One of our newest active members is Marketman6, joining just this past February. In his time here, he has demonstrated himself as a model villager and has quickly gained status as Clan Chat Moderator. New, active and involved members are quite obviously the future of the village, so I decided to get to know him!

Marketman’s real name is Owen Moore, and he’s from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He’s twenty-two years old, and he enjoys video games, sports, reading, and the great outdoors.

His RuneScape handle was a new beginning. His first account had gotten hacked, but that didn’t stop him. He enjoyed going to the Varrock Square and buying adamant kite shields. He would then go north past the stone wall that surrounded the castle, where rich people used to sell party hats for five million gp per; and sell his shields for a profit. He was an old school merchant.

Like many of us, Marketman used the guides at RuneVillage far before he actually joined the forums. He began playing RuneScape in the fall of 2003 and had the pleasure of playing RuneScape Classic. He’s been using our guides since the beginning. Several years after his marketing, he returned to the village for some more quest help. He noticed that the RVET was hosting a huge drop party, and he decided to attend. After doing so, he decided to make an account to thank us for the loot. The reception was warm, and he was urged to create a “Hi, I’m new here” topic in the Lumbridge Lounge. He was told to stick around, and decided to follow that advice.

I asked Marketman what keeps him returning to the village. He enjoys all the games and discussions that take place on the forums, like the “true or false” game in the general chat forum, the “I beat j00” game with pictures and the older, more popular “picture wars”. He’s also enjoying mafia as well (aren’t we all?). He likes to hear how other villagers are doing, whether it is an update in their goals and achievements topic or an announcement of an upcoming trip they are excited for. He also, perhaps most admirably, enjoys working for the guide writers and plans to put in a lot of effort there.

Marketman’s favorite thing about the village is the clan chat. He says “As I spend my hours playing RS, it is very nice having a friendly group of people to chat and shoot the breeze with, to ask help, to offer my knowledge to others, and to meet up with and train with them. I also like going to any villagers 99 parties and congratulating them on their hard work.”

I also asked him what could be improved at the village, and he said advertising. I agree with this one hundred percent. Marketman suggests we need to find people new to RuneScape and help them find the village, as well as remain courteous and helpful to them and their questions. I’m setting a goal this week is to log onto RuneScape, on the free world, seek out a newbie who needs help, proceed to help them, then direct them to the village.

Marketman says that our community sets us apart from the rest of the village, and I’d venture to say we can all agree to that. On the subject, he says “RV is a very nice place where each and every thread gets read! You have a chance to define yourself here and attract likeminded individuals to yourself and enjoy yourself with these people. Also, hiker believes himself to be a part of the community. He doesn't put himself in a throne and say: bow to me! He involves himself, and puts an effort to post in every topic and this is nice. It doesn't make the community seem like a pyramid structured heirachry of authority.”

When interviewing him, I labeled Marketman as a model villager; and he was surprised and flattered by this. It’s a broad term, but he broke it down pretty well: “A model villager is anyone that is respectful, and willing to do more than require for the sake of others.”

And Marketman had one last thing to say…

“I have always had this one question. As long as I have been a part of this community, I have been curious if Rory is actually THE Zezima. I certainly don't want to bother him or approach him as the famous Zezima, as I would much rather want to be able to know him as the person he really is with a really sweet side note.”

And there you have it; a small window into one man’s journey through RuneScape and RuneVillage--a journey that is hopefully far from over. I’d like to take this time to thank Marketman for being such a great sport, he even made a point to message me after I had gotten his interview and ask how it was going. The village is a wonderful place, but we certainly need more people like Marketman around if we are to really thrive in the future. I’d also like to thank Blackmage for heading up the reboot of The Villager, giving me this opportunity, and for his time and effort. Also, a thank-you goes out to Marik for taking the challenge of helping with the new Villager as well. Lastly, a thank you to everyone at Runevillage. Thanks for reading, and you guys make this site what it is.

Here’s to the future of Runevillage! *raises glass*