"Runescape" 10 Year Anniversary 'Bonanza'

A "RuneScape" 10 year anniversary 'bonanza' will begin in January, according to an announcement made by a moderator in late December. Beginning on January 4^th, 2010, "RuneScape" players can enjoy "some special surprises" during an anniversary week, though the announcement recommended players also host their own parties. "We here in Community Management will keep an eye out for the best and most popular parties and who knows, we may add an extra surprise or two," Mod Crow teased in the announcement, encouraging players to announce their plans in the official thread.

"RuneScape," the popular massive multiple-player online RPG (mmorpg) video game, can now claim the distinction of being one of the only still-alive MMOs online to reach the 10 year mark. If you've never sampled this medieval fantasy MMO, considering reading more about "RuneScape" and its decade-long appeal to millions of fans in my review.

"RuneScape" Bonanza: Anniversary Loot?

"RuneScape" continues to be one MMO which consistently offers seasonal events, quest reward items, rare drops and other incentives for player-collectors. Most major holidays feature a clever, if only decorative, item or garment; popular examples from the past include a Santa outfit, bunny ears at Easter, and Shade's ropes for Halloween. With a monumental achievement such as a 10-year run, there is little chance that Jagex will neglect "RuneScape" players and not provide a unique, limited edition item to those who participate in the bonanza. Bonus items might be available for those who host their own events, as the teaser announcement suggests.

"Runescape" Free Trades: One Vote To Rule Them All

Another surprise caught players off-guard just the day before the "Runescape" anniversary bonanza was announced. On December 24^th, 2010, Mark Gerhard made an announcement that a referendum was beginning after players responded overwhelmingly to a poll regarding the return of "Free Trade" and the original Wilderness Player-versus-Player (PvP) zone. Read more about these "RuneScape" issues on the official announcement.

"We received a petition of 1.2M votes in less than 24 hours! This is the highest number of votes we have ever received for any player poll so it's time we swiftly move on to a qualified referendum, allowing all our players to express their wishes," Gerhard wrote, shocking even long-time fans of "RuneScape." Very few MMO video games conduct polls which actually influence the game with their outcome, but Jagex implemented guaranteed content polls to do just that. "We want our entire community to decide the future of their game by voting in the first ever 'RuneScape' referendum."

The elimination of "Free Trade" made "RuneScape" players unable to engage in unbalanced trades-where each party might not receive items or coins with the same value-and the decision has been a source of disharmony among the fan base ever since. With over 740,000 votes as of January 1st-and 90% of them voting "Yes" to revert to the original content-the "RuneScape" players obviously care a great deal about the referendum. As a long-time player of this 10-year MMO, I can only hope the final outcome is "Yes."

Sources:
RuneScape News, "Latest News";MMORPG.com, Runescapee Re-Review,"