Tutorials
| The tutorial "quests" was significantly altered after an update. This article is retained to provide information on past elements of RuneScape. | 
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New players who came to RuneScape had to pass first a tutorial quest. So far, there have been three versions of the tutorial. The last of three, Unstable Foundations was removed on 26 May 2011 as a hidden update. Currently, new players spawn directly in Lumbridge, with the task system used to help players learn how to play the game through the Introductory tasks.
Tutorial history
Tutorial Island
The first ever tutorial, Tutorial Island, released 24 September 2002, was the longest of any tutorials. The quest showed the player around the island, teaching him/her about the basic skills and interfaces along the way. The Tutorial Island landmass still exists on Gielinor today, although it is unused. Much more information about Tutorial Island can be found at its article, here.
Learning the Ropes
On 14 July 2008, Tutorial Island was replaced with a new tutorial, Learning the Ropes. The quest centred around a White Knight, Sir Vant, who was having trouble with a three-headed green dragon that was causing disruption in the cellar under Lumbridge. Sir Vant could not defeat the dragon, and it got away. He then tells you to head up to the surface, where you walk around a copy of Lumbridge and learn about certain skills and interfaces.
The percentage of people completing this tutorial was much lower than before, so Jagex removed it, saying they will recreate it in time, making it much better. Tutorial Island then again took place as RuneScape's tutorial.
Unstable Foundations
The updates on 17 September 2009 gave a final goodbye to Tutorial Island and implemented Unstable Foundations. The quest was a remake of the previous tutorial, Learning the Ropes, and was remade to focus on the more important things, like controls, so the player could then learn more if they want to with their new advisor, Roddeck. In the quest, the player must help a White Knight named Sir Vant to kill a dragon who is preventing him from escaping the Lumbridge cellar. The player feeds the dragon some drugged meat, which makes it fall asleep under a ceiling held up by two wooden posts. The player and Sir Vant both attach an oily fuse to the wooden posts, then light up, which causes the ceiling to cave in on the dragon, thus killing it. The player must either mine or woodcut their way out. The player is rewarded 1 Quest point, level 4 Mining/Woodcutting (depends on which way you escaped the cellar), the ability to chat freely, the ability to explore RuneScape, and the services of an advisor.
An update occurred in May 2011 that skips the quest Unstable Foundations when creating an account, and players can speak to Explorer Jack in Lumbridge about the new Tutorial Task System.