In Old School RuneScape, the developers announced a competition where players could create a part of the world themselves. The result is much larger than expected.
What kind of competition was that? As part of the new Sailing expansion, developer Jagex announced the “Player-Designed Island Competition” in December 2025. The guidelines were deliberately kept manageable: The island should fit within a maximum area of 128×128 tiles, contain only a short mandatory quest for access, and bring only a few new activities.
Thousands of community members still submitted their own concepts, from which the team selected four finalists. The community was then allowed to decide through a ranking vote which concept would actually be implemented, with a quite clear result across all evaluation categories.
The island Wyrmscraig, designed by community member Gnome, who is also known by the names RoseNMcGeet and ScreteMonge, won. Jagex itself commented: “the man has three names”. Gnome has made a name for himself particularly with his Creator Toolkit plugin for the popular third-party client RuneLite and is therefore no stranger.
More than just a vacation resort
What kind of island is this? You can find Wyrmscraig southwest of Charred Island, right in the waters known as the Unquiet Ocean. To even sail there, you need 62 Sailing, so complete beginners won’t get there yet.
The island visually and thematically stands out with its distinctive basalt column landscape and is closely intertwined with the angel race of the Icyene. In the village of Auchrie, the inhabitants are initially wary of you at the start of the new quest “Fallen From Grace,” as one of the residents has vanished without a trace.
Completing the quest unlocks the repeatable boss The Mad Angel. Among the loot is Hallowfell, a two-handed sword that can hit up to two additional enemies with each strike.
Also new is the Slayer Master Mortimer, who lets you choose between two, and later even three targets, exclusively with superior variants of monsters instead of a fixed task.
And for everyone who prefers collecting over fighting, two completely new skilling activities come with “Goat Hunting” and “Golem Crafting.” In the former, you drive the island’s goats into a pit, while in the latter, you carve your own golems from sunstone and the hides of your hunted animals.
Why is a visit worthwhile? Even if you’re not interested in the fact that a player designed the island, there’s plenty of new content offered, and indeed more than the original competition guidelines actually provided.
A complete new quest line with an exclusive boss and strong weapon rewards, a Slayer Master with a noticeably different system for experienced players, and two fresh skilling activities with their own mechanics. Wyrmscraig is thus not just a decorative island but delivers tangible new systems and rewards that would stand on their own even without the backstory.
Do you think Old School RuneScape is on the right track and made good use of the competition? Or do you think it’s nonsense to let players toil over a map expansion for months? Feel free to let us know in the comments! How RuneScape plans to become the number 1 MMORPG, you can find out here: 25-year-old MMORPG has lived in the shadow of WoW for years, the current hype aims to secure the top spot
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