You Never Really Quit RuneScape - A Lifelong Player’s Story

How I Got into RuneScape

Back in 2007, at the age of 9, I was enjoying the world of Club Penguin and various other console games. Meanwhile, my brother was exploring something much bigger - a world with more adventure and intrigue than I could’ve ever imagined - RuneScape.

Little did I know that I would very soon be jumping into the world of Gielinor and discovering the adventure that lies ahead. Initially, my parents didn’t approve of me playing RuneScape given the scale and interactive online elements - being able to freely talk to anyone in the world is something we take for granted in the present day. Back in 2007, however, it was revolutionary outside of the new instant messaging platforms, like MSN. Unfortunately for my parents, that didn’t stop me from hopping onto the family computer to “play Club Penguin” on one browser tab while secretly having RuneScape on the next. I was quickly hooked and found myself running home every day after school to explore everything the game had to offer. Little did I know that I would still be playing the game 18+ years later…

How Old School RuneScape Spawned

Back in 2007 there was only one version of the game (outside of the classic servers - a version released in 2001 but later updated to RuneScape 2 in 2004). The game saw a lot of great updates between 2007 – 2012, including new bosses, skills and items to keep you playing for hours. During this time, unfortunately, RuneScape was starting to have some more controversial updates too. Amongst these updates was the addition of microtransactions in the form of the “Squeal of Fortune” – allowing players to buy experience and items with real-life currency. Something that was technically against the game rules and to this day hugely controversial to the player base.

Although, this was only the tip of the iceberg for the RuneScape community as on November 20th Jagex released The Evolution of Combat (EoC). This was a complete overhaul of the entire combat system. At first, I was excited at the prospect of what could be an exciting update. It quickly became clear that the update took away everything that made the combat system unique and original.

Eventually, EoC led to the creation of RuneScape 3, which I’ve played small amounts of over the years. EoC was inspired by similar mechanics in modern-day Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOs), such as World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. In these MMOs, a player has abilities and rotates between them. This doesn’t quite capture the magic that was the old combat system of RuneScape.

EoC was a very polarising update - completely dividing the community resulting in huge amounts of players quitting the game during this time, myself included. On 15th February 2013, Jagex released a statement saying they had found a backup version of the game. The earliest back up they found was from the 10th of August 2007, an era many deem to be just after “the golden age” of RuneScape. If there was enough interest Jagex said they would release this version to be available in parallel with the original RuneScape, bundled with certain additional features based on how many votes the poll got. The voting, however, required paid membership for the existing version of the game.

Fast forward two weeks, and the poll received 449,351 votes - providing just enough interest to release the game, promising some basic maintenance for the servers and a small development team dedicated to delivering updates to the game. And thus, Old School RuneScape was spawned. Though, the polls didn’t stop there…

What Keeps Me Coming Back to OSRS

I, alongside three of my close friends at the time, were hooked all over again from day one. Questing together and exploring the world as we remembered “all those years ago.” Everyone was on an equal playing field, with brand new accounts, a fresh economy and everyone rushing to be the world first at achieving the highest tiered items or max levels.

In the beginning updates were slow and interest quickly fell causing player counts to drop drastically. However, one of the best parts of OSRS is that players are given the ability vote for new content to come into the game. This included an existing piece of content from the original RuneScape, God Wars Dungeon (GWD). GWD was close to completion in the 2007 backup version which OSRS was based on, meaning they could drop a huge update without requiring a big team for development.

I’m not exactly sure when the player count started to increase again but GWD is recognisable to all veteran players and was sure to stir up excitement, as with this update it brought the legendary Bandos armour and Godswords. GWD was then followed by various other mammoth updates over the next year or two. These included Slayer boss updates, Ironman mode (one of my personal favourites), the grand exchange and tonnes more.

Month by month the player count steadily increased and fast forward to where we are today. OSRS consistently outperforms the original RuneScape version (RuneScape 3) and recently hit its peak concurrent player count of 263,094 back in December 2024, thanks to a successful launch of its latest temporary game mode, Raging Echoes Leagues. The best part is that almost all updates are completely voted in by the community. No major update is released without first being voted in by players with a 70% (previously 75%) majority and first undergoing rounds of feedback from the community to ensure it’s perfect and remains balanced to “Old School”. Even beyond the release of any update, Jagex continues to listen to the community and make adjustments to ensure the game remains in a healthy state.

“You Never Really Quit RuneScape - You Just Take Breaks…”

This is a saying that gets thrown around the community quite a lot and it really couldn’t be more true. Over my 18+ year journey, I’ve fallen in and out of playing the game. Sometimes, not playing for as long as a year, however what has remained constant is the passion I’ve felt through the community and keeping up to date with the game. I like to think I enjoy all sorts of game genres: MOBAs, FPS, Horror, Soulslikes and more, but I like them all for different reasons. Something about OSRS captures me in ways none of these games can. Whether I’m raiding and bossing, chasing the next collection log upgrade for my Ironman, skilling my way to max stats or adventuring on the latest quest, there truly is something for everyone in OSRS. And for the record, the quests contain some of the best story/lore of any fantasy game I’ve played.

The best part of all of this is that I even get to choose whether I want high Actions per Minute (APM) gameplay or to sit back, throw on a film and “AFK” (away from keyboard) fish some anglerfish. Combine all of this with, I’d argue, one of the best content creation scenes out there, there’s always a reason for you to be enjoying the game. There are some notably legendary series on YouTube for players to enjoy. For example, B0aty’s One Man Army which essentially spawned the official Ironman Gamemode, or Settled’s Swampletics which reached audiences well beyond the typical OSRS fan. If YouTube isn’t your place, then the community thrives on Twitch with things like Deadman All Stars - a week-long tournament with 30 content creators battling it out in a PvP game mode, putting in some crazy hours and dedication to keep you endlessly entertained.

The beauty of the game is that even after all these years, there’s still content I’m yet to try and I’m still learning to do.

Is it Nostalgia or Something Deeper?

At face value it may appear to be all nostalgia, given the graphics and initial mechanics you’re presented with – click once and wait, but it really couldn’t be further from the truth. The graphics have a level of charm to them that can’t be replicated with hyper realistic graphics. Something I also struggle to explain to people, is the fact the skill ceiling that exists in OSRS is unlike other games I’ve seen. You wouldn’t think this, given at first glance you’re presented with what appears to be a medieval clicking simulator, however the deeper you go, you come to realise the challenge is limitless.

Whether bossing or raiding with friends is your thing, challenging other players in Bounty Hunter (Player versus Player minigame) or you want to try 3 tick fishing to maximise experience per hour, how you choose to develop your skills is up to you. Reflecting on the original question, nostalgia is essentially just a short-term feeling and this isn’t enough to keep the player base coming back. That’s not to say that you don’t feel nostalgia when you begin playing again as a returning player, as it’s definitely a contributor to reel you back in. I’d argue the constant updates, coupled with all the original content (completely separate from RuneScape 3), provides a unique experience and a best-in-class example for all of gaming.

I’m not currently playing OSRS as actively as I have in the past, though I do still log on now and again to play the new updates, such as the recent release of Yama. Otherwise, I’m usually just doing some sort of “afk” activity on a second monitor (I’ll get that Beaver pet one day). Will I always play OSRS? More than likely… It’s been a somewhat constant in my life since I first logged on and I suspect it won’t be long till I’m playing consistently again…