You know in 2012 RuneScape was in a bit of a bad spot. They kept bleeding subscribers as flashier and more modern MMOs outstripped it. Their current system was made in 2003-4 to run web browsers after all. So they put out a poll to see what leaving players left for, and the answer was commonly pointing to combat and their friends leaving. So, Jagex decided to overhaul the combat.
Now they stated that they never intended to copy WoW, but anyone looking at the skill rotations would have plenty of reason to doubt that. Now the combat was much more active, and even the basic goblins needed proper management of skills to handle!
Players left in droves.
See, with a bunch of other updates over the years, RuneScape had tended towards a more relaxed experience. Many skills were laid back social activities, combat included. But now that had changed and it wasn't helped by the fact the system was still clunky. It was so bad that people kept calling for a roll back for two years straight, until they got one in the form of OSRS, which has almost 10x the player base of RuneScape.
Anyways, just reminded of EoC today for whatever reason.
