Current Events > What was the appeal of Runescape?

(+) Yeah! (+)

When I was a kid my parents started me on MMO's like Dark Age of Camelot and Star Wars Galaxies. So when my friends told me to check out Runescape I was astonished, it was some crappy graphics web browser game? I was thinking to myself "Why on earth would I ever play this over DAOC and SWG?"

And to this day I still see people playing it and I don't get it.

First MMO for a lot of people + it was popular so there was a real chance people you knew were already playing it or could be coerced into trying it. Like you mention.

It's what I look to when I try to understand why people like Minecraft. It's kind of a safe environment to turn you loose with real people and see what happens. Some people are friendly, some really aren't. There was also a lot of discover and do. I liked Castle Wars (Best minigame ever until Resident Evil 5 mercs showed up) and Pest Control the most. It had unpredictability going for it, you could count on it to show you something.
Also the same way I think Cookie Clicker gets people, it's monstrously addictive. If you are dangerously prone to gleefully watching numbers rise and sticking around because they keep getting higher then run for your life because this is the one. Every other level for every stat gives you something new, there's a bunch of overlap between stats unlocking things. If you wanted a mindless grind that came in multiple flavors and was packed with new people to talk to, 00s RS was it.

I can't help but stereotype the people still playing it though. I can only imagine the now barren streets of Varrock being filled with people looking for unturned stones from their youth, joylessly powerlevelling and all that. Online sensibilities and personalities are different now, more cynical. The thought of RS without people going Wave2:Glow1: SELLING RUNE SCIMMY NO N00BS PLZ sickens me.

I've never played it myself(My first MMO was MapleStory), but it was the first for a lot of people.

ViewtifulJoe posted...

First MMO for a lot of people + it was popular so there was a real chance people you knew were already playing it or could be coerced into trying it. Like you mention.

It's what I look to when I try to understand why people like Minecraft. It's kind of a safe environment to turn you loose with real people and see what happens. Some people are friendly, some really aren't. There was also a lot of discover and do. I liked Castle Wars (Best minigame ever until Resident Evil 5 mercs showed up) and Pest Control the most. It had unpredictability going for it, you could count on it to show you something.
Also the same way I think Cookie Clicker gets people, it's monstrously addictive. If you are dangerously prone to gleefully watching numbers rise and sticking around because they keep getting higher then run for your life because this is the one. Every other level for every stat gives you something new, there's a bunch of overlap between stats unlocking things. If you wanted a mindless grind that came in multiple flavors and was packed with new people to talk to, 00s RS was it.

I can't help but stereotype the people still playing it though. I can only imagine the now barren streets of Varrock being filled with people looking for unturned stones from their youth, joylessly powerlevelling and all that. Online sensibilities and personalities are different now, more cynical. The thought of RS without people going Wave2:Glow1: SELLING RUNE SCIMMY NO N00BS PLZ sickens me.

Good post, I now understand. I do wish I gave it a bit more of a chance when I was younger so I could join everyones nostalgia about it. But instead I became a huge Arthurian nerd due to DAoC.

it was free

Its was free.
Everyone played it (My cousins, brothers, friends).
Was easy to run on any computer ( I remember even logging into library computers to play this game).
It was my first and only MMO I ever played, and it was a blast from the past.

ViewtifulJoe posted...

Also the same way I think Cookie Clicker gets people, it's monstrously addictive. If you are dangerously prone to gleefully watching numbers rise and sticking around because they keep getting higher then run for your life because this is the one. Every other level for every stat gives you something new, there's a bunch of overlap between stats unlocking things. If you wanted a mindless grind that came in multiple flavors and was packed with new people to talk to, 00s RS was it.

This for me. Altho I was addicted to it the later part of the 2010s with osrs xd

Free MMO
nothing to install unlike WoW which was huge( (only a few GB at the time but on dialup it took forever)
ran on just about any computer via the browser unlike other games which needed something beefier

It was free and ran on anything.

I had the exact same experience though TC and my most played games were also SWG and DAoC. Had a similar reaction when WoW went into beta. I was convinced no one would play it because it was like Baby's First MMO and was seriously lacking content.

ViewtifulJoe posted...

it's monstrously addictive. If you are dangerously prone to gleefully watching numbers rise and sticking around because they keep getting higher then run for your life because this is the one. Every other level for every stat gives you something new, there's a bunch of overlap between stats unlocking things. If you wanted a mindless grind that came in multiple flavors and was packed with new people to talk to, 00s RS was it.

This combined with tons of people playing it back in the day and crazy--if not horribly offensive chat--is why it was so successful. Probably the best part about Runescape that I've never seen done in another game is that smooth relaxing vibe it had. There were levels for anything and you could just run around having fun doing whatever it was you felt like doing.

RuneScape wasn't that popular though

MMORPGs in general highlight everything I really don't like about the gaming industry haha I think that's why I'm such a Souls fan. It's anti-MMORPG. I'd actually love to see an MMORPG in the Elden Ring style. It's pretty much halfway there. You could almost do it like Destiny, with people meeting up around the bonfires to trade and talk and form a party, and it would be cool.

DocDelicious posted...

It was free and ran on anything.

I had the exact same experience though TC and my most played games were also SWG and DAoC. Had a similar reaction when WoW went into beta. I was convinced no one would play it because it was like Baby's First MMO and was seriously lacking content.

Dude did you beta SWG, fighting in Anchorhead was like the only content.

For like a year after release too.

Alteres posted...

Dude did you beta SWG, fighting in Anchorhead was like the only content.

For like a year after release too.

Eh, SWG was a completely different kind of game in the first few months. Permadeath kept everyone busy lol.
After that the big focus became world PvP, figuring out how to unlock Jedi, and eventually the politics behind the Jedi Council. It wasn't until Jump to Lightspeed that I'd say it became a traditional MMO, then they ruined it like 6 months later with the "Combat Upgrade".

1st mmo, it was easy to play, and had a lot of free content. Plus you can play it on a browser so you don't have to install anything heavy. You just level up skills whenever you feel like it and it's easy to go solo or play with friends. No complicated class systems or anything

Yeah, people were so hyped for the CU, was pretty sad... like no one played on testcenter even.

My favorite thing about it is how practical mining and smithing is. I hate when games are like "Get one Lightning Crystal and two Aura's Breath to get Zeus's Mighty Nimbus Chariot" - like I'll fuck with Diablo 3 because it's Diablo fucking 3, but when it comes down to like dumb abstract item drops, I hate when games have that sort of crafting system.

Runescape makes sense. Mine as much ore as you want. Mine coal to make stronger ingots. Turn the ingots into helmets and platebodies and platelegs. Give other people armor, sell it, make as many spare sets for yourself as you want just in case you die.

You always have the option to just make shit for yourself. You aren't limited by this "oopsy whoopsy you don't have the 0.2% drop-rate Blood Shard, you can't make Ragnarok's Edge uwu" bullshit. That's not to say it isn't there in higher levels of members-only gear, but for the most part, you can arm and protect yourself using trainable skills in the game, and your ability to utilise those skills and those resources are nigh unlimited and equally accessible to everyone.

MrMallard posted...

I hate when games are like "Get one Lightning Crystal and two Aura's Breath to get Zeus's Mighty Nimbus Chariot" -

And you think "Oh, that isn't much" until you see you need 7 different items to have a chance at crafting one of those items.