Evan Cowgill
ENG 400
Dr. Cream
28 September 2017
Rhetorical Analysis 5: Old School RuneScape
Link for Reference: http://oldschoolrunescape.wikia.com/wiki/Old_School_RuneScape_Wiki
Old School RuneScape is an MMORPG set in the medieval, fantasy world of Gielinor. The game used to be called just RuneScape, but now there’s a current version of the game (officially called RuneScape 3) that arose by way of all the various updates that turned RuneScape into something different than what it used to be. Old School RuneScape, however, reverts the game to its 2007 iteration and beckons old players of the game to pick up the mouse again.
The game’s developers strategically draw from wholly retrospective appeal. The graphics are kept at their now ancient quality; the mechanics are almost entirely point-and-click; the combat is of a clunky, turn-based nature; and the leveling system requires unrealistic patience. Old School RuneScape, at first look, doesn’t boast any features that would be respected or even accepted in the modern gaming industry, yet its popularity reveals success in some other, more complex criteria: nostalgia. The game’s charm comes from these arguably negative features as they contribute to a playing experience that pulls each player back into the memories of their childhood, and Old School RuneScape boasts of this quality at every chance – even in the title.
