Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

30 April 2007

Who Says Men Can't Wear Jewellery?

Last game update of April was released today.

A new type of jewellery, the bracelet, has been made available. Like the existing rings, amulets and necklaces, they can be enchanted to give some special effects for the wearer. The Dragonstone bracelet, for example, can be enchanted to become the bracelet of Combat, a useful little device which allows the user to teleport to places such as the Warrior's Guild. Another useful bracelet, made out of Onyx, can even double the recovery rate of the wearer.

Jagex also updated the necklaces. Previously, it was only the Emerald and Sapphire necklaces which could be enchanted, but gems all the way up to Onyx have now been finally given a use (unenchanted jewellery have no special effects).

I'm thinking of getting a few pieces of this new jewellery after their prices have settled down. The annoying thing about most newly introduced items is that they cost a shitload during the first couple of weeks of their release. Fortunately for me though, I have a friend who has Lvl 99 Crafting, so I might be able to get him to make the jewellery for free if I provide him the materials (I hope they're cheap!).

Looking forward to May's updates, Jagex!


Stuff ahcieved today: Lvl 86 Firemaking

Posted by Timothy Gold at 6:44 PM |

26 April 2007

Another Slice of HAM

Finally got round to doing the latest installment of the cave goblin quest storyline, Another Slice of HAM.

In a previous post, I talked about the city of the cave goblins, Dorgesh-Kaan, opening up to the surface dwellers (humans) after living underground in secret for thousands of years. In Another Slice of HAM, these goblins also start to open up to the dwarves, and try to establish a trade route by building an underground railway system to the dwarven city of Keldagrim. The construction of the railway tracks goes well, until half way during the building, an entire section of the tunnel was discovered to contain a whole wealth of ancient goblin artifacts.


My character helping out during the excavation of the goblin artifects.

The building of the railway is delayed while goblin archaeologists excavate the relics. However, pressure is put on them to hurry as the dwarven engineers wanted to finish building the trade route as soon as possible. My character then volunteers to help out in the excavation to speed things up, and ends up finding an ancient goblin mace as well as all kinds of other artifacts.

The mace found had several strange symbols on it, which the local cave goblin scribe could not decipher. It was then decided that Zanik, one of the major characters of the last chapter of the storyline, accompany me to the goblin generals, living on the surface, to ask them about the strange symbols.

Later at the goblin village, the goblin generals immediately recognised the relic to be a weapon, formerly used during the God Wars, by the toughest of goblin warriors. They also mentioned that the mace had the power to drain the prayer of opponents, or "steal the God's favour". Half way through the discussion, the four of us were interrupted by this other goblin, claiming to have prophetic dreams of Zanic, holding the mace, with crowds of goblins cheering her on. The goblin claimed that she was to be the next holy commander of the goblins (the goblins haven't had one since the God Wars) .

Interestingly enough, in the previous quest, it was revealed that Zanic had some sort of important "destiny" to fulfill. The goblin's claims still shocked both Zanic and my character, and the generals immediately shouted for all the villagers to come and gather before the new "holy commander". The generals then ask her to make a speech.


Me fighting off the two HAM snipers.

Both startled and skeptical, Zanic tries to deny the far-fetched claim. Before she finished speaking, arrows and magical spells rain from above, killing two goblins among the crowd. This sends the entire village into panic, and they flee. Zanic and my character spot the attackers, two HAM (humans against monsters) snipers perched on a nearby tower. The HAM members had been the quest's antagonists since the beginning of the entire storyline, so in order to defend the goblins from the new threat HAM was posing, I went up to the tower and defeated both snipers.


Sigmund wielding a sword close to Zanic's neck.

However, the snipers were only a distraction. Back down on the ground, Sigmund, the leader of HAM himself, appeared and duelled Zanic. He successfully defeats and uses her as a human shield before I had a chance to retaliate. Sigmund then reveals that his motive was to capture Zanic, tie her up to the railway tracks and watch her die as the train runs over her. With the death of Zanic, a prominent figure of the cave goblins, Sigmund hoped to spark a conflict between Dorgesh-Kaan and Keldagrim, and cause a war to start between the two races, goblin and dwarf.


The duel between my character and Sigmund, leader of HAM.

After finishing his little monologue, Sigmund escapes. With the help of two goblin sergeants sent by the generals, I got past several HAM guards and reached the spot where Sigmund had tied up Zanic. I proceeded to fight off the despicable HAM leader. My initial blows dealt no damage, as Sigmund constantly used prayers to parry both my melee-based and magic-based attacks. I then grabbed the mace, which was in my inventory, and then attacked him with it, effectively draining his prayer. Now virtually defenceless, I swiftly whittle his hitpoints down until he finally decided to make another escape. I then quickly freed Zanic just as the train arrived.

With the HAM members gone and Zanic safe, the official opening of the railway stations was conducted, and the Dorgesh-Kaan - Keldagrim trade route was successfully established.


A crowd of goblins and dwarves cheer as the train station is officially
opened.

The quest was brilliant. It has rekindled my interest in the cave goblin quest series, and it was very evident that much thought had been placed in creating every single aspect of the new update. Great job, Jagex! I look forward to seeing part 4 come out soon.


Stuff achieved today: Completed Another Slice of HAM

Posted by Timothy Gold at 7:29 PM |

24 April 2007

Utter Bull Shit

The school is planning yet another compulsory camp for me this year, sometime in August.

Last year's ACE camp was a huge disaster, and I'm not expecting any better for this one, especially since it'll be at least a day longer. My school's PE teachers seemed rather passionate about this whole thing though. One of them, whom I shall refer to as Mr N, flared up when two students laughed at the whole idea. He must've been yelling at everyone for at least 5 painstakingly slow minutes before finally leaving.

This other PE teacher, Mr A, then stepped in to explain to us all why Mr N had taken the camp so seriously. Mr A patiently went on to tell us about the values it'd help us learn along the way; values which cannot be learnt inside a classroom. Values like leadership. Therefore, by expressing our indifference towards the camp, Mr N naturally got really, really pissed off.

Mr A didn't say this to us in an accusatory tone, and I guess I have to respect and commend him for that. However, I can't quite bring myself to agree with him about the whole leadership building concept that these set of camps (the ACE camp, this year's camp and next year's) promise to imbue in us.

My first impression of the camps back in secondary 2 (check the November 2006 archives) wasn't great. The ACE camp, which I was forced to attend, seemed a lot more like an obedience boot camp instead of the holistic crash course for leadership everyone had expected. Practically everybody was bossed around and yelled at by the camp instructors, for every little screw up. It wasn't a pleasant ordeal, and I certainly don't recall any oppurtunities given to us which encouraged leadership. Sure, it did help us learn more about outdoor survival skills, but I hate the way the school makes it seem like such a big deal, when in reality, the camps can't even achieve many of their main aims.

These leadership promoting camps can be summarised in two words - Utter BS.

Well, that's my rant. I promise I'll stay on topic in my next post and talk more about Runescape, but I just really needed to get this whole thing off my chest first.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing particuarly interesting

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:12 PM |

22 April 2007

The Fire Cape - Some Initial Planning

Some bad news. As it turns out, I'll have to spend an estimated 1.3 million coins to buy the neccesary equipment for every trip to get the Fire Cape. This figure can easily double, or even triple, if I were to fail my first and second attempt to kill that Lvl 702 monster.

However, I do have some encouraging I just found out recently. Players, with a combat lvl only in the mid-90s, have been able to acquire the cape on their first attempt. As my lvl is already 109, my success rate would definitely be far greater. Their Range lvls also weren't that high; at lvl 71-73, I would deem them as merely mediocre. Mine is currently only at 66 (I lvled up today!), and I plan to stop at 70, which isn't far off from that 71-73 target range.


Only 4 more levels!

At the moment, my best bet to Lvl 70 Range would be playing the minigame, Pest Control. As long as I win a majority of my games (whcih isn't too difficult), I'll be able to gain Ranging experience efficiently, as well as give a boost to my Melee Combat stats.

Buying the equipment (A good bow, ammunition, potions to help me out etc.) is another thing I would have to take care of, but I guess it can wait until I get the appropriate stats to defeat those monsters.


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 66 Range

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:45 PM |

21 April 2007

I Am A Runite Smithy!

Okay, sorry everyone for the slightly late entry. I'm about 7 minutes late in posting (this post is for Friday, the 20th of April, not the 21st!).

Anywho, my time management is a bit screwed up at the moment. School and Runescape have really been taking a toll on my limited free time, and my Church has added extra pressure on me. I have to design the decor and furniture of this lot the Church recently rented. Not that I'm complaining or anything; I mean, I actually volunteered to do the task in the first place. However, I now have to squeeze this whole desgining thing into my already tight schedule, and I'm finding this to be quite a hassle. It's times like this when I wonder why a day can't be more than 24 hours long.



But enough with my rant. It'll pass. These little tight spots I get myself into, always do. The more pressing issue right now is that I've finally become a Runite Smither. My many weeks of making cannonballs have come to this - Level 85 Smithing, as well as the title of a Rune Smither.


"You can now make Rune Daggers" Oh whoppee dee, Jagex. Come on guys,
surely you can put up something better than that. This is a very special
moment for me, as well as all the other Rune smithers!

As Rune is weaker than the Dragon and Barrows armour I currently own, I doubt I'd be mass producing Runite equipment anytime soon. But it's still a great feeling, knowing that I can create something out of Runescape's toughest 'smith-able' metal.


Stuff ahcieved today: Lvl 85 Smithing, Lvl 77 Slayer

Posted by Timothy Gold at 12:06 AM |

18 April 2007

Thank Jagex for Castlewars

Played 3 rounds of Castlewars with my clan today, and had a fantastic time.

I won the first 2 rounds but lost the third, but I suppose 2 outta 3 ain't so bad. And ironically, though, my performance was the best in the round I had lost in. The first two rounds were spent on cheap thrills; I killed lower lvled players, players whom really didn't have much of an effect on the overall score.

It was fun, but I doubt I was doing much for the team, but anyway, it was the last round where tension really started to build up. The team I was in, lacked an effective player to capture the enemy's flag and score. The enemy's defences were also pretty strong; you had to get past a Lvl 120+, a couple of Ancient Mages, rows of barricades, as well as over a dozen "regular" opposing team members constantly attacking you. My team's points remained at 0 for almost half the game, until I finally decided to give it a go as a scorer.

I won't go too much into it, but I definitely owned. In the end, despite having a terrible start, my team gave the enemy a very tough fight, with a final score of 3:4.



Also pleased to announce that I gained a Prayer Lvl today while fighting Moss Giants. It didn't really change my combat lvl much, but at least having a higher Prayer would make things easier for me when getting that Fire Cape.


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 68 Prayer

Posted by Timothy Gold at 8:47 PM |

16 April 2007

A New Goal

Came back late from school today, but I still had enough time to complete two Slayer tasks.

Half way during the first task, while killing those pesky Lesser Demons, my combat level rose to 109 after I upped my Strength lvl (91 to 92). Despite hitting the F12 key repeatedly when that lvl up message appeared, I was unable to take the screenshot of the whole thing (apparently, there was some lag time in between).


My character fighting off a Lesser demon.

Rather annoyed about that, after all it's only 700k exp till my next Strength lvl up, but at least I'm now a wee bit closer to reaching Lvl 110+ for combat. The Fire Cape, a mark of a true warrior, is also now almost within my reach. In order to obtain that cape, I have to kill wave after wave of monsters without taking any breaks (that means no bank trips to get more food!), and finally come face to face with a Lvl 702 boss, and defeat it.

Although I had initially not expressed much interest in obtaining the Fire Cape, that lvl up I got today just somehow made me take it more seriously. My main obstacle right now is training my Range to a more decent lvl, since fighting the boss monster upclose using melee attacks would be suicide (and maging it would be too slow). Currently, this is just a thought I came up with mere hours ago; but I hope to work towards reaching this goal by the end of the year (or perhaps even sooner).


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 92 Strength (109 Combat)

Posted by Timothy Gold at 8:44 PM |

14 April 2007

Timmeh G Turns 3!

Woohoo! My Runescape birthday is finally here, and today, Timothy Gold turns 3! And so much was done during this span of 1095 days.

I've slain tens of thousands of Gielinor's foulest beasts.

I've endured countless hours of grindage to push my stats up.

I've transformed the bronze axe, dagger, and sword, as well as the few runes I started out with, into a bank account with a networth of approximately 500 million coins.

I've made myself a huge circle of loyal friends.

I've achieved the title of Quest Master and am now a prominent figure in many of Runescape's storylines.


My attack plummetted after I downed a few kegs of beer to mark the occasion.

And umm, sorry you have to put up with my bragging, people, but this is a very special occasion for me. So far, a few of my friends have given me birthday presents. One of them (from real life) actually drew me a special RS birthday cake (thanks again Vik, you own!), and the other guy, whom I met a mere 3 days ago, gave me some Gnome cocktails, seeds, pizzas, lobsters and sharks. He, Bruce Lee1, is possibly the nicest RS player I've ever met. I initially turned down his very generous gifts, and must've stared at that trade screen for 5 minutes before he eventually convinced me that (I quote), "it is rude to turn down gifts".


Bruce Lee1 wishing me a happy birthday at Midnight, Saturday.

I'm not trying to say that it's the most expensive presents which win me over. Essentially, no matter how cliche it sounds, it is really only the thought that counts. I value all the stuff I got today not because they've made me several thousand coins richer(I'm rich enough as it is, thank you very much), but because I know I've got so many people backing me up and supporting me during these 3 years.

Soo uhh, yeah. Thanks a lot guys; the prezzies mean a lot to me.


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 84 Firemaking

Posted by Timothy Gold at 8:36 PM |

12 April 2007

Olaf's Quest

Yeah okay, so I finally have the time to do "Olaf's Quest", an update which was just released on Tuesday.

Although the quest took me back to Rellekka, home of the Fremenniks (they are involved in quite a number of quests), it was merely a new, "individual" adventure rather than a sequel of a current, ongoing plot; and I was quite disappointed about that. Storyline was also quite simplistic; after helping out a Fremennik sailor named Olaf Hradson, I was given a map which was supposed to lead to hidden treasure.



After getting past an underground cave filled with Fremennik zombies, I arrive at this wreckage of a ship. And in it, contained a chest. I tried to open it but a zombie, which turned out to be the ship's captain, suddenly rises from its grave (which was located next to the ship) and starts attacking me.


It wasn't a tough fight; I easily dispatched the foul creature. I finally got my reward and completed the quest after I searched the chest for a second time. As you probably have already noticed, this was a rather simple quest. A pity; considering the fact that I had expected so much more. Rewards were quite generous though and the new cave is fantastic, so it wasn't all that bad.



Stuff achieved today: Completed Olaf's Quest

Posted by Timothy Gold at 8:35 PM |

10 April 2007

Boo Fucking Hoo

Really screwed up the English oral test today, and my Chinese teacher has asked me to re-do the piece of homework I spent all night doing yesterday. Can't believe my luck... And friday the 13th isn't even here yet!

Real life sucked, but the virtual world turned out ok; more or less at least. I spent most of the evening Smithing, and was tempted to try out the new quest released today. But due to time constraints, I decided against it. So yeah, it was a pretty dull, pain and simple day - trouble at school, boredom at home.

I'm a little optimistic about tomorrow though, since school'll end at least an hour and a half early (the teachers have to go for some course). I'm sure that will help perk my mood up a little...


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:40 PM |

09 April 2007

Founder's Day

Well, it's Monday again so it was back to school for me. No lessons today though since it was my school's 155th anniversary.

As a member of the Computer Club, I was assigned to video-tape the "Founder's Day" events. It was a little tedious, but hey, I'm not complaining. I've used this as an excuse to skip the 50m sprint I was supposed to take part in, as well as this Chinese Oral Test (methinks I'm going to get a zero, but I really can't give a fuck).

Also reached home surprisingly early at 12.00pm later during the day, and had even more time to up my stats (weekend really didn't do much, I spent too much time at the Tzaar Fight Pits instead of training). I still have quite a bit of homework to complete, so I've resorted to Smithing and working on it simultaniously in order to save time. Hope to be done with it before bedtime. Tomorrow's a big day for me and I need to be fully awake; I'm taking this English Oral test which counts for a certain percentage of my English grade this term.


Stuff achieved today: Reached 10 million Farming exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 7:00 PM |

06 April 2007

Good Friday


The Easter Bunny

I tried out the Easter event late last night, and it was reasonably fun I suppose. The crowd had more or less cleared up, and there were only a few people there trying to finish it up.


See that small creature over there? It's one of the enchanted chocolate
kebbits I was talking about.

The Easter Bunny was being lazy as usual and did not wish to personally deliver chocolate to the children of Runescape, so he decided to order some self-delivering, enchanted chocolate rabbits from Diango. Unfortunately, due to a communication problem, a crate of chocolate kebbits (a creature that can be hunted by the Hunter skill) was sent to him instead. These kebbits, which were also enchanted, managed to escape, and the Easter Bunny needed me to help him find those kebbits, and break them into pieces so that they can be re-moulded into rabbits. The event took half an hour and was a partial reason of me sleeping late.


At one point of the holiday event, my character had to transform into a
rabbit.

Well, anyway, nothing remotely festive happened on Good Friday itself. Some guy tried to scam me today. Those cheats have definitely dropped to a new low. Damn them; they could've at least waited until after Easter. Hard to imgaine that Christ allowed himself to be crucified in order to save such a sorry bunch of jerk-offs. Fuck the scammers!


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 82 Firemaking

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:15 PM |

05 April 2007

Easter's Up Ahead

I took this Chemistry practical test today, and I have a strong feeling that I aced it. This definitely was the cherry on top of the school day, considering the fact that I ended up breaking one of the lab apparatus during my first visit to the Chem Laboratory.



I was also fortunate enough to get two lvl ups (Defence and Smithing) in Runescape today. That, plus the 3-day weekend ahead of me, really pushed my mood up. This extra time could certianly come in handy... You won't believe the amount of homework my teachers have given me.


I got this Lvl up whilist playing Castlewars.

I also have that holiday event to take care; and from what I've heard, it doesn't seem that promising compared to previous events. You get to learn this "Bunny Hop" emote (which my character already unlocked from last Easter) and receive a chicken suit of some kind, as a reward for completing it.

I know that wearing holiday rewards are supposed to be for aesthetic reasons, but I can't help but wish that Jagex would choose something which is more relavent to the holiday itself. I mean seriously, a chicken suit, Jagex? Is that how you want players to remember Easter 2007 in Runescape by? Come on guys, terribly sorry for the rant, but you can definitely do better than that...


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 83 Defence, Lvl 84 Smithing

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:07 PM |

02 April 2007

We Came, We Saw, We Owned

I went on my second official clan PK trip just yesterday, and it was a huge success.


The four of us at the deepest part of the free world Wilderness. From left
to right: Me, Titus, my sis, Demongirl

In all, four members, including, I showed up. We wandered deeper and deeper into the Wilderness, looking for potential victims. Demongirl, one of the members of the group, managed to kill some guy along the way. Doubt the drops were any good, but it certainly did serve as a morale boost for the clan.


Owned P10x? (Translation - Yep, he's dead)

Anyway, after arriving at our destination, the Runite mines, we saw yet another stray pker wandering just North of the area. It was 4 to 1, and the poor fellow didn't stand a chance. We later killed another player (but got nothing but shrimps) near the mines, and even battled two other small clans who were already battling each other by the time we arrived. They got away, but it was fun Fire Blasting their sorry asses (my idea of a cheap thrill).


This poor fella didn't even stand a chance.

This successful trip has really gotten my confidence in the clan up, but it still faces a really serious problem - a lack of members. I've tried getting my classmates to join, but they weren't in to all pking and stuff. Can't blame though, but I was still really disappointed with that.

Alright then, I guess I'm finished with the clan stuff.

Jagex released an April Fool's version of the monthly "Behind the Scenes" announcements yesterday. It mentioned all sorts of ridiculous game updates for the month, which involved cabbages. It was hilarious; Jagex promised everything from mutant cabbage monsters to a new type of cabbage armour. This, being an April Fool's joke, was all fake of course, and a genuine "Behind the Scenes" edition has since replaced it, earlier today.

A holiday event for Easter has also been released. Not too sure what the event involves, but I'll go try it out in a couple days as soon as the crowds clear. Can't take good screenshots with players blocking my view, now can I?


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 8:53 PM |




Looking For Group
I want my Chameleon now!