There’s a large emphasis on microtransactions to play. Eastern game developers infuse nearly every MMORPG with microtransactions but there’s a suitable way to go about it. Large portions of RuneScape’s map are off-limits to non-membership player. A continent nearly twice the size of any other called Tirannwn essentially has a bouncer checking Jahex’s records for your payment before letting you in. Did you hear about Island of the Apes? Well, you’ll only hear about it unless you pay. RuneScape’s tactic is like Wizard101. You get snared by investing time into the game, and then discover that large portions of the game are pay-wall locked.  If you plan to play RuneScape prepare to invest.

Jagex are trying something truly ambitious with RuneScape 3, and it’s worthy of close attention. The new RuneScape is built around a set of ideas – player power, persistent change and community-building – rather than a fixed goal for the future. “It doesn’t need to have an end point, but it needs a purpose,” says Mansell. “That allows you to embrace whatever the players throw at you.

To an extent, the changes to RuneScape’s engine and interface are about futureproofing – or, at least, about catching up. RuneScape 3’s ace in the hole, the thing that will not only define it to the community but which also has the potential to bring a new audience to the game, is the way that Jagex are using their existing weekly update regimen to tell an ongoing, developer-supported story in a way that hasn’t been attempted before. “We’re the quiet dudes in Cambridge who just get on with it,” Mansell says. “RuneScape 3 is going to be where we talk to the wider world, step up our game a bit.”

The combat mechanics in Runescape are pretty standard for a browser-based MMORPG. Players can use skills which have unique effects and cooldown times. There are also plenty of different weapons and armor that have unique stats that are useful for attacking/defending.

RuneScape is an astonishing feat of youthful entrepreneurship with an inspiring origin story.”The name came from throwing ideas between us,” explains Ian. “People got confused by the logo and thought it was called Runescape.”