Runescape's Strengths

[Giordano]

I'll like to add, that comparing quests in RuneScape and WoW is like comparing apples to construction cranes. Nothing in common.

 

 

 

The quests in WoW are short and simple, more like tasks. In RuneScape, they're long stories. WoW has a million quests, and RuneScape has ~150. Why? Due to RuneScape having longer quests. In a RS quest, you start out someplace, you go someplace, you get something, you do something, you kill something, you return to the guy, he gives you something, you do something else, and you do a last thing before finishing the quest. In WoW quests, they're structured to be one indivudual quest per comma of the things I wrote. You start out someplace and go someplace. Quest. You get something. Quest. See? They're shorter but can be united. Problem is, they're aren't a lot of WoW chain quest storylines.

 

 

 

Oh, and a last point. Quests in WoW are how you level. In RuneScape you have to grind. In WoW, you complete Slayer tasks. View it like that.

[Nadril]

The fact that you compare runescape to pre-tramel Ultima Online or many other good MMORPGs is pretty surprising. I wouldn't call runescape a sandbox.

 

 

 

Does it have simularities to a sandbox? Sure, it does. It has various skills you can level up. It allows you to, more or less, level up as you please. The problem I have is that runescape is too basic of a "sandbox". The only real goal to obtain and the only real goal people seems to care about are stats. Yes, these runescape players are just exactly the statistic hungry, level grinding children you all love to reference so much in so many other mainstream MMORPGs. I don't need any proof because all you need to turn to is places such as Rate This, where you get child after child bragging about their ability to grind.

 

 

 

It's not so much I'm against the grind. However I am against grind that has no real purpose other than to simply grind stats. Going back to what I was saying earlier in Ultima Online there was so much more when it came to guild versus guild relationships and true free for all loot. The thing we also need to keep in mind is that UO is an old game. While it certainly was not the first MMORPG (that honor goes to Neverwinter Nights as the first graphical MUD) it was the first to gain any sort of reputation and was one of the first to start laying out the rules for a sandbox. However Ultima Online still had more to do, had more purpose in the game world and was simply better than runescape. The comparison is pretty null.

 

 

 

 

 

If you compare Runescape to what many would like to call a sandbox today I think you will see it getting further and further away from just that. EVE Online is one of the true, and actual good, sandbox MMORPGs out on the market. Mortal Online, Earthrise and even to an extent Jumpgate Evolution are all games that have heavy sandbox elements coming out soon that seem to be pushing the genre forward. The key to a sandbox is to allow you to make your own purpose in the world. You can be a trader, you can hunt rare monsters, you can take place in guild or clan politics. Essentially the goal is to provide a strong base for players to play in, a world. However you can't simply populate that world with a random assortment of monsters and enemy AI, or random quests with no real relevance to the games world. In EVE Online everything is based around real PvP conflict. They laid out a base strong enough that these kind of things can go on. In the future games such as Earthrise have resources that guilds can fight over for control, giving a goal -- a meaning to what they do.

 

 

 

 

 

What I'm trying to get at this is runescape is a sandbox game without the meat. It may have enough of an assortment of various skills for a player to level (Even if they all pretty much are the same actions with minor differences) but it doesn't have any purpose. Even games such as Ultima Online had a purpose (kill or be killed, it was a very real world).

 

 

 

 

 

And really I personally have a problem with the definition of a sandbox game. WoW has trainable skills to level, you can very well choose your own path be it conquering large bosses or participating in world PvP or the arena tournament. WoW technically has everything needed to consider it as a sandbox and, really, MMORPGs define themselves as sandboxes in some form.

 

 

 

 

 

The way I see it runescape has no real strengths. I still consider it on par with any other java based game and I have a hard time placing it among the "real" MMORPGs. That being said I may just be a jaded gamer. I started with Ultima Online and I have played nearly every MMORPG since then (and currently play WoW). I realize I haven't really been defending WoW here or even really slamming runescape, make no mistake I do very much dislike runescape and, while I don't consider WoW the best MMORPG of all time by all means, I do think WoW is a very strong MMO and can't even be considered in the same sort of league as runescape. If anything compare Runescape to all the other "freemium" MMORPGs.

[scootlaboot]

Runescape was a good game. Once jagex killed the free market, to stop real world trading, they basically put it into a vegetative state.

[Jaziek]

circle jerk - When a bunch of blowhards - usually politicians - get together for a debate but usually end up agreeing with each other's viewpoints to the point of redundancy, stroking each other's egos as if they were extensions of their genitals (ergo, the mastubatory insinuation). Basically, it's what happens when the choir preaches to itself.

 

 

 

Jesus christ guys.

[Usami]

I quit rs for wow. I played rs for about 2 and a half years and got my total skill lvl to 2k+ before summoning. I could maybe be maxed by now if i had kept playing. Yet one day i gave wow a shot.

 

 

 

Most of you that have tried wow say its boring. Yes grinding your first chars 30 first lvls are boring. It took me a long time, i tried different classes and so on. But when you hit 70/80 the gamereally starts. It brings you ton of stuff to do and there is something you can always do to improve.

 

 

 

The thing that i like about wow more is the challenge. One of rs weaknesses is that it has no challenge in it. Its the same repetative stuff over and over again. The god wars saradomin boss is not that hard to be honest, it doesnt involve any strategies and you dont need to communicate at all. The only fun thing i found was the last boss of the lava cape fight thingy (lol). He was a challenge and there was some skill needed actually. Now wow actually brings some challenge. If you want to do the hardest bosses you need to have 25 people on ventrilo/teamspeak playing their best, moving out of the fires and so on. It might take a week of tries to down a boss.

 

 

 

Runescape has alot of skill variety no doubt about it. I liked slayer the most, you had different tasks and so on. I hated mining since it was mine a few nodes, drop and repeat.

 

 

 

I've looked at the runescape updates and seen that the game has definately improved. Their trying to improve the customer support and getting closer to the players. I think runescape might evolve to something even better in the near future.

 

 

 

Quests were also brought up. I admit the wow quests arent that intresting and usually evolves something that the poster said. Its only the leveling part though so it isnt that big of a part. Rs quests werent that different though, sure they had some puzzels but honestly, their no brainers.

 

 

 

Rs has definately some strenghts but it has too many flaws to make it better the some other games

[zlcoolboy]

I played the trial of wow, and i have found that the servers aren't up 99% of the time, more like 70% of the time which is a bad idea when you want me to like your game. I want to play when i want and where i want which comes to the accessibility of rs, you can play it almost anywhere with a computer. I've also played everquest, eve online, flyff and many other mmorpgs and i've always gone back to runescape, Its like the earth(other mmorpg) trying to pull the sun(runescape) in its impossible.

[jadiswhite]

This article made me make a tip.it account.

 

I agree with you about all of runescape's strengths, however i do not see runescape's combat system as a weakness. Sure it can be tweaked a little bit to perfection, but as it is a good percentage of the people that play runescape thoroughly enjoy the combat system and pvp. I never pked until around 2 years ago, and now all i think about doing in runescape is pvp. Without getting into a discussion about whether old pking is better than bh and pvp or not i would like to say how much i along with many of my friends enjoy the combat system in runescape.

 

 

 

Sadly for high level pkers (115 combat plus) , 1 v 1 pking comes down to the use of either whip, godsword or dharoks (and d claws.) This does get very boring after awhile, but i think it could be improved by jagex adding newer items that arent better than gs or whip but are comparable to them. This would include some range weapons that are actually useful against someone with 300 plus range def and 99 defence.

 

 

 

Even at high levels though there is plenty of excitement in mage hybriding with a clan or just one other friend in multi and places that are a little further than 10 steps away from ge. (look at Bwuk im pb pvp vids.)

 

Pures can use nearly any weapon in the game and are extremely fun they take skill to use (as 1 def causes you to get hit alot) and are enjoyable to play because there is no standard gear that a pure has to use, like high levels pkers.

 

 

 

Although pvp itself could be fixed, i think the combat system that runescape does has is what makes millions of people continue to come back to the game. The best part of runescape's combat system is that it IS beyond easy to learn, but it is very difficult to truly master. No one person has NEVER died in pvp idc what they say...eveyone dies and thats what brings them back the need to be the best and because of that it never gets boring.

[biox]

I began playing RS in 2002, back when there was only a handful of servers, and we all looked like Legoland men. It was really the first MMO I had ever played, before that my favourite types of games were Platformers and Driving games.

 

 

 

What I was initially attracted to was the social element of the type of game.. How you could log in another day and hang out with the same guy you had quested with a few days earlier. I was then and am still now an IRC chatter, and it hooked me in that respect.

 

 

 

In 2006, after spending long hours grinding my character up to level 124, playing all facets of the game from player-vs-player to trade-skills, spending a decent amount of time helping run one of the oldest and most known clans of the entire game, and making lots of true friends of whom I still hold to this day, I decided it was time to migrate.

 

 

 

I knew lots of people who played WoW, and I always said I wouldn't try it; I was not keen to start a new MMO. One day, on a whim, I bought the game and installed it.

 

 

 

I haven't looked back since.

 

 

 

World of Warcraft might not be the ultimate game of its genre. What it can claim is the most active player-base of its genre, and thankfully the company who run the game and its servers are, in my opinion, of an excellent quality. They do react to popular opinion, so much so that they took the hardest ever dungeon out of the original game and put it into the 2008 expansion pack as the easiest - people never got to see it, so they made it accessible to anyone.

 

 

 

The combat system in WoW, while is nowhere near perfect, is still in my opinion a very good model. It might not be revolutionary, or completely different from other games of its type, but it does require some skill and at most timing for it to be effective. RuneScape, a game I will defend until it's end, doesn't have this type of system, which is a shame.

 

 

 

WoW does not have the same level of inside-content (to coin a phrase) as RS does, like the vast mini-game system. But, I feel that it makes up for it with its excellent Battleground and Arena system (although I think Nadril may disagree with me here haha). As well as the PvP, WoW has detailed events and achievements, which have been covered well by my fellow Warcrafters. I don't feel WoW lacks alot in this department, compared to RS.

 

 

 

I also don't agree with the linear/sandbox comments either. WoW may not be a perfect sandbox, but it's not any worse than RS. In fact, unless something has changed, in RS its actually more beneficial to grind on lower-level monsters/etc than it is to kill the higher-level enemies due to the speed you can kill them - something that definitely doesn't occur in WoW. In WoW, if you don't like the area you are questing/grinding in, you find another one of a similar level and find your way around. It's not like you progress a level and then are stuck in a particular zone, not at all.

 

 

 

I make these comments as a person who looks fondly of his time playing RuneScape, but is not about to come back to it. Right now, I'm enjoying World of Warcraft, thanks to the excellent community (which I will admit, isn't always so good, but you tend to find your groove and stay in it) and the challenging and fun content the development team are coming up with on a fairly regular basis.

[Returned3]

I seriously wish that there were more of such people like this in my life.

 

 

 

There are countless numbers of idiots that constantly tell me that Runescape sucks because of it's graphics and combat and they will basically just forcefully shove that fact down my throat. The common thing also is that they will always proclaim that DOTA (Defense of the Ancients) is the most popular game in the world simply because many people they know play it. For goodness sake, only teenagers of Singapore play that game and Runescape is way more global than that.

 

 

 

I wish there was a way to tell these fools off.

[Huigkt]

I also play this game called oblivion xbox360 the combat system is great and the graphics and the main storyline but it cant compare to runescape you can hang out with your friends, you get updates, cool minigames, alot more stuff to do but if they made rs3 they should have horseback riding and a controlled combat system.

[Nadril]

I played the trial of wow, and i have found that the servers aren't up 99% of the time, more like 70% of the time which is a bad idea when you want me to like your game. I want to play when i want and where i want which comes to the accessibility of rs, you can play it almost anywhere with a computer. I've also played everquest, eve online, flyff and many other mmorpgs and i've always gone back to runescape, Its like the earth(other mmorpg) trying to pull the sun(runescape) in its impossible.

 

 

 

70% of the time, really? Stop making stuff up. Either you play at extremely odd times (when servers may be down for 15 minutes for rolling restarts) or you played on a patch day.

 

 

 

The best part of runescape's combat system is that it IS beyond easy to learn, but it is very difficult to truly master.

 

 

 

There is nothing to master about the games combat. It's all auto attacking and maybe throwing in a special weapon move now and then. That's it. The only people who think there is something to "master" have not played other MMOs, or other good MMOs. I really don't want to reference WoW but, really, it is a good example of a great combat system. While in PvE it generally comes down to remembering a good DPS rotation for maximum DPS in PvP it all comes down to knowing when, how and where to use certain abilities. Anyone who thinks PvP doesn't take any sort of skill is very wrong in that regard, due to even the reaction speed players need to be at the top of their game. You should watch some PvP videos from WoW now and then, watching the skill in some of them is incredible.

[Kodia]

Very true about RS's combat. It is very simple compared to basicly and other MMO out there. I also agree that WoW's PvP takes real physical skill. There are cooldowns, skill interupts, silences ect ect ect to use where in runescape you really only have eating, potion drinking, and specials attacks. There is an ammount of skill needed but not as much as many competitors.

 

 

 

My whole point is you will never have everyone agree. I played WoW to lvl 65 for my highest char during the burning crusade. I got tired of running even the simple outland dungeons. Playing with people I don't know gets frustrating when they don't try to get better. Trying to raid would only make me pull my hair out personally. Here again some people love it, and that is why we have so many different MMO's to suit the needs of whatever you enjoy more. I like RS's focus on smaller teams and or solo content. WoW is more focused on group content which is good if you like groups.

 

 

 

Another point is ALL MMO's have grinding. In RS is mostly just about skill leveling and a little about gear. In WoW it is about getting to the highest level and then spending the rest of your time getting better and better gear. I don't care too much about super awesome gears as I do about getting levels in skills. That is another reason I enjoy RS more. Working for that extra peice of gear just doesn't cut it for me. Here again some people love that, if you liked Diablo II's system you probably will love WoW's item system.

[Nadril]

I both raid and PvP in WoW but the games PvP is very focused on small skirmishes. I wouldn't consider the games raids to be a grind although you could consider that once you have a place on farm (aka know the fights).

 

 

 

However the games PvP is anything but a grind in the arena. It's all about getting better.

[RichieMcD]

End of the day, it's stroke for folks, horses for courses, how ever you want to put it, all boils down to personal preference.

 

 

 

WoW, I much prefer it, I prefer the combat, I prefer the fact that I'm not essentially reaching level 70-75 in Attack and Def, and then having the choice of basically Veracs, Guthans or Bandos for my average melee stuff. I prefer how in WoW, there's healers, there's tanks, there's DPS (the people who do the damage) meaning everyone has a role, everyone has a specific responsibility and a specific role, not 1 taking the damage and everyone else Nuking Graa'dor style play.

 

 

 

RS, yes it is much cheaper, yes it is much more of a personal game, I.e it's played how you want to without focusing on question and combat or PvP, but frankly, the gameplay is [cabbage]e and so is the graphics. I just can't stand games, where you click and wait for the avatar to complete the command, I find it extremely boring.

 

 

 

It's all down to personal preference, having played both for approximately 2 years each, I'd choose WoW over RS any day, but that's my preference. If you don't want to pay for Wow, that's fine. But making assumptions on what WoW is without playing it is extremely stupid, and no, like the vast majority of end-game players will say, the trial isn't sufficient to count as "playing it", as it doesn't even compare to end-game content or higher levels where much more content exists.

[Kodia]

Very true. One thing I do want to point out is that IN NO WAY am I saying that Runescape is just plain superior to any competitor out there. I like Runescape more for certain reasons just like anyone who likes a competitor likes their game/company. There really is no right or wrong choice as long as you enjoy what you play.

 

 

 

I also get annoyed when people make judgements without some knowledge. I have friends that played the tutorial island for RS and just call the game bad. 90% of the complaint is the combat and graphics. To me personally graphics shouldn't affect your enjoyment too bad but if it does for you than that is fine. I don't agree but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

 

 

While I have not personally raided, from all the things I have read, heard, and seem from personal experience watching friends raid, it isn't for me. Spending 6+ hours wiping in a raid just to spend 30 minutes re setting up is not fun. Again I DO NOT THINK ALL RAIDS ARE LIKE THAT, but it is what I have seen.

 

 

 

On pvp I agree that it isn't even close to what PvE is like. I don't enjoy pvp myself and thus have little experience. From what I have seen in WoW it is a really deep system and definately doesn't have the same grinding element that the PvE side does. And for the record I enjoyed doing dungeons for the first few runs. After farming them multiple tiems it gets boring coupled with PuG's having really bad players which I started to dislike a lot.

 

 

 

This is a very interesting discussion btw :thumbsup: Always nice to hear what others think that don't enjoy RS as much. I am not such a fanboy that I refuse to accept RS's problems. I don't mind them that much, but I realize they exist. RS isn't for everybody

 

 

 

--- edit --- Also I realize that if you have many friends that play that dungeons are a blast. I have had many great experiences doing them with friends, my problem is that most of my friends play on PvP servers and I obviously am anti PvP. This makes it hard to do dungeons without Pick up Groups(PuG). You could mention guildmates but my experiences have never gotten me into a great guild with high leveled people. Again it is just my experience, I realize it isn't how it always works.

[barnabis]

Player Mods (Game Masters) in RS compared to other games.

 

 

 

T4C - Game mods were expected to be ingame support. Able to understand a little how a computer ran, two times a week 2hr long raids (summoned tons of monsters, game didn't have mini-games), and knew a great deal about the quests. But T4C had about 30 quests that were close to what RS has for f2p quests.

 

 

 

The rest - Basically had the ability to be like Jagex employees to be maxed out with best gear. They also spammed "buy this from online shop, but that from online shop". And were all of them were basically jerks and you never seen them around. They'd hang out with each other and "shout" spam into chat box that everyone on server read. The one game my player became bugged as in I couldn't move it around, but it wasn't stuck in a cliff or anything, and they didn't even respond to me asking for help, just kept spamming online shop items for $10 at 50% off.

 

 

 

I know not all RS mods are good, I remember cabbage day, but the majority I've met were intelligent and were there to help if you asked them for suggestions on how to do something. With the exception of T4C (which was uber strict and they walked a fine line) basically player mods are pretty cool in RS.

 

 

 

NOTE: I've never tried WoW, would like to but don't want to shell out that much cash for an online game. I'd feel like I'm wasting too much money if I skip an evening of gameplay.

[strilmus]

Well, player mods (and hired mods) are a mixed bag. On the one hand, a lot of it is reliant on how they conduct themselves, and on the other hand it is up to the management to figure out which players are actually helpful and not just pick the most popular players out of convenience. They also have to figure out how many people they need and make sure that in case of quitting or absences (common in this line of work seeing as many people go mad within days or are already crazy before they start since some HR folk see endurance of insanity as a plus), there are more candidates almost immediately available to throw out into the writhing player masses. Plus, they also set the guidelines on how mods are supposed to operate. I'll bet anything the mods you saw spamming the cash store items in that other game were either forced to do it, or they have automatic announcements that spam advertisements without any input on the behalf of the mods, and therefore can't really stop it.

[Drakolord7]

RS and WoW are too different to be compared IMO.

 

 

 

One of my favorite things about RuneScape in comparison to other MMOs out there is that there is no Class system. I don't like having classes.

 

 

 

That said, I did play WoW until recently, albeit horribly. I quit last month and the character I had been playing on for that time was only level 39.

 

 

 

Anyways, since I am a big fan of story, I prefer RS over WoW. If you want to ruin lore, making the thing into an MMO is the surefire way to. But RS was never anything but an MMO, and a very different MMO at that.

[cretureisland]

Well. I think you hit the nail on the head and pounded it through the wall on that one. The regular updates are another thing a lot of them don't have besides just adding another monster here or an event

[Huta]

Jeez, here comes the [cabbage]storm.

 

 

 

People are accusing me of starting a circle-jerk, being biased, ignorant; the ironic thing? I haven't actively played this game in over a year. The last time I had an active membership was last fall, and that was only for a month to help out a friend of mine who was playing this game. During this past year or two, I've played World of Warcraft, Darkfall, Shadowbane, Lord of the Rings Online, a bunch of free mmos like Last Chaos and Shaiya and Runes of Magic. In the past I've played Ultima Online, Everquest, I was in the Age of Conan beta...the list goes on.

 

 

 

I'm not playing this game now. After a very disappointing experience in Darkfail with combat that's only marginally better than Runescape's, I felt like pointing out the few RS systems that I haven't been able to find a comparisons to, despite all the MMO's I've played.

 

 

 

That's questing, varied minigames, and a large assortment of very different skills. Can you really name a game that has the questing of RuneScape? The sheer variety in minigames? That many different skills? No, you can't, and that's all I said. So with all due respect, take your flames and your circle jerks and your accusations of bias and stuff them up your [bleep]ing [wagon].

 

 

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

Personally, the only thing this game has over me is a sense of nostalgia, the time I spent on here with my friends pking, taking over Castle Wars, and believe it or not, grinding slayer or getting my first cape. After playing combat and pvp masterpieces like Shadowbane and lore wonders like LotRO, besides the few reasons I posted the actual technical details of RS have really, really lost their appeal to me. I still log in occasionally to do the holiday events and to talk to my friends, but my grinding days are over, and while I may someday end up renewing membership for a couple months to fool around at some pvp minigame or finish getting my last melee cape (just so it's finished) my RuneScape days are done.

[sirlonewolf]

Here is some of Runeacape's strenghts:

 

 

 

1: Quest 153 + 14 mini quest and many more to come at least one a month.

 

 

 

2: Mini games 39.

 

 

 

3: Skills 21 and more to come + the new free to play skill thy are working on.

 

 

 

4: Achievement diaries 6 + more to come.

 

 

 

5: And then there is still treasure trails (Clue Scrolls) and monster hunting ( Chaos Elemental, Corporeal Beast, Dagannoth Kings, Giant Mole, King Black Dragon, and the God Wars Dungeon)

 

 

 

And i would like to see eny other mmo beat that.

[Nadril]

Jeez, here comes the [cabbage].

 

 

 

People are accusing me of starting a circle-jerk, being biased, ignorant; the ironic thing? I haven't actively played this game in over a year. The last time I had an active membership was last fall, and that was only for a month to help out a friend of mine who was playing this game. During this past year or two, I've played World of Warcraft, Darkfall, Shadowbane, Lord of the Rings Online, a bunch of free mmos like Last Chaos and Shaiya and Runes of Magic. In the past I've played Ultima Online, Everquest, I was in the Age of Conan beta...the list goes on.

 

 

 

I'm not playing this game now. After a very disappointing experience in Darkfail with combat that's only marginally better than Runescape's, I felt like pointing out the few RS systems that I haven't been able to find a comparisons to, despite all the MMO's I've played.

 

 

 

That's questing, varied minigames, and a large assortment of very different skills. Can you really name a game that has the questing of RuneScape? The sheer variety in minigames? That many different skills? No, you can't, and that's all I said. So with all due respect, take your flames and your circle jerks and your accusations of bias and stuff them up your [bleep] [wagon].

 

 

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

Personally, the only thing this game has over me is a sense of nostalgia, the time I spent on here with my friends pking, taking over Castle Wars, and believe it or not, grinding slayer or getting my first cape. After playing combat and pvp masterpieces like Shadowbane and lore wonders like LotRO, besides the few reasons I posted the actual technical details of RS have really, really lost their appeal to me. I still log in occasionally to do the holiday events and to talk to my friends, but my grinding days are over, and while I may someday end up renewing membership for a couple months to fool around at some pvp minigame or finish getting my last melee cape (just so it's finished) my RuneScape days are done.

 

 

 

Darkfall may be the only game actually worse than runescape, go figure. However Age of Conan wasn't much better, big pile of [cabbage] is what that was.

 

 

 

Can you really name a game that has the questing of RuneScape?

 

 

 

Everquest II had some very epic quests from what I remember (only got to 50 in that game though and quit due to the [cabbage]ty PvP). World of Warcraft even has quests that one could consider "epic", and I'm sure it has enough of these amazing quests to match what runescape can throw out. Granted some of them are older, things such as old Onyxia attunement or even Karazahn attunement, but there are still a lot of quests out there which are interesting. And, really, I must have been the only person who found runescapes quests to be the most boring things ever. Either the goal was so far out that you simply had to look it up or the quest was just so long and pointless that I didn't even see a reason to continue. Having to travel around half way across the goddamn map to find pie ingredients does not make an "epic" quest in my book.

 

 

 

The sheer variety in minigames

 

 

 

I guess it depends on your concept of a minigame really. I'm not entirely sure if I see the point of some of them, things such as the game house in runescape can easily be done through mods in WoW if that really is your "thing". But then again if you play an MMO just to do minigames then be my guest.

 

 

 

That many different skills?

 

 

 

Yeah because skills are so exciting and dynamic in runescape.

 

 

 

Mining: ok, so I get a pickaxe. I then find a rock. I swing at the rock (click it) and get ore. Repeat the process, win.

 

Woodcutting: ok, so I get an axe. I then find a tree. I swing at the tree (click it) and get wood. Repeat the process, win.

 

Melee: ok, so I find a weapon. I then find a monster. I swing at the monster (click it) and get loots. Repeat the process, win. (oh and if you get close to dying teleport!)

 

Ranged: ok, so I find a bow. I then find a monster (or even a monster behind a cage!). I shoot at the monster (click it) and get loots (or don't because its behind a cage, exciting and dynamic!). Repeat the process, win.

 

Casting: ok, so I find some runes. I then find a monster (or even a monster behind a cage!). I click a spell at the monster and get loots (or don't because it's behind a cage). repeat the process, win.

 

 

 

I'll go on but I'd rather not repeat myself too many times, it gets tiring. All of these mighty "skills" players always tout about are the same god damn things. Really, they are. There is nothing new or different, nothing exciting. The best crafting game in my opinion would have to be Everquest II, now that is a game where it had real varried "skills" and for good reason too. Even World of Warcraft's non-combat skills are better than the selection from runescape though.

 

 

 

No, you can't, and that's all I said. So with all due respect, take your flames and your circle jerks and your accusations of bias and stuff them up your [bleep] [wagon].

 

 

 

I'm just arguing because I still don't find what makes runescape so enjoyable. I mean, the only thing I ever saw people doing was training some skill (who cares what, but something) and then having firefox or their web browser of choice open up in another window browsing the internet. It didn't matter that they wern't paying any attention to the game, it didn't matter if the only skill that came into play was how long they could stay on. The game is literally just a grindfest in the idea that that is all you do. Yes, you can do crappy quests if you want and a lot of times that seems to be all players play for.

 

 

 

I haven't played the game in 3 years. I know people who have played it in that time (my younger brother) and it still looks the same. It still functions the same and, in fact, they decided to make it worse by taking away the only interesting aspects of the game.

 

 

 

It doesn't matter either that it is populated with the worst MMORPG and gaming community I have ever witnessed, and no doubt it has gotten worse since I left. Screechy xbox live kids, guild wars players, just nothing can compare to runescape. The majority of the community only plays it because thats all they know. They can't "install" games on their mommies computer, they can't pay to play a real MMO with daddies credit card. So instead they end up in the hands of an unprofessional java gaming company. And within due time they grow accustomed to their "first" and proclaim it to being the best.

 

 

 

 

 

Huta, I am honestly interested in why you choose this mmo over any other in the market so far. I will agree that the "sandbox" market is thin right now. However have you tried EVE Online yet? In all honesty it has everything you want (well I'm not sure about the quests page) and is a much, much better game and sandbox. I just can't really see how someone would choose this game after playing classics such as Shadowbane, Ultima Online and others. Honestly I'm still far under the impression that runescape is only here as a childs MMO, a beginners thing.

 

 

 

I'm probably posting too much.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is some of Runeacape's strenghts:

 

 

 

1: Quest 153 + 14 mini quest and many more to come at least one a month.

 

 

 

2: Mini games 39.

 

 

 

3: Skills 21 and more to come + the new free to play skill thy are working on.

 

 

 

4: Achievement diaries 6 + more to come.

 

 

 

5: And then there is still treasure trails (Clue Scrolls) and monster hunting ( Chaos Elemental, Corporeal Beast, Dagannoth Kings, Giant Mole, King Black Dragon, and the God Wars Dungeon)

 

 

 

And i would like to see eny other mmo beat that.

 

 

 

I'm guessing you've never played any other MMO that wasn't some free to play thing, have you?

[Zierro]

I agree with Nadril about a lot of things except the skills. Once you reach about 80 in your skills then it sucks because it takes forever to level and most skills stop at this point anyways, but while you are a lower level the idea of unlocking so many new abilities and features was an awesome one. I remember having fun just browsing through the skill guides and finding out about all the things I'd be able to unlock.

 

 

 

As for RS being all you know, that's definitely true in my case. The only other MMORPG I've played was WoW and I didn't like it because it's too much walking. Other than that I haven't played anything else.

[sirlonewolf]

 

 

 

Here is some of Runeacape's strenghts:

 

 

 

1: Quest 153 + 14 mini quest and many more to come at least one a month.

 

 

 

2: Mini games 39.

 

 

 

3: Skills 21 and more to come + the new free to play skill thy are working on.

 

 

 

4: Achievement diaries 6 + more to come.

 

 

 

5: And then there is still treasure trails (Clue Scrolls) and monster hunting ( Chaos Elemental, Corporeal Beast, Dagannoth Kings, Giant Mole, King Black Dragon, and the God Wars Dungeon)

 

 

 

And i would like to see eny other mmo beat that.

 

 

 

I'm guessing you've never played any other MMO that wasn't some free to play thing, have you?

 

 

 

For your Information i have played, Eve online, Wow, Dungeons & dragons online, Tibia, Eternal Lands, AdventureQuest, Eudemons Online, Guild Wars, Last Chaos, MapleStory and Ultima Online

 

 

 

So don't go around and think every one that plays Runescape only played Runescape ever most of the online games i have played was before i new there was a runescape, so in my option Runescape my not be the best game out there but its the one i alway will come back to play.

 

 

 

Ps: i still play Eternal Lands from time to time and Tibia Micro Edition on my mobile.

[Huta]

Huta, I am honestly interested in why you choose this mmo over any other in the market so far. I will agree that the "sandbox" market is thin right now. However have you tried EVE Online yet? In all honesty it has everything you want (well I'm not sure about the quests page) and is a much, much better game and sandbox. I just can't really see how someone would choose this game after playing classics such as Shadowbane, Ultima Online and others. Honestly I'm still far under the impression that runescape is only here as a childs MMO, a beginners thing.

 

 

 

 

Well, Shadowbane basically died a couple days ago, even though they gave it an extended 2 months they're just prolonging its death spasms with literally 30 people online on Thurin. That's the best game I've payed in the past 5 years hands down, sad to see it go out with a whisper like this. UO is past its prime, a good game for its era, but it's time to move past that one.

 

 

 

I don't play RS actively. The main reasons I like this game are like I said earlier, nostalgia, and my friends. It's not enough to keep me active, and I don't level any more, but I do log in once every couple months to check in on the game.

 

 

 

Yes, RS's skills are repetitive and bland, I addressed that in my OP. So is mining Vespar in EVE or harvesting basically anything else in other MMOs. The difference is RS allows you to be repetitive in 21 different ways. Flaky? Maybe, but it apparently works, leveling is the biggest draw that keeps players in this game. The only game with a truly interesting harvesting and crafting system was Vanguard, and people hated how "hard" it was.

 

 

 

Same goes for quests. It's ironic that you mention the one RS quest with the dwarf redberry pie, and on the other hand mention the few decent quests in WoW. The vast majority of Runescape quests are not the rinse/repeat "bring xxxx item to xxxx dude at xxxx location and get your xp" or "kill xx amount of xxxx monsters", which is more than the average MMO can say.

 

 

 

MMO quests have caught a LOT of flak lately, and developers have been trying to improve them, but RuneScape still beats the vast majority of them in that area.

 

 

 

And the minigames? Not talking about the games room, I'm talking about the newer stuff, Stealing Creation, Trouble Brewing,; they're surprisingly imaginative. Other games have sidequests and minigames, but for the most part they're too busy expanding up with new raids and new ridiculously hard to earn sets of the new latest "super epic elite" set of your class's armor, which is one of the biggest oversights and flaws of Warcraft and its countless clones. Just look at the Burning Crusade/WotLK expansions for WoW; yeah, you get death knights and blood elves and goat space people. But you know what changed the game most? Raising the level cap to 70 with BC and 80 with WotLK, and the new raids and armor sets that come alone with that.

 

 

 

Maybe I'm just disillusioned with Warcraft and it's clones and I'm overestimating RuneScape's benefits, but I prefer to go my own way when I play, instead of being forced into the linear grind up and countless raids. Despite everything in RS being based on a grind, it did a better job on that than most, and the few MMOs that offer open gameplay are either fundamentally flawed (darkfail) or just don't catch my interest (EVE, not individualist enough).