Runescape: Combat Evolved?

You've probably been waiting for it, and it's finally going into beta - the Evolution of Combat, as they're calling it, is the total overhaul of Runescape's combat system. They've added dual wielding, action and adrenaline bars, tiered abilities, buffs and debuffs, crits, new animations, and a slew of other content. 

"The Evolution of Combat is the biggest change we've ever made in RuneScape's long history," Mark Ogilvie, the lead designer for Runescape said. "We really wanted to make our conflict game play more about the actual art of combat, so we've added amazing abilities which will give the player a wealth of choices to use in PVP and PVE combat, and the way those abilities relate to each other will bring a completely new sense of tactical depth to the game. We've made huge improvements to the look and sound of combat, meaning that the entire game has become more gritty, visceral, and adrenaline pumping experience.

"The entire update has been built to play to RuneScape's strengths and has been designed to refocus combat to be more about player skill, encourage variety in combat equipment, and to make combat more enjoyable and challenging. This will revolutionize the way the game is played, making the experience ultimately more rewarding, while not diverting from the essential heart of the game which has made RuneScape so hugely popular for millions around the world." 

There have been 50,000 initial beta testers, and you can get in on the eventual open beta weekends. But what's cool is if you have had a membership for over the last year, you are automatically qualified. The open beta starts the 7th of July. You have a few weeks to sign back up!