Here are my thoughts as first time player in 2007, and then maxing a normie and an ironman in OSRS, in no particular order:

0. Runelite.

1. Set your own goal(s) and then figure out your own way to them. You can only play/learn a game for the first time once, you have a precious gift. Spoiling it with roadmap guides is a sin imo. That’s not to say don’t look things up, some of the game can be counterintuitive or complicated, but doing your own macro theorycrafting is a lot of the fun, and uncovering content organically for the first time is a great experience.

2. OSRS has one of, if not the, best game wikis out there.

3. Try out things; find the things you like by giving everything a fair shot and making up your own mind. There are so many ways to skin a cat in OSRS, each path very diverse from others. The wiki lists so any different ways of training each skill and each of them appeal to different players.

4. Enter content with the right mindset, especially for quests. There have been several times where I’ve revisited a method I noped out of in the first hour on my normie but found that I quite enjoyed it the second time round on the iron. Having the right IRL mood or time constraints is a big factor for what content is enjoyable, so try as many as you can, assess the vibe and apply your toolkit accordingly.

Quests usually get a bad rep because players usually encounter them by “I want to do x, but quest y is blocking me, so now I will do 30 minutes of resentful questing before grinding x content for 50 hours”. Thinking about quests as their own experience rather than an inconvenience to overcome makes them a lot more enjoyable. The lore of the world is pretty great (most of the time), the dialogue is pretty funny (most of the time). It’s worth slowing down for them and enjoying them.

5. Not a tip per se but: there is a LOT of content in this game, like, an obscene amount. I’m in a clan with 50+ very degen (10+ hours a day easily with some accounts over 10,000 hours) gamers, and I’d still be willing to put money on the fact that there is content that none of us have tried. Exploring “dead” content can be a lot of fun.

Ignore the hyper-optimized way to do everything. Do things in a way that make sense to you; learn from your mistakes and discover new training methods naturally.

Don’t use quest guides or quest helpers, unless you’re absolutely stuck (which you will be at some point as sometimes the game is not very intuitive). Read quest dialogs and interact with NPCs, as there is some genuinely hilarious dialog and well-written stories in the game.

Wear gear that looks cool. I’m still of the opinion that the dragon chainbody is one of the coolest items in the game.

Don’t buy gold or take handouts from people. Players are often tripping over themselves to give gear and GP to new players but this absolutely ruins the early-game grind. Upgrading from a full steel set to full black is, in the grand scheme, a quick and tiny upgrade. But doing it yourself makes it rewarding and worthwhile. This goes double for a player who has never touched the game before.

Overall, just take time to explore the world and take it all in. The amount of content in the game is absolutely staggering, and it’s easy to miss a lot of it if you are following the optimal quest guide and doing nothing but tick-manipulation training methods.

For many of us, we’ve played this game since we were kids so the magic has sort of worn off and nothing is as satisfying as seeing numbers go up as quickly as possible. But until you get to that point, there’s a ton of cool things to discover.

On a different note, if/once you really get into the grind, set realistic goals for yourself. Personally, it’s hard for me to sit down with no plan in mind and just grind away. If I have an idea in my head that I want to get X amount of experience by Y date, it makes it not only possible, but more enjoyable as well.

I second following the optimal quest guide! Quests are a fun way to experience the world and the guide is a good way to set goals for quests and skills. That being said, don’t be afraid to stray from it if you want! If there is a skill or other piece of content that you’re digging just roll with it. The best part about this game is that there is so much to do and so many different ways to experience it! https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Optimal_quest_guide

I am older as well and just started playing osrs again after a long break. I have been slowly working on getting most of my skills up to around lvl 30. That’s around where the leveling slows down and things get a bit more grindy.

Also check out the optimal quest guide, I have been working my way through it and it’s a great way to get exp and unlock new skills, areas, and features. The quests are also adorable and memorable, my household regularly makes reference to “One Small Favour”. :)

https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Optimal_quest_guide

Edit: Also, check out the Runelite client. It is a client to play rs in, and offers tons of quality of life fixes for the game. Some of my favourites are a graphics update making everything a bit prettier, and a weather plugin that gives dynamic weather. There are a ton of useful ones as well, for everything from inventory management to skill tracking.

Don’t slack on training your combat skills. It makes life much easier in many different ways.