To The Lost City Team:

The Lost City server is a triumph. Thank you for delivering and exceeding our wildest expectations! The passion and talent behind this project are unassailable.

The author, editors and signatories of this letter are made up of players and members of your community. We share your passion and hope the feedback below is useful as you continue to preserve Runescape as it was during its 2004 - 2006 era. We wish to share two identified opportunities for improvement as they relate to clear and broad communication of rules and norms in the server. Lacking them has led to players feeling shocked and saddened by actions against their account for behaviors thought to be allowed.

To be sure, server rules are established and adjudicated by the Lost City Moderation team, and players are responsible for heeding these rules. This is solely a petition for clear and broad rules communication; opinions on whether specific behaviors should be permitted or prohibited are not expressed. The feedback below has been given with care to maintain deference and due respect to the moderation team.

Opportunity 1 - Improving Rules Communication and Community/Server Moderation
Stronger communication of server rules would be useful for Lost City Players:

1. Existing rules should be explained more clearly
2. Changes to the rules should be communicated more broadly

Clearer Explanations of Existing Rules
Overall, the current ruleset (Appendix B) is well written and serves the best interests of the community. Areas where it is vague or inconsistent result in dire and irreversible consequences to players’ accounts. Here some such identified areas:

• “All scriptable macros are disallowed” – This is misleading with respect to autotypers. Autotypers are allowed and in widespread use by the community. There is an unwritten rule shared across the player base that autotypers may be used with a chat interval of 10 seconds or greater. The official ruling on if and how autotypers may be used is unclear. A clear explanation on if and how autotypers may be used should be added to the rules.
• “Using macros to defeat the AFK timer is not allowed” – An exception is often made to this rule for players trading with autotypers. In one case against a player, the moderation team wrote the following:
  
   “We only allow auto typing for trading purposes, and you were using it to advertise. Also, you had circumvented the AFK timer while doing so, which would normally classify as macro'ing. However, I don't believe that was your intention, so I opted for a less harsh punishment.” 
  
  Defeating the AFK timer by using an autotyper, which many players do, is evidently subject to a harsh punishment. By using autotypers, players are en masse considered to be macroing, and moderators may apparently enact harsh punishments to any of them. The rules should clearly state whether or not defeating the AFK timer by using an autotyper is permitted. 
  
  The same player-moderator thread quoted above continued as follows:
  
  “We purposely keep our rules vague, as some users will try to abuse the rules if we say exactly what can and cannot be done.”
  
  There appears to be a lack of rigor in the method of rules being established and upheld. Vague rules that do not explain what can and cannot be done are extremely difficult if not impossible to honor and successfully follow.
• “Players are expected to abide by all 12 of Jagex's original rules” – Keeping half of the rules in one location (on the website) and half in another (in game) inefficiently communicates them. Spelling out these 12 rules on https://2004.lostcity.rs/guide as well as in-game will better prepare new players to effectively follow the rules.

An Acknowledgement: We understand that every micro-fractal of possible illicit player behavior cannot be anticipated and codified; a reasonable measure of moderator discretion will always be necessary.

Broader Communication of Changes to Rules
Recently, there was a change to the rules that banned AHK. This was a paradigm shift.

Shortly before this change was enacted, popular 2004Scape creator, Pawz, even released a video guide on how to use AHK within the scope of Lost City rules.  When AHK was banned, players were not given a reasonable opportunity to learn this change and adjust their behavior. Many accounts were banned for behavior that was recently permitted, and suddenly disallowed.

The chosen method for communicating this rule change was a small flashing red text displayed above the game window that read “Rules Updated.” This flashing banner only appeared to players playing via 3rd party browsers, and some players using the Lost City client were not given any notification that rules had changed. Here is a video example. 

For those who saw the banner and visited the rules page, the specific changes were not—and still are not—clearly identified. No changelog or timestamps indicate what was updated. Players are effectively asked to “spot the difference” without access to the previous version.

If a new rule poses a threat to players’ accounts, it should be communicated clearly,  broadly and with urgency. Placing the change in more than one place will help players find the important information (i.e. The Lost City Forums, The Lost City Discord and Players’ in-game messages accessed through the message center).

Important distinction: This section is not about whether AHK belongs in the game, but about how a rule change was executed, communicated, and enforced.

Opportunity 2 – Explain Allowed/Disallowed Recruitment and Communication Tools
At its heart, Runescape is an MMO - a game meant to connect with old friends and make new ones. In 2004, Teamspeak, Ventrilo and IRC text chats were preeminent methods used to connect and organize with fellow players. Today, Discord has replaced them all i.e. Lost City uses Discord as the gateway to both its game and its community.

Further, these tools are the foundation for amazing community events like drop parties, clan activities, group skilling, pk parties in wildy, Fally garden parties and more. And yet, under Rule 11 “Advertising/Website,” moderators have levied action against player accounts for in-game player recruitment and sharing of communication tools.

Player Recruitment
The moderation team has used rule 11 to levy mutes against players speaking in-game to recruit fellow players for in-game group activities. Players in 2004 were free to organize and collaborate with each other for skilling, pk-ing and cosmetic events in game. 

Sharing Communication Tools
Sharing communication tools (i.e. discord and forums @tags) is tantamount to a modern day version of organizing through Vent, TS and IRC chats. The moderation team has used rule 11 to levy mutes against players for sharing their @tags in-game.

Mod Team, you command both the right and privilege to determine if Discord or other 3rd party communication tags may be shared in-game. Ditto for allowing players to advertise recruitment or participation for in-game events, teams and clans. We trust you to make the best decision that will most accurately preserve the tenor and culture of player communications in 2004. If a decision has been made or will be made, please communicate this clearly and broadly to the community and include them in the official rules.

Closing
It bears repeating: this game and the team behind it are exceptional. With your development of Lost City, you have given a gift and preserved a moment in time. Thank you. The authors, editors and signatories of this letter wish only the best for this project and its community.

Given our thoughts above, we are saddened by the speedy and decisive action taken against fellow players in the community. Some lost hundreds (even thousands) of hours; others lost the opportunity to continue playing with friends. We encourage you to take the opportunity to reevaluate some of these transgressions. Some second chances, where they may be given with grace and fairness and in appropriate cases, would be appreciated. Going forward, a temporary step-approach to action on new rules would also be appreciated i.e. 24-hour, 3-day, perma for the first 2-4 weeks of a new rule being established and communicated.

At the same time, we are encouraged by and grateful for the protective actions the moderation team has taken to vanquish botters, cheaters and scammers from the game. They have no place here. Sometimes these definitions have grey areas. When the moderation team makes decisive rulings that color them in, communicating newly established rules/norms clearly and broadly will help players heed and respect the rules of the server.

We hope this feedback is useful.

Thank you for everything you do! You are all incredible!

Sincerely,
Author, editors and signatories from the Lost City Community

Author: joshbrown
Editors: m o g n | Trisk | Tys | Bea5 | Carsten | Klusignolo | TmScape | Blackout | anonymous dev 1

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Appendix A: Jagex’s Original 12 rules

1. Offensive Language
2. Item Scamming
3. Password Scamming
4. Bug Abuse
5. Jagex Staff Impersonation
6. Account Sharing/Trading
7. Macroing
8. Multiple Logging in
9. Encouraging Others to Break Rules
10. Misuse of Customer Support
11. Advertising/Website
12. Real World Item Trading
    _________________________________________________________________________

Appendix B: Current Rule set as of 05/02/2025