I agree with you, Dutch, on many points. F2P Magic is terrible, you can only hit up to slow 19s while rangers can destroy you with rapid hits that have no such limit on them. Certainly P2P Magic is quite overpowered (I have friends who Ice Barrage people, it looks insane), especially the aforementioned Ancients, but Jagex apparently decided to hand us the short end of the stick when it comes to Magic, as they get the most bonuses in P2P, but are incredibly nooby in F2P. I agree that it sucks and I also took one key point from your post: that it feels like you are almost forced to play the game as a member. I agree with that as well, but if you are financially stable you should feel comfortable buying a membership. I cannot make that decision for you, however.