Now as for tutorials they have been hosting this item on flow called stutorials at which Mod Stu breaks all the different tutorials and why they have been substituted, their strengths, their flaws, etc... The flows are stored in their buy OSRS gold twitch and I highly recommend checking them out for a more thorough response....But it basically falls back to tutorial island was nostalgic/iconic and great at getting the basic gist of the game's principles. While burthope and its path system is designed to give players advice but also have them experience stuff at their own pace providing a better intro to the match sandbox feel. They also needed Burthope since they added the ability for F2P to level most member skills up to a limited amount, so F2P needed things like an agility course and what not.
So I was in the living area of my flat performing a Vorkath job when my roommate finally broke down and asked me to show him Runescape. So, I get him set up on his notebook and he begin doings tutorial island. The entire time I'm hoping it goes well, but I couldn't have imagined how much he'd like this game. To provide a very clear image of what kind of person he is, allow me to provide a fast description. He is 22, well adjusted, and likes to play puzzle games (we just wrapped up The Witness if anyone knows what that is). Consequently, if you believe in terms of either someone who played with if they were younger, or somebody getting roped in by somebody who plays, this feels like a decently average new player.
When he got to Vampyre slayer, he told him he had to go train because he was just like level 6 still, but he said he wished to do it still. I believed that could be the end, which he would quit playing and there. No, right back in it. I, like most folks, thought that Adventurer John was really dumb, but he liked having the little goals to guide him.
I was really quite curious to see how he responded to the skeleton. I didn't need to tell him but he was also essentially a level still and could get stomped. I watched as he took the skull, along with the horns got on him, and he started fighting back. I watched for a bit and then told him to run when he hit like 3 hp left. When I asked him why he did not run right away, he said it instinctively felt just like the skeleton was safeguarding the skull and that he had to kill it to advance.
When I woke up this day, he was in the living room playing. Apparently, he's spent like 3 hours Ernest the Chicken, along with the mad man did it without a manual. He's determined to not look things up, as he wants to experience the entire world naturally. Then we sat down and attempted to work out how to do the damn cipher out of X Marks the Spot. When he got the beginner clue, I advised him to not get his hopes up since the loot is pretty bad. Inside my mind, I thought beginner clues flopped since they are not a good moneymaker and not really worth the time. I completely forgot about those wanderingly new players who just see it as a different call to adventure. After a very fast 2 step clue, he obtained his casket, and opened it. This man was happy over an Air Staff and Steel Platelegs. He immediately went into the chickens to go get 5 defence to put them on.
Moral of the story: I now think of new players otherwise. I really don't think about these as those desperately trying to play the f2p servers. Yes, they'll get there eventually, but it's so simple for them to spend 10+ hours wandering aimlessly having the best time of it. All these little things they have added over the years are probably helping these new OSRS Money players more than people as a somewhat cynical community might want to think. As much as I expect my roommate ends up playing this game a lot and I have a brand new raids spouse, right now it's quite fun, and quite funny to watch him experience the sport for the very first time.