I hardly recognize Runescape anymore. With the Display Name Update, I see unfamiliar names all over my friends list, capital letters all throughout the city, and interesting letter combinations I’d never dreamed anybody would want themselves referred as. I see riots, rants, and arguments over updates throughout the forums, in general, recent updates, and sometimes even the compliments forums. I go onto the Grand Exchange and find that my Saradomin Godsword, bought at 62 million which I considered an annoyingly high price, is now worth a whopping 70. I learn about how a few of my friends, who had laughed at my jokes and shared a fun conversation or two with me, have been temporarily banned and left RSBANDB.

Aye, change is in the air. I know I’ve talked about this before, but there is more to it then you would think.

I used to look forward to a new quest update. It involved me racing through crowds of people trying to get to different points on the map, solving obscure problems with methods even I would never have thought of in my sleep (and I think of a lot when I’m asleep …), and learning the next phase of a storyline that continuously builds suspense with each new plot turn. I see a skill update and immediately have-at that skill in the hopes that I can take advantage of it (boy, the look on my face when I read we now had 2 more construction rooms …). Heck, I even had fun poking through the bug fixes and minor updates trying to find ones that I could take advantage of.

Lately, though, I read the PVP updates, Display Name Change, potential graphics updates, etc, and I think: … oh, here we go again. Perhaps I’ve always enjoyed the surprise in a sudden update every Monday, or perhaps I’m growing bored of the game.

But there’s one thing about change, and this goes the same for everything else. Too much of it is a bad thing. Imagine you’ve been playing a fun Flash game for about two weeks, and an update came out that changed the sky into green. Sure, it’s exciting to play again, but when you do, you hardly recognize what you were so used to. And when (or if) you don’t like it, you can’t go back to the original. It almost feels, if there is no other word for it, “dark”.

Don’t get me wrong. I like change (the price of the blue halloween mask I bought a few months back doubled in price – yay), and I dislike those who rant against it (in all capitals; thank you for the brain-ache), but at the same time, I understand why they rant in the first place. Heck, one of the reasons I dislike ranters is because half the time I agree with them. Then I hate myself for it. What manner of human or spiritual being doesn’t like the truth that he doesn’t want to have to agree with?

Runescape’s a game. I will stop playing for a while and wait a week for my kingdom to make me money, and then I will log back in and find it a slightly different game. Over the years, I was accustomed to its steady rate of change. Now, I, and the rest of us, are now experiencing a change in the way it changes. This is one of the hardest to adapt to, in my opinion. But, until I do, I will continue to have-at my every-day clue scrolls and continue my road to recon- sorry, Third Age, hoping I will get some before they become obsolete.

So, if you ever want to find me in Runescape, I’ll probably be on a treasure trail or down in the Smokey Well in Pollnivneach. It’s the only place left I can find that is not swamped by this darkness. If anybody wants to offer me a candle, then by all means, go for it.