Veteran Runescape players rebel against proposed new skill that would see them lose their top-level capes

Old School Runescape developer Jagex is facing an uphill battle introducing the MMO's first new skill in 16 years, partly as it would mean veteran players losing a highly sought-after cape. 

Jagex proposes a new skill to players every now and then – the last was Warding back in 2019 – but the studio requires the community to vote in favour of it before it's implemented. One of the more consistent obstacles over the past 11 years, though, has been the Max Cape.

Introduced back in 2011, the cape can be purchased for 2,772,000 coins once a player reaches at least level 99 in all 28 skills. It’s mostly a status symbol that unlocks an unyielding amount of emotes, though being able to teleport to the Max Guild is handy. The issue, however, is that adding another skill means those players aren’t technically appropriately levelled in every skill anymore, making the cape unwearable. 

Since the cape was introduced 11 years ago, Jagex has proposed three new skills for the MMORPG, each failing to pass the vote. Once more, the developer proposes adding a new skill to the game, explaining its rationale in a blog post. The update touches on a few things, perhaps least surprisingly the topic of max capes.

“Those who achieve the enormous prestige of maxing their account have shown the utmost dedication and loyalty to our game,” the post reads. “We want to ensure you receive the same loyalty and respect in return.

“Losing a Max Cape can be a huge inconvenience because of the quality-of-life options it offers. A lot of maxed players simply don’t remember what it was like to play without their Cape, having used it for so many years. Having to make such a big adjustment overnight would understandably be a deal-breaker for any new skill, no matter how good.”

In a bid to sway the cape-toting Runescape players towards voting for a new skill, Jagex proposes several solutions: a grace period allowing max players to keep their cape for some time following the new skill’s launch, letting players keep their capes and add a “trimmed cape” for maxing any new skills, or just keep things as is. 

“The one thing we don’t want is for the Max Cape issue to block the possibility of a new skill ever entering the game,” the blog adds. “Instead, we want the community to guide our decision – after all, you’re the ones doing the hard work of maxing those skills!”

As you might expect, a debate is kicking off between players who fancy new skills and others who don’t fancy them. Outside of the grand cape caper, some others aren’t keen on Old School Runescape getting new skills as they fear it might subtract from the ‘Old School’ part of the game.

why_max_capes_should_not_still_be_usable_after_a from r/2007scape

The poll is already live, so we need only wait and see if Old School Runescape gets its first new skill since 2006. 

Eight years after release, one of Runescape’s hardest modes has its first truly max-level player.