In 2001 RuneScape launched as a browser game and never stopped moving forward, depositing old versions along the way for players who wanted to stay in the past: RuneScape Classic, which no longer exists, and then Old School RuneScape in 2013. For everyone else, the modern version is just called RuneScape, and was recently added to Steam. I’ve always had the sense that RuneScape is a bit esoteric (I’m sure I tried it back when it launched, when I was into MUDs and other relics of online gaming), but I didn’t realise just how weird the free-to-play MMO is until I gave it a try. Nearly two decades after it first released, visiting RuneScape is like entering a PC gaming pocket dimension that split off from our own years ago, perhaps accessed by passing through the infinite loop of a GeoCities webring.
Like any other MMO, RuneScape begins with character creation, and I design a bearded man with a bald-on-top monk cut. I have no name in mind for him, so I opt to let RuneScape generate a random one. I’m expecting it to hit me with something fantasy-ish, like Illhard Earling or Haglbar or Revvyn. It suggests Deathlum1934. I hit the randomise button again. 59Bork2396. Again. Dingo2429. 44slender392.
Clearly, randomised names are not RuneScape’s strength. No problem: I type in the name of German author WG Sebald. It tells me that someone has already taken the name WG Sebald. Who could possibly be running around RuneScape as German literary figure WG Sebald? I don’t know, but the game’s been around for nearly 20 years now, so I should’ve figured that no niche would be untouched. I type in Burrp Bram and the name is accepted. I am now Burrp Bram.
Denne historien er fra January 2021-utgaven av PC Gamer.
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Denne historien er fra January 2021-utgaven av PC Gamer.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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BITING BACK
The tooth is out there in adventure TEETH OF GLASS
SMOKE ALARM
THE INVISIBLE SMOKE FACTORY is back in a Flash
MECH ME OVER
Move over Mario, here's mech-based platforming in ARMORED SHELL NIGHTJAR
"I like Pillars of Eternity better than Baldur's Gate III"
PILLARS OF ETERNITY deserves a bigger space in the CRPG pantheon
"A harrowing dark fantasy about hapless, bright-eyed children"
Spelunking into hell with MADE IN ABYSS: BINARY STAR FALLING INTO DARKNESS
THE IMMORTAL LOCK
A massive, meaty game in a single horrific Quake map.
NEW MANOEUVRES
Building a dedicated sim racing space in an average family house
OVERWATCH 2
Save me space girl.
REET GOOD TIME
THANK GOODNESS YOU'RE HERE is a riotous recreation of Yorkshire
THE PLUCKY SQUIRE
How many games let you make friends with a MtG card?