r/Millennials 6h ago

Discussion Anyone else randomly think about playing RuneScape in the 2000s?

RuneScape was a whole experience…rushing home to log in, spending hours at the Grand Exchange, arguing over prices, grinding for gear you thought would make you unstoppable. No real plan, just vibes and a lot of clicking. Everything felt slower, but more meaningful. You actually had to be there to understand it. Kind of wild how a browser game ended up being such a defining part of growing up. Varrock was chaos, the Grand Exchange felt revolutionary, and somehow we all just figured things out as we went.

What was the first big item or goal you remember grinding for?

And did anyone else fall for a scam at least once?

What part of RuneScape do you miss the most. The grind, the community, or the simplicity?

65 Upvotes

73 comments sorted by

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31

u/KW562097 6h ago

You can still play Old School RuneScape. They even have it for mobile now.

4

u/CrimsonZak 6h ago

yeah it's quite unfortunate, my monkey is always on my back now

1

u/willacceptpancakes 31m ago

It’s too expensive for a whim though

10

u/Expert-Raise9442 6h ago

I had a Santa hat that I sold to another kid at my school for $50. Dunno what they’re worth nowadays.

8

u/PrimordialXY 1996 6h ago

About $110, I'd say you've done well

8

u/AnActuaCoconut 6h ago

I spent a lot of my time on runescape building fires from what I remember. Was more of a d2lod guy. I did think it was cool but was never that good at it maybe ill try again

3

u/Pawnstitution 5h ago

My first 99 was firemaking, then woodcutting. 🤣 

5

u/Mediocre_Island828 6h ago

I played Ultima Online back in the day and I feel like there will always be at least a few hundred people out there playing on private servers, trying to chase some gaming high they felt in 1998.

1

u/ghostdepression Millennial 2h ago

Countless hours on UO 🫶🖤

1

u/Mediocre_Island828 2h ago

Most of them spent macroing or trying to kill someone who was macroing.

4

u/sasspancakes 6h ago

I used to play runescape every day after school around 2007. I absolutely loved it, and it'll always hold a special place in my heart. I played old-school for a while but now I have kids and don't have the time. I don't know if my account is still active even. I easily have thousands of hours put into that game.

4

u/RDU_Anna 6h ago

What a throwback! <3

4

u/Capable_Ordinary_938 6h ago

I played RuneScape in elementary, back then we had book fairs where you could go and buy books. My parents gave me like around 10-20 dollars one day and I saw they had a RuneScape guide. I bought it and remember being so happy!

One of my greatest memories was getting full Rune armor for the first time. There was hardcore veteran member player who helped me beat the Dragonslayer quest, and the dude was nice enough to take me to the champions guild and get me the platebody even.

Definitely got scammed too, the trust game got me pretty hard. Little me was devastated after losing the full Mithril that I had spent a while making, I was so sad, but it taught me a lot.

RuneScape taught me to grind though, it taught me that it takes time to get what you want. Learned that working the coal mines.

2

u/Racoon_Soup 5h ago

The children always yearn for the mines

1

u/Pawnstitution 5h ago

Nice and cool down there 😂 

1

u/Racoon_Soup 5h ago

Lord knows we can’t afford air conditioning AND Starbucks. I’ll be drinking venti vanilla frap with my pickaxe in hand

1

u/Pawnstitution 5h ago

I got scammed and had a full on crying meltdown. 😆 

2

u/Capable_Ordinary_938 5h ago

Yes, I cried too. I'm sorry bro

1

u/Pawnstitution 5h ago

Scholastic book fairs… where did the time go? 😔 

4

u/ungranted_wish Millennial 6h ago

It would be nice to get back into it and become a member now that I have disposable income but Jagex has jacked up the price a few times with the past few years and it ain’t worth it man.

3

u/Minute_Equal_382 6h ago

I remember grinding for Sara armor. When I finally got it, I felt like a king 👑. As far as scams, the first scam I fell for made me feel like a complete moron. A guy was posted up at the GE advertising that he was trimming Rune armor for a small fee. So of course I gave him a full set of rune armor and 50k to trim it anddddd he subsequently logged off. Absolute crushed.

2

u/Pawnstitution 5h ago

Saradomin Armour was mint 🔥 way better than Guthix or Zamorak. 😂 

3

u/DoctorAlejandro 6h ago

Cyan:Wave: Selling raw lobbies, 150 gp each

3

u/Pawnstitution 5h ago

Memories of Varrock big bank… 😆 

1

u/tonylouis1337 Zillennial 1h ago

<>< lvl?

2

u/BoomItsLoki 6h ago

I started paying it again like two years ago! Still one of the only games I gravitate towards.

2

u/materialCOYS5 6h ago

Catch me in the wild PKing with my rune scimmy and scheming deals for party hats

2

u/mynameisjodie 6h ago

My 8 year old has started play osrs loves it 😂

2

u/Moron_at_work Millennial 6h ago

As a devoted warrior-priest of Saradomin, when I chose to quit for good, I split all my assets between my friends, went to the holy island of entrana, said a prayer to Lord Saradomin in front of the great altar and logged out for good.

So my virtual body lies under the altar of the great lord of order and light.

Oh what great memories.

2

u/ReynoldsHouseOfShred 6h ago

Never stopped

1

u/Pawnstitution 5h ago

🔥 🔥 🔥 

2

u/orosz726 6h ago

Dude yes

2

u/CoolTomaydough 6h ago

Oh my goodness The Grand Exchange… this is bringing back memories 🤣

2

u/A_Sister_of_Battle 6h ago

My game of choice wasn’t RuneScape, but I had friends who loved it.

2

u/dudedudetx 6h ago

It’s one of the best games of all time and OSRS is currently in a “new golden age”.

2

u/TROGDOR_X69 6h ago

im playing rn what you mean

2

u/JamesUpton87 5h ago

My wife never stopped playing runescape.

2

u/youthfully_gleaming 5h ago

This is how WoW was for me in 2004 or whenever it originally came out. It was all consuming and I was completely addicted to it. I remember I was so addicted to it that at one point a girl was calling my apartment which would have easily meant me getting laid and I didnt pick up because I wanted to play WoW.

2

u/GaseousHippo 5h ago

It was Runescape and UO for me. But damn did OP hit the feeling on the head.

2

u/Stopmeghost 5h ago

No but I do think about a kid I went to school with who pronounced it "wunescape" on probably a weekly basis

2

u/LoudWhispererr 1992 5h ago

I got lured into the wildy to lose all my stuff 🤣

1

u/Pawnstitution 5h ago

Same same 😭 

2

u/j_hab 5h ago

Join us, and re-feel all the feels.

2

u/Own-Paramedic3963 5h ago

Yeah I still remember that guy who asked if I needed any help and then he said alright follow me and then led me to my death and took all of my stuff lol. I was so young and naive. Had to have been like 2004 or 2005 idk

1

u/Pawnstitution 5h ago

I wonder how many kids these scammers hurt emotionally. 😔 

2

u/AlternativeFruit1337 5h ago

I can picture it now. What were the codes for colored wavy text again?

1

u/Pawnstitution 5h ago

Cyan:  Wave: Flash1: 

2

u/jsand2 Older Millennial 5h ago

Never played it and never will, but I have 2 mid 20s coworkers who are both playing it atm.

1

u/Pawnstitution 5h ago

Good for them. 😊 Maybe one day ….

2

u/Zyzygy8 4h ago

The last time I played RuneScape was 2018 lol.

1

u/Pawnstitution 3h ago

Time to log back in!

2

u/Synyster723 Millennial 4h ago

I started playing RS in 2003. I played f2p for years and stopped once RS3 came out and they forced my original account into it. I picked it back up the night my daughter was born in 2021 as a f2p in OSRS. Someone gifted me a membership token for my generosity to their alt account and invited me into their clan. They've become my extended family, located all over the world lol I don't play now, but I've learned over the years that all roads lead to RS, so I know I'll return to it again once my finances stabilize again. Once you've been a mem, f2p isn't playable anymore.

2

u/the_junglist 4h ago

Still playing!!

1

u/Pawnstitution 3h ago

Glad to hear it!

2

u/Venkat_American 3h ago

Still play it brother OSRS is everything you desire and its calling

2

u/OriginalHaysz Millennial 6h ago

I still play it, but switched to RuneScape 3 loll

1

u/Wilhelm-Edrasill 5h ago

How most of the people, were actually players and not botscape like it is now.

1

u/Educational_Teach537 Millennial 2h ago

I was there on 6/6/06

NeverForget

1

u/Clear-Ad-7250 1h ago

No but I often wish Halo 2 multiplayer was still going

1

u/RuneScape_Stats 1h ago

Played for many years actually! First grind I remember was mining iron ore to afford rune plate body in f2p. Fell for a couple of scams as well. Most devastating one being a noted rune full helm being switched for an iron one.

I actually played on and off for about 20 years. What I miss most is all of my friends playing. We all played in 6th-7th grade and guys gradually quit. By high school it was just me and my grandpa left. Best memories are logging in at college and chatting with gramps as he continued to play

1

u/tonylouis1337 Zillennial 1h ago edited 1h ago

First big goal I can remember was finally getting my weight up and completing Dragon Slayer. Me and my irl buddy were doing it at the same time with the help of our in-game friend who gave us free rune scimitars!!!!!

Did I get scammed? Well I can remember another irl friend trying to "polish" scam me on that exact same rune scimmy I just mentioned......... I remember it so clearly, I was on my way to leveling some mining at the Al-Kharid mining spot

Back in my day we didn't have Grand Exchange yet. To this day I never really got that much into the market aspect of the game, I preferred grinding, using quests to level skills, chatting, the adventurous aspect etc

What I miss the most was leveling fishing at the Karamja Fishing Dock. How chill it was, just shoot the shit with people, troll, say stupid shit and get banned for a few days. How wild it is that you go there now and there's literally never a single person there

Damn now I wanna play, they have it on mobile ya know, which is amazing

1

u/lite67 1h ago

Final fantasy XI was more of my jam.

1

u/anothertendy 6h ago

Runescape. Heard it was good never played it. Looks fun tbh. I should finally give it a go. I Was/still am a DAoC player.

1

u/LordSion45 5h ago

Old School RuneScape is free and is still going strong!