I think there is so much underexplored content in Runescape (RS3), and one of the best ways to interact with it is through self imposed restrictions on a new account, especially an iron account. It might just be me, but I think that guides and information resources can remove some of the fun from the game, reducing the game to a small handful of efficient tasks which must be completed in a specific order. So long as you are enjoying the game, and not detracting from the enjoyment or well being of others playing the game, there is no wrong way to play Runescape, but from my experience the most fulfilling gameplay for me is in obscure theorycrafting. Restricting your account to one small region of the larger map is the most common unique Ironman scenario, but by no means the only, as I have seen players forgoing the use of shops, restricted to only the wares of shops, only using items collected through slayer or from bosses, going through as much end game content as able without ever doing a quest, or going a step further and never talking to any NPCs, and of course the classic ‘only chests’ accounts restricted to just loot from caskets and world object chests like the muddy chest in the wilderness, or the crystal chest in Taverly. But some sort of restriction on gameplay is just half of the equation, with the other half being a goal to achieve. For an example of a goal on a region locked account, it would probably be possible to make alder rune equipment without ever leaving lumbridge by transmuting copper and tin ore all the way up to rune and animica, which is an accomplishment, but not quite the sort of goal oriented task that I aspire to. To me all the real appeal of a restricted ironman series is building toward a goal which at first may seem impossible, like killing the corporal beast without ever leaving the wilderness, outside of the three quests mandatory for accessing the corporal beast of course. There is just something about rekindling that curiosity and excitement of discovery in the game that adds a new twist on an otherwise comfortably familiar game that keeps me falling in love with the game again and again.
