What you can do before becoming a member
While being a member offers so much more than being F2P, there are actually a good few hours you can sink in the free servers. It may be just a drop in the bucket compared to member-only content, but it’s a good enough representation of the game. From there, you can decide whether to save up OSRS gold for a bond, or just quit outright after realizing it’s not for them.
Here are the things F2P players can do in OSRS.
Train Skills
Of course, the faster methods of training are only available to members. However, there are still 15 skills you can train at your leisure. OSRS is a grindy game after all, and it’s the main activity of the game. Raising 15 skills to 99 will take time.
Sure, it’s going to be inefficient and slow, but some players like this kind of thing. Some methods might even require intense concentration, as a mistake can waste materials or kill efficiency. Other methods can be done automatically, also called AFK methods. Players recommend that those methods be done alongside another activity. It could be watching a movie or series, or something else that doesn’t require too much concentration.
OSRS Quests
The skills may unlock quests to do, which is why they’re important to train. Ranging from simple and easy to long and complicated, quests tell the various stories of NPC and the world of Gielinor. Being free-to-play, the number of quests is limited, but it’ll take some time to complete all of them.
There are 22 quests available, culminating in the difficult Dragon Slayer I quest. Earning Quest Points opens up various features. The highest QP reward F2P players can get is access to the Champion’s Guild at 32 QP. That also lets them start Dragon Slayer I, where they’ll set out to defeat Elvarg.
Technically, they can also start the ‘Tears of Guthix’ quest if they get the maximum of 44. However, that content is for members only, even if they’re already qualified.
PvP
Combat-oriented players may enjoy PvP in the Wilderness. Several free-to-play builds work like a charm, and players can work with those. Just be careful you don’t die, as you’ll lose everything in your inventory when you do.
Farm OSRS gold
If you decide you want to experience everything OSRS has to offer, this is the one activity you need to do. That is unless you’re willing to spend some cash to buy some bonds from Jagex. Otherwise, with a bit of hard work, you should be able to save up some OSRS GP to buy bonds with gold.
There are several F2P gold farming methods you could use. Some of them would involve skilling, others PvP, though that last one can backfire. Since all the good moneymaking methods are behind the paywall, the ones left are a little inefficient and slow. Of course, there’s also flipping in the Grand Exchange, but that can be slow as well, with fewer slots than a player with membership.
Conclusions
Newly created characters have some limitations such as not being able to give away items (through dropping them or trading), no PvP, and restrictions on the Grand Exchange. They can be lifted by playing a cumulative time of 20 hours, earning 10 Quest Points, or having a skill level total of 100 (characters start at around 19). While those restrictions aren’t obstacles for any of the activities listed (other than moneymaking), it’s still good to be aware of them.
Of course, buying a membership is still the fastest way to open up the world of Gielinor and enjoy the game. What F2P does is give a taste for players. They can still decide to stop playing since it isn’t to their preferences. Those who do like it, they have the option of making money or buying bonds outright.
There’s also the option of buying OSRS gold for sale. Of course, nobody is forcing you to buy OSRS gold, just that it’s a fast way to get bonds rather cheap. They do cost about 4M OSRS gold at the time of writing. Sure, that’s a far cry from the Twisted Bow’s 1B price, but that’s still quite a sum of money to earn.
At any rate, as long as you enjoy the game, it’s a fitting reward for your hard work. Having fun is the point of playing a game after all. Happy adventuring throughout Gielinor!
