Quitting Runescape is never easy

This article is written by a person who quit Runescape a few months ago. The author brings up two points:

1. The game is so fluid, that it is almost impossible to keep up with the changes without actually playing the game on regular basis.
2. You loose pretty much all your online friends from the game, even if you used to maintain close communications on fan sites and forums.
   

While I agree with both statements in general, I'd like to add some additional thoughts.

1. Yes, Runescape is changing very fast and it is hard to resume playing after a long hiatus. But it is possible and I know many players who did just that. I did it myself in 2006. I actually see "Runescape fluidity" as a good thing: while the game changes it lives and grows. That is one of the reasons I am not particularly happy with "2009 fix everything year" motto, by the way.
2. Yes, when you stop playing an online game, expect to loose contacts with your online friends. But this is not a Runescape thing. It is people's nature and there is nothing wrong with it. Do you know what is the main factor that contributes to friendship between people? Do you think "matching personalities" or "common interests"? Nope. It is "proximity". Simple geo-spacial (if you will) proximity. "Common interests" would come next. Now, when you quit the game you loose both "proximity" and "common interests" ties. No wonder the relationship quickly fades away.

Quitting and Friends in Runescape

An article about making and loosing friends in Runescape. The point there that friendship usually lasts as long as the game goes and stops when a player quits. And I think it is true, not only for Runescape, but for other online games and in general for 'online' made friends. There are exceptions of course, but those are exceptions. However, I believe that it may change in the future when people start accepting virtual reality as an essential part of their day-to-day life. The borders between real life and virtual life are getting blurred more and more and I see them almost disappear in the future. What do you think? Will we ever come to this?

Friends do not beg

And you know, it is true. Friends may ask to help with a quest or a task, friends will give you a comfort when you lost or distressed, friends will cheer for you, friends will work alongside you, friends will graciously accept your gifts, friends will, well, talk to you. But friends will not beg for money or items. Friends do not beg. Thanks to Anubis for a great post.

Gifts in Runescape

Do you give gifts? Do you like to give gifts? What are good gifts in Runescape world? Here is my article about it at RS Haven.