Member-only story
How can a sound emit a feeling and produce a memory?
Nostalgia, Childhood, and RuneScape
I’m 28 years old as I write this. I’ve had my share of games since I was a child. Most kids my age have had a childhood not so different from my own.
Over all those years and over all those games, one stands alone, apart, and different.
It’s all things unique.
It doesn’t have incredible graphics. It doesn’t have a particular, specific theme. It is, by almost every metric, average. At least, from the outset.
I know what it is before I see it. If I hear it, I instantly recognize it. When the sound enters the tunnel of my ears, the pictures flash in my mind as the smile begins to automatically form across my face.
Noise is an inevitable medium we interact with and exist in. It traces the air, hums its way into our ears, and our minds recognize that transmission. When that noise has a specific tone, it renders a new form. It has the ability to transform us, to mold us, and to propel us. We are connected and drawn to it, much like a magnet.
That inevitable medium was RuneScape. My introduction to this game was through a middle school friend, who, against my will, created an account for me and gave me the information to it.
