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30 November 2008

The 150th Quest

It took me about six hours, but While Guthix Sleeps has finally been completed. And I savoured every minute of this latest quest.

In spite of my efforts in the Temple of Ikov quest, Lucien was successful in stealing the Staff of Armadyl. The godly artifact unlocked his dormant powers, and he has even begun the process of consolidating his position by recruiting spies and assassins. He has also been raising an undead army in the Wilderness.


Movario's study

I was able to get the Guardians of Armadyl, the Guthixian Crux Eqal and the Saradominist Temple Knights to cooperate and work towards suppressing the evil Mahjarrat lord. I was first tasked to spy on Movario, a treasure hunter who was suspected by the Crux Eqal to be somehow affiliated with Lucien. A raid on his booby-trapped abode confirmed this, and also revealed that he had been conducting research on a mysterious object, known as the Stone of Jas.


I located the Dark Squall in a deeper, previously unexplored section of the
Black Knight Fortress.

Subsequently, I was sent off to recruit some of Gielinor's greatest warriors to join the cause against Lucien's ambitions to take over all of Runescape. I later undertook another mission of espionage to spy on a mage known as the Dark Squall, who was believed to be one of Lucien's top allies. I impersonated an Elite Black Knight and located the Dark Squall's base of operations, right in the heart of the Black Knight Fortress.

The assignment turned awry, after it was revealed that the Dark Squall was actually Surok Magis in disguise. I had previous encounters with the Dagon'hai leader and he easily recognised me under my suit of Black Knight armour. However, I succeeded in apprehending him and later returned to the fortress disguised as the criminal. Surok's henchmen were fooled, and I was able to enter a special teleportation chamber, which allowed me to travel to the exact point of the Wilderness where Lucien was hiding and biding his time at.


The eight fighters I recruited, readying themselves for their battle
against Lucien.

Unfortunately, I got spotted by the crazed necromancer, who then proceeded to blast me with his dark magic. I was saved when the eight heroes whom I had allied with earlier intervened. Among them were Cyrisus, Turael, Duradel, Mazchna, three key members of the Warriors Guild and Hazelmere.



Although they easily dispatched his undead minions, the eight heroes were decisively defeated by the dark lord himself. Six perished, and only Mazchna and the head of the Warriors Guild made it out of the fray alive. Distraught by the deaths, I resumed impersonating Surok and met up with Movario at the Lumbridge Dungeon, in an attempt to pretend to help him and find out more about his research.

The ruse worked, and Movario informed me that he had suspicions that the Stone of Jas lay somewhere within the deep chasms in the cave, but he had no viable way of reaching the bottom. However, with the assistance of the Light Creatures, I succeeded in doing so. Further exploration in the dark caverns led me to an Ancient Temple of Guthix, where the Stone of Jas lay.


I had to fight and defeat the Balance Elemental, which was guarding the
Stone of Jas.

After defeating the level 454 Balance Elemental which guarded it, I touched the stone and absorbed some of its vast reserves of energy. Lucien then suddenly appeared and warped the Stone of Jas away. He summoned two of his level 450 Tormented Demons to kill me, before making his escape. However, I effortlessly slayed them with the enhanced power the stone had bestowed upon me, and returned to Falador to claim my reward for the completion of the quest.


Me standing in between the Stone of Jas, and Lucien and his two newly
summoned Tormented Demons.

An epilogue cutscene then played, which showed the original guardians of the Stone of Jas, the Dragonkin, rejoicing that they were gaining in strength and that they soon could return to Gielinor to destroy the "small races".


The epilogue cutscene, showing three Dragonkin laughing maniacally
over their restored powers.

The massive cliffhanger indicates that players can expect a sequel to While Guthix Sleeps. With the Stone of Jas in his possession, Lucien may finally be able to attain godhood (that was, after all, his motive for stealing the stone). The possible return of the Dragonkin may further complicate matters. I certainly hope that I won't have to wait until the 200th quest to see a continuation of this masterfully crafted storyline.




Stuff achieved today: Completed While Guthix Sleeps, Level 75 Runecrafting, Level 95 Crafting

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:42 PM |

27 November 2008

Deferred, But Undeterred

My Appeal Status is still at "deferred".

Now that my one-day mute is gone, I can't think of a reason why Jagex would delay me from sending out an apology to them; unless of course Customer Support is intending to disable the appeal function indefinitely.

Unsurprising, really.

I wouldn't bother to divert much attention to rule breakers either if I were in their position. It's undoubtedly a very tiresome job, reading through the hundreds of requests from players to have their Black Marks removed. However, I've already convinced myself that this isn't an issue worth worrying about. Although my record is no longer clean, the minor offence I had made shouldn't have any long term repercussions if I behave and not accumulate any more marks.


Certain areas around Gielinor have been occupied by dozens of Turkeys,
as part of the Thanksgiving holiday event.

Anyway, a lot has happened since Tuesday's entry. Jagex has released Runescape's first ever Thanksgiving holiday event. Short and simple from what I've read, but appreciated nonetheless.

Additionally, the Grandmaster quest I've been really hyped about, While Guthix Sleeps, is now out. The requirements are insanely high, most notably the 270 QP criterion. Even the more moderate skill cut-off points have been causing quite a big stir. Ranarr seed and herb prices have spiked, most probably due to enthusiastic questers trying their hand out in Prayer Potion brewing, in a bid to meet the level 65 Herblore requirement.

Though I easily meet the quest criteria, I do not intend to work on it until the weekend. I've been out of the country since Monday and won't be returning until tomorrow evening. Though my hotel room has Internet access, my time online has been very limited and the connection's also quite poor. I do not intend to do anything ambitious until I arrive back home.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:58 PM |

26 November 2008

What The F***

I was mildly surprised earlier when I logged into my account and saw that I had received two messages from Jagex.



I was completely horrified after signing into the message center. The two messages informed me that I had broken a rule by using offensive language in the game, which effectively tarnishes my account's perfect, spotless record for the last four and a half years. I've received a 24-hour mute, though the temporary inability to talk is really the least of my concerns.


The evidence of my offence.

I think that it was the whole shock itself of suddenly being slapped with a Black Mark that's upset me. I'm not exactly worried about Timothy Gold now being a step closer to getting permanently banned. Though I don't condone it, cussing's a relatively petty offence and Jagex usually offers players several chances before locking up their accounts. I'm not distressed that it's ruined any chances of Modship either (I’m not really interested in the Silver Partyhat).

The Appeal Status is currently at "deferred".

I'm still going to give a shot with an appeal to wipe clean the black mark under my name. Though I definitely wouldn't rate the word "screw" as very obscene, I was still fully aware that Jagex counts it as a swear when I bypassed the chat censor. My best shot would be an apology and a plea for the mark to be removed. Typing it out will have to wait until the "deferred" status changes, however.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:45 PM |

23 November 2008

Holiday Indulgence

I was remarkably well-disciplined today.

I spent my entire time on RS training Crafting and Slayer. Watching online vids has definitely made the tediousness of crafting thousands of tiaras much more bearable, while my Ranged training through Slayer assignments goes strong. Duradel was very generous and offered another Spiritual Mages task for me to complete. I picked up two pairs of Dragon Boots after killing them, and was able to sell the armour for a very tidy sum. The cash would definitely help make up for the 20 million I'm intending to spend on Bandos armour.



The God Wars Dungeon raid on Friday reminded me of the promise I had made to myself sometime during the exam period – that I would splurge some of my hard-earned cash to buy a Bandos set and pay for some renovations to my house, as a way of celebrating the start of the holidays.

My offer's been put up on the Grand Exchange for two days now, but has remained ignored. I’m in no rush to buy the armour, so I'll wait it out a little longer; the Bandos gear is expensive enough without me having to up the amount.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:17 PM |

21 November 2008

Another Raid

Air and I decided to organize a raid at the God Wars Dungeon last night.

In spite of the short notice, we were still able to rope in Tiz and Kat to form a four-man team. We all met up this afternoon and headed off to the frozen dungeon. As we were about to finish accumulating the necessary 40 kills to enter Bandos's Encampment, one of Air's friends, Gerald, decided to join in on the action.

I found him a bit of an annoyance initially. We had to wait for him to reach the necessary kill count due to his tardiness. I wasn't very impressed either when Gerald barged into General Graardor's room without warning, before the rest of the team could pot up and activate their Prayers.

His presence made me feel safe though, because he was the only guy around who had the level to bless my grave and save my equipment. As the tank of the group, I'm exposed to the full power of both Melee and Ranged attacks from the General, so dying was a very real possibility.



Gerald had also helped to keep the team going during the first few fights with General Graardor and his Sergeants; Kat was absent during this period (she got teleported out of the dungeon by her Ring of Life prematurely), and we definitely would've struggled to keep Bandos's strongest minions at bay if there had only been three of us.

Sometime in the middle of our trip, the General yielded a pretty decent drop. However, Air was the sole receiver of the Bandos Tassets, which was priced at over 9 million gp. He felt really guilty over Coinshare's failure to work since we were using his clanchat, but I later was able to confirm that it wasn't his fault. One of my screenshots, taken during the event, clearly showed that Coinshare had been activated since the start of our second battle.


This was taken during our second fight with General Graardor.
Coinshare had clearly been activated by this point.

We're still completely flummoxed over this. Air and I suspect that the entire team has to stand around General Graardor's corpse, right until the end of his death animation, before running off to take out the Sergeants. Players need to be within 16 squares of their kill, in order for Coinshare to work its magic.

However, I would still rate this as one of my better trips. We had picked a weekday to hold the event, so we didn't have to compete with other teams for drops. All of my previous visits to the God Wars Dungeon had been organized by my clan, and these clan meetings were restricted to the crowded weekends due to school and the conflicting timezones of clan members.


Stuff achieved today: Level 94 Crafting

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:14 PM |

19 November 2008

A Moving Target

My Herblore training's now complete. I can now make Saradomin Brews and the strongest weapon poison available, so I see little point in continuing past level 82.


Weapon Poison++ was unlocked with this final level up.

It's just as well though. My clanmates are plotting to overtake me in my other stats. Blessings has this internal highscores on Runehead, and it seems that they aren't too pleased with me topping the list in certain skills.

So right now, I've got Dg who's trying to crush me in Slayer, Zelda who wants to topple my Fishing rank, Kicky who's racing me in Crafting, Jes who jokingly announced that he was going to overtake my Farming, and Tiz who's intending to beat me in Mining (was hoping he'd spare me; I'm not even top in that one).

It's pressurizing being a target, but I'll be content if I just get those Crafting and Ranged Skill Capes before 2008 ends. I am extremely behind schedule presently.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 175k Ranged exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:48 PM |

17 November 2008

So Over It

Business in Runescape as usual.

I think I've finally gotten over Stealing Creation. I just went without playing the mini-game an entire day for the first time since its release. I've accumulated over 2.8 million points, but there's hardly anything to spend them on. I tried mining coal with that Sacred Clay Pickaxe. Although I gained 5% more exp for each rock, I took a longer time to extract the coal compared to using my Rune Pickaxe.



I doubt that the Sacred Clay Hammer will be a letdown, but I'm presently not interested in training Construction or Smithing. So I suppose those points will just have to sit there for now...

Not trying to put down the update or anything, but like all other PvP mini-games, Stealing Creation has attracted its fair share of unsavoury characters. There was this irritating fellow who would boastfully announce that he had level 99 Strength using custom Quickchat messages, after every kill. We were in the same team most regretfully, so I couldn't puncture him with a Class 5 arrow to deflate that big head of his.

But even worse were the sluggards who would just sit around kilns and sources of Sacred Clay, begging their team mates for free Combat gear, when it was so obvious that they'd probably just die in battle and lose the stuff because of their sub-par levels.

My enemies didn't enjoy getting robbed either. Even though my targets mostly consisted of Ancient Mages who used ice spells, I must've gotten third-degree burns after all that flaming.


Stuff achieved today: Nuthin' much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:09 PM |

15 November 2008

Define Addiction

An ex-Runescape player, Poknick, strongly feels that I may be addicted to the game, and has very recently expressed these views on my chatbox. He concluded by making the following claim: "RS WASTE YOUR LIFE".

Such an attitude towards avid gamers typically manifests itself in the form of childish namecalling such as "sad nerd" or "no-lifer", commonly hurled by noobs at high-leveled players (perhaps after having their requests for free stuff or skill emotes turned down). Though I acknowledge that Poknick's feelings towards my gaming lifestyle are of concern as opposed to malice, I can only bluntly say that these speculations are completely groundless.

Poknick describes Runescape as being merely "a pixel". While this is true to a certain extent, such a biased, oversimplification would make any activity seem utterly boring or pointless. And Runescape is so much more than just "a pixel". It offers hours of fun for its players, and it's really a shame that Poknick has chosen to overlook this after four years of Runescaping. I mean, what better way is there to live life than to enjoy it?

If it's an issue of balance and time management, then perhaps it would've been better for him to ensure that I genuinely am addicted before denouncing the game. Poknick's wild accusations also seemed to be targeted at the other viewers of this blog. Though I cannot vouch for my non-irl RS friends, I assure that all of my real-life Runescape friends and I lead well-adjusted lives outside the game.

The exams have ended and we have already graduated from our secondary schools. No longer burdened by the responsibility of studying, we have every right to indulge in this form of leisure for the following two months worth of holidays. And yet, even with this option to play RS until our eyes bleed, we're still choosing to preoccupy part of our free time with other activities.

One of my friends is intending to finish writing a novel, and is already done with the first few chapters. Another wishes to pick up a foreign language, something he has been working on since the previous year (he plays a different MMORPG, but it's the same concept really). A third is making three separate trips overseas, and may later even get a part-time job. Meanwhile, I'm trying to pick up a new skill, computer assembly, and am already in the process of building my first PC.

One can't help but wonder - if Poknick had bothered to find out about our busy schedules, would he still have typed out those allegations against the game we love?


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:43 PM |

13 November 2008

It's Over

I sat for the last of my 15 papers this morning. All that's left to do is to hope that the exam results will turn out okay, when I receive them in mid-January.



And I am just immensely relieved that it's all finally over. I celebrated by re-visiting Stealing Creation. I must've clocked four straight hours at one point, which, although partially influenced by my excitement over the start of the long school break, shows how appealing its gameplay is. The only issue I have against the new mini-game would be its rewards.

Stealing Creation offers barely any exp. The closest thing resembling an exp reward would be the special Volatile and Morphic Tools players can exchange their points for. The Runescape Knowledge Base briefly mentions that these items can transform into special skilling equipment made out of Sacred Clay, such as harpoons, needles and butterfly nets. The Sacred Clay equipment grants its user an exp bonus in the relevant skill when used.

However, most frustratingly, Jagex didn't bother to state exactly what these "bonuses" constitute. The information on Runescape Wiki doesn't seem to be offering any complete information either.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:55 PM |

12 November 2008

Stealing Creation

Stealing Creation exceeded my expectations!


Level 80 Herblore enables me to make 5-dosed potions out of Class 5
Sacred Clay. Too bad this level up came after my session at Stealing
Creation!

I found time to try it out this evening, and even played on the same team as Dg. Though many skills were involved in Stealing Creation, the objective of the game was very straightforward. Players get teleported to this "Primordial Realm" and would then have to collect Sacred Clay, process it into useful items, and then deposit the finished product in their respective team bases.


Me using my crafted butterfly net to catch swarms of Sacred Clay.

Each step, from the collection of the raw material to storing the completed item, would earn them points depending on the quality or "class" of the clay. The Sacred Clay can be extracted by Mining, Woodcutting, Fishing or Hunting depending on its source (for example, rocks of Sacred Clay can be mined). The clay can then be constructed into tools such as pickaxes and hatchets to aid in the extraction process, or simply made into weapons, armour and food to fight any opposing team members.


Me savagely driving off an enemy player and protecting my unarmed
team mates.

Jagex had even added a very clever twist to the mini-game, by allowing players to pickpocket their enemies. This stealthy point-earning method, unsurprisingly, came with great ease for me due to my mastery of the Thieving skill.


This was definitely one of my better rounds. We have blockaded our
enemies from their sources of Sacred Clay, attacking anyone who
dared to leave their base.

From what I've observed during the four rounds I've participated in, the honest method of extraction seems to be the most practical method of collecting the clay. Though, I usually resort to sneakier (and sometimes more violent) measures when enemy players decide to wander around my base's vicinity.


The final tabulation of points for one of my rounds.

It's very thrilling to hack up an unarmed opponent with a self-smithed Class 5 Scimitar, but I find it most satisfying whenever I steal from any enemies I encounter. This is especially true for Mages. There were many instances when I witnessed them mercilessly blasting up my team mates with torrent after torrent of battle magic, only to have them abruptly stop and stare, thoroughly befuddled, at their quarry after I snuck up to them and nicked their runes!


Stuff achieved today: Level 80 Herblore

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:25 PM |

10 November 2008

Slayer Grievances

It appears that my supply of Super Restore ingredients has run out.

I'm quite peeved that my Herblore training has ground to a halt, but at least some of my time was freed up, and I was able to use it to focus on my other stats. I resumed Silver crafting, and was able to hit level 90 Slayer in the middle of my Dagannoth assignment.



I've now gained the ability to kill Dark Beasts, but I'm hoping that Duradel won't pester me to complete such tasks. Some time last week, Air Dragon even complained about how completing some quests would unlock poor Slayer monsters to train on.



Warped Terrorbirds and Suqahs are a major pain; it seems so unfair that Jagex would "reward" the efforts of enthusiastic questers by hampering their progress in Slayer with shoddy assignments. There should be a way to de-activate such tasks, without wasting a slot in the Slayer Points System.


Stuff achieved today: Level 90 Slayer

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:58 PM |

08 November 2008

Complacency

I'm back to training Slayer and Ranged!

After a long break, I finally completed my Aberrant Spectre task and visited Duradel for the first time in a month. I had earlier sacrificed my training in these two skills, in favour of the less attention-demanding cannonball smithing, which had allowed me to revise my school work whilst playing.


Oh dear. He knows! He knows!

I've got another three exam papers left, but the questions are all multiple-choice and only test me on the subjects I'm strongest in. One might label this as complacency, but I really think that only a few short hours of preparation would suffice for the remaining papers.



The Slayer and Ranged training also hasn't affected my progress in Herblore. Additionally, my GE offers finally came in and I was able to buy enough ingredients to make another 2000 Super Restore potions.

I even had sufficient time to drop by on Lil J's Duel Arena clan event. Admittedly, I only showed up with the sole intention of testing out the combat prowess of my Giant Ent against my clanmates. I stood aside and eagerly looked on as they took turns to duel it. Zelda hardly dented its health and was soon dispatched by the mammoth familiar. Unfortunately, the Giant Ent got utterly destroyed by the shower of Diamond Bolts Dg rained on it.


Dg steadying her crossbow to deal another crippling blow on my Giant Ent.

Still, I suppose its overall performance wasn't too shabby, considering the fact that it functions primarily as a tool for Summoner-Farmers.


Stuff achieved today: Level 78 Herblore

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:28 PM |

06 November 2008

Potion Making

My Herblore training goes strong. Though nowhere close to the one million exp my friend gained within a day, I am still quite pleased with my more modest progress.



I was also very fortunate to have bought those 3000 Snapdragons at just the right moment. Both Super Restore potion and herb prices shot up immediately after my purchase. Though I still make a loss by using up my Snapdragons to create the potion, at least it has been minimized due to these recent price changes.

My only difficulty now is replenishing my herb supply. I am reluctant to buy them at their new values, due to the possibility of them suddenly plummeting just as they had spiked over the last few days. I think it would be more cost-efficient if I wait for the herbs to dip a little, even if it'll mean temporarily halting my Herblore training.

I have many other stats to preoccupy me anyway; I still haven't forgotten my goals of reaching level 85 Prayer, as well as maxing out Crafting and Ranged.


Stuff achieved today: Level 77 Herblore, Level 93 Crafting

Posted by Timothy Gold at 5:13 PM |

04 November 2008

Pure Excitement

The November Behind the Scenes article is finally out.

We only get two main updates this month, but it suits me just fine. Stealing Creation, the mini-game which requires players to be both adept in combat and in their other skills, is definitely very promising.

I've always leaned on quests and skill additions, and have a general dislike for most new mini-games. However, I really think that Jagex has gone a step in the right direction with the whole concept of Stealing Creation. They've only provided a few scant details pertaining to its gameplay, but the general idea is that players would be grouped into two separate teams, and then do battle with one another. The frailer group members may use their skills (presumably Smithing, Crafting, Fletching and the like) to construct the necessary combat gear to arm their team mates with.

The big quest Jagex mentioned a few months back will also be released in November. It's been classified as a Grand Master quest, suggesting that it'll be the most challenging one yet. Additionally, the Dragonkin - an ancient race of creatures related to modern-day Dragons in Gielinor - and the Staff of Armadyl are somehow involved in this latest adventure, which would really shed some light into Runescape's murky past.

I express nothing but pure enthusiasm and excitement over these two pieces of promised game content.


Stuff achieved today: Level 75 Herblore

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:22 PM |

03 November 2008

The Final Stretch

I've gone through another seven papers since my last entry about the exams. A hat trick of eight A1s is still far from guaranteed, but it's a real possibility; I think my chances are pretty high.

Only four papers remain - a Literature exam this Friday and three minor multiple-choice papers for each of the Sciences during the following week. And I'm just so relieved that it's all finally going to end.

I indulged in a little bit of Castlewars at Tiz's request. He rounded up a few other clan members, and we all made our way to the arena. The Reaper made several appearances again as we felled our enemies. We couldn't build up a rock-solid defence like last time since only Dg used Ancient Magicks, but we were still able to win both rounds with relative ease.

I also crafted a few thousand tiaras, and even trained Herblore later. A friend had convinced me that it would be a fast stat to level if I stuck to brewing Super Restores. I didn't mind coughing up the green, so I bought enough supplies to make 3000 three-dosed potions.

Even ignoring the high costs, training the skill was still quite a disappointment. It wasn't nearly as fast as I had expected, but I'm intending to use up all the ingredients I currently have. Since Herblore is one of my lowest stats at only level 74, the small exp gaps should ensure that my progress won't be that frustratingly slow.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 175k Crafting exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:48 PM |

01 November 2008

Halloween 2008

I finally got round to properly celebrating Halloween in Runescape.


Don't fear the Reaper!

I stuck to pking with my clan in the early evening. We managed a few kills, but they were only just a few stray noobs wandering around in the deep Wilderness, carrying nothing of value. I, however, ended up losing a full set of Rune after we ran into this huge group of level 110+ pkers. At the very least, the others were still able to get away since Kicky and I bore the full brunt of their attacks.

And though this particular trip was unsuccessful, I was still able to take several screenshots of the Reaper's appearances after each of our kills.


Even those sneeky penguins decided to dress up for the occasion!

Tiz and Kat also decided to complete the holiday event later that night, and invited me to join them. I was reluctant initially since the servers were usually flooded on weekend nights, but I eventually gave in because I was equally excited about the update. I also took the opportunity to finish up the remaining parts of the Swept Away Halloween quest.


Me helping myself to an exp-granting bowl of Maggie's goulash; the quest
reward for Swept Away.

Everything was done under an hour. I wouldn't rate it as Jagex's best Halloween event; I wasn't very satisfied with the Warlock costume. I could get scarier outfits from the Gravedigger random. However, the makeover Rimmington, Port Sarim and Draynor Village went through was definitely a master stroke. It had really given these areas a very Halloween-ish atmosphere, which I felt was a great touch to the holiday event. The Trick emote was also particularly well done.

From left to right: Kat, me and Tiz performing the Trick emote at Rimmington.

Halloween 2008 certainly didn't disappoint!


Stuff achieved today: Completed Swept Away, Completed Halloween Event 2008

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:57 PM |




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I want my Chameleon now!