RuneScape Forum Archive | Castle Wars: Revamped

Mod Asherz

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

Castle Wars: Revamped

Castle Wars: Revamped (members)

The ever-popular Castle Wars minigame gets a rock-solid new look today, and - thanks to your feedback - loads of tweaks and improvements to the Castle Wars arena and gameplay. Siege warfare's never been so fun, and it's certainly never looked this good!

Our graphics team have outdone themselves: each keep impressively imposing, with thematic trappings in each, and the tunnels beneath the arena are darkly atmospheric and moodily lit. Importantly, we've stayed faithful to the core style you know so well, so whether you're manning the ramparts or sneaking as a sapper, you'll feel right at home.

Your feedback on Castle Wars has led us to implement a number of gameplay improvements, too:

Dual Currency System: Castle Wars tickets have been replaced with two currencies: silver and gold. Silver tickets buy you handy consumables such as ballista parts, potions, and chinchompas. You'll get one of these no matter how you do in the game, so you'll never finish a Castle Wars game empty handed. Those who win or draw, however, will receive gold tickets, which can be spent on the excellent armour sets used within the minigame.

Improved Castle Wars Armour: Speaking of armour, we've greatly improved the Castle Wars armour sets that can be purchased with the gold tickets - profound armour, for example, is now on par with Nex gear (within the bounds of Castle Wars). They're also now a 'hybrid' style of armour - great if you like to mix it up with magic, melee and ranged.

Usability Improvements: As well as an update to the interfaces showing the status of your castle, and the game score, there are a range of much-requested usability improvements too:

Altars in each spawn room, so there's an easy way to replenish your prayer points.

Helms can now be taken into the arena.

Wait times have been reduced and the number of people required to start a game is now 2 per team.

Damaged or unbuilt ballistas no longer count as obstacles.

Team colours have been added to barricades.

Catapult and ballista damage has been adjusted.

Ice spells now have a staggered bind time, the binding shot ability has had its bind time reduced and, while in the arena, the smash ability now has a 60% chance to hit.

Explosive potions can now be added to the Action Bar.

The tinderbox can now be picked up by multiple players.

Waiting rooms now heal you in the same way as standing in a bank does.

The Castle Wars manual has been updated.

Bandages now give more health.

Finally, the trimmed completionist cape requirement has been changed, so it is now fulfilled by speaking to Lanthus in a full set of profound armour. The cape is meant to encourage you to take part in Castle Wars and be competitive so the requirement will be easier to attain for those playing Castle Wars in the spirit it's intended.

Castle Wars is easier to get into, better-looking and a whole lot more fun than it's ever been. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a green recruit, it's time: prepare for war!

Any questions? Check out the FAQ .

Mod Asherz

Behind the Scenes Video

Take a tour of Castle Wars in our latest Behind the Scenes video:

In Other News

A selection of rare items on the Squeal of Fortune - including the swagger stick and flying goblin hat - are becoming easier to win for this week!

The patch notes archive can be seen here .

Mod Asherz

I am Death the myth and the legend!

09-Apr-2013 14:06:20 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2013 16:01:22 by Mod William

Mod Asherz

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user

FAQ

Why did you change the trimmed cape requirement?

We’ve changed the trimmed cape requirement to for two reasons:

In your feedback, we saw a lot of concern about coasting or AFK players in Castle Wars, so we wanted to rectify that by encouraging players to participate in order to win.

The general consensus from feedback was that 5000 games was an awful lot. Today's changes mean that those who participate fully and perform well in Castle Wars will obtain the profound armour most quickly, so the new requirement shifts the focus from time played to involvement and skill.

Castle Wars has always been a competitive game and that’s how we want it to remain. Players should feel encouraged to participate fully, and we hope this change will achieve that.

Why have you changed the reward structure?

To give losing players something for their time. No-one wins every time, and it’s never nice spending 20 minutes playing a game, only to lose and receive no compensation.

We want to encourage the use of consumable items. Previously, as players were saving tickets to spend on the more sought-after items, consumables were rarely used. There are a lot of cool consumable items that players can use within Castle Wars and we want to encourage their use.

It gives us more flexibility when adding future rewards.

What will happen to my Castle Wars tickets?

You’ll be glad to know that we've converting all existing Castle Wars tickets into gold tickets with this update.

I’m X amount of games towards the old 5000 Castle Wars trimmed cape requirement, what will happen to my progress?

All Castle Wars players will be given gold tickets relative to their progress through the trimmed cape requirement. This has been calculated by totaling all currently owned Castle Wars tickets and the equivalent cost of all purchased rewards, then subtracting that from the total amount of Castle Wars games played. This calculation has been made on the assumption a player has been receiving one Castle Wars ticket per Castle Wars game played.

What will happen to my currently owned Castle Wars rewards?

You’ll keep all currently owned rewards. We're not removing them, or altering how those rewards are awarded in any way.

Won't this just lead to team stacking like in Soul Wars?

Castle Wars has an inbuilt anti-stacking mechanism for combat levels. However, we do recognise that Castle Wars is a tactical, skill-based minigame, and it will be the skilled players who will dictate the outcome of the game. This is harder to track, as it varies regardless of combat level or games played.

We could add more restrictive mechanisms to counter this, but we would rather give you the freedom to play with whomever you wish, when you want to do so. We will be monitoring the issue, but our priority is to give you this freedom.

Also, as we've said, it's skilled players who dictate the outcome of a Castle Wars game. Play on the weaker side and show those stackers how Castle Wars is really played!