Rs gold might only have roughly 27,000 players at any given instant - barely a scratch on the amounts it used to reach in 2006 - but its players have known the game for ages. They've decade-old friendships there, they know the best way to hang out, how to interact and almost every talking point the game and its particular history has ever produced. Conversely, lots of the people of Runescape, myself included, are returning players total newcomers. They ramble beyond each other without laughing, don't all throw at the very same areas for no reason or attend feign parties in empty attics... they just get on with enjoying the match.
Runescape is best experienced as a never-ending RPG. You will find online adventures to be had there, but the ones that I played through were structured and curated than anything in Old School Runescape. My memories of Runescape in 2006 completely revolve around interacting with other individuals. I was scammed or lured into PvP zones and murdered almost daily because I was promised some talent from a top level player, but as frequently as gamers exploited my ignorance there were also countless times that they offered to assist me, taking me under their wing in analyzing boss fights or giving me free equipment.
Jagex spent ten years trying to smooth out the rough edges of OSRS gold is online interactions to help noobs like me. They made the massive, sprawling Stronghold of Security and filled it with exceptional rewards just to educate players about online security, they removed free trade to prevent new players getting conned into unfair prices, and made it so players can only lose a little bit of loot upon perishing in the Wilderness.