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Combat in RuneScape is fairly simple, much like the rest of the skills you can accomplish in the game. To initiate an attack, you simply equip your weapons then proceed to right click on your target and select “Attack {___)” from the drop down menu. Combat itself is little more than selecting the type of attack you want to accomplish (slash, stab, or lunge, and each has its own accuracy to damage ratios) then let the computer attack for you. Due to the low-end nature of the game, having anything more rapid than a simple auto-attack would be to intensive for the gameplay. You’ll slowly game in levels as you attack monsters, and you won’t even need to defeat the monster if you want to gain experience from the encounter as experience is generated with each attack.

Jagex works hard to make their game as safe as possible for children.

Kid Tested, Mother Approved

Despite all the information a just bequeathed to you, you’re probably still wondering how RuneScape, with its low-end graphics and simply auto-attack gameplay, managed to climb its way up to the top ranks of MMOGs in terms of sheer monetary value.

The strategy that Jagex Ltd. employs to gather gamers into RuneScape is two-fold. First, RuneScape is a free-to-play title. Like Dungeon Runners, RuneScape allows players to experience a portion of the content available to them, but let’s the “see” the other content that they could be encountering. Skills like thieving and certain high-level quests are not available to players that don’t pay the $5 membership fee.

For the most part, however, RuneScape is free and can be enjoyed without paying a dime. If you don’t pay to play, two banner ads run along the top and side of your internet browser. They don’t obstruct the view, and if they allow membership fees to stay around $5 and gives players the opportunity to enjoy a game for free, all the better.

The other factor that allows RuneScape to draw players into its confines is the game’s ability to be played via a simple Internet browser, making it accessible in class rooms, airports, hotel rooms; wherever the Internet is readily accessible. Unlike client-based games, there is no hard install and the game can bypass firewalls because of it accesses the Internet and not a separate game server. I don’t know the numbers, but Jagex has stated that they have a very large foundation of younger players, and they’ve taken many precautions in that regard.

On the Jagex website, there’s actually an FAQ created just for parents who are interested in this new game that their child is playing. Parents can access this FAQ and get tips, tricks, and advice on how they can protect their child from adult language and/or inappropriate situations. Unlike many other companies, Jagex understands that they service both adults and children, and they’re interested in allowing both sets the freedom that they desire.

Although drab, the gameplay in RuneScape is quite relaxing compared to other MMOGs.

RuneScape and You

So where does that leave me? Honestly, I’m slightly torn in my final judgement of RuneScape. Although I find the game to be very addictive – the skill advancement system is a nice shift away from the common level advancement systems of most MMOGs – I also wanted something more substantial from RuneScape. Despite the intriguing skill system and more open-ended style of the world, I still didn’t feel like there was an immense amount of complexity to be found in the online world. Most of my days in-game were spent either hacking at monsters or shearing sheep, and I never really got into any sort of substantial conversation with the players or interacted with anything beyond my slow ascension through the levels.

Although this feeling pervaded my tasks in the game, I also felt like RuneScape was a nice diversion from the normal run-grind-run-grind of typical MMOGs. Watching my little block-man toil away at his sheep-shearing or spider-killing was actually relaxing, compared to the tense, up-tight moments most people expect from high-end 3D MMOGs. The ability to play the game at the airport or in a classroom increases the worth of RuneScape twofold. When I take my trip to Washington State in a few days, I expect I’ll be playing a bit of RuneScape on my laptop as I’m sitting in the airport.

RuneScape may not be the title for the hardcore gamer, but children and adults alike may find that RuneScape provides a safe, comfortable environment for their gameplay needs. The world is fun, light-hearted, and you’ll definitely spend plenty of time in the countryside looking for your next monster to kill, tree to chop down, or stream to fish in.

Incredibly accessible to a variety of users Refreshing skill-based system Relatively open-ended gameplay Constant achievements	Drab presentation Has a rinse-repeat feel to it Threat of PKers in some areas

Difficulty: Low to Medium Server Stability: Very High Graphics: Value:

Learning Curve: 1 hour Gameplay: Sound: Tilt:

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