bout why I love Runescape.

So, I started playing Runescape again recently. I go back to it once every few years and I'll try and get some of my friends to join me and I get the usual 'god, it's so boring' and I just kinda shrug them off, because I get it-- it's not a game for everyone, but they always ask me why I like it, and I've never really put it into words. And so here's a really tacky love letter to a game I've been playing for like 15 years, on and off. Foreword: I tried to separate it into sections. It didn't help at all. As a kid, I loved Runescape because it was free and ran on my laptop. Pretty straight-forward, I guess. But in retrospect, why I really liked playing it is because, compared to things like Flyff and ROSE Online (those came a bit later, but they're the closest comparisons in my head space regarding the same 'era' of MMOs I played), Runescape had very clearly set-out goals. I saw someone with a Dragon Longsword, I'd ask them how they got it, they'd tell me about a quest, I'd figure out the requirements, and then boom: There goes my weekend, grinding up the requirements to do the quest so I could get a Dragon Longsword. Straight-forward. I was able to set a goal, figure out what I needed to do, and do it. And when I was a stupid kid with no attention span, that level of simplicity was super appealing.

On top of that, it was easy to understand. Compared to other MMORPGs (hell, compared to most other games), Runescape didn't jerk you around. Everything made sense, even when I didn't understand the 'concept' of MMORPGs at the time (I was like 9 or 10, it was just a multiplayer game [which was cool as ]). I could go anywhere I wanted at any time, which was a very big thing to me. In other MMORPGs, if I wandered past the current 'zone' for my level, I'd just get my handed to me, but in Runescape I could just explore wherever I wanted. Runescape is sandbox in a way almost no other MMORPG at the time or since then has been. Obviously there were dangers out there, but after dying a couple of times without much valuable stuff on, I had learned that when I'm exploring new areas, I needed to not bring things I didn't want to lose, because there was danger out there. But cities weren't locked behind 'levels' or 'zones' that I couldn't reach, or where it turned into a case of things being useless to me because I didn't have a high enough level to accept quests from all of the NPCs in one (thank god for no quest hubs, but I'll get to that). So when I first became a member, it was insane-- there was this whole new world to explore, and it was scary. Like, the wilderness was one thing, but traveling over white wolf mountain and almost getting killed was just as nerve-wracking. It had those same dangers, but it wasn't other players. And it felt great to later be able to travel over it and ignore the wolves, or kill them if I wanted, without even bringing food.

Of course, that's not to say it was all peachy back then, because I hated grinding gathering skills. Specifically, fishing and mining. Because back then, to me, that was like the 'work' that had to be put in, in order to experience more of the game-- be that quests that controlled access to items (looking at you, 56-or-so agility for a Dragon Halberd) or just quests themselves and wanting to experience them (hat tip to the HAM questline). Now, when I play, the grind is more of something I do 'on the side' while I'm doing other things (like, seriously, I've been grinding fishing the entire time I've been writing this), which is an incredibly well-designed way to 'grind' skills. Being passive enough that I don't have to put all of my focus on it, at a time in my life when I don't have time to put all my focus on it (inb4 I have time to write this long- post). But getting back to the lack of peachy, the grinding felt a bit like work, sure, but it was work I wanted to do. I saw someone with a Dragon Med Helm and goddamn did I want it. But it cost so much money, so I'd grind and grind and grind because I knew that it'd be a huge status symbol proving how much time and effort and care I'd put into my character.

I wanted to be the dude who could do whatever he wanted, buy whatever he wanted, etc. I'd see these guys with combat levels above 100 and want that to be me, and it kept me driven (don't get me started on wanting to be the dropping Ancients Magic on Castle Wars [which I never got to do]). And I was never at the top tier, but I was always trying. I'd google 'ways to make money in runescape' at least once a week, hoping there would be some trick that would make me millions quickly, but there never was, so I'd keep trying to get my skills better whenever I had time, and just keep going and going and going. When Barrows came out, it was like-- I didn't understand really how people were doing it. You kill these bosses a bunch of times for a chance to get some insanely good armor? That was crazy to me. And then spending hundreds of thousands of gold to repair it? That was even more insane. I wanted to be that rich and powerful-- to be able to get that armor on my own and keep it repaired and use it (I eventually did, and it was just as satisfying as I expected it to be).

And over time, with more updates like that-- Runescape kinda grew up, and took some inspiration from traditional MMOs (that a lot of people didn't like), with things like the Grand Exchange changing Runescape FOREVER. And I kinda tuned out around the time that it showed up. Not because of it, but just because I was in high school, was doing more work, started dating-- I just didn't have time for Runescape any more. It was probably the longest hiatus I took from the game, from around late 2007 until at least 2011, but probably 2012 when I finally came back for a long time again.

Side note: It was around 2009-2010 that I found out that my account was hacked, it seems someone in China bruteforced my (admittedly super-awful) password, signed up for members for 3 months, botted, then chargebacked the account, making it so the account owes Jagex a bunch of money AND it's permabanned. I just want the name back, dammit!

Secondary side note: Since losing that account, I've come back to Runescape 5 times: Shortly after finding out my first account was banned (I didn't play on this one too long); when 2007scape started (I played on this for a while-- I bought the 3-month summer membership deal and played the hell out of it); sometime after 2007scape but before Darkscape (I played quite a while on this one); when Darkscape released (my favorite iteration of the game by an insanely wide margin-- one of my favorite game experiences of all-time); and now.

Tangent about losing my account aside, when I came Runescape was drastically different, and so many people said that it was dead, and private servers were running rampant, and etc etc etc. But I didn't hate it at all. Everyone said that it was trying to be more like other MMOs to get a slice of their pie, and yeah, I think on the surface level it felt like that, but when I played it, it always felt more like the game was just growing up along with its playerbase. At some point, Jagex must have realized that Runescape's heyday was behind it, and the people who loved it were sticking with it, and that that was okay (as evidenced by their support for 2007scape and the playerbase that loved the older version of the game, along with how much care Jagex shows that version of the game to this day). So while it could be argued that Runescape was becoming more casual (I mean, it was, but I don't think that's a bad thing), I think it's more that the game was really growing up with the playerbase that was sticking with it. The people who were 10/15/whatever and played 10-15 hours a day on the weekends couldn't do that any more, but they wanted to stay competitive, so Jagex made it easier to do certain things, be it more banks in more places, the ability to hotbar-drop items (fish and ores, specifically) in order to more efficiently power-grind skills, or allow full MMO-esque skill bars and then allow 2/3 of the skills to be set to auto-cast (which is absolutely GENIUS, by the way. Like, whoever came up with Revolution should be given a damn bonus every year as a thank you for being a genius).

So, that kinda (but not really) organically brings me to why I still love it. As a kid, it was my first MMO, and it was simple and blah blah blah. But now? Now I can appreciate it for how much more intricate it is than just about any other MMORPG that's ever come out. I can see how insanely different it is to treat combat with little more detail than something that sounds as mundane as woodcutting, and how refreshing it is to not be locked behind a 'you need to be level 50 to get this quest from this NPC,' which will require you to kill 30 pigs or something. Every quest is 100% unique, with interesting characters that I give a about, and puzzles that I actually want to figure out for myself (except you, Elemental Workshop). Actually, that kinda points to something else that I've noticed that gives evidence to Runescape growing up with its audience: Look at the quests and lore of the game from when the game was still newer and how simple it was, compared to now. What do you see? A lot more complicated characters, more complicated storylines with more moving parts and more 'character'. Compare Dragon Slayer to Digsite Quest to Monkey Madness to Death to the Dorgeshuun to While Guthix Sleeps. Look at the advancement of characterization, quest complicated-ness (you know what I mean) and worldbuilding. The quests are really a pretty solid allegory for Runescape as a whole. Enemies, skill mechanics, combat mechanics-- it all got more complicated and kept the core playerbase of Runescape interested as they grew up. And the ones who didn't like it, but still loved the game, were given their own version that still gets support to this day.

So, back to why I still love it: I can control my level of investment. If I've got something to do (browse reddit, write a really long post about why I love Runescape, respond to emails), I can still play the game and increase my abilities through more afk-esque abilities (cooking, firemaking, fishing, woodcutting, fletching, crafting, herblore, smithing, mining[ish]). If I want to experience more action, I can go do something like Barrows or the God Wars Dungeon. If I want to be competitive, there are minigames for that. If I want cut-throat pvp, there's something for that. There's training for all levels of involvement, rather than being forced to focus on the game 24/7 to advance (which is super important, I think, for a game with as much to do as Runescape). And this kinda brings me to something that was important to me back then, but even moreso important now: Drop tables. Not literally dropping tables, but monster drop tables. See, in most MMORPGs you get the best gear by raiding, hoping it drops, then rolling on a table to get the item. Otherwise, it's grinding something a bunch of times. In Runescape, where (almost) everything is tradable and economy is king, there's a sense of wonder when you're in combat. Almost everything you fight above a certain point has a chance to drop something awesome. Something huge. In another MMO, you might have a 1% chance to get a weapon for your class that increases your damage output by 2%. In Runescape, almost never will you get a drop for a weapon that's a pure upgrade over what you have, and that's okay. Instead, if you get that drop for (showing my age here) the shield left half, you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams. And that kinda made me realize something that no other MMO does: Keeps lower-leveled content relevant. In Runescape, you don't get less experience when you fight a lesser monster. This means that if there's a specific drop you want (for example, the cremation ability), but there's nothing 'worthy' you can fight for it (for example, being f2p and fighting ghosts in the stronghold of security that REFUSE TO DROP THE ABILITY WHY WON'T YOU DROP IT DAMMIT), iyou're still going to get decent experience and get levels while fighting. In other MMOs? Nah, that content is 5 levels below you, no reason to ever do it again. It's kind of hard to explain, but Runescape combines this sense of whimsy and possibility in such a way that everything you do when you're in combat has a chance to be something incredible. I think, what adds to it, is that death is kind of important. Not as cut-throat as it used to be (one thing I admittedly miss about oldscape), but still more intense than having to invest a bit of coin into repairing your items that lost 10% durability because you died, along with good 'ol res sickness.

So, when people say that Runescape is boring, and ask me why I keep coming back, keep making new accounts, keep loving the damn despite is being 'boring' and 'old', it's because-- it's got such a heart. Sure, it has its problems (a bit pay-to-win nowadays with the treasure hunter), but the heart of the game is just so strong. Putting in the work to increase my skills, and doing all the prerequisite quests, just so I can go on that journey with Zanik - a more 'alive' character than any in any other MMORPG - one more time is so damn worth it. Being able to finish the Lost City and get that message telling me I can now wield a Dragon Longsword or Dragon Dagger, immediately equipping it and feeling like a badass who just achieved something great, and wasn't handed it-- it's great.

People say that Runescape is full of grind, but at least it's varied. In something like World of Warcraft, every expansion is new content, but how many people are reading the quest dialogue? How many quests are retrieve X from Y, or kill 50 of Z, or kill the boss at the end of a cave? And yes, I know that WoW is a game about the endgame and the raiding, which has great mechanics that are rarely (or never) recycled, but even then you'll be doing those raids multiple times. Then there's daily quests, which are somehow even more shallow than killing 15 boars. So in the end, Runescape is an MMORPG about the journey to completion (I mean, it's the core of the grind argument), something that most people will never reach-- and that's okay. Why? Because that journey is incredible.

tl;dr: I love Runescape for a lot of reasons.