Runescape was phenomenal in the early days. A game like that had no business being in existence in the early noughties. An MMO that requires no installation, that is free-to-play and offers a big sandbox world to get lost in. This back when broadband was only just coming in, blowing our minds with speeds of 150k. I still can't get my head round how Jagex achieved that. I'm even still impressed to see the way Runescape looks now, though with Gaikai and Onlive the future seems to be that we'll be playing Crysis through our browser windows, which makes the idea of another console generation seem ridiculous.
Anyway, when Jagex introduced Runescape Members they were basically doing the freemium thing the best part of a decade before anyone else in the Western gaming industry cottoned on. Play for free and you could access most quests, skills and areas. Pay a little monthly fee though and you got it all. Unheard of then, but nowadays you hear grandees saying there's no future for paid games and freemium is the future. Whatever you think of Jagex and Runescape, these guys were blazing a trail. It's not surprising that as the freemium model has evolved they're getting involved with micro-transactions and what have you.
There is a formula to it and Jagex had it mastered. You never, ever had to become a member, but boy could it gnaw at you to sign up and have a peak at what you were missing. Can't comment on what it's like now but for me the 'rich players can get ahead' horse bolted when they first introduced members. Anyone with a membership will trounce a free player and people have been selling accounts and items for real cash for ever and ever. It's just one of those things about MMO gaming. Except now, instead of letting it happen on the margins, developers and publishers want a cut of the action.
