The game's tone blends Tolkien and Monty Python, with quests involving gods, murder mysteries, and evil penguins. Despite its British style, most players log in from North America.
Chris, known online as NightmareRH, was one of the earliest RuneScape content creators on YouTube. He started on his 17th birthday; his account just passed its 21st anniversary.
He recalls the early years as "living in the dark ages" with scant knowledge of quests and mechanics.
"I remember staying in one location for about three months," he says.
"I was so scared to go to other places that I would forget how to get back!"
After a month of free play, Chris used his high school lunch money for membership and never looked back.
The game's quirky economy, where paper party hats are worth billions of in-game gold, keeps him interested. Naturally, he owns one.
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Shane Anderson from Edmonton, Canada, has played since age 16; he's now 39. A friend showed him RuneScape, and it stuck.
"You see somebody else walking around with very high-level equipment, and that serves as an aspiration," he says.
This dedication to self-expression led to "FashionScape," a play style focusing on aesthetic gear over tactical advantage.
Anderson founded a fan site and the longest-running podcast about the game, RuneScapeBitsandBytesUpdate.
Listening to the Community
RuneScape 2 launched in 2004 with new combat, audio, and a 3D engine. "This was the point where the game became really, really big," Anderson recalls.
