Somehow, despite PC gaming since the early 1990s, I managed to completely miss the 300-million-account phenomenon that is RuneScape. Maybe it is because my genres of choice have always been RPG and FPS, or maybe it is because I played original WoW to the point where you got your mount and then immediately realised it was my end-game and that I was terminally demotivated to do any more boar slaying, dropping the game stone cold and never playing another MMO seriously since. Whatever the reason, the free-to-play MMO developed by British developer Jagex, completely passed me by.
As such, I was almost perfectly placed to get the lowdown on not just how the venerable 22-year-old MMO has managed to attract more than 300 million gamers to its fold at one point or another over the past two decades, but also just what its incoming Necromancy skill expansion is set to deliver to both new and established RuneScape players alike.
BROTHERS IN BEDROOMS
For those gamers, like me, who missed the RuneScape phenomenon, the story began back in 2001, when brothers Andrew and Paul Gower created the first version of RuneScape in their bedroom in Cambridge while at university. The game was very rudimentary at first, evolving out of MUDs (multi-user dungeon games), and with some initial art drawn by the Gower brothers' own mother.
Esta historia es de la edición October 2023 de PC Gamer US Edition.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición October 2023 de PC Gamer US Edition.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
YELLOW CARD
Flawed deckbuilder DUNGEONS AND DEGENERATE GAMBLERS rarely plays a winning hand
GODS AND MONSTERS
AGE OF MYTHOLOGY: RETOLD modernizes a classic RTS with care
SPACED OUT
After a strong first impression, WARHAMMER 40K: SPACE MARINE 2 runs out of steam
SLIDES RULE
Redeeming a hated puzzle mechanic with SLIDER
DINER HARD
Rewriting the rules of horror in ALAN WAKE
"Kay Vess, galactic tomb raider"
Feeling like Lara Croft in STAR WARS OUTLAWS
LETHAL COMPANY
A return to some explosive post-launch patches.
MARVEL: ULTIMATE ALLIANCE
Enter the multiverse of modness.
TRACK GPT
Al's teaching sim racers to improve-what about other games?
FINDING IMMORTALITY
Twenty-five years on, PLANESCAPE: TORMENT is still one of the most talked-about RPGs of all time. This is the story of how it was created as a 'stay-busy' project by a small team at Black Isle Studios