Monday 13 August 2012

Review - Runescape - MMORPG - Free To Play


Source: http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/central/images/1/15/Runescape-Logo.jpg

"RuneScape is one of the largest, most expansive online fantasy games on the web today. It has over 175 million registered accounts and a loyal following that continues to make incredible use of its bravery, intuition, cunning and wit to explore the game world, discovering adventure, battling rival clans and conquering a massive online world."


Runescape is a MMORPG which is both Pay to play & Free to play. This is managed by items, weapons, armours and skills that have caps on being a free to play user. However Pay to play users unlock full benefits to the game including more worlds to choose from. The "choose world" option plays a big role in Runescape as some worlds hold better ping than other and are specifically made for a country, an event in Runescape and even a certain ammount of total level. Runescape also holds more content than history itself. You get thrown into the game as you start, you are faced by a number of "trolls" and told you slay the "troll daddy". After you have lashed out on this monster you are then set off on "task's" which show you the basics of the game and such. However you also have the option to skip this and explore the world for yourself. 

The game becomes a fantasy adventure from the point on form where you teleport away from "Burthorpe". You can explore the desert in search of quests and monsters to slay, or you can rummage through the swamps of "canafis" in search of lizards & forgotten vampires that haunt the woods. Or you could simply visit the main cities & towns in Runescape where you can trade valuable items for gold and acquire new friends to accompany your adventures throughout "Gielenor".

Or you could choose the violent and brutal life of combat and slayer. You can visit slayer masters who will give you a certain amount of monsters to slay and once you slay them you will receive a number of slayer points which you can go onto spend on items that cannot be obtained with simply gold alone. Slaying can be done through three styles of combat. Magic, Ranged and Melee. The are all equally as powerful however they all have buffs & debuffs as they are replicates of the combat triangle. For instance, Ranged is powerful against magic but is weak against melee. And melee is weak against magic and it begins to form a triangle. Slayer is also more commonly done for money in Runescape as it is a skill that almost "farms gold".

However for those of you who prefer to evade fighting and slaying there is always a simpler game style. Skilling is more of a chilled & mellow way of levelling your skills without touching a weapon or armour. But don't think it's as easy as 1, 2, 3, as there is a lot of competition in skills such as runecrafting and mining. Most skillers aim to reach the Highscores in attempt to brag about their ranks.

Runescape also has a Highscores which keeps track of players skills and how much experience they have in certain skills. Many players depend on simple yet effective devices like this as many players only play for competition and fame.

Players are also attracted to "player killing" (PK'ing for short) as it is highly common to record yourself pk'ing other players and receiving their loot. Think of it as a sport which almost every member on Runescape is peer pressured into playing.  Players then post their videos on "Youtube". Many players are dedicated to this and spend a lot of time pki'ing. Will you be one of them?

Membership in Runescape is higly reccomended, however on sign-up you receive 14 days free membership trial as a taster. But beware, due to being a trial, you do not receive full membership benefits until you subscribe for membership. Membership is as low as £3.50 when paid by credit card but rises as you choose options such as "sms & phone"

Overall Runescape has a lot of features that attract both young & old. It holds endless entertainment and adventure for players and is also a very seductive time consumer. It is also advised that if you play Runescape that you take regular breaks as the game is highly addictive.

No comments:

Post a Comment