In 1998, brothers Andrew & Paul Gower began development on the largest and most updated free MMORPG (Guinness Book of World Records) of all time, better known as RuneScape. The brothers launched a very early version of the game known as DeviousMUD in 1999 keeping it online for a short unspecified period before rewriting the game to eventually re-launch it as RuneScape in January of 2001. This project lead to the creation of gaming juggernaut, Jagex otherwise known as JAva Gaming Experts

The game being written on Java had made the project very attractive to potential players as this meant the software didn't need to be downloaded and installed, instead it could be played straight from your web browser all while boasting multiplayer servers and an 'oblique 3D' world to explore, best of all - the game only required 0.3k/sec bandwidth while playing. Andrew & Paul enjoyed success in the early 2000s and ended up relaunching the game in 2004 as RuneScape 2 -- a FULLY 3D world that grew to be the version of the game that drew the Gower brothers to their major success in the second half of the decade.

Upon the release of RuneScape 2 - the game became a worldwide phenomenom, so much so when the game had evolved to the state it is in today known as RuneScape 3, a snapshot of the 2007 version (RuneScape 2) of the game was re-released as Old School RuneScape in 2013 thus the flood gates of old players chasing nostalgia opened...including myself.

We're now 10 years on from the release of Old School RuneScape and this version of the game boasts over 100,000 active players every single day typically all within the same demographic and well more than double the 30,000 the counterpart RuneScape 3 has on its servers every day -- this begs the question, what on earth is bringing players in their 20s and 30s back to a medieval point and click game from 2007 and why is it more popular than the regular game?

Theres an old saying related to the game going around ''you never quit, you just take breaks" which rings true as there are regularly players taking breaks of up to years at a time, coming back, picking up where they left off and playing for years to come. But what is it we keep coming back for? The game will never even direct you on what to do once you've entered the main game world, that is up to you. The myriad of things to do range from questing, skilling, completing combat achievements, slaying monsters, the list goes on can be very overwhelming and the nonlinear nature of this game has proved attractive to players new and old not to mention the fact you can play this game ANYWHERE including on your mobile phone which all of this has only extended the lifespan of the game. That's right, you can grind out your skills while you're on the train, at the gym, even on a tinder date! Players are constantly questioning why they still play this game, and more often than not -- the answer is always "Number go up, brain go ping!"

It's no wonder this franchise from the UK started by two brothers has managed to retain its player base for almost 2 decades given the constant reinvention and quality of life updates, who knows if Jagex will ever decide to pull the pin at this point. I for sure hope they never do.