New players begin in a secluded area populated only by other beginners, Tutorial Island. They are led on a set path where they learn most of the non-member skills needed to succeed in RuneScape. After the tutorial, players have access to tutors located in the towns they explore. These non-player characters, or NPCs, can replace some basic equipment items if necessary and can give players appropriate information about their respective skills. Players are given a chance to explore a whole new world and can do almost anything they want.

Sound

RuneScape has music, sound effects, and ambient noises throughout Gielinor. The music is designed to define the underlying cultures of the various locations around Gielinor. Sound effects, such as the "sploosh" heard when a lobster trap is submerged in water, are heard as players train their skills. Ambient noises, such as the cry of seagulls flying over the ocean, occur in logical places. As different locations are visited by the player, new music for that area is unlocked and can be played back later. Players can adjust the volumes of the music, sound effects, and ambient noises independently of each other.

Graphics
 
A player interchanging some of the equipment available in RuneScape.RuneScape can be run with high or low-detail graphics; high-detail mode enhances texture and design, whereas low-detail provides a cleaner look and can reduce lag on older or less powerful computers. RuneScape's graphics have gone through two major overhauls, the latter of which has yet to be completed. The first update was the release the of RS2. The second, gradual overhaul began in February 2005, starting with several towns in the free-to-play area. When the engine was updated on May 16, 2006, allowing graphics of higher quality than before, the pace accelerated. So far, most of the free-to-play area has been updated, as well as some member's only areas and a large number of NPCs.

On the 8th of May 2008, Jagex released a preview of a planned major update of RuneScape's graphics, which will introduce a full-screen mode. As players with lower-performance computers may have problems while running the improved game, it will be available as an optional improved graphics detail mode alongside the current low and high detail modes.

RuneScape features a character-customization system. Unlike most MMORPGs, Player characters are always human; however, players can choose gender and a variety of hairstyles and colours, body types, facial features, skin colour and clothing options. Appearance is further complimented by wearing or wielding items. Standard weapons of the same class, such as swords, use the same set of animations in combat; however, a few special weapons have their own, distinctive animations.

Players can be transformed temporarily into objects, plants or animals, depending on the circumstances. These "morphs" sometimes allow players to avoid negative gameplay effects or access otherwise unreachable areas; however, they restrict certain normal activities.

Players can also express emotions through the use of specialized animations called emotes, some of which are standard and others earned through gameplay or released during holiday events.

Skills
 
A player engaging in the fishing skill.Skills in RuneScape are the abilities that enable players to perform activities in the game. Players gain experience in a skill when they utilize the skill, e.g. mining ore increases the mining skill. As a player gains experience in a skill, their level increases, up to a maximum of 99. As the skill level rises, the ability to retrieve better raw materials and produce better products increases, as does the experience awarded, e.g. a player can mine only tin and copper initially and then gold on up to runite as their mining level increases and the player is awarded much more experience for mining runite vs. tin. The total skill level of a player partly symbolizes the player's status in the game. The RuneScape highscore tables can be viewed by all players, and players with higher overall levels are well regarded within the RuneScape community. Upon reaching the highest available level in a skill (99), members may obtain a special cape, referred to as a "Cape of Achievement" or a "Skill Cape", which when operated gives a +1 bonus giving the wearer 100 in the skill and can be used to perform an emoticon related to that skill. The prayer and hitpoints bonuses only last one minute because of the advantage a player would have in combat.

The skills available for all players are Attack, Defence, Strength, Hitpoints, Ranged, Magic, Prayer, Mining, Smithing, Fishing, Cooking, Firemaking, Woodcutting, Crafting and Runecrafting. The additional skills available only for members are Agility, Herblore, Thieving, Fletching, Slayer, Farming, Construction, Hunter, and Summoning. Gaining levels in certain skills--attack, strength, defence, ranged, magic, hitpoints, prayer and summoning--increases the player's combat level. Some skills, such as woodcutting and fishing, enable the player to collect raw materials that can be processed into usable items using other skills, such as fletching and cooking, respectively. But if you play too much, you become a gay ass nerd. The items created can be used by the player or sold to other players in game for a profit. Other skills allow players to kill certain non-player characters, build their own houses, move around the map with greater ease, steal from NPCs and various stalls and chests located in-game, cook their own food, create their own potions, create runestones and weapons, grow their own plants, and hunt NPC animals. The new summoning skill allows players to summon a monster to fight for them and help them in non-combat related skills.

Combat
 
Players engaging each other in combat in RuneScape.RuneScape features a real-time combat system. Combat is an important aspect of the gameplay in RuneScape, as retrieving items or gold dropped by dead monsters is one of the better ways to gain wealth. Combat is also necessary to complete many quests. Combat level is a rating on how powerful a player or NPC is in combat. For players, it is determined by applying a formula to the eight combat skills.  Players engage in combat by right-clicking on an NPC or player and selecting the "attack" option. A player will automatically continue fighting until they kill their opponent, die, or leave the fight by running away or teleporting. Most of the game's weapons are medieval or fantastical in nature and feature different strengths and weaknesses. Players may also summon a familiar to assist with combat.

Combat is subdivided into melee, mage and ranged categories. Melee attacks are close range with or without weapons, magic attacks focus on using runestones to cast spells, and ranged attacks use projectile weapons. These combat types make up the "Combat Triangle." Melee attacks are most effective against ranged opponents, ranged attacks are most effective against magic opponents and magic attacks are most effective against melee opponents.

Unlike most games in the MMORPG genre, RuneScape does not require players to choose a character class nor are players bound to a specific category of combat. They may freely change between the three styles of combat at any time by switching weapons and armour. Players can even carry the weapons and armour of the three combat categories in their inventories and switch between or combine the styles. The advantages and disadvantages of the combat triangle apply to both NPC and player opponents.

Players die when they sustain enough damage from combat, poison, or obstacles to reduce their hitpoints to zero. Hitpoints lost during battle can be recovered by eating or drinking. Players can use potions and prayers to boost their combat ability and defences. Players who die reappear at one of three respawn points with their hitpoints, and any other reduced skill levels, restored; however, they drop all but their three most valuable items. A special prayer allows the retention of one more item. However, if a player is "skulled" as a result of visiting the Abyss (a labyrinth used for the runecrafting skill) he will retain no items upon death, or just one with the prayer. The items dropped form a gravestone, and they can be retrieved if the player can return to the gravestone before it dissipates. Players can purchase longer lasting gravestones and fellow players can repair or bless a gravestone to make it last longer.

PvP Combat
 
Players engaging in player versus player combat in RuneScape Classic.Player versus player combat can now only be performed in specific controlled mini games. "Bounty Hunter" gives players a chance to keep their opponent's items, Duel Arena offers limited staking, and some other PvP type games offer their own rewards (Fist of Guthix, Castle Wars, etc.)

Before 2008, Player Killers (pkers) were players that went to the vast Wilderness area to fight other players, hoping to gain their items. (In the oldest days, players could opt in to PvP in most areas outside of Lumbridge). Many player killers created "pures", which were min-max characters designed to have as low a combat level as possible by heavily training some combat skills and not training other skills to achieve a desired advantage in the combat triangle. This allowed them to more easily kill other non-pure players at their level. Unfortunately, "pures" did not fare well in multi-combat environments. However, in December 2007 the Wilderness was radically changed because of its former role in illegal gold transfers. New creatures called Revenants were added to maintain adverse pressure on players in the Wilderness, and PvP was restricted to specific mini games as mentioned above.

Quests

Quests are series of tasks with a story line that players can choose to complete. Quests often have prerequisites including minimum levels in certain skills, combat levels, quest points and/or the completion of other quests. A few quests require players to work together. Quests are grouped into four categories based on requirements and difficulty. Novice quests act as extended tutorials for new players. Intermediate quests challenge players on a basic level, while experienced and master quests challenge the more experienced players and open up new areas of Gielinor. Once a player completes all quests in the game, another achievement cape, commonly referred to as the "quest cape", can be purchased from an NPC. The cape comes with a special emote peculiar to the skill. Many quests require players to kill particularly powerful monsters. A new quest is released each month.

Players receive various rewards for completing a quest. Rewards depend on the quest's difficulty and include gold, unique items, access to new areas, increases in skill experience and/or quest points. Quests form the storyline of RuneScape, and many are part of a series of quests that become increasingly difficult. The longest and oldest (the first part of this storyline was released in 2002) of these is an incomplete seven-part series known as "Plague City". The storyline takes players through a massive conspiracy and unlocks areas inhabited by elves.  Jagex has stated that it is the closest thing RuneScape has to a central storyline.

Interaction
 
One of the NPCs, TzTok-Jad, available for players to engage in combat.Many NPCs populate the realm of Gielinor. Some NPCs, such as shopkeepers and characters in quests, are unavailable for combat. However, most NPCs can be attacked and these are generally referred to as monsters, regardless of their race. Monsters range from common, low-level creatures, such as chickens and goblins to unique, and often much more powerful monsters such as the King Black Dragon, Kalphite Queen, or TzTok-Jad. Each type of monster has its own strengths and weaknesses. Demons, for example, have a weak defence against magical attacks, while most dragons have extremely high defence against magic. Monsters may either be aggressive or non-aggressive. Non-aggressive monsters simply ignore players unless they are attacked. Aggressive monsters may attack all players or may only attack players with combat levels below a specified level, depending on the circumstances or location. This can make certain areas throughout Gielinor dangerous or inconvenient to players with lower combat levels.

RuneScape also features independent mini-games for its players. Mini-games take place in certain areas and normally involve a specific skill. Mini-games usually require players to cooperate or to compete with each other. Popular mini-games include Castle Wars, which is similar to the real-life game Capture the Flag, and Pest Control, a highly combat-focused mini-game.

Players can fight against other players in player versus player (PvP) combat in certain areas of Gielinor as detailed earlier above.

Random Events
 
A player participating in the Mime random event designed to deter macros.Random events are short interludes that occur during the game, requiring some form of player input. They were introduced to deter players from using automated programs, known as macros, autoers, or bots, to play the game with no human interaction. Postings in the RuneScape forums by Andrew Gower suggest that random events were designed not only to hinder macroers but to alleviate the monotony that can occur while leveling skills for long periods of time (referred to as grinding).

Some random events are simple, requiring a player only to click on an NPC or to leave the area temporarily; others require more sophisticated actions from players, who must respond to these events quickly and correctly to avoid a negative effect, such as being teleported across the map or taking damage. Players are usually rewarded for responding correctly to random events.

Holiday Events

Every Easter, Halloween, and Christmas, Jagex hosts a holiday event in a specific location in the RuneScape world. Players who successfully complete the required tasks during the event receive an exclusive reward. Holiday items released after Christmas 2002 can be retrieved if lost. Earlier holiday items can be traded between players and sell for large amounts of gold on the player market. Many holiday events also reward the player with access to a new emote that allows the player to perform a gesture designed to show emotion or action.

Economy

RuneScape's economy is based around items produced using skills or the collection of raw materials. Raw materials collected with extracting skills, such as fishing or mining, are refined using other skills, such as cooking or smithing, or are sold as is to other players or stores. Refined products, such as armour or food, are used by players in combat. Killing certain monsters for the items they drop can also be profitable. Some players engage in arbitrage, commonly referred to as merchanting, in order to turn a profit by buying and re-selling items. This became much less profitable with the January 2008 restrictions on unbalanced trades, and the institution of the Grand Exchange: its price stabilizers and ability to match sellers and buyers across the entire spectrum of RuneScape have made prices fluctuate less.

Before the institution of the Grand Exchange, inflation and deflation caused some instability in the game economy. Inflation was caused by the large number of resources put into the game by macroing. Deflation occurred when more expensive items, such as certain weapons and armour, lost value over time because they became more prevalent and because newer items were introduced. Typically there was a huge impact on the day new items were released, with prices in the tens of millions for the first few hours, and then decreasing to a few million by the end of the day. The prices of rare items (items that were released in RuneScape Classic for holidays and can no longer be attained by any means other than buying from another player) tend to increase over time. For example, party hats were very inexpensive when they were released and are now worth hundreds of millions.