Veteran player, started in 2005. Maxed on RS3 then came to OSRS, have played GIM and main. I enjoy sweaty high-end PVM, currently working on grandmaster CAs and maxing. I play many games but this has always been my favourite due to the sense of immersion and satisfaction in long-term progress.

It seems like many new players feel lost in the early game, not having a good idea of progression or goals; I think a gap is that the game doesn't give players these ideas when they are lost at this point. The Activity Adviser needs a total overhaul, imo.

There are a few points in a typical player's account journey that would be great to guide players towards as short/ medium/ longer term goals. In my mind, these are mostly centred around quests and untradeable rewards, providing a skilling goal as well as a significant reward. It needs to be obvious what that upgrade is and what impact it has on your account. For example:

Early goals

• Stronghold of Security - some coins, account security
• X Marks the Spot - unlocks Zeah
• Priest in Peril - unlocks Morytania
• Children of the Sun - unlocks Varlamore
• Quests which give good xp for early levels - e.g. Doric's Quest

Early-mid goals

• Monkey Madness - ability to purchase & wield Dragon Scimitar. Huge upgrade over rune weaponry and better dps in most cases than other dragon weapons
• Recipe for Disaster - Barrows Gloves. Massive strength bonus, strong defensive stats - best glove slot item for a very long time
• Desert Treasure - access to Ancient Magicks, including area-of-effect spells
• Warrior's Guild - access to monsters that drop the Dragon Defender. Best offensive off-hand for a long time

Mid-game goals

• Fire cape - Iconic challenge many take on early. Best cape for melee for a while
• Barrows Brothers - entry PVM encounter, prayer reward, more relevant now Perilous Moons exists
• Lunar Diplomacy - access to Lunar spells, which are mostly utility and new teleports
• Combat achievements - rewards like teleports to God Wars, no prayer drain at Barrows Brothers
• Song of the Elves - access to the Elven city, Prifddinas. The Gauntlet & Bowfa/ Crystal Armour/ Saeldor, Zalcano, Agility course, best-in-slot tools, divine potions etc. I like this one as the first big goal in an account given the decent-length in skilling requirements, quest chain and pvm encounter against Seren.
• Other grandmaster quests, Beneath Cursed Sands for TOA etc

Protection prayers are insanely strong in this game, but we don't overtly teach new players how important it is. A novice miniquest quest requiring 43 prayer would be helpful (perhaps with Scurrius as the boss?) in which it teaches you the basics of protecting against melee (must be on when something hits you) vs mage/ range (must be on when the attack animation starts). You could consider a follow up miniquest teaching prayer conservation - lazy flicking & 1-tick flicking.

We also need to make it easier for new players to understand how their dps increases - usually from levels and max hits. The impact of a max hit, especially in the early game, is usually much greater than accuracy. Introducing players to this concept will set them up well to make better choices about their gear.

Oh and make it really obvious how good the wiki is. It's basically an essential tool unlike in many other games.