Have you ever found yourself scratching your head and trying to understand the rabid devotion that has grown up around RuneScape? It seems that you either get it or you don’t, and if you’ve been ignoring the game until now, its fans are more than happy to tell you what you’re missing.
In an interesting exposé on the RuneScape phenomenon, Eurogamer took to this past September’s RuneFest as well as interviewed several players and streamers to see what was the appeal of this popular MMORPG. For some fans, it’s the MMO they grew up playing. “This is going to sound ridiculous and cheesy and a little bit cringe,” said one gamer, “but there’s just something that’s really comforting to me because I played it so much in my childhood.”
Nostalgia or no, the community feels that the game is “thriving” and constantly delivering new content. One streamer, Adam Lyne, has specialized in broadcasting Old School RuneScape, raising thousands for charity, and supporting others who are trying to start up their own streaming careers.
“I was like ‘why don’t we take this, get this money, and then just give it all away?'” he said. “So that’s when we did that, and the results were really nice. And we’re planning to do it more whenever sponsors pop up.”
