Is it worth getting into Runescape if you've never played before? Or is it one of those things that is solely propelled by childhood nostalgia nowadays?
Well... it's very, very, very dated in terms of its fundamental mechanical core. Also looks like total ass, but that's part of the charm.
The playerbase was incredibly filtered-down last time I checked. Back in the 00s, kids'd hang out in that game the way modern kids hang out in Roblox (with less grooming and more scamming each other for in-game items); now almost everybody is either on the spectrum or on the herb, it feels. The free player experience is kind of ass as a result: free "worlds" (channels) were kind of dead, from what I remember.
Dude EMPTY hill giant cave under GE on a free world during US primetime wtf
The economy is cool, but a significant part of the playerbase actually don't engage with it at all (to add another level of challenge). You can just flip shit on the market for profit and feel smrt, though, if that's up your alley. Or find some way to slot yourself into the production chains to make good money. The quests are kind of fun, the writing can be charming in that PG-13 Terry Pratchett kind of way. They're actual CRPG-style quests, too, not "bring me ten wolf dicks" shit, and a lot of interesting or useful content or items are gated behind them, so they feel very rewarding. Group activities can be pretty chill, and the players themselves are mostly both based and pretty nice to noobs/people playing "inefficiently". Equipment is pretty varied and interesting, too (though combat is mostly you watching your character auto-attack and switching passive buffs or eating consumables, outside of the late/endgame).
I last touched the game in like '22, though, so take my words with a grain of salt and watch me stand corrected by the active players.
It also does that EVE thing where you can buy a month of subscription with in-game currency from another player.
Damn, now I wanna resub and spend a couple weekends on the gem rocks in Shilo or whatever.
