But as an adult, it's more like the equivalent of RuneScape Gold a second job. But not in a negative manner however, I suppose. However, I'll still be seated at the TV, using the same laptop that I've used for eight hours of my job, working at my level of magic because I've decided my character is a cool wizard. And the next day, maybe I'd like to realize my childhood dream of owning all black armour. So now I'm a knight, I suppose.

RuneScape's lead designer, Dave Osborne, alluded to this when I asked him about the continued popularity of the game during its 20th anniversary. "There are no classes available There are no walls that create a barrier between players.

And no content that is not accessible to a specific player kind," he told me in an earlier interview. "Everyone on RuneScape has the ability to play any game in its universe. Everyone knows your success because they're probably aiming for it too."

That's the way it is: when the first day you arrive at Lumbridge, all the high-level players could be playing with you one day. It's intoxicating. "More than other games I've ever played, the avatar is my own - it's the culmination of everything I've achieved in RuneScape and it's extremely useful to the players."

A whole lot of games attempt to control your life, however RuneScape is the only one to be honest about it. The appeal isn't the adventures and stories. When people talk about the win-state, they talk about getting all their stats and stats up to 99. Nobody considers obtaining all the settlements in Fallout 4 to be the final goal. It's more about the story, the journey. However, in this case, the figures are enough. They're all that it's supposed to be.

RuneScape can be whatever you'd like it to be. It's been able to fit into my life in the same way in the past when I was sevenyears old, but in a totally different way. If you're a fan back in the 2000s, I highly suggest you check out Old School - just be prepared for many different emotions.

On the face of it, RuneScape The First 20 Years is the ideal holiday present for the 2000s-era kid in your life. Full of nostalgia, it's difficult to glance through the pages and not want to launch Old School RuneScape. But as you read the book, you'll be left with a very bittersweet story because it was a lightning strike in a bottle, and will probably never be caught ever again, certainly not on OSRS Gold the same scale.