This is the third and final installment of the RuneScape 3 stories.  Earlier, Harold Goldberg found himself at Peckforton Castle, somewhat near Manchester, England. But what was good and what was lacking in the game itself? 

BY HAROLD GOLDBERG

As I stood gawking in this round, but dungeon-like environment, I spied three Jagex employees holding court. Around them were about 10 journalists from Europe and the U.S.

Most everyone kept asking tech-oriented questions, and to me, this was the kind of stuff that could well have been reserved for press releases. Me, I wanted human stories to go with the tech that makes this upcoming browser-based MMO run.

Specifically, I wanted to know how the narrative in the game and in the many upcoming quests would suck me into the world of RuneScape 3. But I had been having a degree of trouble finding that out (as you’ll see from these earlier installments).

So I piped up about the story. As if they were waiting to be asked, narrative designer David Osborne, head of audio Stephen Lord and executive producer Phil Mansell talked animatedly about a one of the quests.

“We’re putting a new story line up for vote by the community,” said Osborne.

“One of the options is pirates. Not just pirates. Zombie pirates!” exclaimed Mansell.

I liked that a lot. Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rotting bums. But what if the community votes for another option?

Mansell took a moment to think. “Well, we’ll try to get zombie pirates in some other way, down the line.”

It was a small moment of narrative discussion, maybe a minute during a quick 10-minute roundtable discussion. It was just a mere nugget of information. But it was creative enough to give me hope that I’ll enjoy the story in RuneScape 3.

Zombie pirates, I thought as the day went on into evening. I walked out into the night where the peacock who lives on the grounds stood in the shadows.

“Zombie pirates!” I said to the peacock.

And this is kind of what he said, perhaps in hearty approval, perhaps just killing time as he waited for a mate.

Harold Goldberg is the founder of the Circle. He also writes for the New York Times, Boys’ Life and other publications.