The Chronicles of Runescape: July 2008

30 July 2008

Spirit Of Summer

Quest complete!

Though it started off as annoying and tiresome, the Spirit of Summer quest impressed me somewhat with its plot. I started off this latest storyline by speaking with a spirit girl at the Forgotten Farm in the Wilderness. She requested, with a strangely fragmented speech, that I head to the Ruins in the West to meet up with her.

After a few minutes of trekking across the scorched barren land, I arrive at my destination and spoke to the girl once more, only to be teleported by her to an alternate realm, the Spirit Realm. I was then asked to help the spirit by assisting her in getting food, water, clothes and retrieving her doll.

The spirit girl plucking out a Button Mushroom from a log in the Spirit
Realm.

Whatever I did back in Gielinor had the exact opposite effect in the Spirit Realm. For example, plucking up all the edible Button Mushrooms from a log in the "real world" caused the same mushrooms to grow on the previously bare log in the spiritual dimension, thus supplying the girl with food.

Upon the completion of these tasks, the spirit girl gratefully told me, in a no longer disjointed speech, that her weakened soul had been restored because of the help I had provided (don't ask; these seemingly mundane chores are somehow significant in the Spirit Realm). She even properly introduced herself as Summer Bode now that she could speak properly. However, she also revealed that she and her family had been murdered and then trapped by a "Beast" for centuries, which inflicted upon them immense agony and sapped their soul's strength.

Me sacrificing a Spirit Wolf familiar to activate the disc and harm the
Beast.

Volunteering to save Summer, we proceeded back to the Forgotten Farm, where I had to reawaken a special disk near the area in order to fight off the Beast. I wounded it and was eventually able to trap it within a magical cage. However, my cause of celebration was short lived.

Eep!

Immediately after imprisoning the Beast, the spirit family members of Summer materialised in front of the caged monster and then warned me that I had done more harm than good by trying to save them. By entering their realm, my soul had fed the Beast, allowing it to grow even more powerful. It would resume tormenting the Bode family after breaking out of its prison.

The Spirit Beast and Summer's spectral family members.

Summer angrily countered by saying that my act of trapping the Beast had temporarily spared them all from its wrath, and had strengthened them in the process. She believed that they now had the leverage they needed to destroy the Beast once and for all. The rest of the Bode family weren't convinced and I was forced to part ways with them due to the monster's growing power.

Before I left, Summer gave me a farewell gift - a special ring which granted me a closer connection with the Spirit Realm. From what I've read from a fansite, the trinket will allow me to access portals around the Wilderness, which will grant me extra exp rewards. I plan on embarking on that journey tomorrow.

Anyway, the quest has yet to be resolved yet. The Beast still threatens to cause further suffering to Summer and her family. I hope Jagex won't take too long to release the next installment of the new series.

Stuff achieved today: Completed the Spirit of Summer quest

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:20 PM | Permalink

28 July 2008

Swamped

Not exactly a refreshing start of the week.

School kept me back till the late afternoon, so there really wasn't much time to do anything. Although able to finish up my Greater Demon task Duradel had assigned me, the rest of my gaming time was spent multi-tasking - I juggled with my school work and cannonball smithing.

For the record, my novel still hasn't arrived yet; not that that would've mattered since I had little free time to read it anyway. I'm also eagerly awaiting the release of July's last update. I know it'll be a new quest, but can't quite recall what it was exactly regarding.

Hoping that the rest of the week won't be as rough on me...

Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:29 PM | Permalink

26 July 2008

How Much Longer?

Ahh, definitely one of my better Saturdays.

I was able to get much Crafting and Ranging done, in addition to dealing with a huge chunk of my school work. I even managed to hit Level 86 in the former stat; I get nothing new to craft, but the level up was welcomed nonetheless. They've been trickling in painstakingly slowly this week...

And that isn't the only thing that's taking ages to come in. Those people at the Jagex store seem to be taking their time. I was supposed to receive my pre-ordered RS novel within two to three days after its date of release on the 21st, but so far, all I've gotten is an email saying that the book's been "despatched".

Not a complaint. Just saying.

Anyway to top it all off, Jagex has put up an announcement regarding those 10 autographed books. Fans who were lucky enough to receive these signed copies have already been informed; I didn't get any such notification, so I guess I'm out. Again, just saying.

But in all seriousness, I've been pondering lately about how many of these so-called fans would actually keep the book. They'd probably be able to make a quick buck if they auctioned off one of these ridiculously rare editions. I've heard about certain high-leveled accounts going for over $1000 on E-Bay. Imagine what a Runescape novel signed by the Gower brothers themselves would go for.

Just to get one thing straight, this is nothing more than a mere musing of mine. I haven't reached that level of sheer retarded obsessiveness to actually go hunting for one of those collectable copies. I just want my book.

Hmph.

How much longer, I wonder?

Stuff achieved today: Level 86 Crafting

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:21 PM | Permalink

24 July 2008

For Matman

Some terrible news.

I just read a thread Mat had posted in the clan forums on the previous day. School is really eating into his free time and he is beginning to consider quiting the game due to boredom, which I found quite surprising in lieu of the very warmly received updates of July.

Anyway, his lack of interest in Runescape is clearly the crux of the problem here. I doubt that he is that swamped with coursework. I've suggested taking a break from RS for a couple of months, and then returning to see if the hiatus has done anything to revive the Runescaper inside him. It worked for me a long time back; I wasn't a very consistent player during my first year as an F2P greenhorn, but have been playing non-stop since I came back.

We may see a similar miraculous recovery in Mat, but I'd totally respect his decision if he decides to leave for good. Regardless of the outcome, I acknowlege Mat as one of the closest RS players I've ever befriended.

Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:01 PM | Permalink

21 July 2008

Class Conflict

One of the less glamorous sides of the new lending system:

Hmph.

Other issues seem to have arisen as a result of this update. A number of the more well-to-do players aren't very happy about seeing newbies run around with expensive gear they didn't even have to work for. One might argue that this is merely a return to normalcy, since friends could easily share with each other their stuff prior to the advent of the trade limits.

However, most people overlook the fact that lending under this new system occurs much more frequently, most notably with valuable items, since players feel much safer about not getting their items stolen or lost. This therefore is an unfair comparison; so many more low to mid-leveled players are now running around with rares, Godswords and Bandos Platebodies than ever before.

This shouldn't distress any of the rich since they don't actually get to truly own any of the gear they borrow. Even the most compulsive of borrowers would be hard pressed to keep, say, a Saradomin Sword 24/7. I doubt many friends have patience with moochers, and if the borrowers decide to turn to strangers, they're more than likely to have to cough up the cash before being able to get their hands on any expensive equipment.

Why the more affluent of Runescapers continue to moan in the forums over the lending scheme still eludes me. The complaints could possibly be veiled attempts to show off ("Boo hoo hoo! I always see NOOBS run around with G SWORDS even they don't actually OWN one like *I* do"). Or these rants could simply represent elitism at its finest, with the "upper crust" wishing to keep to the status quo, back a week ago when only they could wield the flashy equipment.

I'm not letting these deluded viewpoints get in the way of profiteering from this new game feature of course. I've got a bank account to fatten up. It's all in the name of good business.

Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:51 PM | Permalink

19 July 2008

Loaning & Lumbridge's Goodies

Five days into the release of the lending-system and I'm already making 'em pay through the nose.

I'm charging 15k now for every hour I loan one of my partyhats; the only thing keeping me from raising it to a more outrageous figure is those trade limits. My customers are typically low to mid-leveled players who haven't completed many quests, so the maximum cash I'm able to exact from them usually falls around the 10-20k range.

Anyway, the whole thing's made me realise that people are crazier about rares than I had originally thought. It's not unusual to see three players come up to me, after I type out just one message to loan off my partyhat. So desperate they are to try it on, that a vast majority don't even bother to specify a time limit to keep it (though I still give them their hour because I'm so awesome).

Me performing the Explorer Emote.

The Lumbridge update regarding the new Achievement Diary was also not neglected. I've finished all the listed tasks and have made it a point to fully exploit its rewards. In addition to unlocking a cute looking "Explorer Emote", you get a very handy Explorer Ring, which enables you to restore 50% of your run energy for up to three times a day.

It also grants you 30 free low alchemy casts each day, and provides you with limitless teleports to the cabbage patch just South of Falador. The ring's latter feature has done much to speed up my farming rounds, due to the teleport location.

The new cabbage patch teleport.

I was also especially pleased to find that Monday's updates were made available to F2P players. It's certainly heartening to note that Jagex was generous enough to allow everyone to enjoy these changes.

Stuff achieved today: Level 85 Crafting

Posted by Timothy Gold at 7:50 PM | Permalink

17 July 2008

Newbie Updates

Yeah, I realise this entry is a little late, but on to the matter hand - the Lumbridge updates have so far proven to be at least mildly interesting.

Though Tutorial Island still appears on the world map, the tutorial itself has been moved to Lumbridge. And although it still teaches newbies the basic controls and features of the game, the guide now takes the form of a quest, where players must help a knight to fight off a dragon.

Though not affected by the update, I am fairly pleased with this change. The old tutorial had this annoying tendency to break the fourth wall at various points, by blatantly suggesting that it was nothing more than a walkthrough for beginners in the game. It didn't really allow players to fully immerse themselves into the fantasy-like setting.

A straightforward assignment. I had to speak to Father Urhney for a
replacement Amulet of Ghostspeak.

I'm considering creating a new account just to check out the improved tutorial; the visit will get me a few more screenshots for my archive. I'm sure it'll be more enjoyable than its old, duller counterpart.

Anyway, I've already tried doing the Lumbridge Achievement Diary tasks. They're targeted at less experienced Runescapers mostly, so I'm having little trouble finishing them. I'm about halfway through at the moment and hope to finish the diary completely by Saturday.

Easy as Redberry pie. All I had to do was head to the Lumbridge Chapel
and play the organs there.

Before I close off, I'd like to add that I've already pre-ordered Betrayal At Falador. As much as I'm a sucker for Runescape merchandise, the purchase was still a dubious move. The book costs roughly (US)$26, which is already a little on the high-ish side, even for a hardcover. However, due to shipping fees, this figure gets doubled to a whopping $56.

Yeeouch. It had better be a good read...

Stuff achieved today: Level 74 Summoning

Posted by Timothy Gold at 8:17 PM | Permalink

15 July 2008

Monetary Updates

The wait is over!

A whole wealth of new gaming content was released last night, which included the much anticipated item-lending system, a more effective means of organizing bank accounts, and various changes made to the swampy town of Lumbridge.

I only took 3k from him eventually because his trade limit wouldn't allow
any higher. He looked like he needed the extra cash for spelling/
grammar lessons anyway.

Players may now lend each other their gear for a period of up to 24 hours. It was truly a godsend because it allows friends to freely share their items even with the trade limitations that came out in January. I've already tried out this new feature by lending out my Yellow Partyhat to Tiz, and have even allowed a stranger to rent my Red the previous night, just before I went to bed.

The numerous safeguards Jagex has so masterfully built into the lending system ensure that owners have no way of losing any loaned items. Borrowed goods will still arrive safely at the bank, even if players, skulled or otherwise, happen to die whilst holding on to them.

And while we're still on that topic, banks all over Gielionor were also not excluded from July's bag of updates. With the introduction of item tabs to bank accounts, players now have the option to categorize and sort all their assets, instead of leaving them in one unorganized mess. The interface has also been worked on and now provides useful account information, such as the bank account owner's used capacity and the maximum.

The new bank interface! I've since cleared up all the clutter and my
account is now completely organized.

Much has been done to Ol' Lumby as well, but I've yet to witness it firsthand. More on that tomorrow.

Stuff achieved today: Level 88 Ranged

Posted by Timothy Gold at 5:32 PM | Permalink

13 July 2008

Pioneering Spirit

After starting the morning with my usual Farming round, I geared up for the scheduled trip to the Dagannoth Kings.

The raid was a clan function, which had been planned by Adbi a few days earlier. It was the first time Blessings had ever organized a trip to kill these three boss monsters, and I was quite excited over the prospect of battling them with my clanmates.

The three of us had to run past all sorts of aggressive cave creatures
before reaching the three Dagannoth Kings.

The event got off a rather poor start. No one seemed willing to participate in this pioneering quest to slay the level 300 monsters. Abdi also just wasn't prepared; he started asking about how we were going get past this obstacle in the dungeon just 10 minutes before the trip.

To be fair, he did come though in the end. He managed to find a third guy (from the RS forums I'm guessing) to join us, so we didn't have to cancel. With some initial difficulty, we managed to get past the hordes of cave monsters and reach our quarry. I took on the role of the tank since the other two weren't so eager in taking up the brunt of the Dagannoth Kings' attacks.

Me slugging it out against the three Dagannoth Kings, Dagannoth Rex
(upper left), Prime (left) and Supreme (center).

I didn't last long sadly. All three of them focused their attacks on me for the first few minutes, and I was soon short of food. I stayed for a couple more kills, before being forced to teleport away to safety. A moment later, Abdi elatedly announces on the clanchat that he and that other fellow picked up a Berserker Ring. And no, I don't think he was joking.

But meh. I mustn't be greedy. I got what I came there for anyway. It's good to try something new every now and then.

Stuff achieved today: Killed the three Dagannoth Kings

Posted by Timothy Gold at 6:08 PM | Permalink

12 July 2008

Procrastination

Bleah! Still no sign of any of July's promised updates. Maybe next week; I wonder what the holdup is...

I've also yet to ask my dad to pre-order Betrayal At Falador for me. I better get that over with quick. As I had mentioned a couple of days earlier, you'll have a chance of actually getting a signed copy of the novel if you order it before its official release date. Only ten lucky fans will receive an autographed copy, so my odds of getting Andrew Gower's signature are close to zilch. But it'd still be foolish not to give it a shot.

Besides, there's still the limited edition hardcover to look out for. I'll really hate myself if I take my time in making that order and then end up with a flimsy paper-back as a result.

Stuff achieved today: Nothing much. Heh.

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:43 PM | Permalink

10 July 2008

Updates! And By The Truckload...

A lot of developments have taken place since my previous entry.

July's Behind the Scenes issue is finally out, and players have been promised an update made to banks all over Gielinor. We should be able to expect the change sometime this week, which will give everyone a more efficient means of organizing the various treasures they've deposited into their bank accounts.

We can expect many more goodies from Jagex this month of course, but I'd prefer to discuss them at a later date.

Yesterday's announcement about Jagex increasing the scale of the Runescape Highscores was quite unexpected. Instead of only listing the top 1 million players in the game, the highscores now provide rankings up to 2 million. Jagex ends off by saying that "there's never been a better time to show off your gaming prowess". Oo, a ranked #1,000,001-2,000,000 player! Terrifying.

Rank #2,000,000!

Okay, fine. I'll stop teasing.

In all seriousness, I welcome the highscores update. It'll help lower leveled players track their progress, and perhaps motivate them to train harder to surpass the other gamers.

I was, however, still more impressed with the news regarding the publication of an actual Runescape novel, entitled Betrayal At Falador. The Gielinor setting the story will take place at has gotten me interested, but I worry about the plot.

The brief description Jagex provided told me that the novel would be about Sir Amik and the White Knights investigating an attack on a "mysterious woman". They believe the culprit to be... Doric, the smithy dwarf players must talk to in order to start that newbie quest of the same name. A huge turn off no doubt, but I'm hoping for some sort of plot twist that will keep me glued to the book.

Betrayal At Falador will be available in hardcover for a limited time only, and any pre-orders made by early buyers will have a shot at getting the book signed by Andrew Gower himself, as well as by the author, T.S. Church.

Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 7:22 PM | Permalink

07 July 2008

Technical Problems

Yeah! No school today. It's so satisfying when the longest day of the week gets turned into a holiday, albeit a short one.

The smoke completely scrwed up this level up message.

Most frustratingly, I couldn't get Runescape to load the entire morning because of some problems with the update server. The issue fixed itself by noon, though I still had a separate, unrelated problem with my notebook. I took care of it eventually, but I wasted a lot of time doing so. Technology can be so annoyingly unreliable at times.

The Mysterious Box interface. Parts of it aren't visible.

I also spotted yet another graphical glitch in the game today. The smoke effect you see whenever you enter the Smokey Well can really mess with the interface. Parts of it actually disappeared as a result of the "Runescape HD-enhanced" smoke.

Technical difficulties aside, I was still able to get quite a bit of training done. I'm very pleased about leveling both my Ranged and Summoning stats, though I really should start shifting the focus to Hunter and Crafting.

Stuff achieved today: Level 87 Ranged, Level 73 Summoning

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:57 PM | Permalink

05 July 2008

Sailing - A New Skill?

Just made a most startling discovery.

Wondering why July's Behind the Scenes was taking so long to be posted at the main page, I decided to browse the Future Updates forum. I found a thread made by a player who claimed to have seen a Sailing icon on the Runescape Highscores. He also mentioned that this amazing find was recorded and uploaded as a video.

My search on YouTube yielded this. I do not doubt its legitimacy; Jagex has a rep for letting things like this leak out, just like how the Hunter skill appeared in the bug report menu prior to its release. Most likely, a staff member accidentally added the Sailing icon into the highscores while they were re-doing the site, thinking that it was part of the revamp.

Also take a look at the main page. There's a new web banner at the top, depicting a dragon burning up an island, while a Mage watches... on a boat! It could be purely coincidental, I know. The image could even be a scene from the Dragon Slayer quest, where the player must ride Lady Lumbridge to Crandor Isle.

Whichever the case, I am positive that Sailing is the real deal. Keep an eye out for more substantial hints from Jagex. Who knows? They may even decide to officially announce the skill to players in the very near future. It'll certainly give us something new to look forward to, now that Runescape HD is out.

Stuff achieved today: Level 69 Runecrafting

Posted by Timothy Gold at 6:44 PM | Permalink

04 July 2008

A Collector's Woes

I'm still debating on what to do with my screenshot archive, now that the new Runescape HD is out.

Runescape High Detail

The best idea I've come up with so far is to continue taking screenshots of the game as per normal, and then using those screenies to replace their older, outdated counterparts. It'll be a painstakingly long process because it'll mean taking, cropping and sorting another 1500+ replacements.

I'll also have to live with the fact, that no matter how much effort I put into this project, it'll never get completely finished, because I won't be able to produce duplicates of images such as quest cutscenes and the various funny glitches I've spotted throughout my years of gameplay. What a dilemma indeed.

Hair!

While I'm on the topic of glitches, the hair bug from last post has been fixed. I just ran back to the Hairdresser in Falador and selected my original haircut. Didn't even cost me a single gp. My hair also no longer shortens whenever I put any headgear on. It's been like that for over a day now, so I'm thinking that this is a permanent solution to the glitch.

Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:15 PM | Permalink

02 July 2008

Metamorphosis

The new Al Kharid.

Never before in my four years of Runescaping have I been so awed.

The graphics update has been released, and actually immersing myself into the game, instead of merely glancing at the few screenshots in the Development Diaries, thoroughly shocked me.

Its scale was even larger than I had originally thought. The graphical change extended beyond Gielinor; the Runescape website was improved on as well! Meanwhile, areas such as Lumbridge and Al Kharid were completely transformed from scratch.

The new fullscreen interface.

Viewing Runescape on fullscreen mode has also become available, and I have no problems taking screenshots using SwiftKit in that view. The most irksome thing about this setting though, would be the game's tendency to switch back to the normal viewing mode when you try to open up another window.

This, of course, would mean that I'll be unable to get any school work done on my computer or random web surfing (I have a penchant for multi-tasking) with the fullscreen view activated, so its use will be limited.

Bork, the towering behemoth which I am doing battle with, looks even

more feasome.

Additionally, a small increment in membership fees came along with the set of updates. It was rather sneaky of Jagex to slip it in whilst everyone was in high spirits over the brand new game features, but I have no complaints against the tiny price spike.

I am, however, a little bothered about the glitches which have appeared, as a result of the massive update. I've spotted a total of four so far. The most annoying of the four would definitely have to be my avatar's hair disappearing whenever I'm not wearing a hat. But even when I have one on, my do still looks shortened and cropped.

The above three pics (before, after and hatless) should give you a rough idea of how ridiculous I look right now... Air's also been unfortunate enough to be hit with this most embarrassing bug.

In Jagex's defence, they've only rated this massive graphical makeover as a beta, so I'm fairly certain that all of these problems would soon be taken care of.