Runescape and Dragonfable, two very popular online RPG's. They're both played in a web browser and both have a free to play system. In this article I will be comparing the two and making a final opinion on which of the two is better.
When someone asks "recommend me a free online RPG", Runescape and Dragonfable are two games mentioned very often, but which is actually better? Read on...
Runescape:
Runescape is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game set in a fantasy world involving demons, dragons, wizards etc. The usual stuff. It has a very large player base which is both a blessing and a curse.
Having a large player base means lots of people to meet and interact with, but also means that some worlds can be come overly crowded and it attracts lots of annoying young people. I play Runescape on a regular basis and I only play for free. It can be annoying at times because free to play players are basic treated like dirt by Jagex.
They get nearly no customer support and only have access to 18 quests. Still, in the F2P game there are many hours worth of gameplay and you still have access to the notorious PvP area, The Wilderness. The Wilderness is where anyone can attack anyone. Basically it's free for all. You get a huge warning message come up if you try to enter it, to make sure the player knows what they are doing. The Wilderness is what keeps Free to Play Runescape together.
When someone dies, they lose all their items besides their best 3, or if they've got a skull (you get a skull when you randomly attack another player) they lose everything. The sheer thrill of going through someone else's stuff after you've killed them is very enjoyable.
The graphics can be a little hard on the eyes at first, but they are in fact, quite respectable for a game based in Java. It can take a little while to get used to them however. There are lots of areas to achieve expertise in in the world of Runescape, such as fishing, mining and more. It can sometimes take a long time to achieve a high level in a certain area, but it's very rewarding when you do and that's what tends to motivate you.
If you aren't careful while playing Runescape, you will lose many hours of time and sleep. Runescape is an excellent online game and is a great way to spend a few minutes, or a whole week. Read on to hear my thoughts about Dragonfable...
Runescape Pros:
- Free to play system.
- Very easy to access and get started.
- 3d world.
- Lots of features and areas to achieve expertise in (fishing, mining etc).
- Lots of player interaction.
- Excellent PVP.
Runescape Cons:
- Graphics are a little hard in the eyes at first.
- Jagex treats F2P players like dirt.
Dragonfable:
Dragonfable is a single player web RPG in a fantasy sort of world very similar to Runescape. It is very easy to get started and has short loading times.
The graphics are usually quite nice, but have many inconsistencies. There is next to no interaction between players, which at times can make the game seem a bit bland. The sound is pretty ordinary and can get repetitive easily. There is also no music at all, which is a disappointment. The game offers a large amount of quests, which will keep you occupied for a long time.
The quests are usually stuff like rescuing lost children etc. The combat feels very repetitive. When a battle initiates your character is on one side, and the beast you are facing on another. You take turns to run up to your enemy, hit them, and run back and it looks quite silly.
It can also take a very long time to level up. You will encounter quite heavy grinding as soon as you even start, which tends to make a lot of players bored before they even reach lv5. The max level at this stage is only 29. The game is still in development, so there are still a lot of changes going to take place, but to me, it doesn't feel ready.
You have the option of paying a one-time fee to purchase a Dragon Amulet, which basically gives more content and bonuses to the character. Regardless, it's not a game which I would consider paying for. At times it feels very unprofessional. Lots of things which characters say (they're in speech bubbles) don't even have correct spelling and grammar and disappointingly, often involve chat speak like "omg" or "u".
Overall, Dragonfable in my opinion is highly overrated by people. I struggled while playing it to not become bored but quite frankly, at its current state it's rubbish. It has its moments but its inconsistencies and unprofessional feel bring it down.
Little player interaction also makes the game extremely bland and as a big fan of PvP, Dragonfable feels like a huge disappointment and has little to offer. Even its predecessor (which is actually set after Dragonfable), Adventure Quest feels like it has more content
Dragonfable Pros:
- Free to play system.
- Very easy to access and get started.
Dragonfable Cons:
- Little in the way of interaction between players.
- Lots of spelling/grammar issues.
- Little features and repetitive quests (almost all involving combat).
- Inconsistencies*.
* By this, I mean that sometimes, the hand-drawn graphics look quite nice and as if they were drawn by an artist, sometimes they look as though they could've been slapped together in paint in a few minutes.
I'm afraid Runescape takes the cake here, even on a free to play basis. Both are respectable games in their own right but why would you play Dragonfable when you can play a game which offers so much more?
