“What makes an MMO truly special”: Hundreds of Old School RuneScape players have become monks and started a holy war after a pilgrimage got out of control
On July 18, a large assembly of Old School RuneScape players gathered at Edgeville monastery and journeyed through the Wilderness zone toward Revenant Caves dressed as monks of Saradomin, one of the game's theological factions. Armed only with healing supplies and religious conviction, the unarmed group deliberately avoided combat engagement, instead seeking to criticise player-killers they encountered through elaborate roleplay.
The religious pilgrimage provoked an organised response from the opposing Zamorak faction, which has announced plans for a counter-pilgrimage targeting their home base on July 25. The event demonstrates how MMO players create emergent narratives and community-driven experiences that operate independently of designed game systems, converting competitive spaces into stages for collaborative storytelling and cultural expression.
- Hundreds of Old School RuneScape players organised a pilgrimage on July 18 through the Wilderness PvP zone as unarmed Saradomin monk characters
- The event prompted a rival Zamorak faction to organise a counter-pilgrimage scheduled for July 25
- The incident exemplifies how MMO communities create emergent roleplay narratives that transcend the game's designed competitive mechanics