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[Tenebrous]

Despite spending the majority of my MMO playing time in Azeroth, I don't think there's been a game before or since Runescape that captured what I wanted from an MMO so perfectly. It's amazing how such a small studio got right between 03-07, and how even today, a lot of it still hasn't been surpassed. I made this thread to discuss those points with fellow MMO players, and hopefully find some direction towards a similar game with modern production values.

I've not played the game for well over 5 years, although I did dabble in the RS07 servers for a while on launch. Cut me some slack if some of the info is out of date/inaccurate, please.

Quests
Is RuneScape the only MMO still out there to have actual bloody quests? You create your first Warcraft character, and you're charged with killing boars. You make your first FF14 character, and you have to eliminate ladybugs. You make your first RuneScape character, however, and you're exorcising ghosts, sorting out disputes, creating magic potions and rescuing princes. There seems to be more thought put into things like Dragon Slayer, Monkey Madness & Desert Treasure than the combined total of effort put into World of Warcraft's entire catalog of quests. They were never as simple as "Go Kill 10 ???" and were often accompanied by some great British humour.

"Oh dear, you're dead."

Amazing.

Skills
I might be in the minority, but I love the simplicity & hardcore nature of old school RuneScape crafting. Sure, some skills would take months to max, but there was always someone to talk to, and the financial benefits were always there. There's something relaxing about fishing, cutting trees, etc, and I still talk to a handful of people who I last played with a decade ago, just knocking over yews & magics south of Seers.

Economy & PvE
Ties into skills somewhat, but I always liked how Gold was pretty much RuneScape's end goal. There's so many ways to make it, and stocking up allowed for better gear/equipment to make even more gold... Or better yet, risk in the wilderness.

PvP
Yeah, RuneScape PvP makes Hearthstone RNG look tame, but it was bloody damn fun at the time. All the Pure variants out there (I had a maxed ranger), clan fights,

Spoiler

teletubbies,

ridiculous DDS combos & Dharok's luckers. I dread to think how much time I spent watching PK videos from T H E Do0rs, Krazyfaken, Tanksta, I Mahatma I, etc. Sure, the skill involved was minimal, but the adrenaline rush from getting a big kill against a wealthy target & then trying to run outta the wilderness with your spoils was very real - And heaven forbid you should get smited out and lose your whip. I loved the risk/reward setup of Wilderness PvP, and the gold that could be made from staking nonstop.


So yeah, while other MMOs might be clamoring to be the next World of Warcraft(/Everquest), and failing, what I really want is a non-P2W version of RuneScape with modern production values & a great sense of humour. Perhaps such a thing will never happen. Perhaps RS was just a product of its time, but regardless, I'll always look back on the time I spent with it fondly.

 

[Demoli]

I still play this game and I feel it's now better than ever.

It's just a nice, relaxing game

 

[diddykong13]

Went back to this for a little bit when the RS07 servers launched... really should go back again, me and a few friends frequently reminisce about this game - it really did last through the majority of our early teens and it's got a great place in my heart.

 

[CrimsonSquall]

Game was pure crack to me, im glad i got hacked or else I'd have nothing but a high level character to contribute to society

 

[Anon67]

OP I totally agree with you. What sucked when I was playing was that I never payed the premium subscription. I kinda wish I had payed given how much more there was to do. I think I stopped at level 63 or something once I completed everything for the free version. Also I do wish I had more friends on RS back then. Mainly played by myself.

I don't remember most of the quests, though I do remember that one quest where you had to fight that OP dragon. There was a ton of preparation and food gathering that needed to be done before fighting.

 

[Tregard]

My favourite thing was their Crystal Maze parody

 

[Caayn]

Game was super addictive, quest were fun, activities such as fishing and combat was simple yet still managed to be fun.

Last time I played was a couple years ago. How is it these days?

 

[TraBuch]

When I played Runescape, I think I spent 90% of my time buying runes from some NPC in a PVP zone and selling them for a big profit to players. I think? I can't remember. It's been over a decade. Also had a full Halloween mask set. Are party hats still millions of gold?

 

[Shotgun Kiss]

Never played it, but I used to work at Jagex in Player Support. Great times; I personally answered quite a few player letters, and sent them posters and stuff. The community was incredibly passionate, and it made working there a lot of fun.

It was crazy how many people tried to steal each other's accounts though. I can't tell you how many incidents I saw in which somebody would let their friend use their account, then claim it back years later.

If you still play it, don't do that. It only leads to upset.

 

[ZeronosVega]

Game was super addictive, quest were fun, activities such as fishing and combat was simple yet still managed to be fun.

Last time I played was a couple years ago. How is it these days?

Just seeing my brother play it a while back, it's definitely made changes. They have a separate version available for members which is locked into the 2007 version of the game (though they make updates to expand certain content and fix known issues from the time).

 

[Dizzy]

Lol I noticed this too. A number of mmos I've tried were indeed "kill 10 x" now "collect 10 y".

It's sad when something as basic as Runescape can beat them.

 

[nrvalleytime]

I'm glad you posted this - I've been looking for someone to help me max my treecutting skills.

Spoiler

I used to think cutting trees in this game was incredible. And then I realized lobsters and runes were much faster ways of earning money. Teenage me wasted days in this game.

 

[Astral/H3X]

I don't know if it's changed at all, but the economy was pretty hilariously broken, and since you couldn't craft any of the top tier stuff, you'd see huge changes of like 20,000g for an almost top tier piece of equipment, then suddenly 80million for a piece of armor with like a 10% increase, since all the top players had this absolutely ludicrous amount of gold.
But, while flawed in a lot of ways, it was definitely creative and was good at being crack.

 

[cyborg009]

I remember the times before the Grand Exchange lol. everyone would meet up in either world 1 or 3 to sell their items on the f2p server.

 

[ZeronosVega]

I'm glad you posted this - I've been looking for someone to help me max my treecutting skills.

Spoiler

I used to think cutting trees in this game was incredible. And then I realized lobsters and runes were much faster ways of earning money. Teenage me wasted days in this game.

Reminds me of long ago when I chopped down 20,000 (yes, that's not a mistake) Yew Logs in order to purchase an Abyssal Whip because they were so expensive. Wound up getting into the mid-80s with my Woodcutting and got the whip and some leftover money.

Now, you can get them for like 100k AND there's an improved version of it.

 

[depths20XX]

I'm amazed it's still around. Even when it came out it looked like booty buttcheeks. Must be something special about it.

 

[Ezalc]

Damn I was addicted to this game when I was younger. I loved doing the agility courses.

 

[KJRS_1993]

I first started playing aged 12 in 2005. This was pretty much my first experience of online gaming, and I was absolutely hooked. I was ridiculously invested in this game and all the friends I made on it.

Amazing when you go back now and how crap the game has become. It was always a bit shitty in its own endearing way, but it's next level on how much they've crapped on it.

 

[justgames7604]

When I played Runescape, I think I spent 90% of my time buying runes from some NPC in a PVP zone and selling them for a big profit to players. I think? I can't remember. It's been over a decade. Also had a full Halloween mask set. Are party hats still millions of gold?

Billions

 

[Noobcraft]

I enjoyed my time with it. I even ended up on Mod MMG's friend's list/general in his clan chat but he's since moved on and I haven't played it in years now. I still have a Santa hat.

 

[Nabbis]

The only MMO worth playing these days imo.

 

[WolfForager]

I played this alot when I was in early secondary school (12-15). Actually went back to it for a few months when I was 19 or so too. Stopped playing in entirely after Dungeoneering (or whatever they call it) came out. Absolutely hated that skill with a passion and started to make me hate the game as well as you could only get all the new good armour and weapons through the skill.

Loved the Slayer skill though, think I was midway in the 90s, collecting abyssal whips for fun and made ridiculous amounts of money easily.

 

[Dec]

I've kept playing off and on over the past 10 years, about 7,000 hours according to my Adventure's Log.

I need to take breaks from playing it as at this point I have finished all my favorite things to do so all that is left is hammering out the last 99s of which I don't enjoy enough to focus down.

I love the game still, the quests are great and a big reason why I play. It's probably better now than it was back in the day as a game but my big criticisms and the reason I haven't really played for the past 6 months is their completely incompetent tech team.

Just terrible, slow progress on anything. Bad performance all around in Java (having to use Java in general), huge failure on the part of html5 (they blame browsers but the reason html5 is unplayable is bugs), long wait time for Runescape NXT because they wanted to keep the game browser based with html5 when they should have been working towards a C++ client years ago.

That said I bought a bond last week to catch up on ports and the 4 or so quests that have released in the last 6 months (please more Jagex) and the event going on now.

Unfortunately there is no GAF Runescape community really, just 3 or 4 people. If you play hop over to the community thread.

 

[Demoli]

When I played Runescape, I think I spent 90% of my time buying runes from some NPC in a PVP zone and selling them for a big profit to players. I think? I can't remember. It's been over a decade. Also had a full Halloween mask set. Are party hats still millions of gold?

Rares like the Halloween masks and Party Hats only became even more expensive.

I'm not into the economics of the game, but i think most party hats are easily worth Billions of GP right now.

 

[Tagyhag]

Game is scary addicting, I still play the 2007 version because they ruined the original. Now you can buy membership with in game money so I'm never spending a dime on the game again.

I remember getting my first month of membership, after saving up some money when I was like 12 and having to send it through money order because my parents understandably didn't want to put their cc info on there.

Some skills are super grindy though, it's a great game to catch up on your TV shows or movies haha.

 

[Dec]

I'm amazed it's still around. Even when it came out it looked like booty buttcheeks. Must be something special about it.

It isn't only still around but actually more successful (even if not as popular) than it has ever been. There are 50,000 concurrent users or more generally which is barely behind TF2. Back before the new combat came out and upset a lot of people the game had 1.6m subscribers (at this time free to play members weren't on the highscores so it was easy to check).

Basically, it has been successful in the background for a long time.

 

[Demoli]

It isn't only still around but actually more successful (even if not as popular) than it has ever been. There are 50,000 concurrent users or more generally which is barely behind TF2. Back before the new combat came out and upset a lot of people the game had 1.6m subscribers (at this time free to play members weren't on the highscores so it was easy to check).

Basically, it has been successful in the background for a long time.

Also noting that there are very little bots compared to before, so the numbers aren't as artificially inflated now.

 

[Darryl M R]

Proud level 99 woodcutter. Been selling yews on the street corner since the fourth grade.

My first, and only, MMO. I could invest hours into it while multitasking and not feeling a big pressure to sink my whole life into it and lose sight of other things in my life.

I haven't played Runescape since 2007 or so, I heard it fell off after that.

 

[MillionStabs]

It's completely unplayable now, but '07 RS was the shit.

 

[Sciz]

Can't understand the '07scape crowd at all. Went back to the game for a couple months recently after having not seriously touched it since early '07, and between all the quality of life improvements they've made, combat not being ass, and overall presentation values going way up, it's such a better game these days. Looking forward to the C++ client in hopes that it'll finally stop running like ass, too.

I'm amazed it's still around. Even when it came out it looked like booty buttcheeks. Must be something special about it.

Much like EVE, it's unique within the genre (for the reasons stated in the OP) and has zero competition.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

I only knew one person that ever played Runescape during that time (that I knew of).

I heard that during different gym class I wasn't in, someone started throwing (rubber) dodgeballs at him, and a bunch of other people joined in. They continuously slammed him with the dodgeballs for like 10 straight minutes until someone decided to start chucking basketballs at him. He kept yelling back at them and getting hit straight in the head with fucking basketballs for another 10-15 minutes until the bell rang.

 

[Cody_D165]

If anyone's looking to scratch that itch, the Oldschool servers are alive and well at oldschool.runescape.com. They've even recently released a resizable game client that makes playing the oldschool game feel new again. You can also buy membership with ingame currency.

The main game, RS3, is completely unrecognizable from what it once was and it's actually rather depressing.

 

[Papasmurf531]

OSRS (07 Scape) Is a lot of fun to play still. I play a lot on my second monitor while watching videos or doing schoolwork. Started playing again after a couple year break, and I am pretty sure it is the reason why I got a 4.0 at college this year.

 

[Tagyhag]

Can't understand the '07scape crowd at all. Went back to the game for a couple months recently after having not seriously touched it since early '07, and between all the quality of life improvements they've made, combat not being ass, and overall presentation values going way up, it's such a better game these days. Looking forward to the C++ client in hopes that it'll finally stop running like ass, too.

It's basically because it's a different game, and as someone who's been playing since RS1, it lost its soul and charm.

That and the cash stuff is shady as hell.

 

[SummitAve]

Played a bit when it was 2d, you could kill people everywhere, and party hats weren't shit. It was my first MMORPG I think.

 

[Sciz]

It's basically because it's a different game, and as someone who's been playing since RS1, it lost its soul and charm.

That and the cash stuff is shady as hell.

I'll give you the MTX stuff being a bit unsavory, but soul and charm? I'd expect a fellow RS1 player to remember that as being the exact same argument a bunch of people used to gripe about RS2 when that was the new thing, and it was just as tenuous then.

 

[Magwik]

I have no idea if anyone here really remembers it but I was really looking forward to Stellar Dawn before Jagex canned it

 

[Werewolf Jones]

I played for a bit from April 2007 to April 2008 because I was bored mostly and I had some fun with it, when this whole summoning thing came into it and it got a bit too silly. Had a squad for a while too. I remember once in the wilderness some guy attacked me with just a DDP and he was wrecking me hard but I already did a fair bit of damage to him so I lured him to the group, still remember creasing hard when he typed in "no lol please stop" as he was getting destroyed. The added lol in there just made it funny.

 

[Vanguard]

Was my first major online game that I played back in 2002 or 03? Was also the game I joined my first clan (The Sabre Clan), I have fond memories of it all but no desire to go back to it to be honest, quit around 2004 / 05.

 

[Tagyhag]

I'll give you the MTX stuff being a bit unsavory, but soul and charm? I'd expect a fellow RS1 player to remember that as being the exact same argument a bunch of people used to gripe about RS2 when that was the new thing, and it was just as tenuous then.

Oh definitely, even if tedious stuff like the sleeping bag got removed. But RS2 quickly grew on you, because while it was different, the difference wasn't as tremendous as from 2 to 3 .

Rather, I should say late 2, when they changed the combat.

 

[Sciz]

Oh definitely, even if tedious stuff like the sleeping bag got removed. But RS2 quickly grew on you, because while it was different, the difference wasn't as tremendous as from 2 to 3 .

Rather, I should say late 2, when they changed the combat.

I can understand complaints about the combat a bit more so, since that really is completely different and kinda janky. But even then, there's something like three different modes that let people ignore it to various degrees and go back to the old autoattack style.

I dunno, it's just perplexing to me that there's such a huge outcry this time when the game is still 95% about standing in front of a tree and tabbing out or chatting, just like it always has been.

 

[ZeezbruhTV]

Played from like 2005-2009ish, some awesome memories. The friends youd make at the fishing guild and magic trees, the quests still dump on most MMO's. First time equipping a whip, first Halloween mask. Could play castle wars for hours.

 

[frontovik]

I agree that RuneScape had actual well developed and interesting "quests" for an MMO unlike World of WarCraft.

It was definitely one of the games of my childhood, but I can't go back to it after Jagex filled it with a ridiculous item store and microtransactions. I regret that I wasn't able to achieve my dream of owning a party hat or a Level 99 Fishing Cape.

 

[Yawnier]

I haven't played this game in years, I dropped it permanently around 2008. I got into it sometime around the summer of 2006, so all and all I only played this game for a few years. A big thing that got me into this game was a ton of my buddies played it, at least in my school this MMO was huge for a few years around that time.

However, I didn't like the direction Jagex took with eliminating PKing in the wilderness, and replacing it with the Bounty Hunter and Clan Wars minigames and also with the addition of the grand exchange in late 2007. I actually didn't mind those minigames after trying them and I did put some time into them, but I didn't like how they were the absolute replacement for wildy PKing. It just wasn't the same, ya know.

To focus on the positive things though.... what I did like about this game when I played it though:

- Some of the quests, mainly the membership ones were pretty good. Dragon Slayer was good for a F2P quest though
- Castle Wars (main reason I got and retained a membership). Really fun game
- Free Trading in Varrock, being able to buy and sell items with other players freely
- Wilderness PKing
- Some of the community, there were lots of assholes who played this game no doubt. I did meet some really friendly and nice people on here though.
- Special Holiday Events for Halloween, Christmas, Easter

I would be kind of tempted to try RS 2007, but I wouldn't have the free time for it like I used to.

 

[daTRUballin]

Does anybody even play this game anymore? I remember when it used to be popular and everybody talked about it. Now it has pretty much just faded.

 

[cyborg009]

I haven't played this game in years, I dropped it permanently around 2008. I got into it sometime around the summer of 2006, so all and all I only played this game for a few years. A big thing that got me into this game was a ton of my buddies played it, at least in my school this MMO was huge for a few years around that time.

However, I didn't like the direction Jagex took with eliminating PKing in the wilderness, and replacing it with the Bounty Hunter and Clan Wars minigames and also with the addition of the grand exchange in late 2007. I actually didn't mind those minigames after trying them and I did put some time into them, but I didn't like how they were the absolute replacement for wildy PKing. It just wasn't the same, ya know.

To focus on the positive things though.... what I did like about this game when I played it though:

- Some of the quests, mainly the membership ones were pretty good. Dragon Slayer was good for a F2P quest though
- Castle Wars (main reason I got and retained a membership). Really fun game
- Free Trading in Varrock, being able to buy and sell items with other players freely
- Wilderness PKing
- Some of the community, there were lots of assholes who played this game no doubt. I did meet some really friendly and nice people on here though.
- Special Holiday Events for Halloween, Christmas, Easter

I would be kind of tempted to try RS 2007, but I wouldn't have the free time for it like I used to.

I have to attempt the mini game was really good. Fist of Guthix was great.

 

[Komo]

This is the one game that I always come back to at least once a year and play for a few weeks. I really can't get away from it. Especially with OSRS being released.

My dad's friend's son introduced me to RuneScape at my mom's birthday party in 2005, and it completely changed my life. I was instantly hooked. This was my first time playing anything online, and the ability to chat and interact with other players was just astounding to me. It felt amazing, and I played it consistently for two years until I was perma-banned for swearing in 2007. However, since I was already pretty hooked on the internet by then, thanks to RS, it didn't bother me all that much. I'd already added all my friends on MSN, and I dragged some of them into San Andreas Multiplayer and the good times just kept coming

I sent an appeal just for the heck of it in 2009, and my account was miraculously unbanned, so I started playing again, but I could never stay hooked longer than a few weeks. It's remained that way ever since then. I still come back to it every now and then, but I never stay too long. Regardless, it's always a blast to play, you know?

It's had such a big impact on my life. Without it, I wouldn't be here on NeoGAF. I'd probably be a completely different person. ... A healthier person no doubt, but I still wouldn't change a thing.

 

[JesseZao]

Always looked like hot garbage to me. Couldn't get past that so I never tried it. I guess it had some charm then?

 

[nailbombxx]

'03-'07 Runescape was truly the golden age. I loved that game, it was my first MMO. Looking back, I spent so much time on that game when I could have been doing something productive, so I kind of regret all the time I sunk into it. But simultaneously, I have so many great memories of it.

 

[zswordsman]

Loved RuneScape. Early teen me would go to the library with my friends to play it. Never got to be a member since I didn't have a debit card or money but the game was fun either way.

I was more into cooking and fishing, and mining and smithing. Damn did I make some good amount of cash from mining.