Runescape is an extremely popular Multi-Massive Online Role-playing Game (MMORPG) created by Andrew Gower and currently owned and operated by Jagex, Ltd. The game offers both free and paid play methods. Runescape currently has over 9 million active free players and over 800,000 paid subscribed members. The game is written in JavaScript and can be played through a normal web browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Runescape takes players to the medieval fantasy kingdom of Gielinor. This world is further divided into several kingdoms: Misthalin, Asgarnia, Kandarin, the volcanic tropics of Karamja, the dry desert of the Kharidian Desert and, of course, Wilderness. The desert is the only area in the world where players can currently fight or “player kill” each other. Currently the only means of transportation is walking or running. Higher level users can make use of Magic Teleportation to some selected cities or kingdoms. All of the regions mentioned above offer different enemies and monsters for players to fight.

During the players’ adventures in Runescape, they will come across many quests and will be able to set their own goals and achievements. There is no “one” correct way to play the game. Players are also encouraged to communicate with other players through conversations, trading with each other, or simply cooperating with each other to help finish missions.

As an undergraduate at Cambridge University, Andrew Gower worked on writing the game with the help of his brother, Paul Gower. Through various trials and tribulations, Runescape was finally released to the public in a beta version, on January 1st. 4, 2001. The game was originally operated from his Nottingham home. Eventually, the sibling duo tagged the company name Jagex. About a year after the release of the beta version, the brothers decided to open membership services for Runescape. This would allow players to pay a small monthly fee to access new in-game abilities, items, and a variety of other features not available to free members.

With the continued growth of the Runescape game, the challenges to also upgrade the technological aspects of the game as well. Being written in JavaScript, the game was easily suspected of “hacks”. This forced the Jagex developers to completely rewrite the game engine. This rewrite also added a more three-dimensional look to the game. This version of the game was known as Runescape 2, but has since completely taken over from the original version of Runescape Classic. Runescape 2 was initially released to all paying members in early December 2003 and to free members on March 29, 2004. 12, 2006 Runescape Classic is only available to play if you are a subscribed member. There are currently Runescape servers located in 7 different countries! With over 130 servers in total, with new servers being added constantly due to the overwhelming popularity of the game. Currently, each Runescape server can host 2,000 players, allowing servers to host around 260,000 concurrent players at any given time. The servers are divided into free worlds and member worlds.