As far as MMOs go, “RuneScape” is one of the oldest. However, it is finally the end for “RuneScape Classic.” The game first launched back in 2001 and was updated with new engines over the years. The servers for this old-school classic are shutting down on the 6 August 2018 at 8:00 AM BST. After this time, players will no longer be able to login to “RuneScape Classic.”
After each update, the original “RuneScape” servers were left online. A new engine was introduced in 2004, and again in 2013. In between those dates, in 2008, “RuneScape” was updated to HD, and all the while the Classic version was left running.
The issues of 'RuneScape Classic'
While it might have seemed that these old servers were running smoothly, this hasn’t been the case for a while. In a blog post, the developers explained the reason why they have to close the Classic servers. It seems that due to technological advancements to support “RuneScape” and “Old School RuneScape” their tools are no longer compatible with the Classic version. They went on to say that the game can easily be abused with 3rd party macro tool and that botting has become a major issue for the game. This is because the tools used to spot and stop these do not work with this old version of the game.
On top of all of this, there is a growing list of bugs that are slowly destroying the game and that can’t be fixed because the “RuneScape Classic” is too old to support the tools needed to fix them.
However, the game isn’t being turned off overnight. Instead, fans have some time to enjoy the game until it is shut down forever.
“RuneScape” is a fantasy MMORPG developed by Jagex and throughout its lifetime, the game has had over 200 million accounts created and is recognised by the Guinness World Records for being the world’s largest and most updated free MMORPG.
More of the 'RuneScape' franchise
As well as the video games, there have also been novels written that flesh out the world Gielinor. To date, there have been three books. You can play “RuneScape” on your computer on either Windows, MacOS, Linux, and soon on your phone through Android or iOS.
Players create an avatar and explore the world where they can battle monsters, craft items and interact with NPCs and other players.
There are also mini-games dotted around the world and players can work together to overcome challenges.
While this spells the end for “RuneScape Classic” it doesn’t mean that the rest of “RuneScape” is going anywhere as the Android and iOS ports are due for release later this year.