The Chronicles of Runescape

Whole day was mostly spent smithing cannonballs as usual, in fact, I even managed to reach level 82. I was also able to manage a few trades and sell off most of my Ranarr Weeds. In order for potential traders to contact me, I had to leave my private chat on, and this had the unfortunate effect of allowing some of the more annoying players to send messages to me.

Some beggar I met a while ago pmed me asking if I could make Rune armour, a friend announced a string of level ups she had successfully reached which I really couldn't give a damn about, while another wanted me to switch servers, and teleport to her location just to show her my Fishing cape. This other guy at the furnace, where I was smithing, was also being an exceptional pain. He kept asking for free stuff!

I was really irritated - I couldn't even properly relax and de-stress while playing.

For now, I think I'll just seek some solitude by re-reading one of my Harry Potter books. Beats having to deal with a server full of noobs. Hmm, I hope J. K. Rowling releases her 7th book soon...

Stuff achieved today: Lvl 82 Smithing

Alright, here are a few updates in the real world. First of all, regarding the scambaiting thing, I have been keeping my word so far. Whilist I had promised that I'd stop conversing with the scammers, this did not stop me from accepting John's calls, but not talk.

He's called around 10 bloody times so far, and I responded by recording as many of his "Hello? Hello? Are you there, Mr xxxx?" messages before he hung up. As for my test results; it's been over a week since I've taken them and so far, I've yet to receive my History and Social Studies grades. Chances are, I'll have to wait until next week to find out, which means that it'll be another few days before I will display all my results in the blog.

With that said, I will now proceed to the more RS-oriented stuff. As mentioned in my previous post, I was able to complete the new quest, The Tower of Life. Didn't have much of a backstory to it, it was pretty much just about three Alchemists hiring builders to build this tower. Halfway through the building's construction, the builders refused to continue working for some reason which I can't quite recall.

As for the bitter part, well... I guess I really have to blame my parents for that one. About two weeks ago, I decided to try out scambaiting (see my 9 February post), which is actually an Internet sport of making a fool out of scammers on the net.

I successfully baited this lady who was supposedly dying of breast cancer. She gave me a load of bull shit regarding some family inheritance she wanted to transfer to me, and having only 6 months to live.

She later introduced John buki, her lawyer, to me. Shortly after that, John made it known to me that I required a certificate which confirmed that I was breast cancer lady's next of kin, in order to be able to collect the inheritance. Some other documents were also required, but I won't go into those. Anyway the point was, I needed $1650 to pay for all that shit.

John got a little impatient with my delayed emails (my way of pissing them off, really), and requested for my phone number. I gave it to him, and barely a few hours later, bam! I get a call straight from Africa (that's where most scammers originate from). John then proceeded to asking me for the money, and I, speaking in a slightly Brit accent, told him that I'd transfer it to him by the following day.

My mom heard our conversation, and didn't seem to mind. It was only a while later, when she told my dad, that things really started to get out of hand. My parents disapproved of my engagement with those criminals. They were afraid that the scammer(s) would trace the call back to my address, come over, and screw me. I guess their argument was pretty valid; it was quite rash of me to disclose my number.

What I couldn't stand though, was the fact that they forbade me to scambait even through email. I asked them about the possibilities of scammers being able to trace my fake email address back to me. All I got was a warning of the dangers I face if I met one of those scammers in real-life (that didn't answer my question...). In the end, whenever I asked about scammers being able to kill me just by finding out a fake email address, the argument just fell back to me giving away my phone number.

Fact was, my parents did not want me to scambait at all, but had no way of properly rebutting my reasonable compromise. There really wasn't any danger involved just by contacting them through email, but both mom and dad, with their limited knowledge of the virtual world, did not realise this (they didn't even know the definition of the word "scam" before I explained its meaning to them). They also insisted on keeping their pride.

Instead of the "We are not very experienced in the Internet even if you are, but to ease our worries, we would like you to stop scambaiting" message I had hoped to receive, I got more of a "We are adults, and therefore, are right about the dangers of emailing even without any of the personal information" kind of message. I just hated the way they were trying to prove me wrong, instead of just admitting their worries and requesting that I'd respect their feelings and put a stop to their anxiety.

The argument continued, but I knew I couldn't possibly change their minds, so I gave in and agreed to stop scambaiting. Definitely wasn't too pleased in the outcome, although my parents clearly were (must be a great ego boost knowing that you're both ultimately still in control).

My mom even went as far as to remark "you will agree with us when you are older" as I was about to return to my room. Bah, sorry mummy, but the both of you are just infants in the cyber world, having fears based on ignorance instead of hard, solid facts. I'll take this lying down for now, just don't take my patience for granted.


Stuff achieved today: Completed the Tower of Life quest, Lvl 95 Farming

Well, I think that I've really been talking too much about my exams for the last few posts. I apologise for that; it's just that I have hardly anything to talk about in RS and the exams have really eaten into my gaming time. And today, unfortunately, is no different. I tried out the newly released mini-game; I hated it, and was back smithing cannonballs 10 minutes later.

Right now, I'm considering taking a break from Smithing after I have my next lvl up. I can't put up with it much longer since the rate of which I gain exp, whilist training this stat, is very slow. Fletching, Combat and Thieving are pretty good choices. Still have to decide which one to pick though.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

On a lighter note, I'm doing quite well back in Runescape despite this stressful period. I recently reached Lvl 80 Smithing, and am now able to make Adamantite battleaxes. My Farming's also quite close to another lvl up; I should expect to reach 95 sometime next week. The holidays coming up (Chinese New Year) should give me more time to raise these two stats.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing special

Stuff achieved today: Lvl 79 Smithing