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~ RuneScape Mysteries, Oddities, Rumors, and Trivia by TimeLierG - 6/12/2023 ~
* A list of some of the things that fascinate me about RuneScape or video games as a whole, my favorite thing about a game will always be the intrigue and mysteries about them, the unused content, the strange easter eggs, the question of why a developer added something. I wrote these down as they came to my mind one at a time so there's no order to them. I hope you enjoy this kind of stuff as much as I do.
~ The Golden Tools Mystery / Hidden Luck Stat Theory ~
Everyone knows about snagging the gold tools during the Priest in Peril quest (and how much it sucks that you can't use them), but I've always wondered if this has some kind of effect on the game. If you miss your chance to get the golden tools (if I am remembering properly you have a very small window to actually pick them up before you use your silver key) then your character will say something along the lines of "something bad will happen if I mess with these", or at least that's what I remember from 2006 and then from OSRS later on, I know they actually very weirdly changed dialogue during that quest after RS2. I remember the king of Varrock used to call you "mentally deficient" from 2004 to whatever year they changed it in, probably around 2016 in OSRS. Now he just calls you an imbecile. Supposedly according to Jagex mentally deficient people aren't allowed to exist in the world of Gielinor.
Anyway, as I was saying, I can't remember the dialogue exactly but your character implies bad things will happen if you take those tools. Why is it that they only programmed this line after the quest is complete and not during it when you have the silver key? Your character has no issue with taking the golden tools during the quest but afterwards? He refuses to take them. Also what bad things happen when taking them? I've always had the idea of a hidden "luck" stat in RuneScape when I was younger and I still do, I think it may have been a genuine possibility at the time. I'm not that familiar with how things work in online games when it comes to server sided code, but is it possible that something such as an invisible luck system could be in place without players being able to see it? I know Jagex was not very secure back in the day with their servers considering the item duplication / spawning bug happened from Kaitnieks but all that online stuff was pretty new.
If a hidden luck stat was / is possible what would it effect? I highly doubt they would implement something as severe as higher item drop rates just because you stole a quest item, RuneScape has always been a very forgiving MMO in comparison to other MMOs at the time. I have no theories on what it would effect, honestly. It's just strange that the game allows you to take the golden tools to begin with and even adds dialogue after the quest (technically just after that section of the quest) is completed. I can think of a few other examples of this like the Temple of Ikov and Hazeel Cult quests where you have decisions to make which effects the outcome and you receive different items depending on which sides you choose. Hooray... uh, Carnillean armor and an Armadyl Pendant... I suppose the pendant would kind of have a use years later for the GWD if you didn't have anything else. By the way, why was the Hazeel mark item red in the RS2 beta, yellow in 2004, and then white in OSRS? Also why is the Armadyl pendants gem white on male characters but red on female characters? The Lathas' amulet which was removed from the game in 2004 has the same model as the Armadyl pendant yet the gem is red for both male and females. This stuff fascinates me so much.
~ The Blurberry Badge / Gianne Badge ~
The Blurberry Badge, supposedly released in 2002 is an item that was found in the code of RuneScape but no reports of players obtaining it have surfaced. It's examine text says, "An official cocktail maker" and the item itself is not within the cache / code of RS2, RS3, or OSRS. It was only in RSC. It's the same deal with the Gianne Badge, except the description for this one says, "an official gianne chef", all lowercase, which most likely means it is unfinished and was not in the game. It's strange that the Blurberry badge has capitalization though. I'm interested to know if these are equipable or not, if so, what would be the point of wearing them? Cosmetics in RSC are non-existent for the most part outside of the holiday items for Christmas, Halloween, Easter so having another item that appears on your character would be interesting. The only thing you really would see people wear in RSC is a rune platebody, rune platelegs, dragon med, legends cape, dragon sq, etc. Or a rune chain if you wanted Klank's gaunts. That was your verity. The badges could of also been as simple as proving you were hired as a cook for the minigame, or maybe it would be mandatory to wear it during the minigame itself.
Not much else can be said about this.
~ Sweets ~
Why did Jagex choose purple sweets from all of the other colors of sweets from the 05 Halloween event? Purple is an excellent color but still, why not keep all of the sweets in the game instead of just the purple ones? They had green, pink, red, white, blue, dark blue, and then the purple ones. I also find it strange how it almost seemed like they were going with the same colors as party hats but then added an additional blue variant. And yes, I consider the "purple" phat in RSC to be pink. Did they keep the purple ones for the same reason as why the purple party hat has the lowest drop rate from a cracker, purple being a royal color and all. By the way, in more recent times I was hearing about a rumor of a "black partyhat" that was supposedly implemented in RSC at the same time as the others, you'd think the people behind the item creation / spawning / duping exploit would of seen it! Or you know, someone taking a screenshot of it. It is stated that Jagex turned these black partyhats into purple or white ones months after their release. I don't know why I decided to bring this rumor up, I just thought it was funny I suppose.
~ Ring of Wealth Hidden Effect / Clue Scroll Caskets ~
I've sometimes worn a ring of wealth when I was younger, I always thought about the ring of wealth giving an additional effect aside from what is already known such as it removing empty slots on the rare drop table and having that currency pick up effect (was that pick up toggle always on the ring? I don't remember that). It always seemed very suspicious to me that there would be a ring in the game with such a useless effect, if rings were enchantable in 2001-2003 during the RSC era it would be extremely useful as the rare drop table had more of a use in that version of the game since dragon med helms and dragon sq shield were best in slot. Maybe they had that effect in mind originally but delayed it to 2004. Do you know what else came out in 2004? Treasure trails. The ring of wealth and treasure trails were released one month a part from each other. Fast forward to around 2016-2017, I'm playing on my HCIM on OSRS while watching a recording of a jmod couch stream, this stream was an older one as if I'm remembering correctly it was before HCIM was released. I can't remember the date of the stream but it was a stream by jagex (OSRS team) about RuneScape (OSRS / RS2) myths and rumors and saying which ones are real and which ones aren't.
During this stream a jmod just casually mentions that the RoW effects clue scroll rewards, specifically the rarer clue loot tables (third age / gilded table). I've actually just found the stream now and it's just as I remember it, the jmods ask players to guess whether a myth is true or not and they correct the players who voted true or false if they are wrong. This specific question was, "wearing a ring of wealth upon completing a clue scroll will give you better loot". 82% of players guessed no out of 403 votes and then were corrected by the jmods on the couch who said it was true, there was no laughing or jokes, they said it honestly and proceeded to elaborate more which is when they mentioned that it effects the "rare drop clue table". It should be noted that the jmods were actually wrong on some of the other myths, so perhaps they are not a reliable source. The jmods said the chance increase is miniscule and then asked an rs3 developer who was in the room if it was the same in rs3 as well, to which, unsurprisingly, they said they don't know. At the end of the day, what do rs3 developers know? Anyway, there's no proof either way for this one but it is strange how almost all of the jmods agreed it did have an effect on clue scrolls.
~ The Spinach Roll ~
Even though I first played RuneScape in very late 2005 (I often say 2006 to keep it simple, I started so late in 2005 that it may as well be in 2006) I have still played RSC when they relaunched the servers and also in PS's later on as well, I also went back on when they officially closed for good and recorded footage of it closing for memories sake. I say this because I was not around for when the spinach roll gave a supposed 5+ strength boost before the first of December in 2001, it's not known when this boost was removed. They also supposedly stacked with strength potions and may have even stacked with other spinach rolls endlessly similar to the infinite beer strength boost. If you are wondering why I am writing about this item it's just due to the fact of how hard it is to come by and it's strange history, the first time it was introduced into the game seems to be through Traiborn as both Traiborn and the roll were added on January 4th 2001, then were added to moss giants, then Christmas crackers, then to the crystal chest when it was released in February 27th 2002 (not sure if spinach rolls were always a drop from the chest, being the RS archiver / historian that I am I should probably know this), and finally to the strange barrels in Legend's Quest from 20th of August in 2003.
~ Time, Reality, and Illusion Runes ~
There's a few unused runes in RSC that seem interesting, I'm obviously not going to mention every single piece of unused content in this post but I figure I'd just show these off cause they are intriguing. I won't mention the life rune because everyone knows about that one and how it was going to be used for a form of necromancy / summoning.
Time Rune - "An incredibly rare master rune!"
Reality Rune - "An incredibly rare master rune!"
Illusion Rune - "An incredibly rare master rune!"
These runes just have a blank rune essence sprite unlike the unused life rune which shows a sun and were removed from the game files in June 2001. I really want to know what these would have been used for, I assume the reality / illusion runes were connected in the same way other rune pairings go such as chaos / law and mind / body. I actually just had a thought as I am writing this, it seems if the life rune was added it would of fit well with the death rune. It's interesting that there is a "rune essence" sprite in RSC to begin with but it was most likely a placeholder when creating the designs for the runes themselves and the Gowers probably just placed the design on top of the blank one, I'm not sure if they planned to have runecrafting back then or not.
~ Bonzara the Monkey ~
I've never encountered this guy before, he is a monkey dressed in purple with what looks like a staff or crozier with the symbol of Marimbo on the top of it. He can only be encountered just at the end of Monkey Madness after you defeat the jungle demon and the gnomes leave the platform, after this you can enter a gorilla statue in which you are now in his domain. Unless my dates are wrong, Monkey Madness was released in December 6th of 2004 yet Bonzara was released in February 22nd 2005. Bonzara was also in the games cache on the same release date as Monkey Madness. It's a mystery as to why Jagex added him as all he does is teleport you to the northern woods of Ape Atoll if you tell him you need help. He has very interesting dialogue...
"It looks like you're trying to escape. Would you like some help?"
"No thank you. Who are you by the way?"
"Never mind that child. You should worry more about who you are and the nature of the forces that have driven you here."
"I'll ... keep that in mind, thanks."
"We WILL meet again, (says the players username)."
If you tell him that you would like to leave...
"I ... uh ... yes."
"Right you are."
It should be noted that you do not need a m'speak amulet to speak with him, nor do you need a greegree. His examine text says, "A small monkey dressed in purple clothes. He looks like a priest.". I just realized how funny it would be if a Marimbo general was a boss in the GWD, they would probably have a bunch of bonzaras running around.
~
Before I continue with more interesting things everything written above was from June 2023, I am making this update here from 8/21/2023, I had forgotten that I was even writing this and it was saved as a draft. I need some time to remember my train of thought since it's been a few months, ha. I'll just post what I wrote down for now as what is there I'm sure some will find interesting.
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