If future generations were to ask us what the most controversial video game of our time was, the answer would easily be Runescape. Feelings about Jagex’s game range from Runescape being the crowning innovative achievement in video games to the bane of our childhoods.

The dragon Elvarg lays waste to the island of Crandor.

This mixed critical reception stems primarily from Runescape’s mix of a rich fantasy world for the childhood mind to immerse itself in and repetitive game play supposedly capable of driving people to the brink of insanity. Runescape requires a player to repeatedly click their mouse thousands of times in order to mine enough mithril ores to advance a few dozen mining levels. Innumerable goblins needed to be hacked down before players are strong enough to attempt some of the more difficult quests. Some have praised Runescape for teaching them to focus, be persistant, and set goals. Their sentiment is shared by the world’s best Runescape player, Peter Zezima, who claimed in an interview that he plays Runescape to “set challenges for myself and test my limits”.

However, the opposing view is far more prevalent. Many have expressed that Runescape had an addicting tug on their childhoods even stronger than the temptation of Facebook in their current stage of life. They vehemently denounce the makers as continuously made stronger items, new features, and complex quests designed to set players on the time and money-consuming wild goose chase of continuing to subscribe for membership benefits. Senior Ryan High asserted that he wishes he had spent his time playing Runescape on something else like starting martial arts earlier. Junior Marcus Atherly described Runescape as a “complete and utter waste” and was cheerful that none of his younger siblings pursued the game.

Yet, for all its woes, the game still has its selling points. Runescape has recently made the game less monotonous by providing special items like magic lamps that can take the place of repetitive clicking to gain experience points, introducing a more simplified and efficient clicking system, and adding random events for both holiday festivities and everyday moments. The long-time exploitation of new users by their more experienced counterparts has been largely stymied by the introduction of a mandatory tutorial for new players upon their birth into the Runescape world and the installment of skill tutors in most large virtual cities. Lastly, the longtime favoritism of membership players over free players has decreased with a recent explosion in new quests, guilds, items, monsters, dungeons, and skills for non-members.

But perhaps what was most captivating about Runescape was the emotional appeal of its quests. Like Tolkien lore, the dragons that needed to be slain were sufficiently frightening to appeal to the psyche of a young child yet safely existent in only the imaginary world, providing the paradox necessary for their contagious appeals. In fact, Runescape largely used interpretations of goblins, dwarves, and other fantasy staples that Tolkien introduced. Even the blade carried by in-game goblins resembles the primary weapon wielded by the uruk-hai in Peter Jackson’s depiction of the trilogy.

Senior Brian Burgess recalls that he especially enjoyed playing Runescape as a fourth-grader where his character could save the world from horrors like Elvarg the Green Dragon of Crandor Isle. Maybe it is because of this that Runescape remains the Guinness Book of World Record’s most popular free MMORPG.

To make a long story short, the debate will likely rage for many years to come and everyone will probably have their own unique perspective. However, there is no denying that the game is intertwined with our childhood lives as we all have been or know someone who has been touched by Runescape.