More flaws than you could click a mouse at.
Runescape - an online RPG played in browser. Idea - good, execution - bad.
Before I start my romp of nitpicking and bashing I'd like to point out some of the okay things of this game. First, music isn't half bad but does get annoying as most you hear is polyphonic xylophone tunes. Quests have a variety of sort and isn't usually fetch quests which plague the most RPGs. Cooking is quite advanced. That's about it.
One of the first thing you'll notice is that the game almost completely neglects keyboard so you'll be spending the whole game clicking away the mouse which doesn't help this already bad game. The only way to earn good amounts of virtual loot is to farm. Farming , as already unpleasant activity, is actually even worse here since it usually involves gathering a full inventory of item x then storing it to bank and later selling y amount of item x for gold. All this involves lots and lots and LOTS of repetitious actions and vast amounts of mouse clicking. This is where the game starts being more like a 2nd job than a form of amusement (forgive me Yahtzee). So what about leveling? It's a weird hybrid of usual RPG's exp collecting, Elder scrolls like stat leveling since the characters level raises after a predetermined amount of overall stat points. Which is bad if you spent more time fishing and mining than killing. Racking up stats is also boring as hell as it usually involves clicking on bubbles in water or a rock till a level up. The game has no classes. The game supposedly gives you to fill in the blank by letting you level any stat. So if you spend enough time your characters pretty much becomes master of all trades and therefore removes any sense of playing a strength only warrior if you can be a mage wearing adamantine armor or a warrior shooting brightly colored polygons out of his arse.
Let's talk about visuals. Everything in game usually doesn't get to a double number of polygons but since this is a browser game it can be forgiven IF the game didn't felt like a sweatshop and would actually be fun. Armors are hugely uninspiring. Every non-member armor looks exactly the same as the only difference being color. To put it simply all armors are a bunch of pallete swaps. Recent member only armor does seem to have a variety but pretty much forces you to pay. Or you can always stay to being a generic knight guy.
Since I mentioned members I guess it's time to talk about them. First thing 90% of the game is pretty much locked if you aren't paying those 7 measly dollars a month. But even with this vast new land unlocked you'll be left thinking: "I pay 7 bucks a month for this?". Non member land can be traversed in less than an hour and being so small makes you feel like a caged bird. Runescape is still receiving updates after years of uptime but the company neglects and alienates non member players as they are never ones who receive updates. Member get new skills which go from growing crops to squeezing through small spaces and summoning fearsome monsters like the Compost Golem. So to actually enjoy this game even slightly you have to pay. But why I ask. To get more places to continue my farming romps? Even more stats to increase by clicking at weird things? I say no thanks. It's clear that runescape focused on it's amount of stat possibilities and fully 3D environments but not the actual fun factor of the game. There's this decent game called Kingdom of Loathing sure it doesn't have fancy 3D graphics, farming and boring stat leveling but it's amusing, it's fun, it's funny, and I have played it alot ( I don't play it right now though because my account got deleted due to inactivity.).
Now the biggest topic of extreme bashing was of course the game's community. It really is inhabited by a HUGE amount of 13 year or younger kids. In fact in my school the 3rd grade all played runescape. Although I knew some adults who played RS. There is a huge amount of hackers and hacker communities. The game has a very poor protection against hacks and macros therefore alot of people use them. Most of the macros eleminate the use of mouse which really takes away all the little gameplay the game really had.
Summary: Runescape is an ugly game where not only the graphics are ugly but pretty much everything. It feels like a sweatshop and doesn't play any better. I'd say avoid the game and go play some games that are more fun like Forumwarz or Kingdom or Loathing. IF you do decide to try it don't feel suprised when you lose interest into it quickly. This game just can't be recommended to anyone. Unless you like repetitious gameplay, blocky graphics, mouse clicking and bland design then go for it. You won't be dissapointed.