Ah, Runescape, a classic of a mmorpg game. But what makes it so popular? Why do people enjoy playing it so much? What does it have to offer that most other games don't?
Runescape has been around for a while. No, it's not the first mmorpg, but it is an old one. Runescape was actually my first mmorpg that got me into the whole genre. That's also probably the reason that keeps bringing me back to it.
There is an arsenal of skills at your disposal in Runescape. What are these skills? I'll post a list of them in this blog post. But I won't go over all of them. These skills allow you to choose what you want to be in the game based off your level and style of game play. Runescape is a fairly easy game to learn and play. One reason it attracts so many people.
List of available skills. Free to play F2P vs. Pay to Play or commonly known as members.
Free to play skillsCrafting
Firemaking
Melee
Ranged
Smithing
Woodcutting
Dungeoneering
Fishing
Mining
Runecrafting
Cooking
Magic
Prayer
Members Only skillsAgility
Herblore
Construction
Hunter
Summoning
Farming
Fletching
Slaying
Thieving
I said I wasn't going to go over all of these skills. I think I'll just go over the free skills for now. Crafting is one of the skills you will have access to as a free to play person. You skills go all the way up to level 99 and it's quite possible to get 99 as a free to play person. However, more options are available to Members, such as
Members Only items. Yes, Members have an advantage over free to play players, that's why they call it Members. Crafting allows you to craft items such as leather bodies for ranged use etc. You can also craft rings and cut gems, etc.
Firemaking is just that, Firemaking. Cut down trees to get logs and use your tinder box to light them on fire. Firemaking is perhaps the easiest skill to raise, due to the fact that you get a decent amount of experience for lighting logs. The higher level the log you can burn, the longer the fire last for cooking purposes.
Melee is divided into three subcategories. Attack, Strength, and Defense. Attack determines the different types of weapons you can use, and thus the weapon bonuses. Strength determines your overall damage that you do and as well as certain requirements for certain equipment. Defense if primarily used to determine what type of armor you can use. Bronze, Iron, Steel, Black, White, Mithril, Adamant, and Rune are available for F2P people. Black and White armors can't be crafted, thus they have to be farmed.
Ranged, is just that, equip a bow, and buy some arrows and leather armor and go out and shoot some goblins or what ever you feel you can take. Armor ranged from basic leather armor to Green Dragonhide for F2P players. Members have access to Blue, Red, and Black Dragonhide armor as well as some better bows and what not. Bows are listed as, Bow, Oak Bow, Willow Bow, Maple Bow, Yew Bow, Magic Bow. There are long bows and short bows.
Smithing requires the use of mining. Mine some ores, and take them to a furnace to smelt them into bars. Take the bars along with a hammer and use them on an anvil to make them into weapons, or armor. We've already gone over the different types of weapons and armor.
Woodcutting is pretty straight forward, and used in conjunction with Firemaking and a couple of members skills. Basically grab an hatchet and find a tree to start cutting. F2P players have the options to cut Tree, Oak, Willow Tree, Maple Tree, and Yew Tree. While Members also have various other things to cut including Magic Trees. Basic trees only give you one log per tree, while Oak and higher give you several or more.
Dungeoneering is a fairly new skill in Runescape. It uses a wide variety of your current skills that you have. Basically you follow a path through different rooms in a dungeon. Your whole goal is to get to the end and kill the boss. The only rule is you can only use weapons and armor that are available in the dungeon. Also, it's a certain designated dungeon called Daemonheim. In other words, you can't take anything with you. Only what you find in the dungeon. It's best to do Dungeoneering with friends so you can achieve greater success with the different skill levels of your friends.
Fishing is also pretty straight forward. Grab a fishing net, which you can get for free. and head to a fishing spot. The common starting fishing spot is south of Draynor village. You can find it by following your map. Use the net with the fishing spot and catch some fish. You can either bank it, or bring a hatchet and a tinder box with you, so you can cut a log to cook it on the spot.
Mining is another straight forward skill to do. Grab a pickaxe which can be found free in a basic shop, or in the tutorial you start of doing. Equip the pick so you have an extra inventory spot, then go and find a mining spot. My favorite spot is southeast of Varrock, which is easily found via the map. You can mine tin and copper ore, then run up and bank it, the quickest way I've found is to mine one, then the other, not both at the same time.
Runecrafting can be a bit complex. You have to finish a quest before you can mine the essence required to Runecraft. The quest needed for this is called Rune Mysteries and can be started by speaking to the Duke of Lumbridge in the second floor of his castle. Once you've finished the quest, which merely involves some running around, then you'll get to keep the air talisman that the duke gives you. Then, you can use the wizard at the Wizard's Tower, or the one in Varrock, where you took the package to. The one in Varrock is often used because it's close to a bank and easy access tot he mining spot. Once there, run to your ore, then mine and then take the portal out back to the wizard.
Cooking doesn't have to be complicated. Many recipes only require one item, such as cooking fish for example. Often, cooking is gotten up in conjunction with fishing. That is perhaps the easiest way to do so, as well as the best food options in the game so far. You can cook via a stove, or a fire made by yourself or another player. Some recipes require you to mill flower, which require pots, and some require eggs, found near chicken nest, etc.
Magic is fairly easy once you get your essence and craft them into runes. Each essence has a corresponding altar which you can craft at. To find the altar, simply use the air talisman you get and it will point you in the right direction. After you have crafted your runes, then choose the spell you want to cast, then cast it on your target. Magic Staffs make it easier to cast, because staffs have an auto cast feature.
Prayer, yes, Runescape has Prayer. Prayer is perhaps one of the most important skills to get up. So, how do you do it? Bury the bones you get from killing monsters. That simple. Different bones give you different prayer experience. If you are brave enough, you can venture into the wilderness to the graveyard which is loaded with bones. Prayer has various attribute boosting abilities as well as protection magics.
So, if you're looking for a game that's easy to play, and will keep you occupied for a while, then perhaps Runescape is for you. Members have access to more skills, and a lot more items. They also have access to a world that is 3 times larger than the original world.
