When I started, I remember that I was stuck in Lumbridge. At that point I had no idea that it actually was Lumbridge, but that’s besides the point. I tried
asking people for help, I could get them to tell me where I was, but no one would actually take me out there. They would just ignore me, like they did to basically anyone. I thought it was just something normal for games. I later found out that it was pretty much an element of the game, arrogance. In order to be succesful you have to be arrogant, apperantly. You can’t be social, you have to use all the time you get, time is money! Can’t help other players, there’s no time for that, and what’s the point anyway, helping others? What do you get out of it?

It’s always been like that on RS, or at least it was like that when I started playing, and as far as I can tell it still is now. It’s hard to pinpoint for me, I don’t play anymore, but I’ve logged on a lower level account to see reactions of people when you just say hi, but in general you don’t get a reaction. It gets worse when you ask people for some help or just a general game question, such as where to get the kind of gloves they have, or what armor they have. Of course you can’t judge everyone of what a few people do and say, but I think you can still count a whole lot of the Runescape players to be arrogant, too. But why? It’s something which is hard to pinpoint.

At some point I thought the same way. I don’t know how it happened, I guess it’s something you get with higher levels? Arrogance. It comes with age for most people, but in my opinion, you see it in the “younger” people who don’t have a social life, and so they aren’t used to the normal world. To define younger, people in the age of 12-15. They are used to the internet, it’s safe there, you could easily threaten to kill someone, it’s safe. A bit of an extreme example, but the point is, you feel safer than you would in real life. So you can easily ignore and be rude to people, because there are no “real” consequences. No one cares if you do, and because you don’t see a real person, there’s no morale factor either, you’ll find insulting people an easier thing to do than in real life. It’s an isolated enviroment, which isn’t moderated by parents or guardians. You can say RS has player moderators, but they really don’t do that much. The warning system on RS is a joke, and even if you find yourself in the rare event of meeting a player mod, it’s higly unlikely that you’ll actually be doing something which is “reportable”. If you do get reported, there’s only a small chance they’ll look at the report, and if they do you might be unlucky and get a black mark or 2, but you can have so many that it’s safe to be a bully.

I think Runescape would be a much more enjoyable game if people would be nicer, Jagex should start with the introduction of in-game clans or guilds. This usually really boosts the social activity in a game, instead of those teamwork minigames. Jagex should realize that that just doesn’t work for their game, or at least, not yet. They should try making the game interesting for older people, the game being aimed at younger people doesn’t help for the social standard. Maybe if they see how nice it is to have friends and to help other people, be nice to them, they’ll do the same. Friends can help you when you need it, but some people just don’t see that everyone they meet is a potential friend. The next time someone ask you for help, try to realize, he or she is also a real person like you and me. He is also sitting behind a computer and playing the same game, of which you might have more knowledge. If people ask you directions in real life, you help them too, right, why not do it when you’re playing a game?

What’s changed since then? To start, the majority of players resort to constantly telling each other off, back-stabbing each other to get to the top, new players being shunned and a lot of similar situations. Do you think it’s just today’s society that has changed or is there a different factor? Personally I believe it’s the tension between younger and older players. One side is more mature than the other and when they clash all hell breaks loose. I know this isn’t how it is everywhere but more often than not I see events like this happen.

I recall a King Black Dragon trip with an old clan of mine just a few days ago where we met a group that had nothing but disrespect and a lot of name calling as their welcoming gift for us. To spare you a long story involving many attempts to be civil with the other players it comes down to how we treated each other. Either it’s “you’re a nerd” or even “@#$% you” that really stand out as a difference from the old community. These are definitely not isolated events. Almost every day I play the game I see some form of harsh change from the old that I wish did not happen.

Some theory’s I have heard in response to the community decline have been where the older, usually more mature players, have moved on and are being replaced with much younger kids that don’t know how to act civil in a game. Or that the mature players are simply being overrun and their behavior is less evident. I’ve also heard that the change in today’s society where offensive language is accepted as proper behavior. It’s, reluctantly, the truth.

We all need to do our part to be kind and patient with each other, for the sake of the game and its future development.