Why Are 'Old School RuneScape' Players Mad About The New Update? The 'Pronouns And Body Type' Controversy Explained

Old School RuneScape is one of the most popular MMORPG games of all time, but a recent update has some social media users on platforms like X / Twitter up in arms.

The game's developers, Jagex, are being accused of turning the game "woke" by certain critics for adding pronouns and different body types to the character creation interface, with some lodging complaints about how "forced" the update is.

So are upset players overreacting, is this just another chapter in the seemingly endless debate over IPs supposedly "going woke?" Here's what you need to know about the controversy and what people are saying about it online.

What Is The Old School RuneScape Update Controversy?

On August 14th, a new update for Old School RuneScape (OSRS) was announced. The update makes a whole lot of small changes and fixes to the game, however, only one is causing notable backlash. That update centers on how players make and edit their characters through the so-called "Makeup Mage" interface.

Now, rather than picking a "male" or "female" character, players are asked to choose between "body type A," a more masculine figure, or "body type B," a more feminine figure. They're also given a choice of three possible pronouns: "he/him," "they/them" or "she/her." This is meant to give players more flexibility with character creation.

It's also worth noting that the choice of pronouns is not forced, with the update notes reading, "You can also continue without selecting a pronoun, if that's what you prefer. The game will use the default based on body type, similar to how it has always been."

How Is Social Media Reacting To The Old School RuneScape Update Controversy?

While many players seem receptive or uncaring about the update, others have taken the opportunity to use the update to complain about pronouns on sites like X and Reddit. The day of the update's release, a thread was started on the GamerGate related subreddit /r/KotakuInAction, and X user @Grummz made a post writing, "They just ruined OG Runescape. Mandatory and unasked for update forces 'body types' and 'pronouns' onto players."

The post gained over 10,000 likes in a day, and while some supported the sentiment, others were more critical of Grummz. On the most basic level, RuneScape players mocked the user for calling the game "OG RuneScape," suggesting the user doesn't even play the game.

Others pointed out that you are not actually forced to choose pronouns if you don't want to, meaning his assertion that the update "forced body types and pronouns onto players" is objectively false.

For the full history of the Old School RuneScape Update Controversy, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.