MMO releases the sequel to an 18-year-old quest that features such rare drops the developer has to step in and reassure players: 'No need to put nan in the cage as the clock chimes midnight, just kill bosses'

pcgamer.com:

Old School RuneScape has released a sequel to an 18 year-old quest, spotted by GamesRadar+, one which has immediately caused confusion as players rushed to bag the new loot it comes with… and in most cases, didn't get it. Desert Treasure 2: The Fallen Empire is the MMO's first Grandmaster quest since 2019 and is a sequel to, you guessed it, Desert Treasure (released in 2005). It sees players returning to the Kharidian Desert to explore a big old vault and take on the lich-like Mahjarrat.

This is kind of brought about by circumstance, and the unique way Jagex maintains RuneScape and OS RuneScape, with the latter essentially its own fork in the road. OS RuneScape was created using an archive dated August 2007 and contains nothing added to RuneScape after this date, but instead diverges from that point with its own lore and additions. The Mahjarrat are also notable in this context: major characters in RuneScape for many years, they've only just started cropping up in OS RuneScape.

Hence the return to a quest that most players probably haven't thought about in literal decades. «It's absolutely dripping with lore, answers to unanswered questions, and ties to loose ends», said Jagex in the announcement post.

Desert Treasure 2 is the highest difficulty level of OS RuneScape quest, Grandmaster, and has various requirements to meet before even starting. It features four bosses, each of which can drop a new item called a Vestige that can be used to craft one of four new rings, each of which offer buffs superior to the existing Fremennik Rings. And it's these sought-after Vestiges that have players puzzled.

Defeating the bosses should give players a chance of a Vestige drop, but these have turned out to be rare enough that players