The Match-Up

The first round comes to a close with a very interesting battle that brings together two of the most popular, and often times hated, free MMORPGs. Despite both being leaders in the genre, these two games have picked up a lot of players who love to hate them. The reasons for the wrath of some players for these games include poor graphics, slow gameplay, community problems, and server performance. MapleStory looked like it would win in a landslide several times during the week and even during the last day, but Runescape kept coming back. In the end, the hatred for Runescape slightly surpassed the disgust for MapleStory in the closest battle yet. To perfectly illustrate the intensity of this antipathy fest, please look at the images below. They remind you of the last century at best.

 Runescape vs MapleStory

RuneScape is...
Free to play.
Made with Java.
Very basic graphics.
Offers a subscription paid premium version.
The leading download free MMORPG in terms of subscriber numbers.

MapleStory is...
Free to play.
Looks like a console platform game.
4 classes that each have their own themed city.
A cash shop for special items.
200+ MB download.