Runescape: First Festival of the Dead Event

This being October, I've been expecting Jagex to announce the upcoming Halloween event soon.  It's always fun to play out the extra content, and see what they've come up with each holiday.  This year for the first time ever, in addition to the Halloween content, Runescape is celebrating the Festival of the Dead.

In this event, Father Joakim asks your help in celebrating the passing away of some of Runescape's notable characters.  There were supposed to be two starting points, one in Burthorpe, and one south of the Lumbridge graveyard.  Monique and I went to the Lumbridge point.

Right off the bat, you see a wooden crate, a decorated coffin, and Father Joakim (wearing a mask).  He asks for your help.  Seems like he's trying to start a new Runescape tradition, modeled after a celebration he witnessed with a group of unknown travelers.  Your job is to decorate the coffin, and bring an item from one of the selected deceased characters. Decoration involves getting flowers from the wooden crate, and making three skulls from soft clay.  All this goes on the coffin.

We started off with Duradel.  He's the highest-level character to choose, and really, the only one that had a real emotional connection with.  Going to where he once dispensed Slayer tasks, we found Duradel's Slayer Claws on the floor of his hut in Shilo.  (Lapalok's hut, now.)  Bring the Slayer Claws back to Father Joakim, and put them on the coffin.

Having done this, there's some discussion by associated characters, especially Kuradal, his daughter.  Here's where I was disappointed by the event.  I thought we would actually have a chance to converse with the spirit of the departed.  Maybe a chance to thank him for his sacrifice for Geilinor, or to know he bears no ill will.  Or that he appreciates being remembered. 

Unfortunately, nothing of the kind happens.  We talk, we light firecrackers, there's a bit of dancing, and the offerings disappear.  Joakim claims this is a sign the spirits are happy with the items on offer. 

And that's it.  Just do the same for each character.  The more characters you celebrate, the more Prayer Bonus experience you receive.  Bear in mind, this is NOT pure experience.  This is boosted experience.  When you train prayer, you get double experience up to whatever maximum you earned.  Up to a maximum possible of 251k.

You'll also get a purely cosmetic skull mask.  It does nothing except look like a skull mask.  You can store it in a house Toy Box, or destroy it and Diango will keep it for you. 

The experience bonus is excellent if you're training prayer.  If you've already got 99 Prayer, I'm not so sure it's worth the effort.  I only did two of the tasks.  Monique finished all 5, hoping at the end we'd get to talk to the 'honorees'.  But nope.  No emotional payoff.  Just experience bonus.

My Prayer is 99.  There's just no incentive to finish.  If there'd been a little emotional reward, it would have been really cool.  Jagex missed a really cool opportunity here, in favor of a purely mechanical experience bonus. 

The graphics were nice.  The cut-scene was good.  The rewards are top-notch if you're training Prayer.  But the storyline was watered-down. They had an excellent idea, but it wound up being anticlimactic.

I love Runescape.  This won't change my mind.  Besides... we've still got the Halloween content coming up!!