Highlights
- RuneScape 3 quests offer fun stories and rewards, like the sea monster adventure "Deadliest Catch" from 2011.
- Players of Old School RuneScape could benefit from including RS3 quests like "Forgiveness Of A Chaos Dwarf" into their gameplay.
- The voice-acting mystery "One Piercing Note" is a thrilling experience from 2011 that is worth considering for Old School RuneScape.
Despite the sometimes fierce sibling rivalry that exists between players of Jagex's RuneScape 3 and Old School RuneScape, even the most dedicated players of the latter often admit that RuneScape 3 contains dozens of amazing quests.
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Some of these adventures have already been ported to Old School RuneScape, like "Land of the Goblins" and "Defender of Varrock," while others are on the way. However, RuneScape 3 is home to many more quests that could be implemented in the game's vintage version. From expeditions to capture sea monsters to sequels to much-loved classics, RS3 is a treasure trove of inspiration for Old School's creators.
1 Deadliest Catch
RS3 Release Date: 2011 | Storyline: Standalone
Human culture has long been fascinated with sea monsters, from the Kraken of Norse mythology to more recent iterations like the eponymous Jaws or Subnautica's various fearsome creatures. As such, it makes sense for RuneScape 3 to explore the trope in 2011's "Deadliest Catch." The player must draw on their Hunting and Fishing skills as they assist Jones, a fisherman, in tracking the gigantic Thalassus.
"Deadliest Catch" may not contribute hugely to RuneScape 3's wider narrative, but it does offer players a fun story and some generous rewards. Such a low-stakes adventure is a welcome break from RS3's usual melodrama, making it an ideal candidate for inclusion in a future Old School update.
2 Forgiveness Of A Chaos Dwarf
RS3 Release Date: 2009 | Storyline: Rise Of The Red Axe
Dwarves play roles in some of RuneScape's most iconic quests, from 2001's "Doric's Quest" to 2005's "Between a Rock..." However, although Old School's "Forgettable Tale of a Drunken Dwarf" (2006) sets up some intriguing plot strands, these are not resolved outside of RuneScape 3. "Forgettable Tale..." ends with the player discovering that the fiendish Red Axe faction plans to move against the Dwarven city of Keldagrim, only to then have their memory wiped by an Ogre shaman.
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While this amnesia might explain Jagex's lack of urgency as to continuing the Rise of the Red Axe plot in Old School RuneScape, RS3's "Forgiveness of a Chaos Dwarf" represents a great starting point. The Red Axe storyline may feature memory loss, but that's no reason to forget this iconic series.
3 One Piercing Note
RS3 Release Date: 2011 | Storyline: Standalone
Excellent voice acting can result in an amazing gaming experience, and Jagex moved to implement the technology in 2011's "One Piercing Note." The quest involves a murder at Al Kharid's Citharede Abbey, and the player must embrace their inner Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery before the entire sisterhood is wiped out. As usual in stories in this genre, the twists and turns make for a thrilling experience.
Admittedly, any port of "One Piercing Note" to OSRS would have to remove the voice acting to match the game's vintage tone, but this would not significantly detract from the mystery itself. Furthermore, a ruined Citharede Abbey is already present in Old School RuneScape—it may be time for Jagex to give the place a lick of paint.
4 A Fairy Tale III - Battle At Ork's Rift
RS3 Release Date: 2010 | Storyline: Fairy
RuneScape's Fairy questline is best known for giving players the ability to use fairy rings, a vast network of teleport points that spans the surface of Gielinor and beyond. The player initially uses the Fairy Ring network to locate the secret base of the Fairy Queen, who has been deposed by the criminal Fairy Godfather. While the player does succeed in restoring the sick Fairy Queen to health, control over the realm of Zanaris still hangs in the balance at the end of 2006's "A Fairy Tale II - Cure A Queen."
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Efforts to liberate Zanaris hit their stride in "A Fairy Tale III - Battle at Ork's Rift," which sees the player taking the fight to the Fairy Godfather. The liberation of Zanaris is such a natural endpoint to the Fairy storyline that the lack of this quest in Old School RuneScape feels like a glaring omission. Furthermore, the fact that "A Fairy Tale III" precedes some of RS3's most radical changes makes it a natural fit for the retro iteration, even if some rewards would need to be tweaked to suit the current Old School meta.
5 The Needle Skips
RS3 Release Date: 2018 | Storyline: The Elder God Wars
Aside from the Fishing Colony and a cave containing the Kraken boss, the north of Old School RuneScape's Piscatorius is a fairly undeveloped region of Gielinor. RuneScape 3 remedies this by adding further land to the north-west. It is this new outcrop that serves as the location for the atmospheric "The Needle Skips." The player must determine what is happening to the occupants of a remote house as they grapple with mysterious sicknesses, ancient magical artifacts, and the side effects of time travel. The result is one of RuneScape 3's most atmospheric quests.
"The Needle Skips" is part of RuneScape 3's Elder God Wars narrative, so tweaks would have to be made to better match the divergent lore of Old School RuneScape. Luckily, the quest's self-contained setting should make this relatively easy, allowing OSRS players to experience this narrative-focused hidden gem.
6 Kennith's Concerns
RS3 Release Date: 2008 | Storyline: Temple Knight
Old School RuneScape players often complete quests in the Temple Knight/Sea Slug storyline to gain access to the Prayer-boosting Proselyte equipment, a vital aid for most Slayer tasks. However, those wishing to delve deeper into the Lovecraftian tale of the mind-controlling Sea Slugs are likely to be disappointed, as the storyline ends on a cliffhanger in OSRS's "The Slug Menace."
RuneScape3 continues the narrative with "Kennith's Concerns," a stealth-focused quest, and 2011's "Salt in the Wound," which tries (and arguably fails) to resolve the Sea Slug threat satisfactorily. Indeed, criticism of the latter quest is not limited to the player base, with one Jagex employee going so far as to say that "Salt in the Wound" would never be ported to OSRS. With this in mind, any implementation of future Temple Knight quests would have to be handled carefully, but they would fill a gap in Old School lore.
7 Hunt For Red Raktuber
RS3 Release Date: 2010 | Storyline: Penguin
RuneScape 3 and Old School RuneScape are very different games, but they have one thing in common: their quest writers never miss a chance to make a silly pun. From 2003's "The Tourist Trap" to 2007's "Another Slice of H.A.M.," Jagex demonstrates a love for humorous wordplay. It's no surprise, then, that a quest called "Cold War" (2007) focuses on a group of Soviet-like penguins and their attempt to conquer Gielinor.
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The penguin plot for world domination continues in RuneScape 3's "Hunt for Red Raktuber" (2010). The player must locate and sabotage a powerful penguin submarine before it can be used for evil deeds, but they soon find themselves caught in a web of intrigue and espionage. The storyline continues in 2012's "Some Like It Cold" and 2017's "Back to the Freezer," but porting a version of the Tom Clancy-inspired "Hunt for Red Raktuber" would be a good place to start.
8 Love Story
RS3 Release Date: 2010 | Storyline: Wise Old Man
The Wise Old Man is one of RuneScape's most iconic characters. He plays a memorable role in the homicidal Draynor Bank Robbery and is also the source of the Quest Cape given to the most seasoned adventurers. The Wise Old Man already appears in one quest in Old School RuneScape (namely 2006's "Swan Song"), but its RS3 sequel, "Love Story," is currently absent from the game's vintage iteration.
"Love Story" sees the player attempt to mend the romance between the Wise Old Man and his former lover, Zenovia. In exchange for their help, the player is handsomely rewarded with Construction, Magic, Smithing, and Crafting experience, in addition to various Construction-related perks. These great rewards, plus the relatively low-key nature of "Love Story" (compared to some of RS3's more world-shaking quests), mean that it would be very much at home in Old School RuneScape.
