Why do adults play Runescape?

Why do adults play Runescape? I get asked this all the time and it was even made into a recent thread here on RuneVillage. The answer is...I don't know. I can't speak for all adults, but I can tell you why I play.

First, let me issue a disclaimer. I am not a child molester, I do not live in my mom's basement, I do have a job and it is a good one, and I do have a social life that that consists of real people and does not solely exist in the blue glow of my 14 inch flat screen HP monitor.

I play Runescape because it is fun. Shocking, I know, but we adults do like to have fun too. For many of us, that fun doesn't always have to consist of anything involving alcohol, drugs, sex, and rock and roll. Oh sure, some of us do like a drink now and then and we like to...oh, nevermind.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make before I so easily distracted myself is that we adults don't get to just play all that often. You know, pure play. Like a kid does, just pretending. (Unless, of course, you are an actor or are in a medival recreation group, but I know some of those people and they frighten me.) Yes, we have responsibilities. We must go to work, fight all the idiots in rush hour traffic, take phone calls from people we really don't want to talk to, type up a report about something really boring involving insurance and maximum APH yields, yell at the copier as it jams for the 54th time in twenty minutes, and then get yelled at by the boss because we are taking too long. It is at about this time we wish we could pull out the old Abby whip and slash his tie from around his neck with a cool and well-timed flick of the wrist. (Insert whip-cracking sound effect here.)

Ah, but we can! After work, when the kids are fed, the dog walked, the dishes washed, the fence fixed (*cough*...hint...hint...Mustangnut...*cough*) the lawn mowed, etc., Runescape offers us an opportunity to play. We can be brave warriors, stealthy rangers, or powerful mages defeating our enemies. We can work hard and be skilled in some...well...skill and make lots of money, or we can set goals and enjoy the satisfaction of fulfilling them. You will find most of us adults playing at night, relaxing after the day's work is done.

I also play Runescape because it is a social game. Honestly, if it wasn't online I wouldn't bother. It is the interaction with people that I enjoy. Usually.

It isn't like I don't have any real life friends, either. I know plenty of people that I can go do things with and I am not on RS much on the weekends because I am otherwise busy. However, that doesn't mean that I can't have online friends as well. I have talked to a lot of interesting people through Runescape. Some are fellow old people, some are kids, and some are from all over the world. This is part of the above-mentioned fun. I enjoy talking to people, especially the ones from other countries. I like to find out what things they like, how they live their daily lives, if they name their dogs Sven instead of Spot and why exactly British people are so insistant on spelling words like "realize" with an s instead of a z.

So you see, Runescape is a fun thing for us adults as well. It doesn't make us no-life losers like some people would like to believe, and many of us are actually very normal people. Whatever that means. Runescape offers us a chance to just be like a kid and have fun, as it can be a pleasant (yet temporary) distraction from real-world issues. So please remember this the next time you ask someone's age and they tell you they are over 29--please don't respond with, "Omg! You must like live in ur mom's basement!"

Written By:Zilla
Edited By: Jaron
Coded By:Gamestar