There are many MMORPGs available online with World Of Warcraft (WOW) being in the No.1 position and Runescape in second place, but what makes Runescape stand out from the competition?
The players of Runescape believe that the main attraction is being able to connect socially with other players, "just interacting and meeting new people. It's always nice to talk to someone who is on the other side of the world."
There are 14 countries so far which have servers that connect players to the game worldwide, but Jagex the developer of Runescape are planning further expansion into Asia and Eastern Europe this year onwards as CEO of Jagex, Geoff Iddison comments in an interview with gamesindustry.biz.
Quite a few players mentioned that they got into the game through word of mouth from friends, which is how I got into the game. "I play Runescape because I have a few friends who play it. In all honesty, I don't like it as much as other MMOs, but, I keep coming back to it because I have some buddies still playing, plus, it was my first MMO and I feel an attachment to it."
Another aspect is the simplicity of how the game operates using only the internet connection without having to install software or play from CD's. Players can quickly understand how to operate the games controls, move to new locations across the land, converse with characters and other game players and undertake skills, quests or mini games. "I just came out of WOW and man was that a stressful game."
The main thing that has emulated from the players is that the game is really fun, as one player remarks "If you do not have fun while playing, you won't be playing in the first place."
Jagex's Head of Public Relations, Adam Tuckwell touches on what the players thoughts are of the game, "players can explore the RuneScape world with hundreds of thousands of other players at the same time. The attraction is that players can be sociable with their friends, compete together and meet new gamers from around the world."
Adam goes on to discuss the accessibility that the game offers to players, "RuneScape is unique compared to its competitors because it runs in the browser without a need to download large files or purchased a CD/DVD."
The release of MUD (multi-user dungeon) in the 1980s saw the start of online multiplayer games, which has arguably, lead to the likes of MMORPGs such as Runescape, Second Life, WOW being developed.
Jesper Juul is a video game researcher at the Singapore MIT Game Lab. He relates the cross over culture of online gaming back to basic game play "history of board games, card games and sports, which have been multiplayer all along." Jesper follows on "these games began as hobbyist projects but gradually became commercially successful. In terms of basic game play, things arguable haven't changed all that much during those 28 years; the games have just become a lot more accessible."
It is true that with the latest technology players are now able to access the game more, Adam comments "anywhere with an internet connection and allows players to join the game from multiple locations such as Schools, Libraries, internet cafes and at home."
Chris Child discusses social interaction as being a key aspect of making an MMORPG game successful:
An additional part of the game itself, Runescape has integrated a web forum where players, moderators and game creators can provide helpful hints or technical information about aspects of the game, trade items in the market place, and suggest game improvements.
"The community is great and better. You can interact more with the creators and share your feelings with others," a player comments on the social aspects which Runescape draws in on the web forum as well as the in-game chat function.
Fan sites of the Runescape game, have been created by game players and are run independently. To provide Runescape players another avenue to obtain indepth game information, help and web forum facilities such as Runehq or Tip.it. The fan sites do not have anything to do with the actual Runescape game itself or Jagex.
Go to top"..The great thing about Runescape is that there are 24 varieties of skills that you can work on from Agility to Summoning. If you get bored of one thing you can try a quest or a mini game, which can give you xp in a particular skill, free items or gold. I decided to become a full member in March 2006, when I had completed all the free quests and so far I have completed 123 quests out of 146 (but there are always new quests being released).
Fair to say that at the beginning I became addicted to Runescape as a recreational hobby. I enjoyed talking to other players while working on a skill and made some friends online, but it was all about the game and getting my levels up..."