The Tip.It Times


Issue 22599gp

The “Good” Old Days?

Written by and edited by Kaida23

What is it with nostalgia? Every day in Runescape you hear someone say, “You know, back in the day…” or “Oh man, Runescape was so much better before so-and-so was introduced.” But were things really better back then? Why does everyone want to relive the old days? Were the old days really that great? Now don’t worry, I’m not about to delve into narrative mode and reminisce about stories past. Although that in itself brings up an interesting point: Why do we like to reminisce, but at the same time we usually aren’t interested in those older than us reminiscing about times before we were born? If an elder starts a sentence with “In the good ol’ days...” we usually roll our eyes and pay no attention.

The same thing applies to Runescape. Sure it’s entirely possible that many of today’s elder players may have been more mature at level 10 then today’s level 10s, but that’s not the point. The point is back when they were level 10s, regardless of how smart or mature they were, they were looked down upon by the elder players of years past. I’m not saying every generation of Runescape players is worse than the last one, I’m saying people are just nostalgic. No one wants a younger crowd to come in and change everything, even if it’s for the better. People seem to have the idea that everything was perfect they way they had it when they were younger. Take this attitude and mix it with the attitude of the youth that seems to encourage ignorance and satisfaction that comes with doing things differently, and it’s no wonder that the youth and their elders (or level 10s and level 100s) never really get along.

Guess what? I stole those first two paragraphs word-for-word from a Tip.It Times issue from November 2007. It’s kind of funny and kind of sad that the same players complaining about how much better RuneScape 2004 was 6 years ago are the same ones now claiming how great RuneScape was 6 years ago. However, we will insist that “Oh, it’s different now because of the EOC; it really WAS better in 2007.” The truth is that it’s not different. It’s exactly the same. That’s not to say I’m not excited for the new servers. I am. In fact, I haven’t been this excited for an update since player owned houses were released in 2006. I can’t quite pinpoint why beyond the nostalgia, though.

When I will play on the 2007 servers, it will not be in protest of the EOC. I will not stop playing the main game. I am still looking forward to finishing quest storylines and the rest of what the future has to offer. I just want to relive my experience all those years ago. I still keep in touch with my two closest RS friends from the time, but I am no longer 13. Because of them, I suppose my experience will be more similar to the original than for many others. I just fear that all the great updates we’ve seen since then will spoil my experience. So let’s look at some big differences beyond the obvious ones like EOC, graphics, GE, etc.

The minimum requirements to complete every quest were 15 Attack, 50 Strength, 65 Defence, 60 Ranged, 10 Hitpoints, 50 Prayer, 66 Magic, 60 Mining, 65 Smithing, 62 Fishing, 70 Cooking (still the same today, lol), 71 Woodcutting, 50 Firemaking, 61 Crafting, 50 Runecrafting, 58 Thieving, 34 Construction, 50 Fletching, 42 Slayer, 27 Hunter, 49 Farming, 57 Herblore, 59 Agility, 175/246 Quest Points, 85 Combat, and the ability to click protect from melee while drinking prayer potions. I’ve met these requirements since… 2007. Not much of a challenge there anymore.

The only minigames were Barbarian Assault, Barrows, Blast Furnace, Castle Wars, Fight Cave, Fight Pit, Games Room, Gnome Ball, Gnome Delivery, Impetuous Impulses, Mage Training, Pest Control, Pyramid Plunder, Rogue Trader, Rogues' Den, Shades of Mort'ton, Sorceress's Garden (should be a good source of herbs and training), Tai Bwo Wannai Clean-up, Tears of Guthix, Temple Trekking, The Fishing Trawler, and Trouble Brewing. This means there will be no more berserker shields or gauntlets, no imbued rings, no Void deflector, no sacred clay equipment, and no artificial levels from Zeals.

Unids will still exist. Bank sales will return. The market in Falador Park will be thriving once more. BS will revert to meaning bowstring. Robot clones of Tehnoobshow will resurface. Achievement diaries will no longer be misspelled as “tasks.” Jagex will neither coddle newcomers nor bombard them with a laughably ridiculous “tutorial.” You will need to ask for a fire pls at the Karamja docks because every tool you can imagine isn’t carried with you at all times. Original and great quests won’t be arbitrarily removed from the game. Dark Wizards and their colleagues will once again be a threat to new players. Dangerous random events will stop either AFKing or disabling sounds. Hitpoints will no longer be arbitrarily multiplied by 10 or whatever multiple they’re on now. Treasure trails will once again be profitable. My two most hated skills won’t even exist. And it’s everything I could have ever wanted.

Except for, you know, a combat triangle, making a trade in under 2 hours, running for longer than 45 seconds, lodestones, my explorer’s ring, Grand Master quests, skill capes still existing, graphics that would at least be considered modern in the early 90s, and a whole slew of things I know I’ll be wishing I had when I log into 2007scape for the first time. Too much has changed in the past 6 years to forget.

Much has changed for me as well. All those years ago I was 13, in middle school, and didn’t have a care in the world. Now I’m an 18 year old college student with no free time between classes, work, seeking internships, and extracurricular commitments. So in reality, I don’t wish for RuneScape 2007. I wish it were August 2007. But this is as close as I can ever get. Please don’t take that from me.

Now excuse me while I go put Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace on repeat for a few days.


Do you have any thoughts or comments about this week's articles? Want to discuss these articles with your fellow RuneScapers? We invite you to discuss them in this forum topic.


Author:
Tags: Community Current Events Future Updates and Speculation Grand Exchange and RS Market Historical Nostalgia Quests Skilling

Will you use Menaphos to train your skills?



Report Ad