Based on my own preferences, I believe that the shift from simple abilities to more complex and difficult to pick-up activities was a terrible decision. Dungeoneering RS 3 Gold, when I played it never felt like a practical skill that could be transferred outside of my area. The ability to summon could be used most places.
It was disappointing that they focused on graphics and minor changes. One of Runescape’s main attractions was the quests, and I feel like they missed some great opportunities. (Elf City? The Runescape quest system is my favourite out of all MMOs. But I don't believe there's been any new content new content released in recent times. Maybe I'm just bitter, but I feel like Runescape definitely could still be thriving if they had taken a different path.
They continued to do things that caused division in the fanbase instead of listening to and compromising. EoC is an excellent illustration - it allowed them to do things in the game that they could not before, but it also cost them a large part of their fan base. If you do like EoC, was it really worth the loss in the game's popularity? I don't think so. You could save them hundreds of cancellations if only you were more willing to compromise.
They've also taken advantage of Runescape players to fund a series of failures. The Runescape Players have benefited from every dollar that they have spent on Stellar Dawn Buy RuneScape 2007 Gold. Mechscape. Thirdscape. A series of no-cost iPhone Games. And the huge cost of licensing for Transformers.
The Wall