10 years later, Old School RuneScape is still the best MMO I've ever played – and seeing over 200,000 people jumping on reminds me why I fell in love with it in the first place

Making a RuneScape account is the first time I remember walking willingly into trouble. I was 10– meaning my internet access was restricted pretty heavily – and this newfangled fantasy game was making serious waves at school. But my internet access was restricted pretty heavily, and attempting to sell my mother on RuneScape was met with immediate failure.

I didn't know how to spell the game's name, so trying to type RuneScape dot com took us to images of scantily-clad women instead of the thriving fantasy game I was expecting to demonstrate. Predictably, I was told in no uncertain terms that I was not to go on this site. Weeks later, driven to extremes by kids at school reverentially discussing places like 'Varrock' and 'Draynor', I did the unthinkable.

Waiting until my mother left the house, I closed Club Penguin and searched for the real RuneScape. I found it, and made it halfway through the rat-bashing tutorial until my mother came home. Instead of hiding the Forbidden Game, I showed her what RuneScape actually was – and while she was a little mad at my disobedience, she understood there had been a misunderstanding and let me continue playing. (Thanks, mam.)

I'm thinking about this now because a lot of people are currently making their own first – hopefully less embarrassing – memories in Old School RuneScape. Jagex's MMO is blowing up right now, with World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14 players flocking to Gielinor in droves. It's been wonderful seeing so many new players come around on OSRS, falling in love with the same design facets that have kept me coming back for nearly 20 years.

Home Teleport

For those who are yet to play Old School RuneScape (OSRS), it works a little differently to the vast majority of MMOs. Your character's overall level is determined by a bunch of individual combat skills – think Strength, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic, that sort of thing – but honestly, being as powerful as possible isn't the be-all-end-all. There are more non-combat skills than fighty ones, all with their own progression

I used to hate Thieving, for example, until I learned I could level it up by plundering a mummy-infested pyramid instead of repeatedly pickpocketing townsfolk or pinching cakes from market stalls. Training Agility at obstacle courses (or parkour-style rooftops) unlocks incredibly handy shortcuts throughout the world, while even more combat-centric skills like Magic offer teleports and, er, the ability to turn bones into peaches. It's handier than it sounds!

Where most MMOs are typically a one-track game with all roads leading to raids, RuneScape feels closest to a single-player RPG in the sense that you can prioritize whatever you feel like doing and it'll still count as meaningful progress. I'll fish because I want to spend a few hours fishing, or farm because I love having the little routine of tending to my trees each morning. It's not one catch-all experience – you could make a fortune by fishing, selling your haul, then spending the lot on construction materials for a house instead of flashy new armor – and that's what makes OSRS so unique.

That RPG feel is even more present in OSRS' quests, which breaks away from the traditional 'Kill 10 Things' formula in favor of more involved, narrative-driven quests. Some of those are short and very funny – like diffusing a frog-strike in 'The Ribbiting Tale of a Lily Pad Labour Dispute', or irreversibly fumbling Romeo & Juliet's relationship – while others build on stakes that have been decades in the making. These larger quests tend to come with incredibly testing boss fights – which sucks for me because I'm atrocious at PvE, but other (see: better) players than I are drawn to quests precisely for those fights.

If this all sounds a little gushy, it is! Seeing so many people coming to RuneScape for the first time has caused me to reconnect with the reasons I adore it in the first place, which in turn has sparked a newfound appreciation for every bullet point on that love letter. I don't agree with every decision in the game's history. Jagex's new leadership pulling this year's pride event from OSRS – allegedly for the exact reason that makes it more important than ever – was spineless, acrid cowardice. My original RuneScape account sits dormant on a now-separate version of the game, which was heavily monetized and changed combat to be more like other MMOs.

But when it comes to OSRS as a game, I can think of very few things I'd actually change. Every major update must be voted on by players before it's added, meaning the MMO's original spirit is preserved and no dramatic changes sneak in from left-field. Ultimately, Old School RuneScape stays winning because it doesn't try to toe the line with other MMOs. It does its own, strange little thing – and to see so many people discover that niche warms my XP-obsessed heart.

It may come as no surprise that our best MMORPG round-up includes OSRS