RuneScape Plots Your Death With New Deadman Survival Mode

You have to hand it to Jagex. The RuneScape developer isn't content to just keep pumping out the same old content for its decade-plus-old MMORPG. First there was the DarkScape update, which upped the ante for player vs. player combat, and now the devs are almost ready to unleash a new mode for the game, meant to emulate hardcore survival games like DayZ, H1Z1, and Ark.

Old-school RuneScape Product Manager Mathew Kemp has a blog post going live today, which Jagex was kind enough to share with us a little early. Next week, Deadman Mode will go live, and (nearly) nowhere will be safe. When a player is killed, he loses 50% of his XP, any items he was carrying, and the most valuable item from his bank, which goes to the killer.

But this is an MMMORPG, and as Kemp notes, you can't just hamper everyone's progress in an MMORPG like you could in a "true" survival game. That's why, when you attack a non-flagged character, you become flagged, and town guards will attack you on sight. Attacking a flagged character carries no such burden. So if you do choose to become a serial killer, you'll find yourself with lots of enemies, and likely very few friends, something Kemp thinks will lead to "an uneasy peace." Or "a huge amount of violence." He's not sure which.

Does this sound like something you would try?