Old School Runescape is a game that is dedicated to the 2007 edition of the MMORPG, although continuously updated on the terms of popularity vote by players. That is, the community are the ones to decide what expansions will be added to the main narrative of Gielinor. This development style grants the player with power to not only create their own meanings within the game’s world through personal perception with participation but to have the potential to make that interpretation lore. This amount of influence given to participants is rarely seen in other closely related franchises, not to mention other genres. Players are active participants both in game play and game development, but is this all just a form of manipulation by Jagex to gain trust from their player base?

Coercion still exists from Jagex in the form of membership and in-game currency to gain additional advantageous areas and item access that have the potential to improve and extend gameplay. However, this membership with OSRS can be obtained through both real-world currency and in-game currency in the form of purchasing what is known as a ‘bond’ through the grand exchange. This provides the opportunity to players that may spend more time within game to gain wealth to also achieve a membership; this expands the prospect of obtaining freedom to every extent of the OSRS world to younger or financially underprivileged individuals.

You can attain the membership by in-game means; however, this method is quite expensive for the individual in terms of time. It would require an extensive amount of in-game ‘grinding’ to achieve the funds necessary to obtain a bond. Conveniently, Jagex also accommodates for players that wish to purchase in-game currency with real-world currency. Therefore, this creates the illusion that the developers are providing greater opportunity for the player when they are just arranging more convenient ways to receive fortune.

Thankfully, we have grown to recognise the role of the active participant as having the capability of agency to conceptualise their own opinion and opt to ignore the manipulation. This is amplified with the combined opinions of others within the community to present alternatives to participation in the illusion. The ideology presented from Jagex illudes that playing in favour of the ‘achievable’ membership access is the only way to fulfil the games requirements. While there are added skills that require a membership to access, there are still an ample number of achievable goals to accomplish without the need for paying to play.  

This is not to mention the way which players have been able to deconstruct this system to benefit themselves and take advantage of Jagex’s ‘trust’. With the ability to purchase a membership with in-game currency, it has led to players grinding their way to in-game fortune to sell for real-world money; Jagex aren’t the only ones gaining financial benefits from the illusion. While it has become a current point of concern for the parent company, players have developed their own form of an OSRS black market against the wishes of Jagex, in turn manipulating the manipulation to manipulate the manipulators.

If this isn’t proof for the power of the active audience to encode their own interpretations for their gaming pleasure, I’m not sure what is. Well played Jagex, but it seems the active audience with their agency have turned this game around.