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Hi, and welcome back to the Behind the Scenes! We used to publish articles like this to let you know about upcoming updates, so you could plan ahead. For a number of reasons, we tried other ways of talking about content, but nothing was as popular as the Behind the Scenes. But now...it’s back!

Behind the Scenes – June

Characters from RuneScape are due to be arrested for crimes ranging from Littering to Assault & Battery, and will need a hero to represent them. To prosecute or defend their cases, you’ll need to obtain a ‘court summons’ from Treasure Trails, by pickpocketing NPCs or from a few other methods. After gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses, comparing fingerprints and identifying weak members of the Jury, you’ll have the chance to prove their innocence or send them away for a very long time. The choice is entirely yours, and healthy doses of Attack or Defence XP await those clever enough to solve the case.

The cases are written to make you think and raise a chuckle, so we’re hoping you’ll enjoy solving them as much as we enjoyed writing them. Fancy prosecuting the Drunken Dwarf for disruptive behaviour? Perhaps you feel his freedom to call everyone "matey" and ram kebabs in their hands is a basic Dwarven Right (don’t worry, it won’t result in the return of him as a random event). Thanks to everyone who gave us feedback after reading the blog: it really helped to shape the content, especially in terms of where the court summons drops come from.

The first courtroom launch will feature 5 different cases and a new piece of costume. You can expect more cases over the next twelve months: we have 16 cases planned in total!

Also this month, we will be introducing ancient effigies to the game, available through high-level combat. These objects ask very experienced (level 91-97) players to use a variety of skills to engage in a little restoration. Players with insufficient skill levels will still be able to use the Assist System to work at the effigy and claim the benefits. Naturally, asking for skills of these kinds of levels makes for some very generous XP rewards.

After 2008's Spirit of Summer and Summer’s End quests, and the Mysteries of the Mahjarrat quests in 2009, we decided to release another complete quest series this year. As usual, we want to outdo ourselves and, rather than settle for a storyline made up of just quests, we have decided to make three quests and a related activity! Throughout the series, you’ll learn more about the different orders of knights in the game and the relationship between them all, especially regarding the mysterious Void Knights and their pests.

June will see the launch of the first of these quests - Quiet Before the Swarm: an 'intermediate level' quest (the highest requirement is 42 Strength) that is heavily puzzle and story-oriented, linking to favourite characters of ours like Sir Tiffy. There’s no equipment preparation needed for the quest, aside from completing (but not necessarily winning) a single game of Pest Control. If you fancy a game, try World 144, and if you’d like to read more about the Void Knight series, read the blog.

In other news...

Some of the ‘In other news...’ you can expect to see this month will be: adding a waypoint marker to your world map; making it easier to get hunter supplies from the penguin areas; and adding new functionality to the Orb of Oculus (machinima camera). We’ve also opened RS Classic sign-up until Tuesday 15th June for any members who fancy a nostalgic trip to yesteryear.

If community events are more your type of thing, why not get involved in our Triumvirate community game? There are a series of events happening, focusing on three factions – the Reavers, Lords and Judges. These events are run and organised by our Player Support teams and you, the players. If you’d like to know more, check out the main Triumvirate thread. This weekend sees a huge series of 27 Castle Wars battles, making use of last week’s Castle Wars update (originally intended for a June launch, but launched a week early for you to war over the Bank Holiday weekend). I hope to see you there!

Enjoy!

Mod Mark
RuneScape Lead Designer