Has potential and some good ideas, just needs some work...
However there are some cons to the game... but nothing that cannot be fixed...
Runescape can be compared to a city, there is lots to do, but there are some dark alleyways...
The good:
Compared to many other free MMO's out there, Runescape has a lot of free content, and whilst most of the content in the game is restricted to members, the free parts of the game will keep you entertained a good while...
It is browser-based, and whilst this puts restrictions on the graphics of the game, it makes the game light-weight and good for older machines, it also means that there are no gruelingly large patches to download.
In my opinion the graphics are OK, considering there are two settings: high detail and low detail. High detail is the preferable option, and it does not require a next-gen computer to play... although players with older machines may need to use low-detail.
There is a lot of stuff to do, the game has many skills to advance, including mining, fishing, cooking and lots more, and skills can be used together. There are also many minigames to do, although they require memberships to play.
The games quests can be viewed as either a good or a bad. Unlike quests in other MMO's, which are usually small tasks like 'kill 10 boars', Runescape's quests are long, involving puzzles, comparable to what you would find in Myst. Some people view this as a negative, and think the quests should be dumbed down, fortunately there are many fansites with walkthroughs to the quests, as well as other helpful info.
Membership is only 3.50 GBP a month, which I think is a very good price for the amount of features it unlocks...
Ok now onto the bad...
Well put it this way, the free worlds (servers) of the game are usually ridden with beggars, flamers and noobs, the only way to avoid the onslaught of spam is to avoid the cities, which is nearly impossible, or to get membership and join the civilized elite...
The game, whilst having many features, lacks some of the fundamental MMO framework, a solid party system is only just being implemented, and there is no way to view the statistics of an item before you buy it, unless you use a guide on a fan site.
Conclusion
Runescape is ambitious, and seems to be succeeding with many of the ambitions, but it needs to work on its foundations a bit. Runescape still has a long way to go, but it can improve...
I would recommend the game to anyone who wants to play a fun MMO without a huge download or large subscription fees, if you do go to http://tip.it/runescape it is a great fan site, with many helpful pieces of information...