Changes

All this would change with the rediscovery of how to create runes by a tribe of Fremennik; with which humanity was able to establish itself as the dominate race on the planet, wuickly establishing the other two kingdoms at the expense of the other races. The current year is 169, fifth age and puts the world on the edge of major change again as the god zaros begins to return to the world, war between misthalin and morytania threatens due to the vampyres need for blood and The Myreque, a liberation group, amongst other problems.  

All this would change with the rediscovery of how to create runes by a tribe of Fremennik; with which humanity was able to establish itself as the dominate race on the planet, wuickly establishing the other two kingdoms at the expense of the other races. The current year is 169, fifth age and puts the world on the edge of major change again as the god zaros begins to return to the world, war between misthalin and morytania threatens due to the vampyres need for blood and The Myreque, a liberation group, amongst other problems.  

==Criticism==

==Religion==

===General criticism===

The game has also been criticized by some for its portrayal of religion. Various deities, cults and organized religions are heavily involved in both RuneScape lore and in-game. The three most well-known and popular ones are ''Guthix'', ''Zamorak'' and ''Saradomin'',

The most common criticisms of RuneScape's gameplay are its repetitive nature and relatively low quality of graphics (compared to other MMORPGs). However Jagex recently did an extreme overhaul of the graphics, and introduced "RuneScape HD," which quieted the majority of complaints about its graphics. Common positive criticisms are that it is browser-based (enabling it to be played from anywhere) and that it is free to play indefinitely.

Along with other RPGs, Runescape has come under criticism over its addictive nature with players sometimes using the game for days on end.<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22073926-2761,00.html ''Stress over teen's "addiction"']</ref>

Guthix, the god of balance, is portrayed as an being beyond human understanding. He has no definite form, appearance or gender. His followers include [[Druidry|druids]] and other kinds of [[Paganism|pagans]]. Like most of the game's gods, he is very uncaring, stating he has no interest in his worshippers unless the balance of the world  is threatened

It has also been criticized for the amount of botters (people using an automated program to preform tasks ingame) and scammers/hackers; amongst other rule breaking problems and the apparent little action jagex seems to be taking to combat them.

Zamorak, the god of [[chaos]], is an obvious parody of [[Satan]], particularity in that his back-story involves him leading a rebellion against his god to get to his current position. He enjoys bloodshed, violence and death. His followers are mostly deluded sects, such as the Dagon'hai, as well as a multitude of [[demon]]s and other forms of beasts. Game content involving him often includes variants of demonic rituals and [[Witch|witchcraft]]. Strangely enough, he is very popular among the game's players.

===Evolution and the environment===

Saradomin, the god of [[order]] is portrayed in a way very similar to that of to [[God the Father]], both in appearance and characteristics. He is worshipped by a majority of the game's humans, primarily in a [[Catholic Church|pseudo-Catholic]] way. However, all is not well - He is arrogant, uncaring (although of the three he maintains the most public interest in the well being of his followers) and deceitful. His followers include H.A.M., an extremist group very similar to the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and a knights Templar/chivalric order like group named the Temple Knights which many players and characters ingame feel are only using his name as a reason to control the masses.

Runescape has been criticized on its fan sites and its own sites forums concerning the games shameless socialist and evolutionary bias. One example of this is the message one gets when examining a monkey: "Possibly one of our oldest living relatives?" Even more notably, a gnome in the quest [http://www.runescape.com/kbase/guid/monkey_madness_members Money Madness] explicitly states that Humans are descended from primates, which cannot be passed of as a "in this world they were" as the game references that the original humans were brought to the game world from earth

There is also the quest [http://www.runescape.com/kbase/guid/perils_of_ice_mountain Perils of Ice Mountain], which is in its essence a heavily liberal-biased commentary on [[global warming]], [[Environmentalist|environmental]] [[Activist|activism]], [[Lobby|lobbying]] and use of [[fossil fuel]].

Among other deities are mysterious jungle deities closely linked to an in-game version of [[voodoo]], a desert pantheon loosely based on [[Egyptian mythology]], as well as many others that play a role in the backstory of the game more then the current game world.  

===Religion===

==Criticism==

The game has also been criticized by some for its portrayal of religion. Various deities, cults and organized religions are heavily involved in both RuneScape lore and in-game. The three most well-known and popular ones are  ''Guthix'', ''Zamorak'' and ''Saradomin'',

The most common criticisms of RuneScape's gameplay are its repetitive nature and relatively low quality of graphics (compared to other MMORPGs). However Jagex recently did an extreme overhaul of the graphics, and introduced "RuneScape HD," which quieted the majority of complaints about its graphics. Common positive criticisms are that it is browser-based (enabling it to be played from anywhere) and that it is free to play indefinitely.

Guthix, the god of balance, is portrayed as an being beyond human understanding. He has no definite form, appearance or gender. His followers include [[Druidry|druids]] and other kinds of [[Paganism|pagans]]. Like most of the game's gods, he is very uncaring, stating he has no interest in his worshippers unless the balance of the world  is threatened

Along with other RPGs, Runescape has come under criticism over its addictive nature with players sometimes using the game for days on end.<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22073926-2761,00.html ''Stress over teen's "addiction"']</ref>

Zamorak, the god of [[chaos]], is an obvious parody of [[Satan]], particularity in that his back-story involves him leading a rebellion against his god to get to his current position. He enjoys bloodshed, violence and death. His followers are mostly deluded sects, such as the Dagon'hai, as well as a multitude of [[demon]]s and other forms of beasts. Game content involving him often includes variants of demonic rituals and [[Witch|witchcraft]]. Strangely enough, he is very popular among the game's players.

It has also been criticized for the amount of botters (people using an automated program to preform tasks ingame) and scammers/hackers; amongst other rule breaking problems and the apparent little action Jagex seems to be taking to combat them.

 

Saradomin, the god of [[order]] is portrayed in a way very similar to that of to [[God the Father]], both in appearance and characteristics. He is worshipped by a majority of the game's humans, primarily in a [[Catholic Church|pseudo-Catholic]] way. However, all is not well - He is arrogant, uncaring (although of the three he maintains the most public interest in the well being of his followers) and deceitful. His followers include H.A.M., an extremist group very similar to the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and a knights Templar/chivalric order like group named the Temple Knights which many players and characters ingame feel are only using his name as a reason to control the masses.