> Greentext

That's because you can still go outside. I grew too large for the basement door and am terminally online as a result.

RuneScape has become two games. Regular RuneScape is colloquially called RS3. The developer, Jagex, also maintains Old School RuneScape, which is a based on a version of the game from of a server backup made back in 2007. Both versions of RuneScape are free to play, but have much more content only available to paying subscribers, termed "members". Membership Bonds are a token redeemable for two weeks worth of membership, but you can also buy them from other players, meaning you can just buy them to sell for cold or you can get your membership by accumulating in-game money without spending IRL money. This is the only form of microtransaction in OSRS, but RS3 has a shitload, to the point that you can effectively buy skill progression instead of training it. RS3 is Jagex's cash cow, but OldSchool is more popular and has more active players. If RS3 died, the devs would likely try to railroad microtransactions into OSRS, so people like me see RS3's player base (especially the whales) as sacrificial lambs. "Paypig" is a term from the financial domination kink community, and I used it because like most RuneScape players I am a gross misanthrope.