When I was younger, the best way to keep gaming without begging my parents for money to buy games, was to find free ones. For a while, my brother and I would always look forward to the free demo discs we’d get from game magazines. It at least gave us something to play around with and if I remember correctly, they sometimes had a free game on them.

Once I got into PC gaming however, a lot changed. The opportunity arose to find free to play games to play, in this case, mostly MMORPGs. They had a lot of content to play, well at least in grinding. Going from one free to play Mmorpg to the next, I was running out of games to play on the MMORPG.com game list.

There was still one game that stood out, because we all always heard it talked about at school. Not like it was the way Call of Duty or Fortnite is spoken about by every single person, but there was a fair share of people. This brings us to, Runescape.

If you haven’t Played it, you have at least heard of it. I’d be surprised if you haven’t to be honest. I played it a good amount when I was younger, but never really accomplished a whole lot. Who knows what my goal was at the time if any really. My goal might have gone as far as chopping trees. When I think RuneScape, that’s probably one of my strongest memories. Going from tree to tree, the same way I went from MMORPG to MMORPG. Chopping away until I could chop the next tree, and then either sell those logs or burn them up into a campfire.

So why am I talking about RuneScape, an MMORPG from my childhood? In my time streaming, I came across a good amount of people that played it back then or still do. I have a streamer friend as well that for a while, that’s all she streamed. She goes by Jinxdere, formally MandythePoro if anyone recognizes the name. Despite having played RuneScape when I was younger and having some fond memories of it, it’s still that game we played and tried to forget about from our childhood.

It’s the sort of game that has the stigma like World of Warcraft, it’s a game that only “nerds” play. The game that you whisper about or only talk to your friends about it that also play it. Regardless of if it’s a great game or not, it always had some embarrassment that followed it. At least it did for me, even though I only played a bit when I was younger. I had a couple months subscribed as a member, but all I really did was explore.

There have been a few MMORPGs I’ve played where the most enjoyment I got out of my time was exploring. Even if it led me to areas with enemies that could one hit me. This led to many terrifying moments in both RuneScape and Ashen Empires, another MMORPG. Maybe I didn’t want to spend the time to train and grind to get to those areas; which if you’ve played any MMO, you know how that goes. I think it really came down to the different atmospheres, NPCs, creatures, etc. Simply seeing a new environment and what came with it.

Especially in a game where you’re grinding the same mobs or same quests over and over. You tend to get bored of that region and want to see what’s next. That’s how MMOs tend to play out in my opinion, grind one area and the quests that go with it. Get to the next, repeat the same thing, but there are new environments, new creatures, maybe a new race, etc. It makes it unique, even if you’re bored for a bit. While not all MMOs are like that of course, many do follow that model after WoW, the “themepark” MMO.

Anyway, I’m rambling! My goal of this post is two reasons. One, I haven’t posted much and I wanted to keep everyone in the loop on what I’m doing! Not writing tends to make my writing worse, so sometimes it’s nice to be productive and jot down some thoughts. Especially when it’s about what I enjoy. I know I said I have no idea how much I’ll post here and I’m sure in some cases I’ll post a lot, other times barely. It’s tough with a job 4 days a week and two classes on the side as well. Not to mention hanging out with friends between paintball and my new hobby, rock climbing.

Then we have the second reason, I started playing RuneScape again last night. After talking to friends of mine from my stream in Discord, a few of us thought it could be fun to mess with. Some who played a lot more than I have, some who haven’t, and then one who still plays it to this day! Unfortunately, my old account has been permanently banned since it was hacked and the hacker had used programs getting the account banned (macros & gold selling).

I’m still trying to see if I can get my account back by appealing the ban. But, in the meantime I’m grinding away on a new account trying to figure out all the new content that is RuneScape 3. Over time, I’ve started to realize the overlay is different, the skills are new, the world has changed both graphically and literally. I went to the desert today to grind out some scorpions and Al Kahrid Warriors. Had a moment where I was wondering if I’d have to run all the way around or pass through the gate for some money. Little did i Know, the guarded gate no longer exists! That threw me off a bit.

If you want to find me on RuneScape, I’m currently going by Slither95. Drop a comment below and I’ll add you back! Wouldn’t hurt to have more people to play with or relearn the game.