That Old School Feeling

PROCESSES OF MYTHMAKING IN OLD SCHOOL RUNESCAPE

Dom Ford, PhD Student @DomFord_ [email protected] Center for Computer Games Research IT University of Copenhagen Old School RuneScape RuneScape 3 Misplaced Items, n.d. Graph generated on 17 October 2020 A Brief History of RuneScape

DeviousMUD Andrew Gower 1999 Open to the public for one week RuneScape Andrew and Paul Gower 2001-2004 (later ) RuneScape 2 Jagex 2004-2013 RuneScape Classic Jagex 2004-2018 Original RuneScape kept online alongside 2 RuneScape 3 Jagex 2013-present Old School RuneScape Jagex 2013-present Launched using a backup of RuneScape 2 from August 2007 The December 2007 Pay to PK Riot, also known as the World 66 Riot, the First Wilderness Riot, the End of RuneScape Riot, the Free Trade Riot, and the Falador Riot. gif taken from RuneScape Wiki ‘Pay to PK Riot’, 2019

2007 – Old School RuneScape... You Vote!

Hi everyone, hope of finding more than just the old IT manager's MP3 collection of 80s rock power ballads! ☺ Last week, Mod Mark posted a thread on our forums highlighting some of the nostalgic and often passionate Finally, I’m very happy to report that we have indeed managed discussions within the community around a desired return of to recover a full RuneScape backup from August 2007. This is an ‘old school’ version of RuneScape. Specifically, the fine a complete snapshot of the game, which we have been able to vintages of 2006 & 2007 appeared to be the high point of verify would work, with some time and effort invested in it. collective interest. Our team then set out to see if we had a Ironically, in October 2007 we actually changed our backup backup that went that far back; if restoring the backup was systems, so we have no complete content versions from even technically possible; and what specific content these August onwards that are viable for this purpose. potential old RuneScape backups might contain. The team has spent many late nights and the past weekend (excerpt from a RuneScape News blog post, Gerhard, 2013) digging through dusty old backups and restoring them, in the Jagex, 2013c

Myth

ossification fossilisation art style

style of no humour Old School- ness combat sound system style

no ‘real-world regular politics’ updates restorative reflective nostalgia nostalgia

Garda, 2014 An implied game object does not exist, but is imagined by the player as what the game is, or ought to be. A game riddled with software bugs, for example, is perceived as merely the flawed, actual version of an uncompleted, implied game. We conceptualize the real game as being without the annoying bugs, and the present version as a premature, unwanted stand-in version for the real (implied) thing.

Aarseth 2011, p.66 A poll in Old School RuneScape In-game protests ~15 minutes after the Pride 2017 event launches (m_i_i_t, 2017) What’s old school about Old School? References

Aarseth, E. (2011). ‘Define real, moron!’: Some remarks on game ontologies. In S. Jagex. (2004). RuneScape 2 [PC]. Jagex. Günzel, M. Liebe, D. Mersch, & S. Möring (Eds.), DIGAREC Keynote-Lectures Jagex. (2013a). RuneScape 3 [PC]. Jagex. 2009/10 (Vol. 6, pp. 50–68). Potsdam University Press. https://publishup.uni- potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/5044 Jagex. (2013b). Old school RuneScape [PC]. Jagex. Barthes, R. (2009). Mythologies (A. Lavers & S. Reynolds, Trans.). Vintage. Jagex. (2013c, March 1). RuneScape 2007 poll – vote now finished. (Original work published 1957) RuneScape News. http://services.runescape.com/m=poll/rs2007-server Boym, S. (2001). The future of nostalgia. Basic Books. m_i_t_t. (2017, June 8). 15 mins after the update hit [Forum discussion]. Reddit. Garda, M. B. (2014, August). Nostalgia in retro game design. Proceedings of the https://www.reddit.com/r/2007scape/comments/6g0axm/15_mins_after_the 2013 DiGRA International Conference: DeFragging Game Studies. 2013 DiGRA _update_hit/ International Conference, Georgia Institute of Technology. http://www.digra.org/wp-content/uploads/digital-library/paper_310.pdf Misplaced Items. (n.d.). RuneScape population avg by month. Misplaced Items. Retrieved 17 October 2020, from Gerhard, M. (2013, February 15). 2007—Old School RuneScape... You vote! http://www.misplaceditems.com/rs_tools/graph/?display=avg&interval=month RuneScape News. https://secure.runescape.com/m=news/2007---old-school- &total=0 runescape-you-vote?jptg=ia&jptv=news_archive Pay to PK riot. (2019). In RuneScape Wiki. Weird Gloop. Jagex. (2001). RuneScape [PC]. Jagex. https://runescape.wiki/w/Pay_to_PK_Riot