For those who missed it, Mod Warden has sadly announced that he's moving on from Jagex after two years as RS3's Executive Producer.
I think it's safe to say that Mod Warden has left RS3 in a significantly better state than it was in when he first arrived. The past two years have been some of the best RS3 has had in a very long time; When Warden first took the reins in 2019, RS3 was in a period of stagnation. Content droughts had become a semi-regular occurrence, projects just weren't coming together *cough*WeaponDiversity*cough*, and overall the development of the game felt... aimless, for lack of a better word. This was reflected in the playerbase numbers; at the time he was hired, RS3 had its lowest concurrent player counts in the game's history.
It took some time for Warden's efforts to remold the team to take root. Even after Archaeology, arguably the most polished and feature-complete skill RuneScape's ever had, was released, there was a few months without any new major content. But little did we know that Warden was spending that time making sure that, aside from one case earlier this year by the unprecedented Login Lockout, it would be the last major drought for the foreseeable future.
The Monthly Cadence initiative has been running for about a year now, and it has worked wonders. Late 2020 through now have seen reliable, mostly high-quality content drops. We're getting frequent large Ninja Strikes and patches alongside things like a highly successful Penguins rework, a year-spanning 20th anniversary miniquest, and, of course, the Elder God Wars; perhaps the most popular God Wars Dungeon to date. The playercount has even stayed at 2014-era highs!
I'm sad to see you go, Mod Warden. While your tenure wasn't perfect, and there were some decisions I strongly disagreed with, it's clear that RS3's recent return to form came about in no small part thanks to your leadership. I only hope that your replacement doesn't fumble the torch that you've passed.
14-Oct-2021 05:50:40
Comprehensive Account Security