Farewell to Runescape Classic , the Rudimentary RPG Where I Learned Important Life Lessons by Selling Apple Pies to Strangers

In 2001, the video-game studio Jagex launched Runescape, an online role-playing game. This week, the developers announced that the original version of the game, one that consumed vast quantities of my time as a middle schooler and remained online until now, is shutting down. In 8th grade I desperately wanted to play Everquest, the dominant online role playing game at the time, but I didn't have a credit card, and my parents wouldn't let me use theirs. So I typed in "free online RPG" into a search bar and my brief, fiery affair with Runescape began. I played it in a browser, and it was archaic looking even then compared to Everquest's graphics.