us in a better position to focus on more individual items, align the proposal against new content and to introduce you to some of the items that are coming.
We've made no secret of the fact that we were planning to make these changes before the release of Combat Achievements. That hasn't changed. We believe that it would be a mistake to release the Combat Achievements before the rebalance, so we're postponing that release too. The Achievements would inevitably become harder following the balancing changes (such as a Blowpipe nerf). Many of you said that it feels incredibly unfair to change the difficulty of in-game accomplishments, and we think this would also apply to Combat Achievements.
As you know, we were planning to make these changes live with tomorrow's game update. The postponement means that there'll be no game update tomorrow. The next update will be on Wednesday February 17th, when you can expect to be monkeying around with the Old School 8th Birthday Holiday Event and you'll be able to explore Wild Varrock alongside some updates to Last Man Standing. There will also soon be a sneak peek (and a poll) at what lies Below Ice Mountain.
As for when we're looking to release this... we're not going to predict a date for it just yet. But you'll be kept informed well in advance.
We'll be discussing this postponement and answering any questions that arise on Thursday's livestream. Join us on Twitch at 5pm GMT!
The Old School Team