Promising Beginnings: An Overview Of Runescape
RuneScape is a multiplayer fantasy adventure game that offers a breadth of different activities for players. These include raising skills, killing monsters, going on quests and so forth. The game is very open-ended; there is no specific plot, so characters are free to decide what they want to do. The RuneScape world is quite large, especially in the member's version, offering a huge expanse for players to explore.
Most new players start out by raising skills, as these are the key to expanding a character's capabilities. For example, higher combat levels let you kill higher-level monsters. Other skills are primarily for earning money (RuneScape gold) so the character can buy needed items for further advancement. The skills are often linked together; for example, if you kill a chicken, it will drop raw chicken meat, feathers and bones, which are used in other skills like Cooking and Fishing.
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Another component of the game is player-versus-player combat ("PvP"). This includes the Duel Arena, where players can face off for fun or stake items, and the Wilderness, an "anything goes" place where players can attack each other. PvP activities can be fun, but some are also responsible for many of the problems in the game.
For most gamers, there is also an important social element in the game. Players can get together to do activities together; some create special "events" or go on team outings. Sometimes friends just use RuneScape to chat about whatever they feel like discussing. This can be fun and rewarding.
In comparison to other MMORPGs, RuneScape is primitive in terms of its graphics, skills and spells. However, its simplicity is part of what makes it so attractive to children. This appeal is further enhanced by the existence of a version of the game that is completely free, and the ability to play in a standard Web browser with no special software. Even membership is very inexpensive compared to most games; at around $5 a month, this makes RuneScape more affordable for younger players.
These factors, combined with Jagex' child-directed advertising, and efforts to make the game more user-friendly, have resulted in millions of kids signing on to play RuneScape. This influx has in turn led to many experienced players and adults losing interest in the game and moving on, which lowers the average age of gamers further, creating a self-reinforcing cycle that pushes the average age of RuneScape gamers steadily downwards.
Most players feel a rush of excitement when they first start the game; it's all new and there is so much to do, and most new players are nice to each other. The game can indeed be a lot of fun to play, which is part of why it is so popular. Unfortunately, the illusion that other players are all friendly is usually shattered rather quickly.
