On Saturday, June 20, Chicago witnessed an extraordinary gathering as 4,000 fans converged in person, while over one million viewers tuned in online for the Deadman All Stars, a Player versus Player (PvP) tournament of Old School RuneScape. Despite my own limited experience with RuneScape—having once been on the receiving end of cyberbullying from a pair of mischievous twins in middle school—the atmosphere was undeniably vibrant and uplifting.
Old School RuneScape is experiencing a renaissance, arguably surpassing its original popularity from the early 2000s. The concept of MMO PvP as a live esports event may seem unconventional, yet it proved to be a resounding success. I had the opportunity to speak with Kieren Charles, the creative director of Old School RuneScape, about the inception of Deadman All Stars and the logistical hurdles faced in adapting a 25-year-old MMO for a modern competitive setting.
Logistics win wars
The tournament’s combat system resembles a rock-paper-scissors dynamic, where each attack method possesses its own strengths and weaknesses. High-level PvP in RuneScape demands swift item switching, meticulous inventory management, and rapid inputs. Combat mechanics are reminiscent of classic RPG dice rolls, leading to scenarios where two players in top-tier gear often miss their attacks, engaging in a frantic exchange of armor and weapons until one player falters or luck favors a hit.
Danni Amos, Jagex’s senior communications manager, shared that players predominantly brought their own equipment—mice, keyboards, and more—to ensure comfort and maintain muscle memory. Much like elite Counter-Strike players who sometimes opt for a low-resolution view to enhance focus, it was intriguing to see tournament participants utilizing a modest 640×480 window on their expansive curved gaming monitors. This choice not only optimized their performance by reducing mouse travel distance between the inventory and battlefield but also evoked memories of sneaking in a game of RuneScape during school hours.
Charles reflected on the evolution of competitive esports within the RuneScape community, stating, “We actually started experimenting in competitive esports over 10 years ago now. We’ve done mini events like this in the past in the UK, but it was 50 people.” He credited the Deadman format to the influence of Solo Mission, a well-known Old School RuneScape content creator and official collaborator with Jagex.
The matches were structured akin to a fighting game crew battle or a Pokémon duel without substitutions. Each team’s first player would step into the arena, and if they emerged victorious, they would continue to battle until their health and healing items were depleted, with Team B sending in their next contender. This format beautifully blended the essence of 1v1 combat with strategic teamwork, resulting in numerous standout moments where players exceeded expectations or pulled off remarkable upsets.
Adding an intriguing twist, all competitors began with fresh accounts, facing a 120-hour playtime limit over nine days to level up and gear themselves. However, the tournament unfolded in a unique instance of the MMO, specifically set up by Jagex at the theater.
“RuneScape was definitely not built to have a LAN setup at all, so it’s actually been a really interesting challenge for the tech team to work out how we make it a LAN event,” Charles explained. “It was no small undertaking. We were doubting at times whether we could actually pull it off, because a lot of the setup expects to communicate with various servers, and suddenly that wasn’t feasible.”
Once players were equipped and prepared, they submitted their save files to Jagex, which loaded them onto this specially configured version of the game, with an offline Old School RuneScape server humming away in a back room of the Rosemont Theater. “There are so many advantages to doing it this way. Many online events face risks like DDoS attacks, which we had to mitigate,” Charles noted. “Moreover, having the server right next to the players enhances their ping and reaction times. The closer the server, the better they perform.”
With the success of Deadman All Stars, Jagex has set a precedent for future events, as this marked their first major tournament in North America and their largest event to date, even surpassing the renowned RuneFest in the UK. In a time when many sectors of the gaming industry face challenges, it is refreshing to witness a game and its community flourish in such a remarkable manner.
