Games - RuneScape

Home > Listing Index > Games > RuneScape

	Games - RuneScape

RuneScape is an MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role-playing game) implemented in Java, with over two million active players. RuneScape was launched by Jagex Ltd. on January 4, 2001 and offers both pay to play ("P2P") and free to play ("F2P") membership options to players.

Being implemented in Java, RuneScape requires no installation and can easily be accessed from the .

Overview

RuneScape is set in a medieval fantasy world, similar to "Guild Wars" or "EverQuest", where players control character representations of themselves. As with most MMORPGs, there is no overall objective or end to the game. Players can explore, form alliances, earn gold coins, perform optional tasks, and complete quests for rewards and to build their character's skills.

During peak hours, it is common to see around 150,000 players online across the 120 international servers located in six different countries, with a peak in excess of 197,000 simultaneous logged-in players reached in March 2006. Up to 2,000 players may be on one server at once, allowing a maximum of 240,000 online players at any one time. These servers are called "worlds" in RuneScape. Servers are located in the United States (79), the United Kingdom (18), Canada (6), the Netherlands (6), Australia (6) and Sweden (5)), making it the most popular online Java based game in the world. RuneScape is usually updated once a week, with the addition of new skills, quests, or items, as well as many other types of updates.

History and development

Version 1: The first version started out as a one man project. The developer (Andrew Gower), started working on the original game in 1998. This version was very different to the RuneScape of today. It had isometric graphics, and was originally titled 'DeviousMUD'. This version was never released to the public, and only a few people ever saw it.

Version 2: The developer scrapped version 1, and started work on a complete rewrite in 1999. Despite being a complete rewrite, this version was very similar to version 1, with the same graphics and name. This version was released as a public beta for about 1 week, and then withdrawn.

Version 3: The developer started yet again with a 3rd attempt in October 1999. This time, Andrew had some help from his brothers Paul and Ian. The isometric view was replaced in favor of 3D graphics and 2D sprites. The game was renamed RuneScape and released to the public on January 4, 2001. This version is still online today but only for limited RuneScape Members. It is currently called RuneScape Classic. On January 12, 2006, 5,000 RuneScape Classic accounts were banned. Additionally, play was restricted to members who had logged in at least once since August 5, 2005. No more accounts for this version can ever be created.

Jagex Ltd formed: In December of 2001 Jagex Limited was founded as a commercial operation to take over the running of RuneScape. Jagex acquired RuneScape and all related technologies, and continued to develop the game further. Andrew Gower joined Jagex as its lead developer.

Members launch: On February 27, 2002, Jagex launched a new optional "members service", allowing players to pay $5 USD a month to obtain access to constant updates on a mostly weekly basis. Paying members had a far greater choice of things to do, but it was still possible to play the game for free, and the amount of free content was also increased. While not a new version as such (the game still ran on the same version 3D engine), this update did significantly change the focus of the game.

Version 4: Jagex went for yet another complete rewrite. Version 4 changed the graphics to full 3D and made many other significant improvements. While in development, this version was called RuneScape 2, but when launched was just called RuneScape (version 3 would later be renamed RuneScape Classic). An incomplete beta of this version was available to members on December 1, 2003. The finished version was launched on March 29, 2004. This is the current version of the game being promoted by Jagex, and is the version most people think of when one says RuneScape.

On January 19, 2006, 15,000 accounts in the 4th version were banned for macroing (using software to play the game automatically in order to gain an unfair advantage).

Combat

Combat is an important aspect of the game, as killing monsters is one of most direct ways of gaining wealth in terms of both cash and items. Combat is also needed to complete many of the quests in RuneScape, and can be used to fight other players.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for RuneScape ]

Games - RuneScape

Overview

History and development

Combat

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay