Runescape Tops Alba, Lohan and Jolie in Yahoo Searches.

The free-to-play MMOG not only bests some of Hollywood's top stars, but it's also the only videogame to make Yahoo's top ten search list for 2008.

In a year that brought us heavyweight titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Gears of War 2 and Wii Fit, Runescape managed to be the only videogame to make Yahoo's top ten searches for 2008. The browser-based, free-to-play MMOG placed fifth in overall searches, ranking above the likes of Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie and yes, even Naruto.

Yahoo likens the results to the game's international popularity, resting primarily on its cheap access (see: free), ability to run on a wide variety of machines and what they call "compelling play." Having been around for nearly a decade now, the eight year old MMOG is constantly introducing new experiences, with a graphical overhaul and player-versus-player combat being the most significant additions in the past year. Although, it may be its shadier developments that have something to do with its rise in the search rankings, with an underground black market having developed to buy in-game items and gold for real-world cash. Still, what's happening in Runescape is no more grey than what's occurring right now in other MMOG titles.

In 2007, Nintendo Wii topped videogames for Yahoo searches, though even in its own dedicated tech category, it only landed in seventh place, quickly followed by Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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Really? Runescape? Who cares about that game anymore? I mean, people still play it, yeah, but that's just a fact of life. It's like, the poor man's WoW.

Is it such a surprise that it topped Lohan?

Well if my little brother is anything to go by when he used to play it, this could be partly because the kids playing it are too young to know how to properly use their web browsers, and don't realise you can type addresses in manually or add sites to favourite lists. The result is that they use a search engine every time they want to play.

Little bit of stupidness to add here...

I saw this on the News the other night (one of the Chicago local broadcaasts, don't remember which channel). I got a very large giggle out of it. While I was duely impressed that Runescape beat out WOW, what was really funny was how the clueless newscaster pronounced it.

She pronounced it like 'Run Escape'.

merf1350:

She pronounced it like 'Run Escape'.

Ah, god bless the uninformed News readers, was she a FOX?

Why don't players of runescape play Guildwars, EVE, WoW, WAR, Conan or neopets?

Neosage:
Why don't players of runescape play Guildwars, EVE, WoW, WAR, Conan or neopets?

Do they have to spell it out? M-O-N-E-Y. Sorry, but if you read the article I wouldn't have to do this.

Stop the presses!!!

I honestly can't see this as news that needs an article. I can understand if this was a gaming thread.

Dechef:

Neosage:
Why don't players of runescape play Guildwars, EVE, WoW, WAR, Conan or neopets?

Do they have to spell it out? M-O-N-E-Y. Sorry, but if you read the article I wouldn't have to do this.

Guildwars is free to play.

Neosage:

Dechef:

Neosage:
Why don't players of runescape play Guildwars, EVE, WoW, WAR, Conan or neopets?

Do they have to spell it out? M-O-N-E-Y. Sorry, but if you read the article I wouldn't have to do this.

Guildwars is free to play.

Yeah, but you have to go out and buy it first right?
That's not the case with Runescape.

Oh Christ I'm going to be flamed for this post...

The reason I played Runescape for so long is because it's a lot deeper than other MMOs, and it's free. Even the membership is pretty cheap, and that multiplies the experience tenfold.

Now, before you pull out the Scorchers and Molotovs, I say this because, well, take a look at other MMOs. 99% of them revolve entirely around combat. The quests: Kill X amount of Mr. Bad-Guy, and bring me back their drops.
Runescape's quests include anything from going to find an old lady's cat in a lumber yard to sailing off in search of a squad of gnome gliders which crashed on an island of sadistic, evil monkeys, poisonous scorpions, gorilla skeletons, etc etc etc. The quest in Runescape are actually exciting and take some thinking. Unless you look up a guide.

Also, there's a much higher level of customization than other games. In other games, there's usually a line of armors available as you progress through the levels. The problem with this is that all lvl 10s look the same, all 20s look the same, and so on.
In Runescape this does exist, but there's a much wider range of armor available at the level ups, as well as the member worlds having a staggering amount of other armor from minigames and quests, there's very few people that end up looking like you.

And finally, the whole system of leveling up. In other MMOs, you gain levels by accumulating exp from fighting monsters. While this is how you level up your combat stats in Runescape, there's 24 skills to train and level up, 15 of which are available to non-members. Each provides different purposes; some are for money making, some benefit your combat skills, some let you make your own things instead of buying them, some are purely for fun.

This is why Runescape deserves much MUCH more respect than it gets.

Mr Goostoff:
This is why Runescape deserves much MUCH more respect than it gets.

I agree that Runescape definitely has some nice features, which other MMO's should look at (the quests, and the crafting for example). It's just that the whole game feels kind of childish (the community of course doesn't help here). Everyone I know played it when they were 13 or 14, and grew out of it a year later. It also looks like shit. Bad graphics don't usually bother me but damn.

Jared Rea:
Although, it may be its shadier developments that have something to do with its rise in the search rankings, with an underground black market having developed to buy in-game items and gold for real-world cash.

Unlikely, seeing how that black market was already in full swing six or seven years ago.

I think the story in the story here is that this shows that there's someone out there doing Yahoo! searches as opposed to Google searches. I want to know who's doing it. And I want them to stop.

I think Dechef hit the nail on the head when it comes to Runescape.

I started playing Runescape because the top MMO at the time was Everquest and i didnt have a job or a credit card so I wasn't left with too many options. Runescape introduced me too the world of MMOs and despite a few dishonest players it made me happy to play after a hard day at school. I can see why it has maintained such popularity due to the fact that it is easy and cheap.

Im surprised that it topped alba and Jolie, but Im not too surprised it topped Lindsay Lohan. I stopped playing that bloody awful game two years ago, and I never looked back on it.

Dechef:

Neosage:

Dechef:

Neosage:
Why don't players of runescape play Guildwars, EVE, WoW, WAR, Conan or neopets?

Do they have to spell it out? M-O-N-E-Y. Sorry, but if you read the article I wouldn't have to do this.

Guildwars is free to play.

Yeah, but you have to go out and buy it first right?
That's not the case with Runescape.

...anyone that can't be bothered to go out and buy a good video game DESERVES runescape.

Well, This is expected for Runescape, its a small neat game which has kept almost all of us entertained in the World of gaming many a year ago.

As I majorly miseed Dark Age Camelot in my time, Runescape really did give me MMO's, there is nothing negative to say about the game that its still going strong.

Alba, Lohan and Jolie were so 2007. Clearly Runescape was 2008.

The_root_of_all_evil:

merf1350:

She pronounced it like 'Run Escape'.

Ah, god bless the uninformed News readers, was she a FOX?

No, she was not a FOX, but she was pretty hot.

Logan Keller:
Is it such a surprise that it topped Lohan?

I'd top Lohan.

/im sorry, it just had to be said by someone