The unique thing about Runescape is the vast professions you can indulge in and the special and unique abilities you could gain from each. Whether it is mining for hours on end in the mining guild for coal to cert or smelt, or fishing for invents of fish to merchant off or cook and aid you in battles. It doesn't matter the skill, although they are all point and click and repetitive each skill has its own unique variation.
Each skill feels different each location has somewhat a unique feel to it and each level up rewards you with great satisfaction. Especially when you hit character changing way points such as 85 mining 99 smithing or even if you get 40 attack and can wield that R2H or in modern day use rune scimmy.
The peace and tranquil RS bring with slowly grinding up and progressing your character in the many different paths allowed really gives you that time out you wanted.
The variety in Runescape is what many modern day MMO's lack. Rs has different things to jump to when you get bored of doing one of the many interesting things: Pking (PVP,) training professions, killing mobs, playing mini games, killing bosses with your friends such as King Black Dragon (KBD), Kalphite Queen or King Daggnoths.
A positive that RS has struck that many other games have not is the "phat drops" although this is often perceived as a negative, however the party hats which were given out on Christmas day many years ago, which can now sell for 200+mill give even end game characters something to aim at achieving. Which in some other games getting the best of everything are 2 easy to come by.
On the end game topic. RS's endgame is so far from the first time you log in you could be playing for many years and never reach 99 in each of the skills. If you somewhat a "hardcore gamer," the game does not end at 99 in each which will still take you a year or more at 24/7. The high scores gives a competitive edge even when your 99 all to the next goal of 200 mill XP in each skill, which will keep you busy a lifetime. This is the only game to my knowledge that I believe I could play a lifetime and not max out in every way.
The Pking system of RS is well developed and death via PVP still takes the classic hardcore approach of lose all items but 3-4 or 0-1 if you have attacked a non PvPer.
Although PK is limited to the wilderness (a designated PVP zone) there is also duel arena where you can bet money, or mini games where you can fight other players to death and last person surviving wins tokens (money for the selected area)
Negatives:
Although the game is continuing to develop even after 7 years of running! The updates don't seem to be giving high-end characters anything useful, or challenging (And there are now 1000's of 99 all combat characters).
Once you reach 99 all combat you are no better then any other Pkers and the skill is more based on how big your team is.
If you are coming from a modern MMO you will find the graphics almost impossible to adjust to straight away and it will take you some time to get over the graphic barrier. Also if you like to "own" games, you will not own this game as your 7 years behind, and there are no new servers on RS they simple ad more game worlds.
