Back in around 2019, I wrote about Runescape and talked about how it continues to be a massively popular MMO even over a decade after it first came out. Well, that still rings true today, and I’ve somehow found myself sucked back into this time sink once more.
Before I go any further, just know that this isn’t going to be a typical review like I usually post on this blog. Honestly, I feel like this is just going to be me rambling on about this over 20-year-old MMORPG. Anyways, I’ve played the damn thing way too much recently that I just can’t help but talk about it.
An Unusual “Single Player” Experience
A few months ago, I suddenly had the urge to play OSRS again for literally no other reason than I “just had the MMO itch”. Yeah, of all the games, I picked this one. Kinda funny to think that I’m writing this now with Janthir Wilds having just released for Guild Wars 2 recently, which is another MMO I’ve shamelessly played hundreds of hours of.
But yeah, back to OSRS. Instead of going back to my old account, I decided to make an entirely new one to experience the game again with “fresh” eyes after a few years of being away.
That’s not the only reason, though. You see, some slightly poor security choices have led to the very same account I was using when I first wrote about it getting compromised at some point. And no, I wasn’t phished or anything, and I did get the account back eventually in a state that I could easily recover from. Honestly, I still have no idea how it got hijacked, but it’s completely secure now.
No, I made a new account to try out the Ironman game mode, where your account gets limited in various ways that makes it feel more like a single player game with the occasional coop activities. I know it seems silly to do so in an MMO, but hear me out.
Old School Runescape has been out for a long time, and the game has gotten much easier and more accessible over the years. With the introduction of stuff like the Grand Exchange and third party clients such as RuneLite, so much of the game’s content has become streamlined to the point where you can get to the endgame by just farming up a ton of gold and following around a giant flashing arrow on your screen.
So I thought to myself, why not force myself out of that? At least for the Grand Exchange part. Sure, I could just actively avoid trading and whatnot, but let’s make it more of a challenge and actually make it impossible to do so. I mean, the option to remove the Ironman limitations is there whenever I feel like stopping anyway.
Enjoying the Grind (Surprisingly)
While I haven’t even made it to the endgame of Old School Runescape, I’ve gotten far enough to earn my very first quest cape by completing everything up until Tears of Guthix, which I did on release before guides could even be made. It’s been taken away again as I’m writing this because of the latest update (Varlamore Part 2), so I’ve got some work ahead of me again!
Along the way, I’ve since reached over 1800 total level, and I’m working towards learning how to do the game’s raids. All this while staying completely self-sufficient. I’ve made it to the point that a lot of former Ironman players consider to be a “quit moment” that has them shifting over to the regular game mode.
Honestly, I don’t blame anyone for doing that, especially when it comes to making supplies. Funnily enough, I’m taking a bit of a break right now and mainly just doing some AFK stuff on the side to avoid burnout. Before this, I was going hard on stuff like the Corrupted Gauntlet and Barrows, while also easing myself into solo entry level Tombs of Amascut (the “easiest” raid, apparently).
If you aren’t an OSRS player, those are just some PVE activities that most people, even some Ironmen accounts, probably wouldn’t even bother grinding on the regular. I find them pretty fun though, and the rewards can be really useful for someone who can’t just buy or sell stuff on the Grand Exchange.
On top of that, I also just finished making an ornate rejuvenation pool in my player-owned house. For the uninitiated, the grind for this as an Ironman with little to no prior late game experience is really painful. For the more knowledgeable players out there, this was how I forced myself to learn how to fight Zulrah, and man, that snake gives me such a hard time. Kinda funny considering that stuff like CG was so easy for me to learn.
The Ways of Iron
Despite all the tedious stuff, I still really enjoy it because every bit of progress feels really impactful. I have a lot of extreme examples, seeing as how I currently have a Neitiznot faceguard and a dragon harpoon, among other items, but how about something a little more mundane?
In the early days of the account, even something as simple as a black dragonhide top and bottom from clue scrolls had me popping off. Hard scrolls still get me to pop off, to be fair, since I’m still missing god d’hide pieces. Getting a rune crossbow from the Crazy Archeologist boss was such a huge dopamine hit too, and that’s something worth chump change for everybody else.
The silly part is that, even for non-Ironman players, most gear upgrades typically just add like one or two more points to your maximum damage. But for some reason, almost everybody who plays the game will agree that stuff like this is so satisfying that some are willing to go on excessive grinds just to reach peak efficiency.
Ain’t Nothing Like It, For Better Or For Worse
Honestly, I’m just yapping over here (peep this blog post’s category/tags), but I just wanted to highlight how there isn’t really anything quite like Runescape. This little medieval clicky game has been around for over two decades now and continues to be updated on a regular basis, and really, that’s just crazy.
Somehow, they just manage to keep things fresh by regularly adding alternative grinding methods and entire regions with tons of activities to participate in. We’ve gotten to the point where nostalgia isn’t even seen as a major contributing factor in its staying power, because the game barely resembles what it used to be when it relaunched over a decade ago. I would know, cause I was there for Old School Runescape‘s initial release.
My very first exposure to Runescape was all the way back when it was on Miniclip, and I’ve always tried hopping back in every few years. There’s just something about it that keeps reeling me back in, and it definitely helps that you can just leave it on the side and still make significant progress.
Like, you’re telling me I can still build up my stack of supplies and/or level up a non-combat skill in my second monitor while I focus on doing some research and writing a bunch of articles? Hell yeah, sign me up!
As I wrap this up, I’m also about to start playing the “original” Runescape too. Ironically, it’s less popular than the “old school” version of the game, but I tried a bit of it during the pandemic. It isn’t really bad, but it’s definitely… different.
I don’t really know how to close this out, so you know what, I’m just going to share some awesome Old School Runescape content that you might find interesting if you made it this far into my little rambling session.
Gielinor Games is something that even non-players are bound to enjoy as it’s a well-edited game show a la Survivor that highlights a lot of the game’s mechanics in an easy-to-digest fashion. The Swampletics series is another favorite of mine as the storytelling alone is incredibly captivating, even if you have absolutely no idea what’s going on.