Many non-player characters (NPCs) populate the realm of Gielinor. Although some NPCs, such as shopkeepers, have game functions that require them to be unavailable for combat, most NPCs can be attacked. Attackable NPCs are generally referred to as monsters, regardless of their race. Monsters range from common, low level creatures like chickens and bears to unique, much more powerful monsters like the King Black Dragon, Chaos Elemental, or Kalphite Queen. Each type of monster has its own strengths and weaknesses. Demons, for example, have low defence against magical attacks while dragons have extremely high defence against magic. Monsters may also be aggressive (attacking any player who comes within range, regardless of combat level), non-aggressive (not attacking players unless provoked, regardless of combat levels), or partially aggressive (attacking only those players whose combat level is twice theirs or less). This can make certain areas within the game dangerous to players depending upon their own
combat levels.

RuneScape 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.[32]

Players can fight against other players in player versus player (PvP) combat in certain areas of Gielinor. The most common place is in the Wilderness, where players risk their items, challenging other players.[33] Players can engage in combat without risking their items in mini-games such as Castle Wars and the TzHaar Fight Pits, and in combat arenas or dungeons in player owned houses. In the Duel Arena, players must agree on the rules of engagement and the stake before combat between them begins.

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 or bots, to play the game with no human interaction. The use of such macros is forbidden and will result in the permanent ban of accounts found to be using them. 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 rewarded for core4ctly responding to random events
Three random events have been removed from the game by Jagex: The Watchman[citation needed], Tangle Vine, and Dr. Ford. The purpose for their removal varies, from the event being too dangerous to players, simply causing a sum of graphical problems, or just being a major inconveniece to any player who gets that random event

Membership
Commonly known as "membership", Membership is a Pay to Play service that gives access to additional features. Membership allows players to explore more of RuneScape beyond the free area of the map. This subscription adds more than twice the land and offers an extensive amount of additional content. Other benefits include more items, regular game updates, access to the official forums, and priority customer support. Game updates are mainly limited to paying members unless the update has a direct influence on a free aspect of the game

Community
Players of RuneScape represent a wide range of nationalities and ages; however, because the game is currently available only in English, most players speak English to some extent. Players who speak languages other than English tend to gravitate to worlds populated by other players who speak the same language; some worlds have a greater percentage of players who speak Spanish, Dutch, French, German, or other languages. It is not uncommon, however, to see many languages on the chat screens throughout RuneScape. According to Constant Tedder, the company is starting to focus on translating RuneScape into different European languages, especially German
A group of official forums created entirely by Jagex programmers is available to players on the RuneScape website. By accessing the forums, paying members are able to participate in game discussions, play player-made forum games, make arrangements to buy or sell items, and interact with the community. Free players can read the forums but are unable to post messages. The RuneScape forums are quite diverse, allowing thousands of players to access them at any given time. Each forum has its own specific list of rules enforced by forum moderators.

Players can submit questions to any NPC in the game. Selected letters are answered in an update called Postbag from The Hedge at the end of each month. This feature of the site started on 26 September 2005 and has since become one of the most accessed pages of the site. From September 24, 2002 through December 9, 2004, players could submit questions to the RuneScape gods; however, the gods will no longer communicate so directly with mortal beings
Fansites have been established for RuneScape. Jagex does not support or recognize any of the fansites and has introduced the Knowledge Base to provide players with an alternative, official site to get the information they want or need.

BBC News, reporting on a study by Brunel University, states that playing RuneScape as much as working on homework is not necessarily a bad thing. It can instruct players about working hard to achieve goals and that the nature of most games, including RuneScape, can teach teenagers vital skills as they enter the labour market.[40] In December 2003, The Guardian described RuneScape as one of the fastest growing out of all of the MMORPGs, having a userbase half again that of EverQuest, (even if it is easier due to running in a web browser) and as "the best British offering."[41] Just RPG states that "It's rare for something that's free to come with no strings attached, and is actually fun to boot", but also found that some elements of the magic system "can get really annoying". The review site summarised the game with "In short, the game of Runescape is a fun, addictive game, and while the graphics may not be perfect, for a game written in Java, they aren't bad. The skills are varied, the community is alright, and it'll eat up your time if you aren't careful", giving it a score of 83%.[42] The Yahoo Buzz Log states that "while it may not be as easy on the eyes as some other popular online RPG games, like World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, or EverQuest, RuneScape is still a lot better way to kill time than pushing around cells in a spreadsheet."[43] PC Gamer UK in December 2003; states that while the "traditional RPG values of questing, slaying monsters and developing your character in a familiar medieval setting" won't "have the big boys trembling in their +2 Boots of Subscriber Gathering", this is offset by the game's accessibility through a web browser, "compounded by a version of the game that allows free adventuring before players upgrade to a members account", describing the game as "an unsurprising success".[44]

Criticism and response
To combat cheating and the use of macros, Jagex has taken measures such as introducing random events that require immediate human response and providing safety warnings in the player trading system. In response to automated scripts, Jagex has banned over 20,000 accounts through a macro detection system.[45] RuneScape chat filters have the ability to censor words and letter combinations that may be offensive to players. Players are often able to use intentional misspellings, leetspeak, or symbols to bypass the filter. To combat this, Jagex is continually making changes to the filter to block offensive language and prevent non-offensive words from being accidentally blocked,[46] most of which are successful in alleviating some of the problems.

Business aspects of the RuneScape organization have fallen under criticism. RuneScape has been criticised for not having enough free content or not updating the free content often enough. While RuneScape does have a considerable amount of free content, most updates and features for high-level players are limited to paying members.[47] Jagex has increased the size of their customer support team and has expanded the online Knowledge Base to alleviate customer service problem