Info about RuneScape: Dragonwilds:

Official game description:
Special Offer
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About the Game
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**Embark on quests, level your skills and explore a beautiful hand-crafted world.**
This all-new adventure blends high-fantasy and iconic RuneScape lore on a brand new continent. RPG systems reward you with unique abilities and spells as you progress through each skill. Battle legendary RuneScape creatures like Zogres, challenge Black Knights and the entirely new and fearsome Garou, all set to a sweeping soundtrack of reorchestrated RuneScape classics and hours of brand new music.
**Locate them, throw down the gauntlet and carve your path to the Dragon Queen herself.**
Your progress will be under constant threat from the looming shadow of the Dragons, as you arm yourself and prepare to rise to face them. Follow the trail of destruction and uncover the mysteries of the continent to learn not just how to confront the dragons, but how to overcome them. Prepare potions, craft gear and push yourself to do battle with the most powerful force on the continent.
The smart money's on the dragon. But we do love an underdog!
**Summon a spectral axe to fell trees in an instant! Blink away from danger in a cloud of magic. Turn bones into... peaches?**
The Anima-rich landscape of Ashenfall offers you a power unlike any other. Conjure a tornado of fish from a lake! Explode ore veins with a snap of your fingers! Journey through the vibrant regions of Ashenfall, discover why wild magic spills from the fractured lands and harness that power to survive!
**Like all RuneScape games, community is at the heart of everything we do.**
We've shaped our entire roadmap based on player feedback, leading us to launch dedicated servers earlier than planned, introduce new combat and new quest content. Working together we're continuing to develop RuneScape: Dragonwilds. Whether you're adventuring with friends or going it alone, every opinion matters, and it's up to you to help us shape the future of our game.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds started Alpha testing in late 2024, and is launching into Early Access in Spring 2025. From here, our humble team of heroes is developing the project with player feedback at the very core.  
**This Steam Early Access game is currently not a finished game and may or may not change significantly over the course of development. To learn more about Steam Early Access, please visit the Steam Early Access FAQs.**

Release date: Apr 15, 2025

Categories: Survival, Crafting, Base Building, Cooperative Multiplayer, Open-World Exploration, Resource Management, Character Progression, Spell-based Combat

Feature scans:
- MTX: score 10; verdict: Fair (One-time purchase, no MTX); summary: User reviews predominantly criticize RuneScape Dragonwilds as a low-quality, overpriced early access survival game, frequently using 'cash grab' to describe the base purchase. However, multiple reviews confirm the absence of microtransactions, loot boxes, or pay-to-win mechanics. Speculation about future paid DLC or cosmetics exists but lacks evidence. The monetization model itself is fair (one-time purchase), despite widespread disappointment with the base game's value.
- Wiki: score 75; verdict: The Hoarder; summary: Users are heavily reliant on external wikis due to missing in-game information for crafting recipes, blueprint locations, and quest objectives. While some gameplay aspects are praised, the lack of clear guidance and occasional wiki inaccuracies create significant friction, earning a 'Hoarder' classification.
- Proton/Linux: score 10; verdict: Works Well; summary: The game runs perfectly out of the box on Linux and Steam Deck with Proton, with multiple positive reviews confirming no compatibility issues. A few reports mention a bug with the Linux dedicated server requiring a restart to allow login, but this does not affect general desktop Linux compatibility.
- Steam Deck: score 50; verdict: Tinkering Required; summary: Dragonwilds on Steam Deck is playable after significant tinkering, but suffers from inconsistent performance (25-30 FPS), broken controller support (especially virtual keyboard for typing), unreadable UI text, forced settings, and occasional stability bugs including regressions from updates. Some users have a positive experience with the right settings, but the game requires workarounds for basic functions.

- Hardware Profile:
  - Summary: Performance varies across hardware cohorts: lower-VRAM Windows systems and mid-range setups show mixed results, while higher-end Windows configurations report frequent crashes and poor optimization; Linux/Proton users report stable high framerates.
  - Sample size: 325 (5% coverage)
  - Audience skew: Review sample is heavily weighted toward Windows PCs with 10GB+ VRAM.
  - Windows 8-11GB VRAM (mixed, 86 reports): Performance is mixed; some players report playable framerates while others experience stuttering, crashes, and need for optimization.
  - Windows 12-15GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM (mixed, 72 reports): Mixed experiences: some find smooth performance, but others report crashes, freezes, and reliance on upscaling.
  - Windows <8GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM (negative, 52 reports): Mostly negative; low VRAM systems struggle with poor optimization, low FPS, and high resource usage.
  - Windows <8GB VRAM / <16GB RAM (positive, 32 reports): Generally positive despite lower VRAM; players achieve 40-60 FPS on low settings, though some crashes occur.
  - Windows 12-15GB VRAM / 32GB+ RAM (negative, 31 reports): Negative overall; high-end systems suffer from freezing, stuttering, and poor optimization.
  - Windows 16GB+ VRAM (negative, 30 reports): Negative; even top-tier hardware experiences crashes, low native FPS, and severe optimization issues.
  - Caveats: 325 of 7015 reviews expose hardware metadata.; Review sample is heavily weighted toward Windows PCs with 10GB+ VRAM.
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $10.00 - $20.00
  - Reasoning: Most reviews suggest the current $29.99 price is too high, with a common sentiment that a fair price lies between $10 and $20. While a minority consider $30 acceptable, the community's overall feedback indicates this lower range better reflects what players feel the base game is worth, especially given its early access state and limited content.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 35.0h
  - Story completion: 6.0h
  - Session length: N/A
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: Story completion evidence consistently reports 5–7 hours for the main campaign (two reviews: 5–7 and 5–6 hours). Game completion is derived from reviews stating 30+ hours to finish (e.g., 'mais de 30 horas para zerar') or 36 hours of content, indicating typical total playtime around 30–40 hours; 35 hours is a reasonable midpoint. Session length evidence is too vague or contradictory (e.g., '10 hours straight' vs. '1–2 hours battery') to extract a typical value. Endgame hours are not specified; reviewers note a lack of endgame content without quantifying playtime.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: The game offers initial fun that often fades after a few hours due to grind, harsh survival mechanics, and limited content; however, co-op play and eventual progression unlocks can restore enjoyment for some players.
  - Stance: Fun then drops
  - Anchor: After progressing past early game and unlocking tools/fast travel
  - Time to anchor: N/A
  - Friction: slow gear progression and harsh death penalty with long corpse runs; constant hunger/thirst mechanics with no early satiation options; enemies 1-2 shot you in early game; vague tutorials and no clear direction; tedious rune grind for magic builds; locked attack animations prevent dodging
  - Unlock drivers: unlocking fast travel; progression in gear and skills; playing with friends in co-op
  - Conditions: solo can feel tedious, especially for ranged/magic builds; co-op significantly increases fun and reduces grind frustration; cozy mindset with friends makes the experience better; players who enjoy slow progression and base building get more satisfaction
- Player Archetypes:
  - Nostalgic RuneScape Veteran (buy)
    - Motivation: Nostalgic re-discovery of the RuneScape world with upgraded visuals and building freedom
    - Playstyle: Seeks the classic RuneScape loop of skill grinding, nostalgic music, and iconic items like the Staff of Light or Abyssal Whip, but in a new survival sandbox
    - Experience: veteran
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: Old School RuneScape veteran; RuneScape fan; nostalgic player
    - Reference games: Old School RuneScape; RuneScape 3
  - Survival-Crafter Co-op Enthusiast (sale)
    - Motivation: Shared progression and building in a fantasy survival world with a partner or friends
    - Playstyle: Focuses on cooperative building, resource gathering, and exploration with friends; often plays with a partner or group, values base construction and relaxation
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: survival game fan; co-op player; builder
    - Reference games: Valheim; Enshrouded; Return to Moria
  - Solo Survivor Frustrated by Difficulty (no buy)
    - Motivation: Wants to enjoy the crafting and building systems without overwhelming combat pressure
    - Playstyle: Tries to enjoy exploration, building, and progression alone but is forced into combat with overly strong enemies, frequent raids, and insufficient solo scaling
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: no buy
    - Labels: solo player; casual survival gamer; builder who hates combat grind
    - Reference games: Valheim; Enshrouded


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Excellent building system (weight 0.45): Building is frequently cited as a redeeming quality, with features like structural support, braces and supports, variety of materials, and similar mechanics to Valheim. It is described as fun, intuitive, flexible, and one of the best building systems seen.
- Nice and vibrant graphics (weight 0.31): Graphics are widely praised for being nice, bright, colorful, and detailed. The world has a vibrant color palette, strong visual variety across unique zones, and decent visuals that further gameplay.
- Enjoyable overall experience (weight 0.28): General enjoyment is expressed, with reviewers having fun in bits and pieces, enjoying the game so far, and finding it great to play with friends. The game has bones of a good survival game with solid survival mechanics.
- Fun exploration and quests (weight 0.22): Exploration and early game content are highlighted as fun, with hidden chests, good level design, and a blast during early game questing and gearing for the first big boss fight. The dragon encounter with waves of lesser monsters set high expectations.
- Unique and fun spells (weight 0.2): Spells are considered unique, fun, and a cool addition. The magic system is well-received, with the radial magic menu described as fantastic, and utility spells like magic chopping trees and speeding up processing found helpful.
- Good progression systems (weight 0.17): Progression systems like tiered progression (similar to Valheim), skills with a nice perk system, and stat-boosting food are found to be fine and provide a good sense of progression, especially with magic.
- Great multiplayer co-op (weight 0.16): Multiplayer and co-op elements are praised, including the ability to host multiplayer sessions locally for free and co-op helping the experience. Multiplayer COOP worked great with no issues.
- Fun crafting and gathering (weight 0.15): Crafting and gathering mechanics are fun, including magic chopping trees, speeding up processing, early game hunting, and solo gathering like cutting trees and mining.
- Best combat in genre (weight 0.14): Combat is consistently praised as some of the best in the genre, with specific highlights including the Fire Staff. It is described as fun and passable with a good spell system.
- Satisfying boss fights (weight 0.12): Boss fights are well-designed, satisfying, and fun, with minibosses and bosses receiving positive feedback. The dragon encounter with waves of lesser monsters set high expectations.
- Good developer support (weight 0.09): New modes and developer responsiveness are positively noted, with reviewers liking the new modes and feeling that developers listen to the community and try to improve.
- Incredible cinematics (weight 0.05): Cinematics are described as incredible, adding a strong visual and narrative element to the game.
- Full voice support (weight 0.04): Full voice and subtitle support is listed, indicating good accessibility features.
- Basic but solid movement (weight 0.04): Movement is basic and worked well, providing a solid foundation for gameplay.
- Good FPS with DLSS (weight 0.04): FPS is good enough with DLSS and Frame Gen, indicating solid performance on capable hardware.
- Good concept (weight 0.04): The game has a good concept, suggesting that the core idea is well-received.
- Regular updates (weight 0.04): Updates are mentioned, likely indicating support for the game post-launch.

Common complaints:
- Forced Epic account requirement (weight 0.43): The game requires an Epic Games account to play online, even on Steam. This requirement was not disclosed at purchase and causes issues like linking problems and launch failures.
- Missing language support (weight 0.22): Several languages are missing, including Turkish, Russian, and Chinese. This exclusion frustrates non-English speakers.
- Generic and unoriginal gameplay (weight 0.22): The game does not stand out from other similar titles and feels like a clone (e.g., Valheim) but worse in every aspect.
- Overpriced for limited content (weight 0.17): The game is considered overpriced given its incomplete content and only three regions available.
- Limited character creation (weight 0.12): Character creation uses 'Body type A or B' instead of traditional male/female options, resulting in ugly characters and lack of gender selection.
- Counterintuitive user interface (weight 0.09): The UI is described as counterintuitive, leading to a poor user experience.
- Linear skill trees (weight 0.09): Skill trees are linear with no meaningful progression choices or variety, limiting character building.
- Worst survival game recently (weight 0.09): Some reviews label it the worst survival game in years, highlighting overall poor quality.

Gameplay feedback:
- Combat mix with bugs (weight 0.37): Combat includes melee, bows, and magic with combos, but has issues like poor blocking, basic movement, stamina management, animation locks, and walk-through traps.
- Magic system adds variety (weight 0.33): The game offers a magic system with spells, combos, and special abilities such as a flying axe, adding variety to combat, along with melee and ranged options.
- Survival crafting with co-op (weight 0.28): The game is a co-op survival crafting game that shares similarities with titles like Valheim and Enshrouded, featuring grinding, crafting, and base building.
- RuneScape-like skill system (weight 0.22): The skill system is similar to RuneScape, with skills like treecutting and combat trained separately, but progression may be unclear or too fast.
- Harsh survival mechanics (weight 0.19): Survival mechanics require constant eating, drinking, and health potions, with death causing inventory loss and a corpse run.
- Region-based crafting progression (weight 0.18): Progression is region-based, requiring exploring biomes, gathering new ores and hides, then defeating a boss to unlock the next area.
- Dynamic enemy and raid system (weight 0.15): Enemy spawning is based on player awareness, and AI includes hunt and raid mechanics, with events like dragon bombing runs and base raids similar to Valheim.
- Fixed map, repetitive dungeons (weight 0.12): The map is set with fixed locations, but dungeons feel copy-pasted and exploration yields same items from chests.
- Challenging puzzles and traps (weight 0.12): There are jumping puzzles with instant death and long respawn walks, boss fights with enemy waves, and traps that can be dodge-rolled through.
- Co-op required or best (weight 0.12): The game is best enjoyed with friends, as co-op is required or heavily emphasized, with community LFG via Discord/Reddit and direct connect multiplayer.
- Restricted travel and mounts (weight 0.12): Mounts are unlocked in the second region, teleportation is restricted, and fast travel costs Law Runes with crafting locked until level 50.
- Standard survival mechanics (weight 0.08): The game is a survival game with standard mechanics like hunger, thirst, and stamina management.
- Dungeon armor and gear stats (weight 0.08): Gear includes dungeon armor sets and a stat system for armor, with choices between warrior, archer, and mage sets.
- Events and quest progression (weight 0.08): Events like warbands occur, and quest progression involves exploring locations and gathering materials.
- No tutorial available (weight 0.04): There is no tutorial option available, which may confuse new players.
- Western fantasy RPG co-op (weight 0.04): The game includes western fantasy RPG co-op elements, which may attract fans of the genre.

Performance notes:
- Low FPS and stuttering (weight 0.3): Users experience low FPS (around 20-30) even on high-end hardware, with stuttering and unstable framerates. DLSS and frame generation provide minor improvements but performance remains poor.
- Frequent crashes during gameplay (weight 0.26): The game crashes repeatedly during battles, building, or reloading, often due to graphics engine errors or Unreal Engine issues. Some crashes cause progress loss.
- Poor optimization overall (weight 0.26): Users criticize the game's optimization, noting simple graphics still cause bad performance, and settings have minimal impact. The game is poorly optimized compared to similar titles.
- Graphics and hardware issues (weight 0.13): Graphics cause performance drops on high-end GPUs like RTX 4070 Ti Super and RX 7800 XT. Weather effects reduce FPS to single digits, and a lack of render distance slider worsens issues.
- Server and connectivity issues (weight 0.13): The game has poor server performance, causing disconnects and lag. One user notes the game won't launch unless Epic Online Service is stopped in task manager.
- Inconsistent performance on laptops (weight 0.09): Standard laptops and high-end laptops with RTX 5090 experience stuttering or cannot run the game at 1440p60fps without DLSS Performance.
- Audio and UI problems (weight 0.09): Persistent audio crackle bugs occur even after a PC rebuild. There is no UI scale adjustment, limiting customization.

Recommendations:
- Do not buy or waste money. (weight 0.55): Strong negative sentiment that the game provides poor value for its price, with many reviewers advising against purchase even on sale.
- Early access is too incomplete. (weight 0.41): Reviewers believe the game offers almost nothing during early access and may not succeed after full release, urging others to wait.
- Better play Valheim or alternatives. (weight 0.38): The game is considered a worse version of Valheim with Runescape themes, and reviewers recommend Valheim, Enshrouded, V Rising, or OSRS instead.
- Not for Runescape fans. (weight 0.22): The game fails to deliver a Runescape-like experience, disappointing franchise fans and being seen as skippable even for them.
- Combat and gameplay need improvement. (weight 0.12): Core mechanics like combat and dodging are criticized as unsatisfying, and the game lacks content or feels abandoned.
- Language and region limitations. (weight 0.11): Lack of language support (e.g., Russian, Polish) discourages specific audiences, and some suggest Chinese gacha games are better value.
- Data collection issues. (weight 0.05): Some reviewers do not recommend the game due to concerns over data collection practices.

Other player notes:
- Direct connect domain support (weight 0.05): Players request the ability to input domain names instead of only IP addresses when connecting to servers directly, which would offer more flexibility and convenience.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.66): Players express frustration over poor optimization requiring high-end hardware to run at acceptable settings, frequent crashes and bugs like getting stuck on terrain, and forced Epic Games account requirements. Additionally, clunky combat with long animation locks, overly punishing mechanics like losing inventory on death, and tedious survival systems such as hunger and stamina depleting too fast contribute to a generally unenjoyable experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.46): Disappointment stems from the game feeling like an unoriginal clone of Valheim with worse performance and less content, lacking innovation or depth. Many players expected a better experience given the developer's reputation or the Runescape name, but found generic mechanics, poor optimization, and a high price for an early access title with missing features.
- Annoyance (weight 0.14): Annoyance is primarily caused by the mandatory Epic Games account requirement to play, which disrupts the user experience for Steam buyers. Constant random base raids and limited fast travel options also frustrate players, along with magic combat being ineffective against aggresive enemies.
- Anger (weight 0.05): Anger is directed at the developers for releasing an overpriced, buggy, and raw game with misleading cover art and no language support for Chinese. Players feel the forced Epic Games account requirement is a cash grab tactic, and the lack of meaningful updates reinforces the perception that the game is a quick money-making scheme.
- Boredom (weight 0.05): Boredom arises from repetitive and unimaginative gameplay, with mundane quests that lack variety or story depth. The empty world and uninspired mechanics fail to engage players, leading to a sense of monotony.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.03): Enjoyment comes from the building and farming mechanics, which provide a satisfying loop for solo and cooperative play. Some players find pleasure in returning to the Runescape universe and appreciating the old-school aesthetic and new game modes.
- Indifference (weight 0.02): Indifference results from the game failing to provide a compelling hook that encourages continued play beyond the first few hours, leading to a lack of engagement.
- Irritation (weight 0.02): Irritation is caused by NPC dialogue that consists of unintelligible sounds disconnected from the displayed text, breaking immersion and adding to the sense of polish issues.
- Regret (weight 0.02): Regret stems from the player mistakenly dropping valuable soul shards on a ranger set item, indicating frustration with inventory management or UI clarity.
- Surprise (weight 0.02): Surprise is directed at the unexpected requirement for an Epic account, which was not clearly advertised during purchase, catching players off guard.
- Reluctance (weight 0.02): Reluctance is expressed as an unwillingness to use an Epic Games account to play the game as intended, highlighting a barrier to engagement.
- Warning (weight 0.02): The warning emotion involves informing other players about the mandatory Epic Games account requirement that is poorly communicated on the store page, aiming to prevent others from experiencing the same inconvenience.
- Dislike (weight 0.02): Dislike is driven by the perception that the visuals and world feel dead and static, failing to create an immersive environment.
- Disbelief (weight 0.02): Disbelief is expressed that the game has poor graphics yet still runs poorly, indicating severe optimization issues.
- Skepticism (weight 0.02): Skepticism questions the credibility of players who rated the game highly, implying that the praise does not match the perceived quality.
- Discomfort (weight 0.02): Discomfort is reported due to excessive bloom and saturation that cause eye strain, indicating a lack of visual customization options.
- Disgust (weight 0.02): Disgust is directed at the character customization options, which are described as zombie-like, suggesting limited and unappealing choices.
- Sadness (weight 0.02): Sadness comes from the game feeling empty and unoriginal, lacking the depth or charm that players hoped for.
- Excitement (weight 0.02): Excitement is generated by discovering hidden chests and exploring the world, suggesting that exploration remains a positive element.
- Hope (weight 0.02): Hope is expressed by players stating they will revisit the game when certain options, such as performance fixes or language support, are added.}