gaming Why is RuneScape so liked/popular?

[Fubz 300]

I was looking up a new MMO to play and found that an old classic (Dragon Raja) was being re-released in a week's time but I couldn't help to notice that there were a lot of really weird comments on it. "What so is this just RuneScape but worse?" "Wow what a total rip-off of RuneScape, just as all MMOs are, they don't make them like they used to". And these had quite a few likes

 

Now from what I've gathered RuneScape is a boring grinding experience in which there is no real goal with horrible art and graphics, even for MMOs of its time (as it tried too hard to be 3D) with a horrible playerbase and was really easy to exploit and gain maximum gold. Im talking about RuneScape classic, everyone knows it just got worse overtime.

 

I have literally no idea what made this game appealing, mainly because I only played it a couple of times, but for those who did like it, what was so good about it, or was it just the full hype around the game and that all your friends played it?

[Fiddles 20]

It was a free game and was something to kill time with. There wasn't much too it besides that and it was pretty neat when it first came out. 

[Scootalove 10,689]

I think Runescape is a pretty overrated game, since it is a game that you would usually want to be in. It was great when it came out, but it is running out of the fun factor.

[Obsolete 681]

As someone who played it quite frequently around 2004-2005 or so, the appeal of it was that it was free and simple enough to run on my primitive computer. I always thought the crappy graphics and music were quite charming, as well.

 

I grew disenchanted with it after it stole my friend though.

[Fubz 300]

Arrrhhhh but there were so many other great games out there that were free, GunBound for example D: it annoys me that the mainstream is so bad and overrated due to its popularity.

 

The main thing which annoyed me I guess was probably the fact that they could have made the graphics less 'realistic' and easier to run on PCs but still make the game look really nice which a lot of MMOs did at the time. But rather what they did is try to make it look cool but ended up pooey.

[Fluttershyfan94 5,746]

It was free and I'll just say it a lot of fun. I would spend hours playing it and started playing it even more as I started playing it with my brother. We would play runescape for a long time and then talk about runescape a lot. We knew exactly what we were doing, we had a lot of good weapons and soon we started doing something else. I started to become a cook, he would fish. I would cook it, then we would share the profit. I got coins, while he got food. We would kill trolls and sell their bones and we were always selling cowhides. It was a lot of fun, I can't explain it but there was just this feeling you had when you played it. It's so simple and funny looking, I just couldn't stop playing it. Until of course I got bored of it, I stopped playing it.

 

Most computers could run it, you could play it on the schools computers. Even though during the time it was the most popular I was playing another game but I liked Runescape. It took me a while to actually get in the game but when I did I played it a lot.

 

So in short, free to play, simple and most computers could run it. It was also just fun at times.

[Obsolete 681]

 

 

Arrrhhhh but there were so many other great games out there that were free, GunBound for example D: it annoys me that the mainstream is so bad and overrated due to its popularity.

 

I can usually sympathize with your dislike of the mainstream, but when choosing an MMO popularity is kind of an important consideration. There's no point to these games if nobody else is playing them. 

 

As for GunBound, that wasn't around during my very brief period of online gaming. And if there were any other good alternatives to Runescape I wasn't aware of them. Chalk it up to ignorance on my part. 

[ReverseFaller 2,484]

I have a friend who insists runescape is awesome. I tried it, and I really tried to like it but I just couldn't get into it. I'm sure that It was a lot more fun when it first came out than it is by todays standards.

 

Why is it so popular? I'm not really sure to be honest. The fact that it is free probably helps. Also its an MMO, those are usually popular.

Edited October 18, 2013 by Seibutsu Akuma

[QuirkyUsername 1,576]

Depends on who you talk to. Out of all the people I know IRL only one person says it's not garbage.

Only reason I can think of is its an F2P that's been around during the boom of MMOs when they were heaven's gift to gaming (metaphorically speaking I find them all shite personally) I never really saw the appeal and only fought through my boredom enough to get through tutorial island once after 3-4 attempts

[Fubz 300]

I can usually sympathize with your dislike of the mainstream, but when choosing an MMO popularity is kind of an important consideration. There's no point to these games if nobody else is playing them. 

 

As for GunBound, that wasn't around during my very brief period of online gaming. And if there were any other good alternatives to Runescape I wasn't aware of them. Chalk it up to ignorance on my part. 

Guess that makes sense, the moderation must've been good.

 

B-but Gunbound was 2003 onwards D: it wasn't super duperly big.

 

I have a friend who insists runescape is awesome. I tried it, and I really tried to like it but I just couldn't get into it. I'm sure that It was a lot more fun when it first came out than it is by todays standards.

 

Why is it so popular? I'm not really sure to be honest. The fact that it is free probably helps. Also its an MMO, those are usually popular.

I was talking about the original RuneScape actually sorry if I didn't make it clear. But yeah it did get worse over time, however I believe it started out bad in the first place xD

[Zygen 6,066]

Meh, Its ok i guess, but I mean it gets boring after a while, and also everything thats worthwhile is members only stuff, so even if it is free to play most of the free to play stuff sucks.

 

I will admit i played for like 2 years as a member, I guess it was fun, or i was addicted one not sure, but i got bored after a while. I was like level 86 or something. 

 

Now its just to much grinding for me. 

 

I think its kinda dieing, and really its not that great for todays standards anymore.

[Lost 1,410]

I think for most people now it's a nostalgia thing, it was the first game I ever played online back when it first came out, but it quickly bored me and I loved on to other MMOs, a few of my friends still play it but I don't understand why, I tried to get back into it but it's boring as hell, if I'm playing an MMO I would rather be playing WoW or EVE

[Thrashy 2,800]

Eh, I thought it was fun enough. Fun enough to claim one of my summers back in high school, if that says anything. I know that mining coal deposits, mastering my baking skills, and murdering town guards for hours on end doesn't seem exciting compared to what you can play nowadays, but for its time, it was a nice little MMO...and most importantly, free. It was pretty much my only alternative to Ragnarok Online, which I played a month-long trial of and loved, but was too broke to buy a membership for. And like any MMO, no matter how dull the game itself may have been, it was always a lot of fun playing with people, especially friends you knew IRL.

 

So yeah, technically the game's nothing to write home about. But you know what's the saddest thing? It's technically less atrocious as an MMO than FFXIV.

[repsol rave 2,963]

i used to really like that game, but with all the new updates they got into it over the last few years i kinda began to dislike it.

i loved the simple, original runescape game, but now it just seems like some bland WoW clone.

[Raritas 6,820]

I used to play it all the time. I actually paid for member status, because F2P is only like 25% of the actual game. I used to really enjoy it. The different skill available, the player killing in the wilderness, killing monsters, making money, losing money....

I felt it was original, I'd never played a game where you ranked up a fishing skill, or woodcutting. This is coming from a player who played it on and off from 2006 to late 2012, when the "Evolution of Combat" came out.

 

Now... It's all gone. It's bad now. They screwed it up. The new "Runescape 3" doesn't feel right. I know there's an "Old School" version now from 2007, but the community has all but faded from what it used to be.

[Hansel 1,512]

I... actually genuinely loved it, and not just because it was free. I even had a members account, and I played it for years very regularly.

 

I liked it because it was kinda toung-in-cheek with lots to do, lots of places to visit, and fun items to get. The missions were kind of annoying to be honest, but other then that, I really liked it. It was just light hearted fun, and for a game that referenced so much stuff, it was kind of original.

Edited October 19, 2013 by Hansel

[Krys9 456]

I have no idea actually. I tried playing it for half a hour and it got really tedious. Nothing in the game appealed to me either so it made sense to drop it and do something else that was more worth my time and energy. I don't blame anyone for enjoying it though. Good for you guys.