Library of Varrock
The Library of Varrock was a navigational page on the RuneScape website introduced on 11 January 2003 (Update).[1]
The Library of Varrock contained links to:
- Archives of past God letters
- Bestiary pages
- Lores and Histories
- and Tales from the Tavern, which were stories submitted to Jagex from players.
Introduction & Expansions[edit | edit source]
The original function of the Library of Varrock was to consolidate the existing archives[2] of emailed God letters with the new Bestiary which was released in February of 2003.[3] Although the newsletter archive was referred to as a "library" at the same time as the site redesign on 11 January 2003, it wasn't until the Bestiary was released the next month that the phrase "Library of Varrock" appeared on the RuneScape website.
New God Letters were released regularly, about one per month, until December 2004. The Bestiary was expanded in May 2003, and again in 2005. The "Lores & Histories" and "Tales from the Tavern" sections were added in October 2003.[4]
Decline & Removal[edit | edit source]
The Bestiary was removed from the library some time between June and August of 2004,[5] but it continued to be available on the RuneScape website under its own section in the game manual[6] until it was ultimately removed, likely in early 2007.[7]
The "Library of Varrock" name was de-emphasized in 2006, but was still used continuously from its introduction in February 2003 up until November 2011.[8] At that time, the contents of the Library were migrated into Jagex's new official self-hosted wiki, under the name "Scribbles & Sketches".[9] The Library of Varrock contents continued to be available there until 12 August 2016, when Jagex removed their wiki.[10] Lores & Histories may have continued to be hosted on RuneScape.com into 2019,[11] though it's not clear where that page was linked from to be accessed, or when the page was added and removed from the website.
Currently, no content from the Library of Varrock remains on runescape.com. This is likely because the contents were deemed non-canon, there was a lack of viewership[12], and because the historical articles continue to be available to players on the RuneScape Wiki.