Ever since the relatively primitive days of gaming in 2001, the RuneScape franchise has been there for adventurers worldwide, offering an MMORPG experience that is right up there with some of the strongest titles within the genre such as World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls Online or Final Fantasy XV. However, you may not be aware of this staple of the gaming industry. Well, allow us to give you the inside scoop. Here is everything you need to know about RuneScape.
Key Takeaways
- RuneScape is an MMORPG game that was initially launched in 2001, and it offers a vast open-world experience where players can explore, complete quests, trade with other players, and slay monsters.
- Players can choose between playing the user-friendly version, Old School RuneScape (OSRS), or the more modern interpretation, RS3, which offers a more casual experience with regular updates and better graphics.
- RuneScape is owned by Jagex, a British video game development company that was founded in 1992 by Andrew and Paul Gower.
- While RuneScape can be played for free, full membership offers access to more content, including 128 additional quests, and is available for purchase at varying prices.
- The game has several key components, including quests, trading, and combat/boss battles, where players can improve their character build and progress by boosting their stats, accumulating items, and engaging in clever trading.
About RuneScape?
As we mentioned, RuneScape is an MMORPG that was initially launched in 2001. Back in this era, this experience was a browser extension, much like Minecraft was back in the day. However, in the modern age of present-day gaming, this franchise is now a fully-fledged title complete with a mobile app for more casual players. This title sees you begin life as a lowly peasant on Tutorial Island and from there, you are tasked with exploring the vast land of Glienor, completing quests, boosting your skills, communicating and trading with other players, solving a puzzle and, of course, slaying monsters as you go.
Players also have the choice of playing OSRS (Old School RuneScape) or the more modern interpretation, RS3. OSRS is a much more user-friendly version of the old browser version of RuneScape. This version has lots of quality of life improvements to make the game feel modern in terms of mechanics and performance. However, in terms of content, gameplay and graphics, the game retains the same feel that it had back in the day. Plus, there is still the long and painstaking grinding that makes the whole process feel authentic and rewarding.
Then on the flip side, RS3 is a game that offers a lot of the same content that OSRS offers. However, the game is refined to offer a more casual experience. The game is more centred around end game content and it is much more regularly updated with new content. Not to mention that the graphics are much more in line with modern gaming’s lofty standards. This is also the version that is available as a mobile port.
Who owns RuneScape?
A British video game development company called Jagex are responsible for gifting the gaming community with both RS3 and OSRS. While the company have had varying degrees of success with other titles such as War of Legends, Space Punks and Herotopia, the RuneScape franchise is this company’s magnum opus. This company was founded in 1992 by Andrew and Paul Gower and was previously known as ‘Jagex Software’ in 1999.
How Much is RuneScape Membership?
In case you aren’t aware, while you can play this title on a free to play basis, you won’t have access to all the content on offer. To gain access to this you will need to purchase a full membership for either OSRS or RS3. With an unpaid membership, you will have access to 22 quests on the free to play version and will have access to a smaller scale map. However, with the full membership, you will have access to an additional 128 quests. Here are the prices for RuneScape membership:
- One month: £6.99
- Three months: £16.49
- One year: £53.99
It is also worth noting that if you pick up a membership for OSRS or RS3, this is non-transferable. Which means that if you want to enjoy both versions of this game, you absolutely can, but you will have to pay for two memberships.
How do you play RuneScape?
So you may be reading this and want to dip your toe into the wonderful fantasy world of Glienor. Well, to do that you’ll need to know what you are getting yourself into and what to expect when you start out. So with that in mind, we would like to break down the key components of RuneScape’s gameplay. Check it out:
Quests
Much like any MMORPG, quests play a vital role in the RuneScape experience. This is how players experience the wonderful and whimsical story of RuneScape. There are a grand total of 150 quests for paying members to enjoy. You will travel to new lands, find new races and monsters, solve puzzles and collect important items and skills that will aid your progression. While you can improve your skills through completing other activities, quests are the quickest ways to boost your stats progress your character build. Alongside the main quests, there are also guild quests and slayer quests that come with their own achievements and rewards.
Trading
One of the most engaging parts of RuneScape is the trading aspect of this game. Becoming a wheeler-dealer can be a great way to get ahead in this massively multiplayer title. Through interacting with other players, exploring the world, defeating enemies and completing tasks, you will accumulate a series of items, some valuable, some not so much. Then it’s up to you to flog them to other players or take them to The Grand Exchange and trade your goodies for precious gold. With some clever trading, you could get your hands on an essential item.
Combat/Boss Battles
Perhaps the most gripping and intense aspect of RuneScape is the combat mechanics. Players will begin life trading blows with rats and other lowly creatures with rusty swords but before long you will be taking on Dragons and Demons with the best weapons in the game. You’ll need to build your strength, defense, attack, ranged, magic and slayer level in order to battle more fearsome foes and you’ll need to increase your prayer stat if you don’t want to get pounded with every single attack enemies dish out.
However, the best combat experiences within this game are the boss battles. You will often encounter these within quest lines or you may need to seek them out for yourself. These monsters tend to offer players some serious loot via their drops. However, you will need to work hard for these goodies. These bosses tend to have multiple battle phases, nuanced attack patterns and require a particular strategy to take down, but for a talented adventurer such as yourself, we bet it will be no problem.
Training Skills
Then lastly you have the ability to train skills within this game. You can train skills such as cooking, mining, crafting, fletching and much more. Some of these skills are harder to train than others and certain skills will take longer to train than others. However, if you put the time in to train each skill, it will open up new avenues and opportunities to explore. To train skills, you simply complete the action that corresponds with the skill to gain more skill XP. Some quests also offer a large amount of skill XP upon completion.
Other Activities
While there can be a temptation to put the blinders on and make a beeline for the biggest bosses, the hardest quests all in an attempt to make lots of gold. There are actually a lot of casual activities that players can be involved in within the world of Glienor. Players will be able to socialise with one another in the hub world. While a lot of the areas are instanced and only certain amounts of people can co-exist on a server, this allows players to enjoy comradery with like-minded individuals and potentially strike up some friendships.
You can also read a vast array of books and literature which are dotted around the world. Much like TES games, this gives exposition and expands on existing lore. Allowing players to learn more about the in-game world and immerse themselves further into the gaming experience.
There are also a handful of games that players can take part in, our pick of the bunch being Pest Control. Or if you don’t want to team up with others, you can head to PvP areas and battle it out for supremacy in combat. What we are getting at here, is that RS is a multi-faceted experience with tones of things to do. The only limit is your imagination.
How Does RuneScape Gold Work?
Within most MMORPG’s there is means of determining which players are veterans, high ranking players or the most powerful adventurers in the land. In RS3 and OSRS, one of the biggest indicators of this is how much gold you have. Within RuneScape, gold is the currency of Glienor and allows players to purchase resources, trade with other individuals and buy items on the Grand Exchange. As the saying goes, money makes the world go round and the saying holds true here. However, you may not know how to get your hands on RuneScape gold. Well, that’s where we can help. Here is everything you need to know:
How Do You Get RS Gold?
You can get RuneScape gold through several methods. If you complete quests you will get gold as a reward. If you kill monsters, you will get item drops which can be sold at the Grand Exchange for gold. You can trade items with other players which again, can be traded at the Grand Exchange. Then you can also complete activities which provide resources which can be traded for gold. Activities like logging, fishing, mining etc.
Can You Buy RS Gold?
While it is technically not allowed as per the terms and conditions of a RuneScape account, you can absolutely buy gold with real-world currency. There is a very little to risk that you will see your account banned as a result of this and there are loads of great, reputable vendors that farm gold and sell it to players who need it. This is obviously not the most cost-effective way to get ahead in RuneScape but you can’t deny it, it’s certainly one of the quickest.
What is RS Powerleveling?
One of the best uses for gold is power training skills. While you can spend hours doing the mundane tasks that give you skill XP. It is much easier to purchase skill XP with gold. Which is all the more reason to grab large amounts of gold through third party retailers.
How Much is RS Gold Worth?
As the time of writing, based on the price of RS bonds. It is possible to purchase about 2 million gold for about $1. So in the grand scale of things, getting your hands on millions of in-game currency is rather inexpensive.
How to get started in RuneScape?
Now that you have the gist as to how this game works, you may be wondering how you get started. Well, the good news is that the game starts you off on the aptly named Tutorial Island. While this area can be slow and irritating due to the mass of players in attendance, one positive is that it’s intuitive and teaches you all the gameplay mechanics you need to know early doors. You’ll need to complete some quests, boost some skills and partake in a series of activities but the real game starts when you arrive in Lumbridge.
From there you will be able to do just about anything you like. However, if you want to make a name for yourself within Glienor, you’ll want to do things in a certain order. We would urge you to get in contact with Adventurer Jon when in Lumbridge. You will find him just north of the Castle Gates. This will open up your Adventurer Path and will provide you with a wealth of XP and reward opportunities. This will be your springboard, guiding you through early game combat and will give you some useful items to help you through.
Secondly, we would urge you to train some skills to get your character build to a respectable level. It’s better to do this before jumping into questing as well rounded skills will allow you to complete quests consistently and will lead to less starting and stopping. Great skills to focus on in the early stages are agility so you can take all the shortcuts on offer, fishing is great so you can stock up on great food items like sharks. Plus, slayer level boosting is a must if you want to make money from drops and fight progressively stronger beasts.
Then once you have built your character to a suitable standard where a lot of skills are in the range of at least 40-50, you should begin questing. Chances are that you will have completed a few but you should aim to complete the main quests. These offer great rewards, grant the player special skills and will also give players access to new exotic areas. We would start with the quest ‘Plague City’. Then we would follow that with Enlightened Journey, Fairy tales part one and two, Tree Gnome Village and then The Grand Tree.
How to Delete a RuneScape Account?
If you happen to be a player from back in the day who still has an active account or perhaps you have started an account and want to backtrack. Well, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that Runescape accounts can be deleted. The bad news is that it isn’t as simple as the press of a button. To delete an account you will have to contact Jagex Support directly via email along with your account details and ask them to terminate your account. This means that your character builds, all the items and the gold associated with the character will all be lost in the process.
It’s also worth noting that this will not be an immediate process. The Jagex team will usually take a few days to process this request. So if your account remains up and running after your email, be patient.
What Games Are Most Like RuneScape?
If you are already a fan of RuneScape as a franchise and you have absorbed all the fantastic content that RS has to offer. You may be on the hunt for a gaming experience which will fill the void. Well, e hope that we can bridge the gap and offer you some alternatives. Here is a list of some MMORPG titles with can act as a suitable substitute for RuneScape.
World of Warcraft
It’s hard to argue against WoW being crowned the mac-daddy of all MMORPG titles. It’s been running for about as long as RuneScape. However, in terms of success, WoW is unrivalled within the genre and continues to pump out content, updates, raids and full blown expansions, with the most recent expansion Shadowlands impressing quite a lot. If you want a direct sub for RS, World of Warcraft is our pick of the bunch.
Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls has always been a franchise that has invited players to explore the vast world of Cyrodyill. However, no title in the series matches Elder Scrolls Online in terms of scale, role playing capacity and multiplayer fun. The game got off to a shaky start but has soon became one of the best modern MMO’s around. So this is certainly worth a go.
New World
New World is a very recent release developed by none other than Amazon of all companies. You would think this would be a vanity project but in truth, New World is an exciting and nuanced gaming experience. The world is packed with rich lore, the gameplay is fun, the quests are gripping and the player base is growing every day. So there is no better time than the present to jump into this one.
WoW Classic
Then lastly, if you are a huge OSRS fan specifically and you want something that has that some nostalgic feel, WoW Classic is a great option. This is a recreation of the first ever release in the WoW franchise. Offering players a chance to enjoy the iconic quests, raids, battles and locations with added quality of life improvements to make the experience better than ever before while remaining authentic and true to the original. Plus, The Burning Crusade is soon to arrive, continuing the classic regression session. So this is a great blast from the past.
Is RuneScape a Dead Game?
We suppose it really depends who you ask. In terms of the current state of the game, it is very strong. The player base is strong with 280 million active accounts and a concurrent player base of 125,000 players. However, it is worth noting that the vast majority of these players play OSRS. This is an issue that Jagex has been trying to remedy by constantly updating the RS3 experience and also offering players the chance to play on mobile. This has been a move that has been a success in a lot of ways and this is best showcased through the 5 million-plus downloads for this mobile port.
However, the fact of the matter is that RuneScape is dying, just very slowly. The players that play at the moment are largely what you call legacy players, those that have returned after years away or been around since the very beginning. The good news for Jagex is that these players are extremely dedicated and will likely play for many more years to come. The bad news is that it will take a massive overhaul in current operations, this will eventually fade. That being said, the bottom line is that at the time of writing, RuneScape is alive and well.
So that is our article giving you all the info that you could ever need about RuneScape. What did you make of this article? Are you a current RuneScape player? Has this article enticed you to play? What other MMORPG titles do you enjoy? Let us know in the comments section below and as always, thank you for reading.
FAQ
What is RuneScape?
RuneScape is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Jagex.
Is RuneScape free to play?
Yes, RuneScape has a free-to-play version, but there is also a members-only version that requires a monthly subscription.
What are the gameplay features of RuneScape?
RuneScape has various gameplay features, including combat, quests, skills, and player versus player combat.
How many people play RuneScape?
RuneScape has over 200 million accounts created and an average of 1 million active users per month.
Can I play RuneScape on my phone?
Yes, there is a mobile version of RuneScape that is available for both iOS and Android devices.
What is the goal of RuneScape?
The goal of RuneScape is to explore the world, complete quests, and develop your character’s skills to become more powerful.
Is there a storyline in RuneScape?
Yes, RuneScape has a rich storyline with various quests that allow players to uncover the history and lore of the game’s world.
Can I trade items with other players in RuneScape?
Yes, players can trade items with each other, either through in-game trading or the Grand Exchange, which is RuneScape’s centralized trading platform.
What is the minimum age requirement to play RuneScape?
The minimum age requirement to play RuneScape is 13 years old.
