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Players of RuneScape represent a wide range of
nationalities, and ages. However, the user base is
predominantly English speaking, because the game
itself is currently only available in English.
However, there are also many servers which are
mainly Spanish speaking, so people who prefer to
speak Spanish can interact with other Spanish
speaking players on those servers. Recently there
was an increase of Dutch speaking players which in
some servers, seem to overwhelm the amount of
English speaking players (this mostly happens on
Dutch servers).
Language
Many RuneScape players speak a RuneScape-slanted
version of Leet (commonly known as '1337 5p34k'),
which can be incomprehensible to outsiders and
difficult for newcomers to learn. This consists
mostly of the proliferation of in-game terminology
and the abbreviation of commonly used words. Players
will also frequently use common Internet slang when
allowed by the language filter. The use of slang and
abbreviations allows for easier communication
between established players despite the small space
available in the in-game messaging system. For
example, an established player might say "i sell u r
(g) plate ardy world 2" While this would be
incomprehensible to new players, established players
would know it means-"I will sell you a gold-trimmed
rune platebody in Ardougne, in world 2."
A word filter is used both in the RuneScape game and
in the RuneScape forums. The filter is used to block
out words and phrases defined by Jagex as "offensive
language". Over the history of this word filter,
more and more combinations of letters are being
censored. When a string of characters is censored,
it is replaced by a series of asterisks. This
constant evolving can cause many normal phrases to
be censored. For example, players cannot say the
internet slang word pwn, as the "pw" in the word is
a common abbreviation for password. Since
advertising websites is in violation of RuneScape
rules, all URLs are automatically censored as well.
In order to combat this, players may resort to a
modified version of leetspeak, although dodging the
censor is a violation of Jagex rules. Some symbols
are automatically removed from phrases as well,
including ^, _, { and }, ~, ¬, < and >, /, and any
non-English characters (for example, Cyrillic.)
Fashion
Rare items, such as Santa hats, Halloween masks,
various coloured party hats, and other past holiday
drops are fashionable because they are somewhat
unique and because their scarcity has made them
extremely expensive. Their price has also made these
a symbol of wealth and status in RuneScape.
Most armour in RuneScape requires that a player meet
minimum levels before they can be worn. As players
achieve these required levels, the best armour
available to them becomes desirable both for combat
and to communicate their level. The best armour,
only available to members, has the additional appeal
of communicating membership when using free servers,
even though the combat bonuses they provide only
work on member servers.
Some armours are ornamentally trimmed with colour.
Rune, Adamant, and Black melee armours may be
trimmed in gold or a colour similar to the armour.
Rune may also be trimmed in the colours of the three
main RuneScape gods. Kiteshields may also be trimmed
with heraldic designs in opposite quadrants. Trimmed
armour combines the communication of wealth with the
functionality of armour. |
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