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First Impressions of RuneScape 3 from a returning player
Over a decade ago, two brothers working out of their parents' house in Nottingham set themselves the impossible task of building their own graphical multi-user dungeon, a genre that later evolved into the MMOs we know today. RuneScape launched to the public in 2001 as a low-res browser game with only a few hundred players and 2-D sprites for monsters, but several years later it boasted over a million paying monthly subscribers. The 2007 Sunday Times Rich List even estimated the Gower brothers' business empire to be worth over £113,000,000, due almost entirely to RuneScape. The secret behind RuneScape's success is that it's been continually updated throughout its lifetime, not just with regular infusions of new content but also with several major graphical and gameplay overhauls. The game was recently reincarnated as RuneScape 3, which is as far as it gets from the primitive game many of us grew up with. It now boasts a visually improved HTML 5 client with graphics acceleration, orchestral music, some voice-acted quests with cutscenes, and a fully customisable UI. This combines with last year's Evolution of Combat update and over a decade of new quests and zones to produce an MMO with more depth and character than many other AAA titles. In this hands-on opinion piece, I put RuneScape's three major versions side by side and look at how far RuneScape 3 has come since those early days of punching 2-D goblins and mining for fish.
RuneScape 3 heralds The Death of Chivalry quest
Already three weeks old, the latest and greatest upgraded iteration of RuneScape is ready to take its first quest steps; today, RuneScape 3 launches its first quest in the New 6th Age. The Death of Chivalry stars Sir Owen, a hero who will join players on a mission to recover a powerful artifact for the mighty god Saradomin from the bowels of the notorious Black Knight Castle. Players of all levels can participate in this quest; the difficulty level scales to match the player's level. Rewards for completion include a full cosmetic armor override set, plenty of Prayer and Combat XP, and much more. [Source: Jagex press release]
