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31 December 2007

Thank You

Just got back from Europe this afternoon.

Felt rather upset when boarding the plane. It'll be a while, if ever, before I get to visit to such a wonderful place. I'll miss Germany and Austria, but it's good to be back; I was starting to get a little homesick admittedly.

But before I continue with the Runescape stuff (which I will post tomorrow), I'd like to thank a few people during my vacation who made the trip more memorable. In the order that I first met them, I thank:

Ingrid & Werner for being so hospitable. They actually baked cookies for me as their special way of wishing me a merry Christmas. They also bought some champagne for my mom since her birthday happened to coincide with our stay at their place.

Mike, the lively and humorous tour guide who showed me around Berlin. His jokes and energy while conducting the tour made the journey around the capital exceptionally enjoyable, in spite of the cold.

Harald, my tour guide in Salzburg, Austria. He generously offered to extend the tour a little so that I could see more of the mountains. Also bought the family a nice little Christmas gift from the nearby souvenir store.

Well, that's all of them. I shall resume my training tomorrow to make up for those highscore ranks I lost while I was away. Till then, I wish everyone a happy New Year.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:22 PM |

28 December 2007

Festive Cheer


My character in the middle of a snowball fight near Draynor Village.

I realise I’m a little late, but merry Christmas all!

Because SwiftSwitch can be run in the Internet Café which I am now visiting, I decided to go ahead with doing the Christmas event since the program allowed me to take screenshots.

As it’s been over a week since the update’s release, the entire area was more or less completely empty. I only saw a couple of players around, which meant better quality screenies for my archive!


The Land of Snow, completely empty.

I started out the event by building a snowman for the Ice Imps which have recently decided to make their appearance around several areas in Runescape. Upon finishing this icy piece of handiwork, I was given a hat to place on the snowman, which instantly brought it to life.


The Queen of Snow

I was then teleported by an Ice Imp to the Land of Snow, where I got to visit the Queen of Snow (and receive a little gift from Her Highness), as well as build more snowmen and actually watch them duel each other. This was certainly one of the more enjoyable holiday events I’ve completed so far; I’m really thankful that I didn’t miss it in spite of my vacation to Europe.


A duel between my Warrior Snowman and another player's.

The weapons you can equip
your snowmen with.

And speaking of which, tomorrow is my last day here. I fly back to Singapore the day after and arrive home on the 31st. I am quite upset that both this trip and my school break are coming to a close. The seemingly endless hours of gaming (before I left the country that is) and visits to the various beautiful attractions in this strange, new continent will be sorely missed.

But on a happier note, I look forward to being reunited with my faithful computer back at home, and I suppose meeting up with my friends in school again would make a refreshing start to the New Year. Hoping and praying that 2008 will be kind to me.


Stuff achieved today: Completed this year's Christmas event

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:24 PM |

22 December 2007

Greetings From Austria

It's been a little over a week since I've left Singapore. I've now made my way from Munich to Berlin, and then took another train all the way to Austria.

Vacation has been fantastic so far; I've visited quite a number of places that are of historical significance, which include the Reichstag, Herman Goering's former headquarters as well as the Berlin Wall. With temperatures going as low as -5, the weather's been a real bitch, but thankfully, it hasn't dampened my fun in Europe.

I've been completely out of touch with the goings-on in Gielinor though, until earlier this evening. As predicted, the Christmas holiday event was released a few days ago, on Tuesday the 18th. It'll be here to stay until New Year's Day, which gives me ample time to complete it when I return to Singapore. I've abandoned my plans to try it out here, as without SwiftSwitch, I am unable to take any screenshots of the update. I've had no luck in trying to download the program either.

Another interesting piece of news I recently learnt of (thank you, Air Dragon, for the info!); Jagex has announced that Summoning's going to be a Combat stat. As such, the maximum Combat level will be raised from 126 to 138 as soon as the skill is released in January.

This is definitely big news. I'll have to revise some of my goals for 2008, which, as this site's frequent visitors would have already read, are mostly Combat oriented. My initial target of Level 124 will no longer do; I'll have to test out Summoning's difficulty before being able to change this preliminary target to a practical yet not too easily achievable goal.

Anyway, after my five day hiatus from Runescape, things are definitely looking up. I am likely to have Internet access in the days to come whilst staying in Austria, so happy holidays everyone! Hope to see ya'll online!


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:41 PM |

16 December 2007

Holiday Concerns

I am currently staying at a rented house in Munich, Germany.

Although the 15 hour long journey completely wiped me out on Thursday, I am doing much better now. Germany happens to be 7 hours behind Singapore time, so all those late nights back at home prior to the trip really paid off since a bedtime at 4.00am in Singapore would mean sleeping at an early 9.00pm right here.

Checking with a calendar has gotten me a little concerned. The Christmas holiday event for this year I likely to be released on the 17th, since Jagex typically gets all updates dealt with a week before the holidays. This event will last two weeks and will end on the 31st of December, the day I fly back home. This means that I’ll be on vacation, away from my personal computer (with Internet access!), during the entire duration of the update.

As such, there is a slight chance that I’ll miss 2007’s Christmas event. I’ll have to savour every single session in an Internet Café while I’m here. Definitely will have to make it a point to complete the event as soon as I get the opportunity to do so; my first few hours of Internet time during the event’s release could very easily be the last, given the current circumstances.

I’ll also have to remember to bring my thumbdrive along. I’ll need a place to store screenshots of this once-in-a-lifetime update. Don’t forget, Christmas may be a yearly celebration, but the Runescape event launched for it is always unique!


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 3:31 AM |

13 December 2007

Hopes For 2008

Since it is technically already Thursday, I thought I'd squeeze in one final post before I leave.

In spite of all that's happened in the last few weeks, I remain optimistic about 2008 and have big plans for my character's growth during that year.

Achieving a combat level of 120+ has become my new target. With the exception of Prayer, I am determined to max out all Melee stats. Assuming I am successful in this new training regime, I will be Level 124 with four additional skill capes under my belt. I will not completely neglect my other stats of course, but there'll definitely be a noticeable emphasis on Melee.

Unfortunately, since school starts immediately after the New Year celebrations, this training will proceed at a somewhat slower pace during its initial stages. I'll also be focusing much effort on the new skill, Summoning, which is scheduled to be released in January.

I'll see how things play out. 2008 will certainly be an interesting and challenging new year!


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much - I didn't have the time! I leave in 2 hours!!!

Posted by Timothy Gold at 1:00 AM |

12 December 2007

Ta Ta

My last day here. I'll be flying to Germany in roughly 12 hours and won't be back until the 31st.

Things in Runescape have yet to settle down. With the recent release of big updates like the stake gap, the Grand Exchange, Bounty Hunting and the new trading system later in January, I have a bad feeling that I'll be having a very shaky start in 2008.

My Ranarr and Rare Merchanting businesses have been threatened. Will they still be lucrative when all the panic and excitement have died down, or will I be forced to adopt a new money-making strategy?

My clan is also going through a rough time. There have been a few squabbles within the group lately, resulting in the quitting of a member. Nothing too serious, but the taming of the Wilderness has complicated things. Blessings only holds F2P pking trips, but now with Jagex depriving us of our only clan event, I am seriously considering changing it into a Members-only clan so that we can organise meetings at mini-games as a substitute for pking.

We could try out Bounty Hunting, but I have doubts that it'll work out. A fellow clan member had a couple of shots at the mini-game; she absolutely hated it.

Whichever the case, this decision has to be made quickly. I've already expressed this idea to Blessings Leaders, Tiz and Kat. There are setbacks to changing it to a P2P clan such as the loss of all F2P members, but it should work out in the long term if we launch a more aggressive recruitment campaign.

Poor Tiz will have to settle everything by himself for now though. Kat and I will be away for the rest of the year.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 4:44 PM |

11 December 2007

The Eighth 99

There was a mix up with the timings between me and Vaskor, so the level up scheduled for Monday was delayed.


Vaskor congratulating me.

However, in an incredible stroke of luck, I happened to see him online during the wee hours of the morning (I stayed up the entire night because I had a real life friend over). We arranged for an impromptu meeting at the Rogue's Den and I was finally able to reach Level 99 Thieving.

Much credit for this speedy progress goes to Mat for lending me his Pharaoh's Sceptre and of course, Vaskor himself, for teaching me a faster method of training by looting various urns and chests at Pyramid Plunder. I am also very thankful for all gifts and encouragement received from supportive friends; namely Jasper, Air Dragon, as well as Vaskor and Mat.


The Clan Wars waiting area.

The cape looks fantastic with the Ancient Mage gear I wore while playing the Clan Wars mini-game. It's eating away quite a bit of time which would've been better spent skilling. That new game feature is just so straightforward; gang up with your team mates and battle the enemy clan. No rewards for the victors, but it's still a very enjoyable mini-game.


My character casting powerful Ancient Magicks on the enemy clan.

I've refused to touch Bounty Hunter though. Since players are skulled as soon as they enter the multi-combat mini-game, the place has therefore effectively been made much more dangerous than the original Wilderness. From what I've heard, the only chance of survival down there would be to team up with a strong clan.

Bounty Hunters who prefer to go solo will not stand much of a chance, but on the otherhand, the high risks should greatly deter those pesky real world traders from trading with their customers there. In the case of all legitimate Pkers, we can only hope that they'll eventually learn to adapt to this modified stlye of player-killing.


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 99 Thieving

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:31 PM |

10 December 2007

Illegal Trading - The Knockout Punch

Chaos over all of Runescape.

Jagex added a series of new features in the game to make up for last week's lack of updates. Unfortunately, many changes made to the game, most notably the major ones, have attracted much criticism and negative feedback from the general RS population.


A screenshot of me wearing my Red Partyhat in the Wilderness. Pking
has been disabled to the dismay of many...

These major changes made include Pking in the Wilderness being completely replaced with bounty hunting at the mini-game of the same name, the disablement of unbalanced trading with effect in January, and finally, the eradication of the spawning of all player items whether as a result of death or by the player simply dropping them.

These set of updates was instrumental in the complete elimination of real world trades, as these illegal traders will no longer be able to transfer items to their customers. A seemingly clever move on Jagex's part, but with disastrous results...


A scene of players checking out the new Bounty Hunter mini-game.

Pkers are extremely infuriated and equally flustered with the huge changes made to the Wilderness. Although "Wildy lvls" still exist, it is now impossible to attack other players in the area. Instead, the Bounty Hunting mini-game will now serve as a replacement for conventional pking. Though it would be unfair to say that pking is "completely ruined", the disappointment players felt about this sudden, unexpected and uninvited modification was understandable.

Just like the recently introduced staking cap, I take a similar stand with this update. I am somewhat indifferent to the change, but sympathise with those who were more badly hit by the complete revamp of the place once known as a Pker's haven.

Another update which caused great upset was Jagex's move to stop unbalanced trades from taking place. This will mean that the sharing of items between trusted friends will also be disallowed. Prices are also now dictated by the Grand Exchange; selling or purchasing any item a mere 3k coins above or below the Exchange's price will no longer be possible.

A harsh blow to all legitimate players. It has also severely crippled my main two methods of drawing income - Ranarr farming and Partyhat merchanting.


Me visiting my own tombstone. The Angel of Death is a very
grand looking grave marker.

And since player drops are now invisible to other people (with the exception of the owner), my looting days at Ape Atoll are over as well. But I'm perfectly fine with it; this change has effectively stopped thousands of players from transferring items from their main accounts to their Pures. Though I have nothing against this particular group of people, they are still technically breaking the rules by using one of their accounts to interact with another.

In addition, this change was tied to a new feature - tombstones. They mark the spot of a player's death and temporarily "hold on to" the items the player had lost.

As long as the tombstone stands (time varies depending on the type of tombstone), the player will be able to return to it, destroy it and retrieve his stuff. Friends or helpful passers-by may also bless or repair the grave marker to prevent it from disappearing too quickly, thus buying the departed player more time.

There were other updates, such as the Clan Wars mini-game and the extra bankspace, that I was also pleased with. I'm sure many other Runescapers feel likewise, although the earlier mentioned, less popular changes have resulted in the Rants forum exploding to a record breaking 1000+ active users.


Plenty of Jagex-bashing going on right now...

Due to the sheer size and number of today's updates, I regretfully am unable to thoroughly discuss each and everyone of them. For now though, this (general) complaint and overview from me will have to suffice.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much (no Lvl 99 Thieving yet, sadly)

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:25 PM |

08 December 2007

Sceptres & Summoning

Lady Luck smiles on me yet again!


If I want it? That's over 500 grand on the floor! Of course I'm going to
effing take it.

Managed to get a Pharaoh's Sceptre whilst doing my usual Thieving rounds at Pyramid Plunder. An amazing find indeed! Hope that Guardian Mummy isn't too annoyed.

Though extremely pleased with my procurement of such an expensive item, stealing artefacts in the pyramid has been quite dull. And even with the occasional noob getting savagely attacked by Monkeys, training my Melee stats at Ape Atoll hasn't been too entertaining either.

Jagex has yet to release any new gaming content this week, which is rather strange considering that Mondays and Tuesdays are typically the "update days". The latest Development Diary article on Summoning proved to be an interesting read, but alas, it only kept me pre-occupied for a few minutes and I had no choice but to continue with my usual skilling routine.

A tiny segment of the article really caught my attention though. It hinted that those coloured eggs from birds' nests will finally be given a use when the skill is released in January next year.


Wonder if I can hit the 150 mark
before Summoning is released...

What creatures lie dormant within the eggs are still a bit of a mystery (they may not necessarily be birds!), but I'm glad that I've been accumulating them in my bank account ever since they were added into the game. Those three bank slots I used to keep them certainly weren't wasted!


Stuff achieved today: Gained 300k Thieving exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:22 PM |

06 December 2007

It's My Lucky Day!

Computer works fine now. The repairman came over, switched it on and it just started as per normal. Weird. I promptly backed-up my files anyway, just in case.



I had my second last level up for Thieving earlier in the afternoon. I'm now at 98 and have roughly 800k exp to go before the final one. I only need two days, but I plan to delay the level up until Monday so that Vaskor can join me for the screenshot.



Fighting those Monkey Guards at Ape Atoll was a perfect way to bide my time. Much to my surprise, I even managed to hit Level 115 Combat just by burying bones for a Prayer lvl up. I'm closing in on Level 93 Hitpoints as well; hope to get that by tomorrow.

And although all Monkey Guards drop are bones, I actually picked up over 100k worth of stuff whilst fighting, after a player got killed at my training spot. There's a ladder in the area which the poor girl ran towards. So her front was blocked up and she got boxed in when three monkeys came over and attacked from her rear and both her sides.


Completely surrounded, she didn't stand a chance.

As any adventurer who has summoned enough nerve to venture into the Temple of Marimbo would know, Monkey Guards are unique due to the fact that they are possibly the only NPC that players cannot walk through. And since the girl was at the wrong side of the ladder (and therefore couldn't climb it), she was effectively trapped and was soon struck down by the vicious Lvl 167 beasts. I happily looted her stuff as it spawned.


She returned minutes later. Managed to escape though; what a shame...

As soon as I'm done Thieving at that pyramid, I'll probably make Ape Atoll my new skilling base. Things could get interesting over there...


Stuff achieved today: Lvl 98 Thieving, Lvl 72 Prayer (Lvl 115 Combat)

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:01 PM |

04 December 2007

December's BTS - Mini-Games & More

Argh! My computer's down.

I was about to teleport out of the Kharidian Desert when it suddenly shut down. An amber light keeps blinking now whenever I switch it on, but the thing just won't start. My dad's taking it for repairs tomorrow and I really hope it's nothing serious. The last thing I need right now is to lose two weeks worth of unbacked-up files (my precious screenshots!).

Fortunately, my house has three computers, all with Internet access, so I've been able to camp out at another for now to fulfill my Runescaping needs. Even better news, December's Behind the Scenes issue is out and the promised updates are, as usual, simply fantastic.

I was disappointed at first when I learnt that two of those updates were going to be mini-games (more of a fan of quests, actually). However, reading the rest of the article made me realise that one of them enabled proper, uninterrupted clan wars to be held while the other offered bounty hunting. Definitely very combat-based mini-games just like their predecessor, the new arena for Tournaments.

All three are starting to make me wish that I had continued with my Melee training at Ape Atoll instead of switching to Thieving. Speaking of which, fellow blogger, Vaskor, has kindly offered to give up some of his time to witness my level up to 99 this Monday.

But back to the topic; another update which intrigued me was the tombstones that will pop up whenever a player dies. I'll be in Germany by the time they are released so it'll be a shame that I won't be able to experiment with them immediately. I've read that players will be able to purchase different types of tombstones.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 450k Thieving exp


Yesterday was Andrew Gower's birthday! Hope you had a good 29th birthday, Andrew.

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:34 PM |

02 December 2007

Congratulations, Mat & Fweese!

Wonderful news! My two friends, Mat and Fweese, have successfully reached Lvl 99 Cooking!


Congratulations, Mat!

Cooking being the first skill they've ever managed to max out, the two of them are naturally extremely excited with this achievement. I congratulate them for their mastery over the culinary arts and wish them all the best for subsequent Skill Capes (Mat's eyeing for the Quest Cape, while Fweese is going for Lvl 99 Woodcutting).

My Thieving training, though going at a noticeably slower pace than Mat's and Fweese's rampage to 99, is ahead of schedule. If all goes according to plan, I'll have that cape by the following Sunday. It'll be a tremendous relief. I hate to admit it, but the skill's starting to become a chore.

But still, now that my long sessions of plundering artefact are coming to a close, I've started making preparations for the screenshot of the final level up. The location as well as the outfit I'll be wearing have been more or less confirmed, but I've yet to contact the friend who will be there for the screenshot.

Vaskor would be perfect for it; he played a huge part in my progress by introducing me to the exp efficient Thieving mini-game with that video-guide he created. Must make a mental note to post a message on his blog...


Just a random screenshot which I wasn't able to bring up in this entry.
Note the girl with the green hair. Doesn't she look a lot like the player
featured in the Runescape article on Wikipedia?


Stuff achieved today: Gained 200k Thieving exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:22 AM |




Looking For Group
Level 99 Mining, here I come!