RuneScape turns 20 this year. RuneScape is often associated with countless hours spent building up your abilities, good emotions when winning fights, and the pain of losing all your belongings. This MMORPG classic has become not only one of the most popular games in this genre, but also a great source of income for people living in a volatile economy.

RuneScape was released in 2001 by developer Jagex as a browser game. The first version of the game, RuneScape Classic, was significantly more time consuming than the later ones. There was only one type of axes and cutters. When digging for metal ore, you had to check every time it existed there, because the excavated metal was visually no different.

Three years after the release of the first version, RuneScape 2 has become the most widely known and one of the most widely played versions of the game. The new version of the game had 3D graphics, a new combat system and many other updates. The game suddenly became popular and in just four years the number of players increased from 36,000. up to 250 thousand. The developers of Jagex have tried to keep up with the launch of new servers around the world to accommodate anyone who wants to play.

Lithuania also did not escape the mania of this game. In school information technology classrooms or libraries, students sometimes came even an hour before classes began just to play this beloved game. Game money could sometimes replace real money, and there was a constant exchange between game enthusiasts. RuneScape, which managed to maintain its popularity for many years, renewed itself again in 2013. Then came the latest version of the game, RuneScape 3. The new version featured even more improved resolution, greatly improved various graphics solutions and sound effects. Still, the previous version had a lot of enthusiasts who didn’t like the new version. This is why the old version of the game, Old School RuneScape, was left behind.

Among the enthusiasts of the old version, one huge group can be distinguished whose people can be seen anywhere on the server. These are Venezuelans. These people don’t usually see RuneScape as fun entertainment. Their goal, in general, is one - survival. Venezuela has been going through very difficult times for the last few years. Following the fall in oil prices in 2015 and the implementation of many bad economic decisions, Venezuela has experienced hyperinflation. Prices rose at lightning speed, money depreciated sharply and people could no longer survive on their existing wages.

In this way, RuneScape has become a way out for some people in this country. The financial system that exists in the game is fairly stable, and by making OSRS gold in the game, it can be sold for real money. This way, Venezuelans can earn significantly more than the average earner, who earns about $ 5 a month. Undoubtedly, the massively occupied venues of Venezuelans in the game annoy ordinary gamers. Players fight against gold earners, try to cause them as many problems as possible, and ask questions to game developer Jagex. This puts Jagex in a very difficult situation. On the one hand, they can allow gold earners to continue working and thus potentially ruin the game’s economy. On the other hand, they can ban such activities and leave a large number of people on the brink of poverty. So even though RuneScape has been around for 20 years, the game still remains popular around the world. For some, this game is great fun, but for others, it is the only way to escape poverty.