One of the most exciting parts of Sailing has been how much you’ve helped shape it. When we first started with Sailing, we were committed to making it one of the most community driven updates we've ever created. With that in mind, we asked ourselves, "what if we just let players design their own island?" and here we are!
This is next-level community involvement and we're so unbelievably amazed by how incredible the talent that has been shown from the community. The competition has now closed, and we’d like to thank absolutely everyone who took part.
We received over 1,400 entries to this competition, and we were absolutely blown away by your ideas. We were truly honoured to read through each and every submission. We were especially touched by some of the personal messages you shared about the game in your e-mails.
A panel of J-Mods from the Sailing team have had the incredibly difficult task of selecting four finalists. Today, you’ll get to vote for your favourite using a ranked-choice vote. Before we get into each potential island, it's important to remember that details can and will likely change throughout development. We're presenting each design to you as it has been submitted, however, there are certain aspects of each entry that we would need to tweak, adapt or cut to better suit the needs of the game, our scope for the project, and most importantly, our community. When you cast your vote, please keep in mind that details such as level requirements might change and certain features might need to be cut or adapted where we see fit.
When voting, we ask that you pick based on the general idea of each design, rather than individual features included within them, because it is subject to change. Some of these pitches may need to have elements removed to stay within the scope of our project, so please keep that in mind. Overall, we're keen to keep the spirit of the design as close to the original as possible, and we pledge to work alongside the entrant to make sure that they are happy with the final design, polled later.
At the end of each pitch, be sure to check out our 'Dev Comment'. We'll briefly outline what we like about each design and also what we're thinking of adapting or tweaking at this early stage!
Which of the following Player Designed Island pitches would you like to see refined further by the team?
Dev Comment: We picked this pitch for a few reasons. First, the PvP-style boss is unique and super interesting. We felt that the proposed Crafting method synergises nicely with the Agility course and leans into traditional methods that haven't seen much love for a while. Plus, the narrative is compelling and ties the content nicely together. However, if this design were to move forward, we like to see increased difficulty with the PvP boss beyond just mechanical difficulty, such as with stat increases. Additionally, we would likely want to add more amenities on the island, e.g. shops, ranges, water sources. Overall though, lots of potential here! Great work.
This player has also submitted a video alongside their entry here.
Dev Comment:First of all, the map looks great and this pitch really sold their vision. We really like the boss concept and the mechanics, plus the skilling acitivites are also very unique and slot nicely into the overall theme. If this idea were to move forward, we would need to adjust some of the rewards. At this stage, we don't want to add more potions than we already have in the game. The potion effects could be introduced, but in other ways. We also think getting cloth for the golems could lead to player frustration, so that would be something we'd look to change. Lastly, the ability to buy tasks from the Slayer master would not be something that we would feel comfortable adding to the game, so this would be changed if successful. Great work!
The following text is copied exactly verbatim from the player submission sent to Jagex.
Slymespire Isle [Sailing req: 85]
In the far north, north-west of Wintertodt somewhere in the Everwinter sea an eerie light emanating from the top of a desolate rocky outcrop has been reported by mariners. Some call it a blessing, warding them away from treacherous rocks while others argue it is a lure to ensnare adventurers, all agree the strange glow coming from it is altogether unnatural and the fuel that keeps it lit, unknown.
The island is largely barren with a lack of vegetation apart from an abundance of seaweed amassing at sheltered rockpools, which supports a fragile ecosystem of various crabs and new snail variants - closely related to their Morytania cousins. skeletons of abandoned crewmates are dotted around with their last written accounts detailing their demise. Nesting seabirds occupy one side of the cliffs with the only life at beach level being some hardy snails and crabs, although there's some peculiar noises coming from a seacave.
Beyond the exciting geographical features some of the reasons players will want to visit the island are the 3 new skilling activities for Prayer/Hunter, Agility and Crafting. The Prayer/Hunter activity will incorporate many of the new birds released with sailing whilst also provide some moderate prayer XP that doesn't rely on processing bones. The agility course will be similar to existing gameplay loops with an added emphasis on collecting spawns of items along a course (similar to how marks of grace appear) and subsequently depositing them in an appropriate location. Finally, the crafting activity will take place within the cave on the island and involve processing the shells of 3 new recoloured snails (6 new variants altogether) into bowls and then offering these in tribute at a mysterious altar.
When docking on the island players will likely first explore the nearby shipwreck and find an intriguing, but sadly locked, Whalebone Chest and the skeletal remains of an ancient mariner. Whilst there's no explicit quest for the island, adventurers might be able to find some scattered threads of a story dotted about which detail the bad omens from shooting down albatross at sea and the consequent seaslug induced repercussions. This will partly link with the new Prayer/Hunter activity but also introduce the brand new creature which has the chance of dropping unique items to be crafted into combat orientated gear as well as the Whalebone Key, with the chest having a further chance of containing some skill/combat orientated rewards.
The three new snail variants, rock-marl snail, frost-marl snail and moss-marl snail will each inhabit appropriate microclimates on the island. Their hardy environment has evolved them into tougher creatures than their Morytania cousins, while still attacking with magic these snails will deal considerably more damage when not wearing a snelm and be in the level 70-90 range.
Skilling Activities
Looting seabird nests
- Hunter based activity which involves baiting a feed station, waiting for the bird to leave the nest and approach the bait, and then looting the nest (fish, seeds, herbs etc) where players can also find soul fragments. Appropriate birds could be Terns, Osprey and Albatross with higher level birds giving better rewards, i.e. Albatross nests requiring higher hunter levels giving more than lower level Tern nests. These soul fragments can be offered to the eerie light coming from the beacon atop the cliff for a chunk of prayer XP. Thematically the albatross carrying the souls of lost mariners also ties in with the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and other maritime myths.
Cliffside scramble
- Agility based activity similar to existing courses but with some new geological features to traverse mixed with some appropriate sailing related objects, i.e. scaling down a cliff using a washed up drift net. Once the player has reached the cliff edge the course diverts into 3 different ways based on agility level. Higher level segments will have a higher chance of spawning higher level coloured shells which are to be collected and distributed into one of the 3 appropriately coloured rockpools at the bottom of the course (alternating) - rewarding the player with a chunk of agility XP.
Seaslug tributes
- Crafting/Combat based activity. Snails can be fought throughout the island and cave, dropping their valuable shells. The player will craft these into snailshell bowls to be used on one of 3 coloured slimy seaweed rock veins (alternating, similar to Tears of Guthix) located within Gleamtrail Cave. These veins contain either blue, green or brown enriched seaweed water which can be collected using the matching coloured snail shell bowl. These filled bowls can then be offered to the seaslug shrine in the south-east part of the island where they will recieve a large chunk of crafting XP from the glorious Frost Slug Prince's that inhabit the area. Snail bowls will also require differing crafting levels and consequently give differing rates of XP, i.e. the Frost-marl Snail shell might require 70 crafting while the Rock-marl shell 50.
Gleamtrail Cave
As well as hosting the new crafting activity the dungeon will also contain some of the higher level combat encounters for players to attempt, with more lucrative rewards, even more lucrative than new snelms. Upon entering the cave adventurers will be met with regular seaslugs and seaweed veins. To the north is an area containing all 3 snail variants in one convenient location and to the east a new Slug Prince variant - Frost Slug Princes. These are higher level than the regular quest counterpart (~120) but with the same immunity to ranged and magic based attacks, a good source of noted seaweed, swamp tar and other appropriately slimy drops.
Those seeking richer rewards will want to make their way to the north of the cave. Here they will discover a new high level creature (~220) offering access to new mid/high level combat gear and the chance of dropping the Whalebone Key for skilling related unique items.
Attacking at distance with range and magic this 3x3 creature will need to be prayed against to avoid taking one of it's brutal hits. This fight will require some attention to kill, i.e. a step down from demonic gorillas. Part of the challenge of this grind will be the scarcity of the island itself, with no bank chest and only a couple fishing spots for food players will need to find efficient ways of lengthening their stays.
A few ideas for unique drops and contents of Whalebone Chest:
- Frost Shell (unique drop). An item to be crafted into either the Frostspire helm or Deathspire Gauntlets.
- Deathspire Gauntlets will act as an upgraded version of Chaos Gauntlets for Blast spells.
- The Frostspire helm will act as magic oriented gear, giving a small damage boost to elemental water spells.
- Seasnail shield (unique drop). An item above the level of a granite shield that also offers some elemental magic protection
- Seaweed sack (chest). A sack capable of storing an additional 28 seaweed/giant seaweed.
- Jar of heads (chest). A jar capable of storing an additional 28 ensouled heads.
- Mariners bow (chest). A bow, similar in level to a magic bow, that fairs better on sea than land.
- Taxidermy parrot (chest). A cosmetic parrot to wear in the cape slot.
Music ideas: Something eerie and hypnotic that evokes a feeling of isolation.
Dev Comment:This was in our shortlist as we really enjoyed the unique thematic of this island. The Agility course slots nicely into the environment and the activities sparked many ideas for reward space among the team. If this idea were to move forward, we would look to tweak some of the rewards for various reasons. Some of them feel undertuned or lack a clear purpose. Additionally, whilst we do love the thematic of the island, we would want to steer it away from the 'Slug Prince' thematic as that may be better saved for future quests. Lastly, the team would look to iterate on the 'Tears of Guthix' style Crafting activity to make it a little more unique/engaging. Great work!
The following text is copied exactly verbatim from the player submission sent to Jagex.
This island sits somewhere in the Unquiet Ocean, a sanctuary for a new race, the Sea Gnomes. A new species of Gnome, a distant cousin from the Tree Gnomes, these aquatic beings are a peaceful and solitary race that tend to reside underwater.
On the island (and under the water surrounding it), players can find several amenities after the completion of a short quest.
- A gnome glider and spirit tree for transportation.
- A new player owned house portal.
- A herbalist and farming shop.
- A bank and altar.
- A port noticeboard and cargo table.
- In addition to this standard amenities, the island comes with two new features:
A new slayer master - This master's tasks can only be completed by killing monsters found on the new sailing islands. Much like Konar, they reward a high amount of slayer points per kill and monsters killed have a chance to drop a loot key. This key can be used to open a chest for sailing materials - boat parts, repair kits, cannonballs, seeds, etc.
A new agility course - This course has a unique mechanic similar to Zalcano - you can choose between receiving higher agility xp rates or choose to receive medium xp rates whilst also receiving loot. I'd like to incorporate some sort of random event system into the course, with time based shortcuts that appear occasionally, similarly to the Prifddinas Course's portals
.Dev Comment: We liked this entry because the environment and thematic felt familiar in an Old School way and it's something we can see easily fitting into Gielinor. We see a lot of potential in the Agility course, and could see the Slayer master working with some tweaks. Overall, this design really seemed to fit within our scope for the project and felt well considered. If it were to move forward, we would seek to iterate on the Slayer master and consider where it sits in relation to other Slayer masters. In particular, there needs to be a clear ruleset of what constitutes 'an island'. The team generally also felt there was space to get a little more exciting and give this design a little more of a wow factor to make it distinct from other areas of the game, whether that is tweaks to the amenities or a niche reason to go there for account progression. Overall though, really great work.
The standard of entries in this competition was so incredibly high. We read through every one. It was clear that players had put passion into this project, and we were truly inspired by your submissions. Thank you to everyone who took part. On a personal note, if your entry did not make the shortlist, we would really like to emphasize this: please don’t be disheartened or feel that it was time wasted. Making this choice was incredibly difficult for the team. We could see many of these submissions fit into the game, and many of the entries made us want to consider how we could combine certain submissions together. The team would absolutely love to explore the possibility of incorporating some of the ideas from this competition as inspiration for future projects (with each entrant’s permission of course!). So, although unsuccessful, keep persevering with your ideas and passion. We would love to showcase some of the entries that didn't quite make our shortlist but had real potential some day, perhaps on a future livestream.
Nevertheless, a massive congratulations to the four players who have made the shortlist! We’ll contact you about your prizes and what happens next shortly after the Summit concludes.
Now, it's down to you. Make sure to check each entry and cast your vote!
Remember, the winning design will be taken forward by the team, designed, polled and hopefully launched into the game as a brand-new island to explore.
As it’s difficult to scope out how much time we’ll need at this stage, we don’t have a release date in mind yet but we'd like to release it in the Summer, depending on the scale of the winning design.
You can also discuss this update on the 2007Scape subreddit, the Steam forums, or the community-led OSRS Discord in the #gameupdate channel. For more info on the above content, check out the official Old School Wiki.
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