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26 August 2007

See Ya On Friday!

I'm leaving for a 5-day camp immediately tomorrow morning. Despite being a day longer, there are still hopeful signs that it'll be more enjoyable compared to last year's ACE Camp.

I, of course, won't have any access to a computer whilst I'm away, so you won't be hearing from me until Friday, earliest (I may be too tired to post on the day I come back). I'll try not to think too much of the amount of potential gaming time lost, and endure those 5 days as painlessly as possible.


My new Marble cape rack.

I am pleased to say, however, that I've managed to get a new Marble cape rack sometime during the weekend, and was able to keep my Fletching Cape there to free up some bankspace for my other items. The rack didn't come cheap; I had to buy a flatpack off a player because I didn't have the Construction to build my own. Still, its storage capacity, as well as appearance, is definitely far better than my old Mahogany one.

I've also finally decided on a new stat to train now that my Fletching has been maxed out. Fighting Lvl 167 Monkey Guards at the temple in Ape Atoll has gotten me quite a substantial of combat (mainly Strength) exp. I've found that constantly using the conviniently close altar to recharge my Prayer Points served as an effective way of minimizing damage.


Me battling two Monkey guards at the temple of Marimbo in Ape Atoll.

I can just switch on my Protect from Melee Prayer (as well as other stat boosting Prayers), and happily watch those max lvled monsters hit 0s on me. I'm planning to reach Lvl 94 Strength as soon as I get back from my camp, and highly recommend this method of combat training.

Till then, happy Runescaping, everyone!


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 90 Hitpoints (and Lvl 111 Combat!)

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:46 PM |

25 August 2007

Security Breached


A shocking sight - Has my account somehow been hacked into?

Had one of the biggest scares of my life last night.

I had keyed-in my username and password and pressed the login button when the following message appeared:

"Your account is already logged in. Try again is 60 seconds..."

I clicked on the button several times, but that line of text kept popping up, and I wasn't able to access my account. Immediately, fearing that there was a hacker on Timmy G, I panicked. I did several things from asking my sister to log in so that I can check her friends list (I wanted to trick the hacker into logging out), to changing my password.

It was only later when I did a search in the Runescape forums, and finally found out that I, along with several other players, was merely experiencing a server problem. I was greatly relieved upon discovering this.

However, I still think that Jagex should've made an attempt to inform players of this problem. The server bug had caused widespread panic among the unlucky Runescapers who had experienced it. Just a short notice to assure their players that they were not getting hacked, could've helped immensely.

I'm still extremely thankful with the safety of my items though. Don't know what I'd do if my Red Partyhat was stolen.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 100k Strength exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 4:43 PM |

23 August 2007

The Fletching Cape



Got back the rest of my test results. Grades of subjects like Chinese and Physics were abysmal.

Initially an A1 and 2nd position in class, I somehow managed to get the latter down to a pathetic C5. Chinese, well; the F9 I got was hardly surprising. At least I'm no longer last in class like in the previous term. Will try harder for the Final Year Exams. They're what really count anyway; but I'll never forgive myself if I screw up this badly again.


My friend, Teh Wiznitch, congratulating me.

On a much lighter note, I finally reached Level 99 Fletching today. Earlier, I had planned to get it up on Friday instead, but my friend, Wiznitch, was free and I was only 5k exp away from maxing it out anyway. So we both met up at the Ranged Guild, and I lvled up there. Really was sweet of him to take the time to come down there for the screenshot. He also went to Catherby with me to get the Achievement Cape.

All that's left to do now is to decide the skill(s) I'm going to seriously train next. I don't intend on pushing myself for any Level 99s yet (already got three this year alone), but I do have a number of stats like Melee and Magic combat I'm considering raising. I also need to build a new Cape Rack in my house since my current Mahogany rack doesn't have enough room for the new cape.


My character performing the emote of the Fletching
Cape.

I'll settle these issues tomorrow. I want to get everything done before I leave for my 5-day Internetless camp next week.


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 99 Fletching

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:53 PM |

22 August 2007

Polls

Latest Runescape polls have been up for a few days now, so I decided cast my vote. This week's selection of questions were rather interesting.

Players were asked what their first holiday item was. Surprisingly, 28% of the voters had selected items which were released on Christmas 2004 or sooner. Assuming that these results are accurate, this could probably mean that roughly a quarter of the Runescape population started playing around the same time I did, if not sooner. For a guy who has been hooked to this RPG since April 2004, this is definitely quite an amazing figure, even if all voters were members.

And as if to confirm my comment about Farming "turn(ing) people off" in one of my previous posts, the skill actually topped the list with 22% of the votes in the poll question, "Which skill do you find the least entertaining to train?". But I guess I should be thankful for that; the less people who train it, the less Level 99 Farmers I'll see, which should prevent the novelty of my Farming Cape from wearing off.

In great contrast, Cooking which only received 1% of the votes, has over 23000 players who have maxed out the stat, compared to Farming, with roughly 350. Fletching faired no better with a 2% vote and 22000+ players who are Level 99. Still wouldn't mind getting that cape though. Definitely can't wait.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 7:57 PM |

20 August 2007

Good News & Bad News

Just got back some of my results of my common tests. And I unfortunately fell short of a number of my targets.

The #1 title for Chemistry which I've kept for the last two terms has been very painfully been stripped away from me by roughly 10 people in my class. I still got my A1, but a number of my classmates were still able to score even higher. Additional Mathematics was cool I guess. Although I had initially planned to attain a perfect grade, I'm still ecstatic with the 96% I got - a vast improvement compared to the previous school term.

Elective Literature, which I had scored a B4 in, seemed rather mediocre, but then again, the class generally screwed up, and I'm not that strong in my Humanities subjects anyway. The fourth and last result I received today was English. Managed to get 70 marks; a borderline distinction which I'm quite pleased with. I'll keep everyone informed of the results of my other five subjects. Don't expect much though. In fact, I'm currently praying that they won't pull down my average grade that much.

Oh, and besides the usual skilling, I can't really say that much took place today. I only arrived home at 5.45pm anyway, so there wasn't much time for Runescaping. Hope I'll have more time on my hands tomorrow.

I must try to make full use of the days I have left before that dreaded camp next week. Ugh!


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:14 PM |

19 August 2007

An Interesting Sunday

My friend, Lord Simple, finally reached his long term goal of Lvl 99 Farming. And I dropped by at the celebration party to personally congratulate him.


The crowd at Lord Simple's party.

Only stayed for 10 minutes since I had to leave for Church back in real life, but it was heartening to see so many people there who were also showing Simple their support. It also felt great, knowing that a friend is in to the same stuff as you are. Most players get turned off by Farming.


Lord Simple (guy wearing the White Partyhat) and I, standing next to
him.

Rest of the day went reasonably well. I sold off most of my entire stock of Ranarr Weeds, and was able to replenish my supply of seeds. Shortly after I had finished with my trades, this player named Miss Pat1 messaged me. Even though I really didn't have a clue about who she was, Pat invited me over to some drop party she was going to throw. She mentioned something about dropping over 55 million gp worth of stuff because she was quitting Runescape.

Being a bit slow when it comes to clicking randomly spawning items, I politely turned it down. She pressed on, until I finally gave in (I felt bad about her quitting, and the prospect of potentially pocketing a few valuable items was tempting). Immediately, she asked me to add her MSN account, which I did.

It was then when I suddenly got highly suspicious. I've had a similar situation happen to me before, when a complete stranger, also claiming to have known me, decides to talk to me using a non-Runescape chat system. That player wanted me to download a file, which, in the end, turned out to be a keylogger. My account was hacked, and I owed it all to pure luck that my valuable items happened to be in the bank.


The conversation between Pat and I on MSN. You might wanna click on
it for a larger view.

After engaging in some small talk, Pat tried to get me to accept a file from her. She said that is was some guest list thing I had to fill up, but I completely didn't buy it. It was very apparent that she was desperate to get me to download it. Pat sent the damned thing at least four times. I ended up blocking her in the end. Although I was tempted to, Pat was really lucky that I had decided to not flame her into a crisp.

Anyway, cheating scum aside, the progress of my Fletching training was, as usual, speedy. After making a few simple calculations, I estimate that I should be able to finally reach Lvl 99 on Friday.

My only concern now is finding a suitable friend who will be there with me for the screenshot of the level up. Air and Mat are out, because they're already in the Farming and Firemaking screenshot respectively. I'm considering asking Wiznitch, my Moderator friend. Gotta try to reach him before Friday.


Stuff achieved today: Loads of Fletching and Magic exp (sorry Vaskor, I forgot to check your exp tracker thing)

Posted by Timothy Gold at 6:33 PM |

17 August 2007

Aftermath

The onslaught of the common tests is over, but I think I ended it pretty badly.

Remember that Physics paper I was planning to top? I kinda ran out of time to finish up some of the questions, and hopes of the A1 I was trying to secure are now gone. And I find it unlikely to get first place with anything lower than that grade, even if the rest of the class had also complained about running out of time.

Anyway, my rare merchanting status so far is pretty good. Red Partyhats have dropped in value quite significantly, but I was able to sell off the Yellow one I bought yesterday, to make a 1.75 million gp profit. My Fletching and Magic training's also going great as usual. I admit, it's rather dull chopping up logs and then high alching them all evening, but it'll be all worth it when I get that Fletching Cape, as well as the ability to cast Ice Barrage at Lvl 94.


Ancient Mage Timmy

Still, Lvl 90 Magic is already a rather decent achievement, so I decided to use that as an excuse to switch to Ancient Magiks, and play three games of Castlewars using those spells. It ate up about an hour and a half of my time, as well as an estimated 250k (runes are expensive), but it was definitely worth it.


Me casting the Ice Burst spell on some enemies. Unfortunately, I've been
hit by that same spell as well.

It was certainly a very refreshing break after the common test period. Would definitely play Castlewars till my eyes bleed as soon as the school year ends. Secondary three has been so hectic.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:29 PM |

15 August 2007

Ranks

Some good news. I only have one paper left to sit for, and the ones I've already taken have gone pretty well.

I haven't gotten back their results back, with the exception of Elementary Mathematics, but judging by the ease at which I answered those test questions, I'm hoping to top the class in Chemistry, Biology and Additional Mathematics. I'm also targetting that #1 spot for tomorrow's Physics exam.

I've also been doing pretty well back in Runescape. Just this afternoon, after tending to my trees and herbs, I was able to reach rank 200 in the Farming highscores. Definitely a nice number, but I plan to continue pressing on for the 100th spot. I pray that it won't take that long...



Also, I am pleased to note that the RS community, in general, seem to like the Player Kit update. Many choose to walk around in their new standard clothing, and quite a number of players have gotten haircuts.

I plan to check out the all available outfits and hairstyles for women, using my level 4 female character. Best that I fully explore all features of this update before Thessalia and that Hairdresser start charging again.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:40 PM |

13 August 2007

Test Papers, Partyhats & Pretty Outfits

Quite a number of things have happened during the last couple of days.


A 424 million gp trade - my biggest deal ever.

To my amazement, Partyhats, as well as Santa Hats, have made a comeback, and their prices were at an all time high during the weekend. This has enabled me to sell off and buy these rares for the first time in over 8 months. I've made roughly 16 million gp by selling my Red Partyhat (purchased in July 2006), and another 500k after buying and then immediately trading a Yellow Partyhat on Saturday.

I've also earned a 400k profit so far, after selling two of my five Santa Hats. And future rare trades which reap in equally significant profits look promising, as their prices are currently fluctuating wildly.

Also, this school term's common test period has finally arrived. I sat for my Elementary Mathematics, Social Studies, and Literature paper today; and in spite of making a couple of screw-ups along the way, I think they went quite well. Hope to bag as many A1s as possible for all of them, including the subjects I've yet to be tested on.


I'm closing in on my seventh Cape of Achievement.

Fortunately, I haven't been too bogged down in my revision, and still was able to spend some time on Runescape today. Much to my delight, I managed to make a couple of level ups for Magic (now 90) and Fletching (now 98). I've now mastered the highest-lvled spell in the standard spellbook, and am one level up away from obtaining the Fletching Cape.


I am now able to cast Teleother Camelot.

I am also extremely pleased with the game update released this evening. Jagex has made new standard clothing and haircuts available to both free players and members. The wide variety and stylish designs of these new outfits have attracted many to Thessalia, owner of the Varrock clothes shop, as well as the Hairdresser in Falador.


Lookin' good



The new Player Kit/clothing interface.

I completely transformed my avatar with fine clothing, and a new haircut, whilst being careful to keep more relatively permanent features such as gender (!), hair colour and skin tone, in order to preserve the "general" look of my character.

Really content with this simple yet refreshing update. I've been looking forward to it, even long before jagex officially announced that it was going to be released.


My new look.


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 90 Magic, Lvl 98 Fletching

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:15 PM |

10 August 2007

A Word Of Caution

I cannot believe it; I actually handled another trust trade today.



One of my friends, being a Lvl 3 skiller, didn't have access to the Heroes and Legends Guild, so he requested that I help him recharge his Glory Amulets and Combat Bracelets. I returned him the stuff of course, but I can't help but feel a little annoyed about being tempted to steal so often for the last few days.



Something terrible happened earlier during the day though. I was fletching some Yew Longbows in the Falador East Bank, when this guy, 50k to 10m, suddenly traded me. He put up several random items in the tradescreen, announced that he had been scammed and was quitting Runescape, and then gave the stuff to me.


The items 50k had given me.

Feeling bad about the situation he was in (and being uncomfortable with accepting free stuff from strangers), I tried persuading the guy not to give up and to continue playing the game. I then attempted to return his items. Unfortunately, 50k politely refused my offer, and told me about how dreadful his predicament was.

Apparently, 50k had been playing the game for four years, and had had his Dark Bow stolen from him by a real-life friend. He also went into detail about all the other losses he's experienced throughout his time in Runescape. And I guess that was when I really began to pity and sympathise with him.


50k droppedseveral vials of Attack Potions on the
ground, to form the above text in the mini-map.

People get cheated all the time, and seeing that kind of stuff happen so often has desensitized me in a way. I've become quite jaded; I expect the worst out of the typical Runescaper. But when someone genuinely comes up to you and tells you all of his grievances, cynicsm melts away; and no matter how used you are to seeing stuff like that occur, you'll actually start to feel sad for the guy.


50k's last words before he finally logged out.

There is some good in the RS community, but let the fate of 50k's account serve as a word of caution to the naive. There are people out there who are more interested in pixels than moral principles. Don't get cheated, like 50k had been.


Stuff achieved today: Gained loads of Magic and Fletching exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:40 PM |

09 August 2007

Gotta Love National Day

National Day today, so no school.

It really feels great being a part of a country which, in spite of encountering so many problems (ranging from world war II to a lack of natural resources), still managed to become one of the most developed nations of the world.

Country advertising aside, I managed to get a lot of training done today, and gained massive Magic and Fletching exp. I'm also happy to announce that ever since I hit Level 99 Farming a couple of weeks ago, I've gained a total of over 85 ranks. A satisfying improvement which I'm very pleased with. Now ranked #219, I can expect to be among the top 200 Farmers soon.


Mat (wearing the blue hood) and I (the one in black), fighting the Lvl
90 (with the blue cape). Joekimmy and the Lvl 106 cannot be seen
from here, although the latter's Fire Blast spell is still visible.

Also, I've had one of the best pking trips with my clan today. Earlier this evening, we put the new clan chat system into proper use, and communication within the whole group was highly efficient.

We managed to kill several players. In fact, our most climatic fight occurred when we camped out at the Demonic Ruins. This enemy clan, consisting three to four Lvl 90s and 100s, swooped down, and launched a savage assault on us. Our group was separated. The rest left, while Matman, Joekimmy and I were left to deal with a Lvl 90+ and a Lvl 106. The two of them seemed to be concentrating their attacks on Mat, while we tried to take out the Lvl 90.


He was brought close to death twice, but still held out longer than Mat.
Lucky bugger.

Both sides fought valiantly, but Mat was unable to hold out, and died during the battle. The fight continued, until Joekimmy and I were able to strike down both of the players. Unfortunately, a third enemy pker came back, but we were still able to grab our spoils before making a hasty retreat.



It was definitely a very dynamic pking session. I hope to organise one more this week, on Saturday.


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 85 Defence

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:02 PM |

08 August 2007

Gotta Love Trust Trades

Did the most amazing thing yesterday.

My friend, Gaffa, passed me a total of 15 million gp and 18k+ Pure Essence so that I could help him transfer them into a separate account. I could've easily just nicked his stuff, and used the cash to buy a Dragonfire Shield or something, but my conscience somehow prevailed, and I returned Gaffa everything in the end. Never realised I had that kind of integrity. And I cannot believe I didn't take any screenshots of that shining moment.

It feels great when you know that someone trusts you that much.

And strangely enough, the same thing, on a much smaller scale, had also happened today. A complete stranger gave me an assortment of uncut and cut gems, and asked me to fletch them into bolt tips. He also passed me some coal and ore, and requested that I smelt them into bars for him (Adamant and Mithril). Even cooler still, he rewarded me with 500 eyes of newts after I did those favours for him.



Again, I didn't take any screenshots, but I do have a couple images of the Lvl ups I got today. Really fast progress for skills like Magic and Fletching. At the rate I'm going, I'll soon gain the ability to use the highest lvled spell in the Modern Magic Spellbook, Teleother Camelot, as well as getting the Fletching Cape.




Stuff achieved today: Lvl 66 Crafting, Lvl 89 magic, Lvl 97 Fletching

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:13 PM |

06 August 2007

New Runescape Interface

Woohoo! The new clan chat system is now up! Haven't used it yet, but my fellow Blessings members are really interested in creating a clan channel immediately.


With this new interface, players now have the option to toggle on/off
game messages, as well as private message multiple palyers at the same
time.

Jagex has also drastically changed the game's interface too. It'll be a little annoying trying to get used to this new screen thing, but the new features (including the clan chat) are pretty useful. As always with other updates, this new addition to the game has have fallen victim to a sizable number of complaints. Those players at the Rants Forum always have something to whine about...

Anyway, annoyingly, nothing else that's interesting happened today in Runescape. Pleased about the progress I'm making with Magic and Fletching though; maxing out the latter in a matter of 2-3 months is a real possibility. I just hope school won't get in the way.

There's just so much to worry about right now, with the common tests drawing ever closer. I'm concerned about the much needed revision that has to be done, should I hope for an improvement this term.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing particularly interesting

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:21 PM |

04 August 2007

No Rest For The Wicked

National Day's coming, which means a four-day weekend for me next week. Unfortunately, I still have much to worry about.

Instead of mad skilling, I plan to spend much of this extra-long break to revise my work, since the exams immediately start after that same Sunday. And even after sitting for those papers, I still will have to put up with some science practical test thing (which will be counted for the O Levels), as well as a compulsory camp, which is very likely to be the most strenuous of all camps I've taken part in thus far.

And even more bad news; apparently, in order to make up for lost lessons in preparation for the O Levels next year, the teachers have decided to drastically shorten my end-of-year school holidays. Instead of starting sometime in late October, it'll now begin in mid November, effectively cutting off three weeks of uninterrupted gaming time. Rather depressing that I am unable to relax properly, even though secondary three is definitely one of my busiest school years.


Got separated from my clan while chasing this poor idiot here.
Meanwhile, my fellow team mates got owned by an enemy clan whilst
I was away. All the guy dropped was a set of bones.

On a happier note, I was able to have some fun with my clan today, during a pk trip which ended just a couple of hours ago. Two of the members who showed up during the event, got massacred by this other clan, but I suppose it still was a cool trip.

Better avoid crowded worlds next time though. Those servers are infested with obscenely huge clans.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 275k Fletching exp, Gained 100k Magic exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:06 PM |

02 August 2007

The Month of August

August's Behind the Scenes issue, which was released just yesterday, promises some very interesting updates.

Jagex is introducing a Clan Chat system into the game, which would enable fellow clan members to communicate more effectively. I doubt I'll be using it much as my clan already has its own forum, but this new gaming addition should prove to be a much anticipated update for many other pkers.

As usual, some of Runescape's graphics are going to get completely revamped. And much to the delight of players who enjoy donning their avatars up with stylish outfits, new base-clothes (clothing you wear when you remove all your equipment), as well as haircuts, are also going to be made available. It'll be a little sad changing my character's choice of hair and clothing after all this time, but I'm still really looking forward to a change of better looking attire. I'll be sure to update the little image of me after this update.

Also, a new dungeon will be released sometime this month. This new feature, which Jagex described to be the "most intense", is likely to shed much light on the Third Age of Runescape, also known as the period when the God Wars took place.

These, plus many other promising updates, will be released this August. I'm hoping I'll be able to find time to fully enjoy them, even during the exam period coming up in two weeks.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 7:27 PM |




Looking For Group
I want my Chameleon now!