Elden Ring is already sure to go down as one of the biggest games of 2022 after its highly anticipated pre-release period, explosive launch, and subsequent months of popularity. Reinventing the FromSoftware formula to incorporate open-world elements, Elden Ring has been a huge success among veterans of Souls-like games as well as newcomers to the genre.
Along with its open-world design, Elden Ring has a lot of great features going for it. From challenging bosses like the suffering-inducing Crucible Knight Ordovis to a deep overarching storyline that changes based on player actions, the game has an incredible amount of depth within its gameplay. Along with these elements is the return of FromSoftware's unique multiplayer elements that allow players to team up or fight each other in equal measure.
However, while the multiplayer elements have typically been a source of enjoyment, competition, and community, a darker side exists within them. For example, an Elden Ring player receieved punishment for a hacker's actions, highlighting the issues with hacking and multiplayer in the game. Another issue is the AFK rune farmers that exploit the multiplayer to get free runes and items by hiding in areas seemingly unreachable by summoned players. However, recently a player managed to reach one of these rune farmers using a combination of extreme patience, skill, and determination.
In a fascinating show of dedication to their goal, Reddit user rainb0wspirit captured a clip of the actions they took to take down an AFK rune farmer. Utilizing the same weapon swapping glitch as the amazing Elden Ring glitch used to reach another farmer, rainb0wspirit managed to slowly and carefully parkour their way across the sides and tops of buildings, eventually reaching the rune farmer who was hiding in a remote bridge location. After finally reaching them, rainb0wspirit used the rivers of blood to quickly strike them down, ending their AFK reign of terror.
Other Reddit users had varying responses to rainb0wspirit's amazing acrobatics. One Reddit user joked that the game was now a popular puzzle platformer. Another user talked about a moment where they were summoned as a defender for a rune farmer; when a hostile invader was summoned, they showed the invader exactly where the host was, and the invader quickly dispatched them.
While the AFK rune farming problems have certainly done damage to online play and the community, the community has so far proved to be much stronger than the issue. With some users going as far as to go AFK in Elden Ring rune farming worlds to mitigate the runes gained, it is probable that AFK rune farming will be eradicated by the sheer will of the game's community.
Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.