Ahhhhh. I doubt I have anything to say that hasn't been said by the millions who have spent hours and months of their life on one of the most popular games of all time.
I stopped playing this after I realised I have over one year of time spent in-game. It is a deeply flawed game, and Jagex is a very easy developer to criticise but it has taught little me so much about life and human beings and what to use to catch lobster and how much it costs to buy gf and so on and so forth
I stopped playing this after I realised I have over one year of time spent in-game. It is a deeply flawed game, and Jagex is a very easy developer to criticise but it has taught little me so much about life and human beings and what to use to catch lobster and how much it costs to buy gf and so on and so forth
Pros
Fantastic community resources for improving at the game, both in terms of mechanical skill and general game knowledge
A combat system with a virtually limitless skill ceiling, meaning there’s always something you can be doing to improve yourself
A community that values and respects skilled players without being overly-toxic to newcomers like many other MMOs (e.g. World of Warcraft)
Hardly ever forces the player into doing anything, meaning they can play the game however they want, whether that is fighting bosses, crafting, gathering or killing monsters, with all these parts of the game being highly fleshed out after decades of development.
Fantastic economy that makes it so content released over a decade ago is still good moneymaking and relevant in the current stage of the game.
Almost everything is tradeable, from the highest-level weapons in the game to powerful unlockable abilities, making it so that as long as what you like to do in-game makes good money, you only have to do what you want, as you can buy your upgrades with gold. Furthermore, the existence of iron-man accounts makes it so that even if you prefer the more standard systems in MMOs where these items are untradeable, those players can enjoy the game in that way and earn everything themselves without using the Grand Exchange.
Power creep is incredibly slow compared to other MMOs, and the game actively practices horizontal rather than vertical progression, meaning old content doesn’t stop being difficult, with a boss released 7 years ago being widely considered the hardest boss in the game to this day (Telos). This means that at any given time, RS3 has so much more relevant content than other MMOs.
You can easily sustain your membership with in-game gold once you have learned how to make money efficiently, essentially making the game free.
Puts huge emphasis on character growth over time, leading to you having a character with numerous small but noticeable permanent power boosts that make them incredibly satisfying to play, as you know that those boosts came from you actively seeking them out, not them just being given to you by levelling up.
Cons
The community, while useful, can be overly negative about patches and updates
Tutorialisation is practically nonexistent, leading players to rely entirely on community-generated resources.
It can take a long time to really “click” with the game, as the game’s movement (tile system) and combat can feel very clunky to new players.
When I Like to Play
Complete quests
Earn new upgrades
Enjoy the combat system
Improve my combat skills
Shoot for speedrunning records
Fantastic community resources for improving at the game, both in terms of mechanical skill and general game knowledge
A combat system with a virtually limitless skill ceiling, meaning there’s always something you can be doing to improve yourself
A community that values and respects skilled players without being overly-toxic to newcomers like many other MMOs (e.g. World of Warcraft)
Hardly ever forces the player into doing anything, meaning they can play the game however they want, whether that is fighting bosses, crafting, gathering or killing monsters, with all these parts of the game being highly fleshed out after decades of development.
Fantastic economy that makes it so content released over a decade ago is still good moneymaking and relevant in the current stage of the game.
Almost everything is tradeable, from the highest-level weapons in the game to powerful unlockable abilities, making it so that as long as what you like to do in-game makes good money, you only have to do what you want, as you can buy your upgrades with gold. Furthermore, the existence of iron-man accounts makes it so that even if you prefer the more standard systems in MMOs where these items are untradeable, those players can enjoy the game in that way and earn everything themselves without using the Grand Exchange.
Power creep is incredibly slow compared to other MMOs, and the game actively practices horizontal rather than vertical progression, meaning old content doesn’t stop being difficult, with a boss released 7 years ago being widely considered the hardest boss in the game to this day (Telos). This means that at any given time, RS3 has so much more relevant content than other MMOs.
You can easily sustain your membership with in-game gold once you have learned how to make money efficiently, essentially making the game free.
Puts huge emphasis on character growth over time, leading to you having a character with numerous small but noticeable permanent power boosts that make them incredibly satisfying to play, as you know that those boosts came from you actively seeking them out, not them just being given to you by levelling up.
Cons
The community, while useful, can be overly negative about patches and updates
Tutorialisation is practically nonexistent, leading players to rely entirely on community-generated resources.
It can take a long time to really “click” with the game, as the game’s movement (tile system) and combat can feel very clunky to new players.
When I Like to Play
Complete quests
Earn new upgrades
Enjoy the combat system
Improve my combat skills
Shoot for speedrunning records
Came back to playing my account from back in old school days
Love the QoL updates, new quests, traversal is so much easier, feels like a good game
Still cant get over the evolution of combat update and the interfacing although I think is great you can freely customize - it is by far not noob friendly so it was hard to get back into.
Love the QoL updates, new quests, traversal is so much easier, feels like a good game
Still cant get over the evolution of combat update and the interfacing although I think is great you can freely customize - it is by far not noob friendly so it was hard to get back into.
I'm in the extreme minority of people who actually prefer this version of the game for its polish and PvE focus, and while I concede that it's extremely lacking in some areas and has an atrocious monetisation system, it has enough content that a new player can sink hundreds and hundreds of hours in and still have things to do. I don't even have all 99s and I've been playing this game since I was eight.
The first MMO that I ever played and the game that defined my childhood. I learned more from this game than I ever learned from anything else. Not to trust people blindly and use my brain to make good decisions, how to work hard to achieve a goal, how to work together towards a common goal, how to enjoy the small things in a game, how to make friends and how to deal with conflict, and most importantly, how to properly shit talk someone.
Runescape permanently altered my brain chemistry, and while I haven't played RS3 since 2018. I plan on eventually playing again eventually and enjoying that version of the game with an open-minded perspective.
Runescape permanently altered my brain chemistry, and while I haven't played RS3 since 2018. I plan on eventually playing again eventually and enjoying that version of the game with an open-minded perspective.
One of the two MMO's (the other being DC Universe Online) I always end up coming back to. Along with Elder Scrolls, this game meets my definition of what I call a 'true RPG.'
Other RPG games, while calling themselves "role-playing," in reality still force you into a particular niche within that world. For example, games like Dragon Age, Fable, and Baldur's Gate let you choose your race, your class, and your morality, which is cool and all but at the end of the day you're still just a warrior, and that's all you're ever gonna be.
But in Runescape, you don't have to engage in any kind of combat at all if you really don't want to. It is perfectly viable just to level up non-combat related skills, or to just do quests (many of which don't require combat), or play minigames, or simply engage with the community by joining a social-focused clan. Your character can live whatever kind of life you want for them, and there are no pre-determined classes, archetypes, or professions. You never even have to actually do any quests if you don't want to. It's a fantasy life simulator. You are truly free to set your own goals and accomplish your own milestones.
You're not forced into any kind of box. The world and everything it has to offer is what you make of it. Say what you will but almost no other game offers that.
Sure, this game can be grindy, but it's grindy in the same way real life is. Everybody in this game starts at zero. The rewards you earn and the heights you climb are a reflection of your own willingness to work for it.
Other RPG games, while calling themselves "role-playing," in reality still force you into a particular niche within that world. For example, games like Dragon Age, Fable, and Baldur's Gate let you choose your race, your class, and your morality, which is cool and all but at the end of the day you're still just a warrior, and that's all you're ever gonna be.
But in Runescape, you don't have to engage in any kind of combat at all if you really don't want to. It is perfectly viable just to level up non-combat related skills, or to just do quests (many of which don't require combat), or play minigames, or simply engage with the community by joining a social-focused clan. Your character can live whatever kind of life you want for them, and there are no pre-determined classes, archetypes, or professions. You never even have to actually do any quests if you don't want to. It's a fantasy life simulator. You are truly free to set your own goals and accomplish your own milestones.
You're not forced into any kind of box. The world and everything it has to offer is what you make of it. Say what you will but almost no other game offers that.
Sure, this game can be grindy, but it's grindy in the same way real life is. Everybody in this game starts at zero. The rewards you earn and the heights you climb are a reflection of your own willingness to work for it.
I've been playing this game on and off since 2008, and my account currently has 6000 hours logged, which is amateur compared to some players. This game has several flaws, with the first being the increase in microtransactions (MTX). The core appeal of RuneScape lies in the grind for XP and the sense of accomplishment that comes with earning skill capes. MTX undermines this by making progress dependent on who has more real-life money to spend. Although they have attempted to address this issue with the introduction of Ironman mode, the damage caused by MTX still lingers.
There’s no other game like RuneScape, I have tried so many others and none comes close to the experience. This game is grindy and does not respect your time. It will take a new player over 1000 hours to even get 99 in every stat (without MTX) and you’re just scraping the surface of the game at that point. This is what makes it fun and why players can’t seem to quit. They release content designed to give long term players FOMO.
There’s no other game like RuneScape, I have tried so many others and none comes close to the experience. This game is grindy and does not respect your time. It will take a new player over 1000 hours to even get 99 in every stat (without MTX) and you’re just scraping the surface of the game at that point. This is what makes it fun and why players can’t seem to quit. They release content designed to give long term players FOMO.