The Chronicles of Runescape

09 November 2009

Dirty Boxing

The Strikers and Protectors may be a frisky lot, but player deaths are very uncommon in the Living Rock Caverns if you exclude the occasional level 3 Skiller casualty, who has the common sense to mine with inexpensive gear anyway. This was why I found the following such a shocking sight:

The screenshot's quite cluttered, but if you look carefully, you should be able to see a lone Miner donning a Blue Halloween Mask facing off against a Living Rock Protector. He died seconds after the screenshot was taken, but some kind soul blessed his grave the moment it fully materialized.

I had my own duel later that same night, just hours after the game went through a system update. So many changes were made to the point that Jagex resorted to listing the minor ones on a thread in the RS Forums instead of announcing them on the website's main page. An update which did stand out though is easily the addition of content to the Champions' Challenge mini-game. New champions of different species have been added, including a Leprachaun Champion whom players could fight without a Challenge Scroll.

Next to the earlier drama at the Living Rock Caverns, my short battle with the Leprachaun proved to be completely anti-climatic. At level 32, the Champion really wasn't able to put up much of a fight, even though he adopted some rather underhanded tactics:

Ouch! With a target that large, how can you not miss? ;-)

Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:43 PM | Permalink

08 November 2009

Chance Encounter

I took this lovely screenshot of KingDuffy, one of top 21, while in the middle of one of my Farming rounds today.

But sadly, as with the rest of this week, my day beyond that chance encounter was quite uneventful. I had actually planned to visit the Duel Arena with Tiz and participate in the Tournament, but some reconnaissance work on Tiz's part revealed the Registrar area to be almost completely empty, even in the Tournaments server. Pathetic really, especially since the game is supposed to be more crowded on weekends.

Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:25 PM | Permalink

06 November 2009

Court Is In Session

I mostly mined and did little else today.

Jagex released no updates for this week, so I mostly stuck to skilling. An article in the Developer Blogs archive caught my attention though. The Jagex staff are presently working on yet another Distration & Diversion, which will involve the court house in Seers' Village. From what I've read, players will be playing the dual role of detective and lawyer, collecting evidence from crime scenes which will then be used to either prosecute or defend the accused.

Nothing has been said about its rewards, which has left me to wonder whether Jagex would choose to award players with easy exp just like the other Distractions & Diversions, or opt to take the more realistic approach of giving out legal fees to participants.

Stuff achieved today: Gained 200k Mining exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:16 PM | Permalink

04 November 2009

Agility Level Up

I got too impatient waiting for the Circus to reset, so I went ahead to the Ape Atoll Agility Arena to clear the small exp gap to level 81 Agility.

I received not one but two messages in my Adventurer Log. Apparently, getting all stats to at least 81 is considered an achievement as well. But the level up's significance doesn't end there; I've unlocked a new shortcut in the Relleka Slayer Caves and my timing was excellent when taking the screenshot of the level up.

Stuff achieved today: Level 81 Agility

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:48 PM | Permalink

02 November 2009

Halloween Event 2009

I've completed the Halloween Event, albeit belatedly.

Unlike last year, Jagex did not bundle a quest along with it, though they have compensated for this by making the event itself more elaborate.

The premise is standard enough. The Grim Reaper is once more recruiting adventurers to assist him in his household chores and the portal to his abode has materialised just South of Falador. The Lord of Death tasked me to get rid of a spider in his bathroom, which I meekly obeyed after deciding that that would've been the healthier option.

However, the said task wasn't so straightforward. The giant spider which had lodged itself in the Grim Reaper's bathtub refused to budge, and explained in a series of monosyllabic responses that it was under the instruction of the Spider Queen to remain there. But rather than kill the obnoxious creature, I took the more diplomatic action of searching for the Spider Queen and asking her to make the spider leave.

Grim was so kind as to open up a portal to some spider dimension, but I was on my own after that. I had to navigate through two mazes before reaching the Spider Queen in her chamber, who then explained that she had sent her minion to the Grim Reaper's bathroom because he had offended her by removing all the spider webs from his house.

Me in the spider realm; the portal from which I entered from is still visible.

I negotiated with the giant arachnid and she agreed to get her minion to leave if I decorated the mansion with the webs. To aid me, she ordered one of her subjects, a (relatively) tiny spider named Eek, to travel back to Grim's house. What followed was a very tedious task of coating 64 pieces of furniture all over the two story building with cobwebs. Jagex should've probably cut down on this needlessly long segment of the holiday event, as it was only a dull chore unlike navigating through the mazes from earlier.

Me speaking with the Spider Queen.

The Halloween Event concluded with me reporting back to the Spider Queen and receiving a cloak made out of spider webs as a token of her gratitude. Eek, the small helper spider, also decided to remain with me in my travels.

Stuff achieved today: Completed Halloween Event

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:38 PM | Permalink

31 October 2009

Halloween Plans

It's finally the 31st, but I still haven't gotten round to completing the Halloween Event.

I knew as early as the first day of its release that the event's reward would involve a cape of some sort; a fact made obvious by the number of players running around with it. But Mat's hinted that we'll also be getting some type of pet. It'll probably be Halloween themed, so my Ex-Ex Parrot will have some company in the menagerie soon enough.

Besides hoping to finish the holiday event before the end of the weekend, I also aim to get a handful of level ups by Monday. Agility is now almost in the bag with a minuscule 3k exp gap, after I completed this week's Circus performance. I can continue hunting for penguin spies, which recently have been made more conspicuous thanks to their Halloween pumpkin costumes, to get enough penguin points for level 81 Runecrafting. Meanwhile, I should be able to train my way to level 92 Mining tomorrow.

Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:08 PM | Permalink

29 October 2009

What Happens In Canting...

... Stays in Canting.

Not!

Several months ago, Mat started a thread in the Blessings forums, which invited clan members to post screenshots of any witty or wacky conversation snippets that take place in Blesschat. The thread has now died, but not before being visited by a number of contributors.

I don't really have any plans to revive it, but I've been spending a lot of time in Canting, and thanks to Mat's thread, I've been making it a point to take a screenshot of any piece of conversation I find particularly amusing. I only have three at the moment, but I'll post them here anyway.