A close-up of a character's face, after the facial features update.A close-up view of a player's character.
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[source needed], 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 pay-to-play with a 14 day trial 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 after the trial.
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<ref>Jagex. "Multiple logging-in." RuneScape Customer Support. "You may create more than one account, but if you do, you may not log in more than one account at any time, and they must not interact with each other in any way."*</ref>, and may not allow anyone else to use any of their accounts at any time<ref>Jagex. "Buying, selling or sharing an account." RuneScape Customer Support. "Each account should only be used by ONE person. Account sharing is NOT allowed. You may not sell, transfer or lend your account to anyone else, or permit anyone else to use your account, and you may not accept an account that anybody else offers you."*</ref>. 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 are right-handed, but left eye dominant; this is shown by the fact that they wield bows in their right hand, which is what a left eye dominant person would do, but wield most other weapons like swords or staves in their right hand, which is done by a right-handed person. However, this might have been made so just to avoid confusion between the weapon and shield slot. 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.
File:Account's mother.pngThe player character mentioning their mother during Tower of Life.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.
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 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.File:Green eyes.pngA player's chathead with green eyes.
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.
The "Thank You" message that appeared for all players upon the 200 millionth account's creationOn 19 July 2012 the number of RuneScape accounts reached 200 million.
