Members

Members, pay-to-play or P2P, are players who have paid subscriptions to have access to the full version of RuneScape. The pay-to-play version of RuneScape was first announced on 4 October 2001, and fully instated on 27 February 2002.

Jagex, the company that owns RuneScape, introduced Membership as a way to cover the vast majority of the costs of RuneScape, such as in-game updates, extra staffing, server hosting, etc. As a benefit, members have many more privileges and usable features in the game and on the RuneScape website.

Many people's critiques of the game are due solely to the limitations of a non-member in the game, specifically at a higher level as content and areas becomes repetitive and dull.

Subscription
See Membership subscription for payment options

In order to become a member and access the pay-to-play version of RuneScape, players must first have a subscription. When players subscribe, they receive members credit which allows them to access the pay-to-play version of RuneScape. When you start a subscription by credit card, it will be paid monthly. Subscriptions through different payment methods may have varying lengths, although there is a minimum length of one month. Jagex is affiliated with several payment providers, each providing different subscription payment methods and prices. Different payment methods require different information to be given during a secure payment process.

Extra features
Membership unlocks many features of RuneScape that are not available to free players: almost all recent updates to RuneScape have been for members, with the exception of a few major updates in the past months. There are very few quests available to free players, while new quests available to members are added at a rate of one or two a month. This is a condensed list of features unlocked with membership below: 

It is important to note that these benefits will only be available if the member logs onto a members server. If a members-only item is on a non-members server it will not be usable. The name of the items is replaced with "Members object" and the examine is "Login to a members server to use this."
 * Ability to use the Display Names feature.
 * Nine extra skills, as well as more capabilities in free-to-play skills.
 * Ability to purchase skill capes when achieving level 99/120 in a skill.
 * Higher capabilities in other skills.
 * Use of several transportation systems.
 * Much larger exploreable area.
 * More accessible servers. (members can access free-to-play worlds and pay-to-play worlds, although they cannot access most members only features in free-to-play worlds)
 * More Activities, such as Pest Control, Soul Wars, and Stealing Creation.
 * Ability to do Distractions and Diversions, such as Treasure Trails, Penguin Hide and Seek and Evil Trees
 * Better (and a more varied range of) equipment, such as Dragon, Barrows, Bandos, Crystal etc. weapons and armour.
 * More bank space. (Non-members have only 78 bank spaces while members have 438)
 * More space for Grand Exchange offers. (Non-members have only 2 spaces and members have all 6)
 * Members can create their own house using the POH system along with the Construction skill.
 * A huge amount of members-only items.
 * Many more quests.
 * No advertisements.
 * More music and sound effects.
 * A few more emotes such as air guitar (requires 500 unlocked songs), Faint (requieres the completition of the mime Court Case) and Taskmaster (requieres all tasks done in the Task system)
 * Ability to post on the RuneScape Official Forums regardless of their character's level/experience. (The only non-members who can post on the forums are those with at least 2.5 million XP total or have an overall skill total exceeding or equal to 350)
 * More efficient ways to make money.
 * The ability to access fullscreen mode on the main screen.
 * The ability to take a photo using the Photo Booth feature for use on the forums as an avatar.
 * The ability to fight many high level bosses like the King Black Dragon and more.
 * The ability to fight a wide variety of other monsters, ranging from Yaks, which are good training, to Dragons, which drop items such as Dragon bones that sell for a lot on the Grand Exchange.
 * The unique ability of owning a pet.

Although if you go onto a free server while membership is activated, the bank space will still be increased beyond the normal free limit, and you may still place things in even if there isn't one already in there. Fullscreen mode is also available on free servers while membership is activated.

Members-only skills
Currently there are 9 skills in RuneScape that are only available to members out of a total of 25 skills. The members-only skills are listed in alphabetical order below:

There are many benefits upon unlocking these skills. Many members quests have members skill requirements. Agility allows run energy to recharge faster, and allows entry to certain areas and use of many shortcuts. With Construction, players can build their own player-owned house. Farming allows players to grow fruits, vegetables, herbs, and trees that only they will be able to cut. Herblore lets players make potions to aid them in combat and the training of other skills. Hunter is a great money maker, and items from it help train several other skills. Thieving allows entry into certain areas as well as being an easy money source. Slayer unlocks new monsters and items, as well as the Magic Dart spell.

Because free players do not have access to these nine skills, they cannot be raised. This makes it difficult for free players to be listed on the hiscores, and makes them look less experienced overall. Members-only skills make up over a third of the total number of skills to train in RuneScape.

Summoning
With Summoning, members can achieve a maximum combat level higher than that of free players. With 3 out of the 4 skills Attack, Strength, Defence, Constitution at 99 and the last at 96 in Summoning and 98 in Prayer members can achieve a maximum combat level of 138. As Summoning is members only, members will still retain the maximum combat level of 126 regardless of any Summoning level if they are within a free-to-play world.

Members-only areas
Free players have very limited access to the world of RuneScape. Free players can only access the kingdoms of Asgarnia and Misthalin, the north-eastern most point of Karamja, and most of the Wilderness. Instant Demo players can only access the kingdom of Misthalin which has extremely limited access. Membership allows full access to the entire world. Remember that these new lands bring with them new quests, people and activities to experience and explore.

Here is a list of some, but not all of the lands reserved for members:
 * Morytania
 * Canifis
 * Port Phasmatys
 * Mort'ton
 * Haunted Woods
 * Mort Myre Swamp
 * Burgh de Rott
 * Meiyerditch
 * Slayer Tower
 * Abandoned Mine
 * Fenkenstrain's Castle


 * Kharidian Desert
 * Menaphos (Currently inaccessible due to revamping)
 * Sophanem
 * Pollnivneach
 * Nardah
 * Kalphite Lair
 * Bedabin Camp
 * Bandit Camp
 * Ruins of Uzer
 * Quarry
 * Kandarin
 * Ardougne
 * Catherby
 * Seers' Village
 * Hemenster


 * Yanille
 * Tree Gnome Stronghold
 * Tree Gnome Village
 * White Wolf Mountain
 * Eagle's Peak
 * Port Khazard
 * Piscatoris Fishing Colony
 * Witchaven
 * Tirannwn


 * Lletya
 * Isafdar
 * Prifddinas (Currently inaccessible due to revamping)
 * Arandar
 * Tyras Camp
 * Port Tyras
 * Large amounts of Karamja
 * Brimhaven
 * Shilo Village
 * Tai Bwo Wannai
 * Kharazi Jungle
 * Cairn Isle
 * Feldip Hills
 * Gu'Tanoth
 * Jiggig
 * Oo'glog
 * More of Asgarnia
 * Burthorpe
 * Taverley
 * Taverley Dungeon
 * Dark Wizards' Tower
 * Small parts of Misthalin
 * Mage Training Arena
 * Dig Site
 * Fremennik Province
 * Lunar Sea


 * Rellekka
 * Mountain Camp
 * Waterbirth Island
 * Miscellania and Etceteria
 * Lunar Isle
 * Fremennik Isles


 * Jatizso
 * Neitiznot
 * Iceberg
 * Ape Atoll
 * Marim
 * Crash Island
 * The northernmost part of the Wilderness
 * Mage Arena
 * Wilderness Agility Course
 * Scorpion Pit
 * Troll Country
 * Trollweiss Mountain
 * Trollheim
 * Troll Stronghold
 * Death Plateau
 * God Wars Dungeon
 * Zanaris (Dimension of the Fairies)
 * Keldagrim (Dwarven city)
 * Dorgesh-Kaan (Cave Goblin city)
 * TzHaar (City of the volcanic Tzhaar)
 * Puro-Puro (realm of the Implings)
 * Many Dungeons and similar areas

Activities
Most of the activities in RuneScape are members only. Activities are interactive competitions between players and usually require or involve cooperation and communication. However, some activities are just for players to play on their own. Activities can also be good methods to gain experience in combat or non-combat skills, or to just invoke fun competition. Activities are arguably one of the most enjoyable aspects of RuneScape, and a common reason that impel many to become Members as most of them are restricted to members. Random events can also be considered a form of a activity, however, as given by their name, they are completely random and so the player cannot choose when to "play".

Here is an alphabetical list of the currently available members-only activities, along with a short explanation:
 * Agility Pyramid - An excellent way for players to quickly train Agility, as well as a decent source of money.
 * Barbarian Assault - A fun team combat activity which unlocks new armour.
 * Barrows - An enjoyable, challenging single player combat activity which has valuable rewards, including the desirable Barrows equipment!
 * Blast Furnace - An efficient way to smelt bars of metal, as well as a good source of experience in several different skills.
 * Brimhaven Agility Arena - A great Agility trainer for players with moderately high Agility levels.
 * Burthorpe Games Room - A room where players can compete in various board games.
 * Castle Wars - An extremely popular competitive game of combat Capture the Flag, in which two teams infiltrate each the enemy castle and fight to score. Tickets rewarded to the winners can be exchanged for decorative Castle Wars armour and capes. Complicated strategy and tactics have been developed as well!
 * Champion Challenge - Engage the titans of eight different races of monsters in special rules battles! If you defeat them all, you can face the gnome champion!
 * Conquest - A turn-based strategy game where two players command a squad of Void Knights and try to eliminate their opponent.
 * Duel Tournaments - Members can head under the Duel Arena to compete for millions of coins in tournaments.
 * Fishing Trawler - An interesting fishing activity in which players sail along the sea trying to keep a leaking ship afloat while they fix their net and catch some fish! Rewards are fish up to your fishing level, so the higher the better!
 * Gnome Ball - A challenging Agility activity where players try to pass and charge with a small ball towards a hoop to score a goal, while defending gnomes attempt to tackle them before they can throw it. Players earn both Agility and Ranging experience if they're successful!
 * Gnome Restaurant - Players try their hand at delivering food to hungry customers in record speed! A variety of unique items and other rewards are available.
 * Mage Arena - Learn the legendary God Spells and earn your God Cape and God Staff! These spells powerful additions to any magic user's arsenal.
 * Mage Training Arena - One of the fastest ways to earn Magic experience; the Arena offers four different activities each involving a different type of magic. If you are successful in these games, you can earn Pizzazz points to exchange for runes or the valued Infinity Robes!
 * Pest Control - This immensely popular team combat activity involves protecting the vulnerable Void Knight while you fight incoming monsters. Commendation Points which can be exchanged for experience in any combat skill as well as a selection of items are rewarded to successful teams.
 * Pyramid Plunder - A source of extremely fast Thieving experience. Combat is interestingly integrated into the game.
 * Ranging guild activities - A fast way to train Ranging which can even be profitable! Players can even exchange tickets earned as rewards for coveted rune arrows.
 * Rat Pits - Players can train their cats to be a fierce hellcat or a clever Wily cat in these arenas of battle between cat and mouse, then show off their fully trained cats to their friends!


 * Rogue's Den - Players show their deft abilities as they navigate this tricky maze filled with traps and obstacles. Fail and be teleported out! Depending on success, players earn fair amounts of Agility and Thieving experience as well as Rogue Armour displaying their skill.
 * Shades of Mort'ton - Build up a temple and defend it from attacking evil spirits! One of the best ways to train Crafting, a good source of Firemaking experience, or a good way for players to test their prowess in combat and see how long they can last against the shades while they train up their combat skills! Shades of Mort'ton quest must be completed before you can play this activity.
 * Sorceress's Garden - Players attempt to sneak around watchful elementals guarding their gardens to get the a Sq'irk Tree to pick Sq'irk fruits. If caught, they are teleported out! Excellent Thieving experience.
 * Soul Wars - A challenging activity where you kill avatars with your team. Rewards combat experience and pets.
 * Tai Bwo Wannai Cleanup - Help clean up the village of Tai Bwo Wannai. Beware, as players may encounter dangerous Bush Snakes and Broodoo victims! Players earn the village currency of trading sticks for a reward.
 * Tears of Guthix - Collect the tears of the God of Balance in a sacred cave guarded by his faithful snake servant Juna. The tears give the best reward of all - experience in the players' worst skill.
 * Temple Trekking - Escort citizens through the dangerous Mort Myre Swamp in Morytania to a temple on the River Salve. If successful, players earn tokens exchangeable for a random reward, including resources such as herbs or ores, or tomes exchangeable for experience in specific skills!
 * Treasure Trail - Players follow cryptic clues on wild chases to valuable rewards. Rewards include runes, God pages, Ornamental armour, Rune god armour, Third age armour, and others.
 * Trouble Brewing - Two teams compete as each try to brew the most bottles of rum! Experience in a variety of skills can be earned for performing the many complicated tasks needed in the process of rum production.
 * TzHaar Fight Cave - Players fight alone against an army of Tzhaar monsters! If they can withstand the masses, and defeat the dreaded TzTok-Jad, the third most powerful monster in the game, they can earn the coveted Fire cape! Winners as well as less fortunate participants earn varied amounts of the Tzhaar currency of Tokkul.
 * TzHaar Fight Pit - Players are thrown into pits where they fight an every-man-for-himself battle to the death! Deadly alliances and betrayals are all a part of the game. Tokkul is rewarded to the winner of each round

It's highly recommended that if a Member were to ever be bored or not happy with the current Membership, they should at least try out various activities just for the fun of it.

Unlockable capabilities in skills
Free players are limited in their access to the skills available in Runescape. Since areas and training methods are also limited, it can be difficult for free players to obtain high levels in much of the free-to-play skills. Free players cannot use members items for combat and cannot use some of the abilities or items reached at higher levels in the free skills. Many guilds are also located in members only areas. Membership brings full access to not only several members skills, but also the free skills. It also gives special attacks to specific weaponry.

Here is a list of some capabilities in free skills available to only members:
 * Attack
 * Ability to wield salamanders (also have Ranged and Magic requirements)
 * Use of poisoned daggers and spears
 * Dragon weapons and Obsidian Weapons at level 60
 * Barrows weapons as well as Abyssal whip and Saradomin Sword at level 70
 * Godsword at level 75 with the highest strength bonus from a non-degradable weapon.
 * Various other weapons such as quest items and different weapon types such as claws, spears, halberds, and hastae.
 * Chaotic weapons at level 80 which are some of the best weapons in game


 * Defence
 * Granite armour at level 50 (also requires 50 Strength)
 * Bandos armour at level 65
 * Dragon Armour at level 60
 * Barrows armour at level 70
 * Third age armour at level 65
 * Various other armours such as quest items


 * Strength
 * all Halberds at assorted levels
 * Granite maul at level 50
 * Granite armour at level 50 (also requires 50 Defence)
 * Obsidian maul at level 60


 * Constitution and life points
 * Damage from poison and disease is members only, though you will receive damage anyway if you log back onto a free world (note that you cannot use antipoison potions on free worlds)


 * Ranged
 * Ability to wield salamanders (also have Attack and Magic requirements)
 * Use of poisoned arrows
 * Use of thrown weapons including darts, throwing knives, throwing axes, javelins, Chinchompas, and Red chinchompas
 * Use of metal (past bronze), special, gem-tipped, and enchanted bolts
 * Ability to wield metal crossbows (apart from the Crossbow and the Phoenix crossbow)
 * Dorgeshuun crossbows can be wielded at level 28
 * Hunter's crossbows can be wielded at level 50
 * Magic longbows and Magic shortbows can be wielded at level 50
 * Blue, Red, and Black dragonhide armour can be worn at levels 50, 60, and 70 respectively
 * Crystal bow can be wielded at level 70
 * Karil's crossbow and Karil's armour can be equipped at level 70
 * Hand cannon can be equipped at level 75
 * Armadyl armour at level 70


 * Magic
 * Ability to wield salamanders (also have Attack and Ranged requirements)
 * Mystic Robes and Splitbark Armour can be worn at level 40.
 * Ahrim's Robes can be worn at level 70.
 * Ability to use Lunar and Ancient Spellbooks after their desired quests
 * Access to several new spells such as the God spells, Iban Blast, and Magic Dart.
 * Ability to enchant onyx and dragonstone jewellery, as well as enchanting different types of emerald, sapphire and ruby jewellery (such as an emerald bracelet into a castlewars bracelet).
 * access to Wave and Surge spells


 * Prayer
 * The prayers Protect from Summoning (level 35), Retribution (level 46), Redemption (49), Smite (52), Chivalry (60), and Piety (70) are only available to members
 * Access to prayer equipment such as god books, god capes, vestments, and prayer books.
 * Access to Ancient Curses.


 * Cooking
 * Ability to cook monkfish at level 62
 * Ability to cook sharks at level 80
 * Ability to cook rocktail at level 93
 * Ability to cook a massive variety of new foods, such as chocolate bombs, many new pies, and the brewing section of the skill.
 * Woodcutting
 * Access to teak trees at level 35
 * Access to maple trees without needing level 30 Dungeoneering
 * Access to hollow trees at level 45
 * Access to mahogany trees at level 50
 * Access to eucalyptus trees at level 58
 * Ability to use Dragon hatchet at level 61
 * Access to cut choking ivy at level 68
 * Access to magic trees at level 75
 * Access to Evil Tree activity
 * Access to Sawmill Training at level 80
 * Access to Cursed Magic Tree at level 82 (After quest Spirit of Summer)


 * Fishing
 * Fly fishing at Shilo Village for faster training, as well as many new fishing areas
 * The Fishing Guild can be entered at level 68
 * Sharks can be fished at level 76
 * Many new types of fish to catch, such as manta rays, sea turtles, leaping sturgeon, monkfish, and rainbow fish etc.
 * Cavefish can be fished at level 85. Rocktail can be fished at level 90. These are some very good money sources.
 * Firemaking
 * Better logs can be burned
 * Ability to light lanterns and other glass objects
 * Ability to light the beacons after completion of All Fired Up
 * Use of Inferno Adze, Flame gloves and Ring of fire
 * Use of colour Firelighters to make fires of different colours.


 * Crafting
 * Ability to spin flax into bowstrings at level 10
 * Ability to craft Yak hide armour
 * Ability to craft Snakeskin armour
 * Ability to craft Dragonhide armour
 * Ability to craft Dragonstone and Onyx jewellery
 * Ability to craft Battlestaves


 * Smithing
 * Ability to smith cannonballs at level 35 (requires completion of Dwarf Cannon quest
 * Ability to smith metal items such as bolts, dart tips (requires completion of The Tourist Trap quest), arrowheads, lanterns, and throwing knives
 * Ability to smith nails of different metals
 * Ability to smith crossbow limbs
 * Ability to smith claws
 * Ability to forge together new armour and weapons such as the two parts of the dragon square shield and dragon platebody


 * Mining
 * Access to Coal Trucks for faster coal mining
 * Ability to mine pure essence at level 30 (also requires completion of Rune Mysteries quest)
 * Ability to mine sandstone at level 35
 * Ability to mine gem rocks in Shilo Village at level 40
 * Ability to mine granite at level 45
 * Access to dozens of new mining spots


 * Runecrafting
 * Ability to craft mist runes at level 6.
 * Ability to craft dust runes at level 10.
 * Ability to craft mud runes at level 13.
 * Ability to craft smoke runes at level 15.
 * Ability to craft steam runes at level 19.
 * Ability to craft lava runes at level 23.
 * Ability to craft cosmic runes at level 27.
 * Ability to craft chaos runes at level 35.
 * Ability to craft astral runes at level 40.
 * Ability to craft nature runes at level 44.
 * Ability to craft law runes at level 54.
 * Ability to craft death runes at level 65.
 * Ability to craft blood runes at level 77.
 * Access to the Abyss to craft runes faster.
 * Access to the Ourania Runecrafting Altar.
 * Ability to use rune pouches.


 * Dungeoneering
 * Ability to enter Occult floors 36-47 at levels 71-93.
 * Ability to enter Warped floors 48-60 at levels 95-119.
 * Ability to defeat stronger, more vicious enemies like Yk'Lagor the Thunderous, and Kal'ger the Warmonger.
 * Ability to equip Tier 6-11 weapons and armours.
 * Ability to have Class Customisation in Ring of Kinship.
 * Ability to bind weapons to your dungeoneering character.
 * Ability to use the various members only skills inside the dungeons.

Members-only quests
The vast majority of quests in RuneScape are restricted to members. These quests unlock many important features, new areas, various transportation systems, and many new skills. There are currently 19 free-to-play quests, 140 members-only quests and 1 tutorial quest. A complete list of members quests is found here.

Some quests granting useful abilities are listed below:

Low difficulty



 * Druidic Ritual - access to the Herblore skill
 * Dwarf Cannon - ability to use of a Dwarf multicannon
 * Plague City - ability to use Ardougne Teleport (with 51 Magic)
 * Wolf Whistle - access to the Summoning skill
 * Fishing Contest - access to the tunnel under White Wolf Mountain to avoid those pesky Wolves

Medium difficulty
These quests are highly recommended to finish, as this allows access to a larger variety of weaponry and armour and just as important, faster and easier transportation.


 * Eadgar's Ruse - ability to use Trollheim Teleport (with 61 Magic)
 * Fairytale II - Cure a Queen - access to Fairy Rings during and after the quest (you must be wielding either a Dramen staff or Lunar staff to use fairy rings).
 * Fairytale III - Battle at Orks Rift - ability to use fairy rings without the need of a Dramen staff or Lunar staff.
 * The Fremennik Isles - access to Fremennik armour and many islands of the Lunar Sea


 * Tree Gnome Village and The Grand Tree - ability to use Gnome gliders and Spirit trees
 * Heroes' Quest - ability to use Dragon battleaxe and Dragon mace
 * Horror from the Deep - ability to combine and use God books
 * Lost City - ability to use Dragon dagger and Dragon longsword, access to Zanaris
 * Smoking Kills - ability to gather Slayer reward points
 * Tears of Guthix - access to the Tears of Guthix activity
 * Watchtower - ability to use Watchtower Teleport (with 58 Magic)

High difficulty

 * Desert Treasure - access to the Ancient Magicks
 * Dream Mentor - access to some new lunar spells
 * Legends Quest - ability to use Dragon square shield and Cape of Legends
 * Lunar Diplomacy - access to the Lunar Magicks (further expanded after Dream Mentor)
 * Monkey Madness - ability to use a Dragon scimitar
 * Mourning's End Part II - ability to Runecraft Death runes
 * Recipe for Disaster - See full list of rewards
 * Regicide - ability to use a Dragon halberd
 * Roving Elves - ability to use Crystal bow and Crystal shield
 * Summer's End - ability to use Spirit shields
 * Swan Song - ability to fish and cook Monkfish (with 62 Fishing and Cooking)
 * While Guthix Sleeps - Part of Dragon platebody, 400,000 experience, ability to kill Tormented demons (randomly drop Dragon claws or Dragon platebody parts)
 * Nomad's Requiem - Ability to have Soul Wars as your respawn point.

Task System
When you become a member, some of the first things you should do are the "Easy" parts of the Task System. The rewards are listed below:


 * Varrock: Easy - Possibility to mine 2 ores and smith 2 bars instead of one, access to the Edgeville Furnace, and the ability to buy 16 Battlestaves from Zaff.
 * Karamja: Easy - Lowers boat trip costs from Port Sarim - Musa Point and Ardougne - Brimhaven from 30 coins to 15. Dell Monti will give 40 pineapples to the wearer daily.
 * Falador: Easy - Shield restores 25% of Prayer daily and gives +3 Prayer boost.
 * Ardougne: Easy - Unlimited Monastery teleport, better chance at Thieving in Ardougne, twice as many Death Runes when selling a cat to a citizen in West Ardougne, more noted drops in the Tower of Life and a 10% Prayer boost upon entering Castle Wars.
 * Fremennik Province: Easy - Peer The Seer works as a Bank Deposit Box, you can talk to the Fossegrimen via the boots to charge your Enchanted Lyre, and the Fossegrimen will give extra charges when charging in person.
 * Seers' Village: Easy - Works as a dull Light Source, 30 free Flax from Geoffrey in the Flax field, an extra log cutting normal Trees anywhere, and the Coal Trucks now hold 140 coal.

Extra servers
Members can access and log into servers reserved for the pay-to-play version of RuneScape. If members wish to, they may also log into free-to-play worlds, although on these servers they can't use any in-game features that are accessible only in pay-to-play worlds. There are 86 members-only worlds out of a total of 171 worlds.

Additional website features
Players who opt for pay-to-play are given access to a few sections of the RuneScape website that are unavailable to free players. Two are partially available:


 * The forums - Free players may use the official forums if they have more than 2.5 million xp or a skill total of 350+. This makes it more difficult to use a valuable method of communication, which can limit contact with other players in the Marketplace, Game, RS-Classic, and Community forum sections for trading, clan recruitment, clan discussion, game discussion, or other reasons, as well as removing the only easy way to contact Jagex: the Support section of the forums, which allows for suggestion of updates, rants, complaints and feedback.
 * The Adventurer's Log

Membership strategy
In order to save money, some players will pay for a few months of membership and then cancel or end payments. Before becoming a member, they will prepare for the new features by obtaining items that will allow them to quickly train members only skills and do members only quests. After they have completed their desired goals, they will cancel their membership and begin preparation again. While most members do not choose to switch like this, it is a good idea to obtain items that new members will need in large amounts before beginning membership.

Soon-to-be member checklist:
 * Regular, oak, and willow logs to quickly train Fletching.
 * Food such as cakes or lobsters to train Agility quickly.
 * Vials and secondary ingredients for Herblore.
 * Coal and other ores to take advantage of Blast Furnace for Smithing.
 * Enough coins to pay for all the equipment and skill items that you plan to buy once you are a member.
 * Items to utilise new capabilities in free skills that come with membership.
 * Items required to do basic member quests you plan to complete.
 * Moderately high levels, as this removes possible time wasted while training F2P skills in Members when you could be questing.

Recommended members quests
If you plan to do members quests, it is a good idea to get any Free Player levels before you become a member, so you can spend more time doing members-only quests or skills without wasting membership credit for something you could do in free player worlds.
 * Immediate Quests (these quests open the members world to you):
 * Druidic Ritual - Unlocks the Herblore skill.
 * Elemental Workshop I - Basic members quest that gives good experience and is required for further quests.
 * Fishing Contest - Allows use of passage under White Wolf Mountain.
 * Gertrude's Cat - Basic introductory quest and unlocks a pet cat.
 * Priest in Peril - Unlocks the region of Morytania.
 * Plague City - Basic members quest that allows use of Ardougne Teleport spell and begins a long series of quests.
 * Wolf Whistle - Unlocks the Summoning skill.
 * Buyers and Cellars - Unlocks the thieving guild.
 * Short term quest goals (these will unlock new features and build your list of completed quests) - some items should be gathered:
 * Biohazard - Easy, continuation of Plague City series.
 * Death Plateau - Don't be afraid to take on trolls.
 * Dwarf Cannon - Allows use of Dwarf multicannon.
 * Fremennik Trials - Begins exploration of Fremennik Province, good skill rewards.
 * Family Crest - Great reward, not too difficult.
 * Holy Grail - Excellent reward.
 * Jungle Potion - Begins Karamja quests, gives Herblore experience.
 * Lost City - Allows Dragon longsword and Dragon dagger to be wielded and allows access to Zanaris.
 * Merlin's Crystal - An important cornerstone quest.
 * Recruitment Drive - Allows you to buy some good armour, and set your respawn point to Falador.
 * Development quests (these will expand your members knowledge and prepare you for further questing) - build on quests completed previously:
 * A Fairy Tale Part I - Better harvests with Farming.
 * Eagle's Peak - Have you been training Hunter?
 * Ghosts Ahoy - Explore Morytania and gain free access to Port Phasmatys.
 * Tree Gnome Village - The Gnome series begins.
 * The Grand Tree - Continues Gnome series.
 * Heroes' Quest - Allows Dragon battleaxe and Dragon mace to be wielded and allows access to Heroes' Guild.
 * Nature Spirit - Travel in the Mort Myre Swamp.
 * In Search of the Myreque - Build on your work in Nature Spirit.
 * Shilo Village - Welcome to Shilo.
 * Tourist Trap - Working towards Desert Treasure.
 * Troll Stronghold - Great reward-2 x 10000xp lamps.
 * The Feud - Easy desert quest that helps with Thieving.
 * Underground Pass - Slightly difficult but reward is Iban's Staff.
 * Waterfall Quest - A very rewarding quest about Elves.
 * Long-term quests (these are where you begin to become a strong player):
 * One Small Favour - the reward is a helpful keyring (stores keys).
 * Tai Bwo Wannai Trio - Exploring Karamja.
 * Monkey Madness - The quest for a Dragon scimitar.
 * Regicide - into the Elven lands.
 * Roving Elves - crystal equipment.
 * Shades of Mort'ton - new activity.
 * In Aid of the Myreque - a new bank in deep Morytania.
 * Legends Quest- Ability to wear the Legend's Cape.
 * Horror from the Deep - Ability to wield prayer books.
 * Fight Arena - Short quest which rewards a quick 12,175 Attack XP.
 * Contact! - A new bank deep in the desert, and a powerful dagger.
 * Desert Treasure - One of the hardest quests in the game, gives access to the Ancient Magicks.
 * While Guthix Sleeps - Unlocks new monsters, and equipment. You can only start after completing most of the other quests (requirement of 270 quest points).
 * Transportation quests
 * Another Slice of H.A.M. - unlocks the Dorgesh-Kaan - Keldagrim Train System, transportation orbs also unlocked.
 * Desert Treasure - Ancient Magicks teleports.
 * Eagles' Peak - Eagle transport system.
 * Lunar Diplomacy - Lunar magicks teleports.
 * The Grand Tree - Allows the access to gnome gliders.
 * One Small Favour - Unlocks another gnome glider route.
 * Ghosts Ahoy - Free access to Port Phasmatys. The Ectophial can be used for quick teleportation to the port.
 * Fairy Tale quest series - Access to the Fairy rings, which covers a vast area.
 * Tree Gnome Village - Allows access to Spirit tree transportation method.
 * Regicide - Allows use of Arandar, avoiding the Underground Pass.
 * In Search of the Myreque - Allows shortcut through Mort Myre Swamp via boat.
 * Garden of Tranquility - Activates Ring of Charos, making transportation (and other things) quick and cheap.
 * Enakhra's Lament - Reward is Camulet, which can teleport you into the desert.
 * The Fremennik Trials - Gives the ability to make an enchanted lyre which can teleport a player to Rellekka.
 * Love Story - Gives the ability to chip House Teleport Tablets to teleport you to any house portal, not just your own.

Preparing for an ending membership
When going from Pay-to-play to Free-to-play, there are many things you want to consider before your membership ends. Along with being restricted by the smaller free world area and limited to the free skills, bank space is an important aspect to consider. Non-members are limited to 78 bank spaces whereas Members have 438 bank spaces in the past, but now members retain the full bank space even though they are not paying anymore when you become a free player again. However, you might consider doing some of the following things:


 * Member items are not usable in the Free-to-play servers. You may keep member items in the bank, but you will not be able to use them. It may be a good idea to sell member items before the membership ends, unless you plan on starting a new membership again soon, so that you can get some money back to properly play as a free player. Of course, you could always keep the items in case you might want to resubscribe in the future.
 * If you are not planning to be a member again, it would be wise to sell all your tradeable members items before you cancel your subscription especially because you can't sell members items in F2P. This will also make you a huge sum of cash (if you had expensive members only equipment). It is not recommended to drop all your equipment in the Falador Party Room as you may want to come back to the game later.
 * Even if you are planning on becoming a member again you will have to sell most of the items because you'll probably be able to bank only the member's items. If you withdraw any f2p item (e.g.: an ordinary pickaxe, hatchet ecc.) you will not be able to bank it again until you'll make enough space (<78 F2P items) in your bank. To see how many extra F2P items you have in your bank move your mouse cursor over the number that indicates how many members items you hold in your bank.
 * If you have a skillcape once you become a non-member you cannot equip it again. If planning to have it equipped the time you spend as a non-member it is wise to drop all free-to-play capes to avoid wearing those capes over your skillcape. It is not advised to equip a questing cape as it will unequip when the next quest is released. Also, you may not train Dungeoneering, since you would have to remove the cape.
 * When the membership ends and you still have members armour equipped, you will still be wielding the armour, weapons, shields, etc., but they will have the special abilities & stats disabled.
 * Keeping useful Free-to-play items and armour might not be a bad idea. Some of these items/armour include, but are not limited to: Rune/Green d'hide equipment, cooked/raw Swordfish (eventually as rewards from the Managing Miscellania activity), strength potions (from training herblore), etc.

Trivia

 * Jagex reached the one million member count mark on 4 May 2007.
 * If you train combat and you are wielding a members' item on a free to play world in the weapon slot, you will fight with your fist/foot as if you were unarmed. When the free version of RuneScape Classic existed, members' weapons would automatically become unequipped when the player logs in to a free world.
 * In the God letters, members were referred to as 'nobility' while F2P were peasants. It was also said that they paid taxes to the counsel.
 * If you bring members items into a free world, it will be re-named "Members Object".
 * Paul Gower stated that the first members benefit was being able to login any time players wanted.