A magical portal has appeared in the Wilderness, and a group of mystics has set up camp around it. The portal leads to the ‘Primordial Realm’, an unfinished world in which sacred clay, the building material of the gods, lies scattered around. The mystics are recruiting adventurers to go through the portal and retrieve the clay. To serve their purposes, however, they believe the clay must be tempered by bloodshed, so they will only send volunteers through in two teams that must compete against one another. No items can be taken through the portal, so the teams will have to make any equipment they need out of sacred clay when they arrive.

Nearly every RuneScape skill has a use in Stealing Creation, whether for extracting sacred clay from locations, making it into equipment, or thwarting the other team's efforts. Skill-focused players can concentrate on gathering or processing the clay, while those who prefer combat defend them or harass the other team. Whenever a player is killed, all the sacred clay items they are carrying will drop to the ground for the victor to pick up. Players can build barriers to defend key locations, summon new creatures made of sacred clay, and even pick one another's pockets.

The mystics will reward those who serve them well, so players can buy new combat and skill items that inherit the shape-changing properties of sacred clay.

Mod John A
RuneScape Content Developer

Summary
Where to start Stealing Creation:
Speak to one of the mystics in their camp just south of the Bounty Hunter volcano

Requirements:
None

We've written a lot about combat-orientated multiplayer content in RuneScape recently. This mostly focused on the way that it had been relegated to the sidelines, until the introduction of PvP worlds invited it back into the heart of the game. There's one aspect, however, that we haven't mentioned: its relationship with skill-orientated multiplayer content.

We felt that producing a piece of content, which would appeal both to those players who prefer combat and those who prefer non-combat skills, was a major challenge for us. So, we put our thinking caps on and the result is this month’s headline update: 'Stealing Creation'. Stealing Creation will be a new 'safe' minigame, where teams of players work together to control resources across the game area. This area will change each time the game is played, so you will need to keep your tactics varied.

Maggie, a travelling witch, has come to southern Asgarnia for the holiday festivities, but she's in a bit of a spot. She needs an enchanted broom to finish her potion but her ox has a cold and can't be left alone. In Swept Away, you'll need to visit several nearby witches on Maggie's behalf – and solve a few puzzles along the way.

While you're in the neighbourhood, why not try out the Holiday Event: a bit of trick-or-treating in Draynor, Rimmington and Port Sarim. The towns are decked out in holiday décor and the villagers have treats to distribute to those wearing a suitable costume. If you're interested in some holiday garb, have a chat with Maggie: she's on the look-out for someone who can do a bit of trick-or-treating on her behalf.

Swept Away can be started by talking to Maggie, who is located south of Falador and east of the Crafting Guild. The quest will be available to all players for two weeks; after this time, it will only be available to members. The Hallowe'en decorations and trick-or-treating will only be available during the same holiday period. Any treats remaining in your bank or inventory after this time will disappear after Hallowe'en.

Mod Ingrid
RuneScape Content Developer

Summary

Where to start the Hallowe'en Event or Swept Away:
Speak to Maggie, south of Falador

Requirements:
None

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In other news...

A large number of sound effects and changes to sound effects have been added, especially to capes and the skillcape emotes.

Today we’ve streamlined the way you get into the game. The aim is to help you get playing more quickly with fewer pages to go through every time. To start the game, simply click one of the two new buttons on the front page (depending on whether you’re a free player or a member). You will then be taken straight into the game. Once the game has loaded, you will be able to (optionally) choose both your world and detail level directly from the title screen.

More details on the changes made:

* World selection has now been moved entirely in game, so there is one less page to go through to start the game and you can get playing faster.

* We’ve had a world switcher in-game for a while, but since it is now the main way of choosing your world, it was time for an upgrade. The in-game world switcher now shows lots of extra information, including suggested activities for various worlds.

This is the new-look log-in screen with World Select and Detail Select highlighted.

* Automatic world selection. Just press 'Log in' on the title screen, and the game will automatically choose a suitable world for you. If you want to play on a specific world, just choose it from the world switcher first, and then press 'Log in'.

PvP worlds have arrived! Are you ready to pit your combat skills against other players in the halls of the White Knights’ Castle? Are you prepared to fight to the death in the fields of Lumbridge? Well, now is your chance.

To get started, load up the game like normal (click here to read about the changes to the log-in system we've also released today), and then choose 'World Select' on the title screen. Then pick a world which has a tick in the 'skull' column to choose a PvP world. To avoid nasty accidents, if you let the game choose a world for you automatically it will never select a PvP world. Also note that you require a Combat level of at least 20 (not including Summoning) to get into a PvP world.

Before you are logged in, you will be warned that you are entering a PvP world which is a dangerous place: you will lose your items on death and you will not get a gravestone. Upon entering the world for the first time, you’ll be teleported to Lumbridge and given a manual to explain the finer points of PvP worlds.

Here’s a quick run-down of the features:

* Fight players (within your level range) anywhere on the map, except in a few safe areas.
* Safe areas include banks, respawn points and some guilds.
* Level ranges are 10% of your Combat level, plus 5 levels. If you are fighting inside the Wilderness, the Wilderness level is added to this total. Your current attack range is shown on your screen at all times. (The 10% is measured from the higher of the two combatants’ levels.)