When Florida inmate Hearsey, who asked to be referred to by their in-game username for this story, was finally released from prison after serving nine years since their arrest at age 19, there was understandably a lot that they wanted to do. As a near-lifelong Old School RuneScape player, one of the first things they did after getting out was make a new account and buy a fresh membership subscription for the MMO. "I bought a membership before I bought a steak or had sex," Hearsey said in a post to the OSRS subreddit.
"I thought about RuneScape everyday," they wrote. "When inmates in Florida were given tablets in 2017 (super locked, no internet), I downloaded every RPG and hack-and-slash game they offered in a vain attempt at capturing something similar to RuneScape. Never found it."
