“Low-poly dogs!” I hear you chant in the distance. “Low-poly dogs!” The war cry gets louder. “Low-poly dogs!” It’s inescapable now, the low-poly dogs requested by the masses are here… Or, well, in the digital world of Old School RuneScape at the very least, as Jagex have added in a new members-only quest that allows you to pick up your very own puppy.
This new quest is on the nosely called A Ruff Situation, whereby you must help characters Talia and Chase at the Ice Mountain’s new dog shelter. What you actually need to do in this quest, I can’t tell you, but I can tell you that you only need to be level 15 in crafting, so the devs are “expecting everyone to have this quest sorted on day one, capiche?” After sorting out the issues at the dog shelter, you’ll then be able to adopt a dog of your own!
“Your puppy will gradually grow into a fully-fledged dog as you care for it,” a blog post explains. “Unlike kittens, they won’t run away if you forget to feed them, so you can simply stop feeding them to keep them in puppy form. Note that they will run away if you’re killed by another player in the Wilderness with your dog by your side, so bring them to the Wilderness at your own risk. Please don’t replicate that in real life, though. Once fully grown, dogs will be able to help you while you’re out clue hunting by digging for Treasure Trail steps, saving you the trouble of carrying a spade.”
There are 12 different breeds you can adopt, which are as follows: chihuahua, collie, corgi, greyhound, husky, labrador, pug, samoyed, spaniel, bernese, shiba and yorkie. I find the inclusion of the pub and shiba quite amusing in particular, given that these breeds of dogs were nowhere near as popular as they are now compared to when the MMO came out. Seeing a RuneScape style shiba certainly makes me feel like I’ve shifted into another plane of existence.
Also, there’s a new crab quest where after reaching level 40 sailing and 30 fishing, you can drink a mysterious bottle on Dognose Island, which may let you talk to crabs. Cool! Never change, RuneScape.