The Real-World Impacts of Woodcutting in Old School RuneScape

Abstract

This paper looks at the process of achieving a maximum woodcutting level (99) within the game Old School RuneScape (OSRS) and looks at the potential effects if these actions occurred in real life. An assumption made is that only teak trees are cut, as this is the most prevalent type of tree cut within the game while levelling up. The value obtained is 153,082 teak logs per player. Then the conversion between logs obtained in the game to real-life trees is calculated to be 8 logs for each real-life tree. Using real-world values from teak farms, it is found that 172,224 m² of space and 19,136 teak trees are needed for one player to achieve level 99. The potential consequences of these actions are discussed in the case that every single account with level 99 woodcutting within OSRS completed a similar process in real life. The potential result is that 14.7% of the world’s teak farms would need to be cut and the carbon storage of these trees can be compared to the addition of 1,009,200 cars over 10 years, approximately 3.2% of the total cars in the UK.