Account

An Account is the means by which a player is identified in RuneScape. It holds all the information on the player's in-game activities, including their skills and achievements, all the items they possess, and the quests they have done. It also makes the player accountable for anything they have said via the game's chat interface, specifically including any breaches of the Rules of RuneScape.

A player's account is similar to, but separate from, his or her character. The character is represented by an avatar that exists in-game. The avatar is customizable to allow the player to feel individual. Jagex has stated that accounts and characters are generally kept separate, meaning that black marks received on an account (such as in the RuneScape Forums) do not reflect on a player's character (with the exception of a ban or mute).

A player must create an account in order to play the game, requiring a username and a password. The account starts out as free-to-play by default, but the player can choose to pay a monthly fee to gain extra pay-to-play content and functionality or stay a free-to-play.

A player can create more than one account, and can interchange between playing them with no limits. However, they may not be logged into more than one of their accounts at the same time, and may not allow anyone else to use any of their accounts at any time. Jagex also prohibits the sale of accounts. Jagex keeps a strict surveillance on players attempting to sell accounts, and an offender is liable to incur severe penalties, such as being banned, if they should attempt to either buy or sell an account.

Players may receive messages from Jagex via their Message Centre when they log into the game. This is the only means by which Jagex contacts players individually, as they never use email. Players also need to log into their account to use certain functions on the RuneScape website, including posting on the RuneScape Forums, (for those that have not attained 350 overall(total) level) vote in official polls, and accessing the player moderator centre (if the player has player moderator status).

As of 24 January 2010, players are required at sign-up to give Jagex their email address. However, they will not contact anyone through email as previously stated. You can check on or off if you want to receive Newsletters and such via email.

Trivia

 * Players used to be right-handed, but left eye dominant; this was shown by the fact that they wield bows in their right hand, which is what a left eye dominant person would do, but wielded most other weapons like swords or staves in their right hand, which is done by a right-handed person. However, this might had been made just so to as avoid confusion between the weapon and shield slot. After the Evolution of Combat, however, players were made ambidextrous, as they can now dual wield weapons on BOTH hands. Of note, players also wear focus sights over their left eye.
 * There is some speculation on the origins of the player's character, as he or she seems to appear out of nowhere into Tutorial Island, next to Sir Vant or in Explorer Jack's house. It is believed by some players that the character is actually sent to the Island or to Sir Vant for training like what some wealthier families did in the Medieval ages, on which RuneScape is loosely based. It is unknown if this is true or not.
 * Some players think the player character has a family, never seen in-game, or at least a mother, based on dialogue during Tower of Life, and the examine text on the Pennance Runner statue at the Barbarian Outpost: "This reminds me of my aunt."
 * In Lunar Diplomacy, if you read the My Life book in the dream land it states the Player was born in Misthalin in the Fifth Age, which, given that players used to begin their game in Lumbridge and are fairly young, seems to be true.
 * In the special event part of the Halloween 2011, the player thanks their parents, suggesting that they know their never-seen family.
 * Some things that the player says hints that they may have been born on a different planet like Earth, as they reference things on Earth like plastic surgery and have no idea who Saradomin is when first talking to Father Aereck, which is unlikely if the player is raised in Misthalin.Green eyes.png
 * However, when the bartender in the Blue Moon Inn suggests that RuneScape is a computer game, the player can respond "Computer game? What are you talking about?" and later "What's a computer?", before deeming the bartender "completely mad". This rejects the idea that the player came from Earth. Ultimately, it is unlikely that Jagex gave it great thought.
 * The player's chathead seems to have either brown or amber eyes. However, when wearing some hoods (such as a cooking hood), the player's eyes may turn green.
 * 200M Accounts Created.png 19 July 2012 the number of RuneScape accounts reached 200 million.
 * When talking to the Make-over Mage, if the Player refuses to have their gender or skin colour changed the Player will say "No thanks, I'm happy as Saradomin made me.". This implies that Saradominists (Or Humans) believe that Saradomin created them.