The Great Escape

I've been working at a client for the past two weeks. Sadly, I don't have any internet access there, which is making work a bit of a pain. With my job I usually have to wait for them to gather and bring me info so that I can work on it. This leaves me with nothing really to do for an hour or two at a time. This is when I usually check my email, log on to my company's server remotely to do other work, or whatever. However with no internet, just sitting in an office with nothing to do is mind-numbingly boring. This had me looking for anything built into my laptop to keep me amused.

I started looking at the games already installed on my HP. Its different from the Hearts, Freecell, Solitaire and Minesweeper we had a few years ago. This has an interface kind of like iTunes. You open the files, get 2 chances to play each game and then are charged a subscription fee. The games are ok, and it was enough to keep me occupied. Anyways, there is a point and yes, I'm getting to it. A few days ago, I noticed one of the options was Funorb. I thought that was a little weird, but it figured reasonable. Today (I think the games options gets updated when I'm online at home) I noticed another option - Runescape HD.

Runescape must not only be overhauling game content, but really stepping up the advertising. The link takes you to a runescape page giving a short description and basically an ad pitch. You can view it here.

This seems like it will hit a huge audience, especially in F2P. I don't remember how I came across runescape, although I'm sure I googled something like "free online multiplayer games." This new demographic is much wider, the general person playing around on a laptop looking to cure boredom. Someone who may has never played an MMORPG or even knows what those letters stand for. The HD overhaul is exactly what the game makers needed in order to open the RS market to a wider audience.

I would love to see a new influx of casual gamers into the game. Its sort of what Nintendo did for making the Wii not only for hardcore gamers, but opening it up to everyone. If we get an influx of new players and the game grows, that most certainly means new content. Some of those other HP games offered run in real time, so if you don't keep checking on them, your fish tank dies, your villagers go hungry, whatever. This is exactly like the daily chores that are becoming more and more part of the game.

It looks like Runescape is expanding more than ever, and that's something I'm glad to see. There's always those rumors about it ending, and that's always hard to cope with when you've built a solid base of friends that are only based in one realm. We've come this far, its always good to see something we love embracing new people and the community opening to such a wider audience.

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