The Intriguing Appearance of Nail Beasts
Today, dear reader, I found out about the accursed nail beast. This unassuming creature from Old School RuneScape isn’t much to write home about on paper. It’s a level 69, 98, or 141 critter found in the Temple Trekking minigame, and it appears as something between a mole and a panther. They’re kind of cute, in a doofy, feline-looking way.
The Sonic Offense
However, these creatures are also notoriously loud. For some inexplicable reason, the nail beast has a disproportionately angry screech that seems designed to give you a migraine. Sadistically, they also show up in packs of three minimum, meaning their caterwauling will sometimes overlap, producing a noise that is, by many accounts, the absolute worst.
The Community’s Verdict
Reasonably, Jagex—the developers of OSRS—made the nail beasts’ volume subject to a vote in Poll 82. Since OSRS is an ancient game with a lot of nostalgia bundled up in it, its developers often take the community’s temperature on alterations to old content. Nail beasts were naturally on the docket, as the subject of the poll was minigames. “Should we make the nail beasts’ attack sounds quieter?” asked Jagex. Yes, said 28,676 very reasonable people. No, said 19,238 people who are less reasonable but arguably more passionate about the game’s quirky charms.
The Unyielding Tradition
Despite the vote, nail beasts remain loud. This is because Jagex only enacts changes if a significant majority—70% or more—are on board with it. The status quo endures. They asked for understanding from the community, perhaps in jest, “Do you want the nail beasts to be louder? Maybe a small chance to play the sound at full volume whenever you get an XP drop?” To which the players humorously replied they would never be satiated and perhaps even wished for more.
On OSRS’s subreddit, one player suggested a separate poll asking if players would like to turn the volume up. With 842 upvotes, it seems a notable section of the community thrives on the chaos these noises bring. As one user succinctly puts it, “We like to keep things a little shtty around here. Nice job, community.”