Runescape's dynamic range and diversity was what brought me in. The economy, players, skilling, equipment and combat are so unique and somehow work so well to make the game feel truly complete; however it was PKing that made me stay. Since I was young, PKing always gave me that rush that few games were able to recreate. Even when I was a complete noob I just loved the idea of risking everything I had for the chance at something someone else had. Eventually, after losing everything in the wilde, getting stomped by pures, and subsequently having a mental breakdown that only a 10 year old losing full rune could have, I learned the system and made a couple pures myself.
The nature of Runescape is so far from the norm of popular games and now that I think about it, there are so many things that I could find fun in this game, including just sitting around Varrock somewhere talking with people I don't really know for hours on end. I don't think any of my friends could understand how I could find this archaic game so fun. And really it's something that I don't fully understand either. I wanna come back to RS so bad, and I'm still trying to figure out this question myself. Why do I want to come back? Why do I have this innate urge to replay a game I started to play over 10 years ago? What Will I do once I come back? It may be partly the gambler in me that wants to try and get some sick loot again, or the gamer in me that enjoys the thrill of combat, but I think it's mostly the little kid in me that fell so deeply in love with a game that I spent my childhood on it.
Whatever I end up doing in this game, I know I'll be happy. I think we all can just find some comfort in seeing that log-in screen, hearing that cheesy music and just escaping into something that we remember from a long time ago.