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30 June 2009

Return Of The Rares

It appears Jagex has discreetly slipped in some modifications to the Grand Exchange database.

It is now possible to view the trend of an item's price in the last 180 days. Previously, only the past month of the price's history was displayed. A useful improvement, even though Jagex probably didn't think it was significant enough for it to be announced.


Up, up and away!

One of the items I first looked up with this increased scope was the Red Partyhat. With the exception of a small dip sometime in late April, its price has been steadily climbing. Zelda alerted me to this a few weeks ago and I think Kitt's made a mention of rising partyhat prices fairly recently, but I had no idea that its ascent has been going on for over three months.



They went into free fall during the whole of 2008, shortly after the panic caused by the infamous anti-RWT updates. It's taken over a year, but I'm greatly relieved to see that partyhats are making a turn around. Though I'm not exactly strapped for money, I've long intended to sell off my Yellow and Purple (but not Lil' Red) to break even since I don't even wear them. I have no idea when they'll reach their pre-RWT update levels, but presently, I am feeling cautiously optimistic.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:55 PM |

27 June 2009

Dragon Spear

Matman showcased the usefulness of the Dragon Spear, after he used its Special Attack to repeatedly stun the two Pkers who attacked Tiz and Zelda.

So I decided to buy the weapon too... but ended up using it for less noble purposes. Mat appeared in the Port Phasmatys bank as I was Smithing and gathering EP. Glancing at his avatar, I noted that he was in his default clothing and was completely unarmed. Mat also wasn't aware that I too was now a proud owner of a Dragon Spear, so I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine after he made his way to the furnace.

Catching him off-guard, I pummelled him twice with the spear's Special attacks. To my horror, as I right-clicked on his avatar to deliver a third blow, I saw that the username of the fellow I was attacking was actually "Moonman". Realising my terrible mistake, I stunned him once more, ran out of the furnace room and then switched servers out of sheer embarrassment.

Although the real Mat didn't show up until sometime later, DG soon joined me in my EP gathering and I was more than happy to test out my new weapon on her, much to her annoyance. I'm glad to say that I speced the right person this time, but alas, the mystical forces of Fate would not allow my nonsense to continue.


DG wasn't particularly pleased with my shenanigans.

Two Ancient Mages came out of nowhere and made short work of me. DG distracted one of them, but the other entered the fray and finished the job, and I ended up losing the spear. I have a spare, but I'm treating this incident as a sort of divine warning shot to keep me from fooling around with the weapon again.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:36 PM |

25 June 2009

Safety In Numbers II

Zelda, Mat and King have decided to join our merry little band of PvP tricksters.

Though we now gather EP at Port Phasmatys in larger (and thus more intimidating) groups, we've been attacked on numerous occasions during the last couple of days. We were, however, able to fend off most of the assaults.


Mat giving a Pker a good whack with his Dragon Spear.

Mat stunned an Ancient Mage with four Dragon Spear attacks, giving Tiz enough time to flee before the Pker could whittle down the rest of his health. He did likewise with a second attack made on Zelda. DG also chased a Pker who was harassing us all the way to the Ectofunctus, before he finally died of his injuries. Determined to not miss out on the action, I too later interfered with two separate attempts to kill DG and Tiz.



These skirmishes have made me more determined to buy a set of Dragon Claws. My offer of 30.5 million several days ago was ignored, but I am tracking the weapon's soaring price; I'll renew my order as soon as it finally dips.


Stuff achieved today: Level 98 Smithing

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:54 PM |

23 June 2009

Motherlode

I've hit the motherlode.



Tiz and I started the day taking turns to kill one another. The first drop was appalling; I picked up nothing but a set of bones after he had died. The second kill more than made up for it. The value of the loot actually exceeded a million gp. I was already feeling thoroughly satisfied at that point, but when I later met up with DG to perform the PvP trick, her fallen body actually yielded a Zaros Statuette!



Priced at five million coins, the statuette is by far the most valuable of all ancient artefacts. The drop was met with great astonishment from both Dg and I, as well as Tiz who had happened to be present. I sold it shortly after to Mandrith. Mat logged in sometime later, and I made it a point to brag about the godly artefact in an as overbearingly cocky a tone as possible, which was really just my petty way of getting back at him for all the occasions he teased me by flaunting his Abyssal Demon head drops.



Although none of my other drops can match the scale of a Zaros Statuette in terms of price, the frequency of PvP spoils exceeding 400-500k is such that I can no longer attribute my valuable drops to sheer, one-off luck. Even when excluding the five million gp statuette, I estimate that my average earnings from the PvP trick have tripled since Tuesday's update.

I fear that Jagex, deciding that this money making method is too easy, would step in and drastically reduce the drop rate.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 100k Smithing exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:19 PM |

22 June 2009

Safety In Numbers

Good news! Tiz has agreed to join DG and I in performing the PvP trick.

The three of us spent a large chunk of the day Smithing cannonballs at Port Phasmatys to gather EP. I doubt either of them would leap to my rescue if I were to get attacked since they're mostly unarmed, but our numbers should deter any potential Pkers from pulling off anything funny.



We haven't encountered any trouble yet, but all the PvP servers have been significantly more crowded since last Tuesday's update. And though the port remains - both literally and metaphorically - a ghost town, we've also been seeing more visitors lately. I've tried killing the unarmed ones, but even a DDS and Rune Defender combo isn't strong enough, which prompted me to put up a 30.5 million gp offer for a pair of Dragon Claws on the Grand Exchange.

If used correctly, they should eventually pay for themselves, although I am already getting a very substantial sum by killing DG. She dropped a Seren Statuette today, which I gratefully sold to Mandrith for a million coins.


A Seren Statuette and a Combat Bracelet, courtesy of DG's cadaver.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 125k Prayer exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 9:51 PM |

21 June 2009

Back In Business

Level 98 Prayer yesterday, huzzah!

It's great knowing that I'm just a single level up away from another Skill Cape, but I feel a tinge of disappointment that there wasn't a second set of fireworks to celebrate my maxing out of F2P Combat; Zelda was treated to the multi-colour spectacle when he attained the highest possible F2P total level.




I am now back to performing the PvP trick for some extra cash. Mat's still fed up with the hassle of Smithing to gain the necessary loot potential, but I've got DG as my new PvP partner. The first set of loot was valued at over 900k; a sum which rivals even that of the Dark Bow drop I had picked up a couple of weeks back. The second set of loot was worth a respectable 350k. I didn't want to continue with the killing as I had already exhausted all of my EP by then.


After Tuesday's update, players now drop ancient artefacts when they
die, which can be sold to Mandrith.

DG didn't fair nearly as well even after killing me thrice, but still raked in a profit. I'm sure her luck would improve soon enough. I still remember how Mat dwarfed my Dark Bow drop just days later, when he had the good fortune of looting an Amulet of Fury, an Obsidian Cape and a Dragon Scimitar from my corpse in a single kill.


Stuff achieved today: Nothing much

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:25 PM |

18 June 2009

DFS Price Spikes

I should've expected this. Now that players no longer drop Dragonfire Shields when they die in PvP servers, the item's value has shot up due to its increased rarity.

It rose by 800k on Wednesday, which was followed by a 1.2 million gp leap today. Unfortunately, I was unable to capitalise on the price fluctuations; I sold all 20 of the shields on the day before the update was released, which earnt me a measly 49k profit apiece.

The situation may still be salvageable, however. It's mostly player speculation that's driving prices up. I'll just have to wait for the panic selling to take place and hopefully buy them up just as they hit rock bottom. I will then be able to cash in when the DFS makes a recovery. I've been training Prayer steadily for the last several weeks; I need to offset the costs of the Dragon Bones somehow.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 100k Prayer exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:20 PM |

16 June 2009

Gravestone Improvements

Nothing much to discuss today.

I whiled away my hours of Runescape training Prayer and Smithing, as well as going about my usual Ranarr rounds. There was a system update sometime later, but the changes mostly concerned little fixes here and there.

They can't match the excitement and hype that new content brings, but I felt particularly pleased with the improvements made to grave markers. Their timers have all been extended by a full minute and they no longer disintegrate whenever the owner logs out from the game. The latter's a feature which I really welcome, since I have been struck down by lag-related deaths before.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 100k Prayer exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:07 PM |

14 June 2009

Slayer Party

Dragon Fire Shield prices have been climbing, so I've pulled out of the market for now since a crash or at least a dip in its value may be imminent.

Mat and Tiz have also lost interest in performing the PvP trick, so I'm back to doing my more conventional methods of money-making for now. Phooey.


DG getting ready to level up, with the rest of us waiting anxiously. I was
a little late in typing out the congrats message because I got distracted
by the two passers-by on the upper right.

But enough about my petty financial woes. Together with several other Blessings members, I celebrated DG's Mastery of the Slayer skill with her today at Shilo Village. Though Farming remains my favourite stat, I have to admit that the Slayer Cape is by far the most impressive looking of all 24 skills. You just can't top black with a red trim. Its emote isn't too bad either.


DG performing the Slayer emote after purchasing the cape.

Congratulations, DG! All the best with your next 99.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 100k Prayer exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:02 PM |

11 June 2009

Run Energy

The Run Energy update discussed in a Development Diary several weeks back finally came to fruition on Tuesday.



The article seemed to suggest that the addition of energy-restoring NPC musicians around Gielinor to aid weary adventurers would be the centerpiece of the update, but this feature has been rendered almost completely redundant thanks to some other changes Jagex had made.

The normal restore rate of Run Energy has been greatly sped up, so much so that I find it difficult to tire out my avatar even during Farming rounds, when I'm travelling to various Farming patches around Runescape. This also holds true for Prayer training. Although I continue to take advantage of the Spirit Terrorbird for extra inventory space, I don't even need the Tireless Run scrolls anymore.


A Goblin Musician, found near the Stealing Creation waiting rooms.

But if it is of any consolation, the musicians come dressed in various types of colourful clothing and are still a welcomed sight (and sound) in Runescape.


Stuff achieved today: Level 97 Prayer, Level 87 Summoning

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:29 PM |

09 June 2009

Motley Crew

Started my day with a Farming round and some Prayer training.

I later met up with Tiz, Kat and Air Dragon for the God Wars trip we had been planning since the previous week. Mat said that he probably could make it, but wasn't even online at the time, so Tiz had to resort to asking DG and Kicky to come along. We were fully aware that they could easily hold their own against General Graardor and his minions, but they weren't exactly our first choices due to the history of bad blood between Air and DG, and Kicky and I.



As it was a weekday, it wasn't difficult to find an empty Lootshare server and crashers didn't give us any trouble. However, the first few minutes in the Bandos boss room went disastrously. Out of fear that the empty server we had found would get occupied, the original four of us decided to face off with the General before DG and Kicky could arrive. Just as we were preparing to make our charge into the room, Tiz pulled a classic Leeroy Jenkins and ran in prematurely.

After a quick rebuke from me back in the real world (we were all playing at my house), the rest of us entered the room to back him up. Unfortunately, by then, the guy had already teleported out of the dungeon, so it was just Kat, Air and I against the four boss monsters.


Air Dragon's gravestone; I was around to bless it, so he was
able to return and retrieve his stuff a short while later.

I think DG rushed in sometime in the middle of the first battle, while Kicky showed up during either the second or third fight. I'm pretty certain Air was killed just moments after the latter's arrival. Graardor was focusing his Melee attacks on him because I was a little too late in getting the General's attention when he spawned.

Thankfully, the remainder of the God Wars trip passed without incident. Air and Tiz rejoined the group about half an hour later. Me and Kicky were actually civil towards one another, even taking turns to fulfill the role as tank, while DG and Air mostly ignored each other which was fine with the rest of us.


The drops I had gleaned from the raid.

We didn't get any big ticket loot, but the common to semi-rare drops we received were more than enough to cover the costs of the Super Restores and Sara Brews we drank up, so I suppose I am content.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 200k Prayer exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:45 PM |

08 June 2009

Merchanting Ethics

I've just read from Vaskor's site that members of a merching clan known as Goldmerch have recently made massive losses, due to an unexpected price fluctuation in the Grand Exchange, during one of their pump and dump schemes.

They had placed numerous trade offers at the maximum price for Limpwurt Roots, but the item mysteriously fell in value on two consecutive days in spite of the huge demand for it. A thread by one of the clan heads was started in response to the Grand Exchange's erratic behaviour, which briefly discusses the possible causes of the price drop. The post caught the attention of at least a couple of Jagex mods, but they claim that they hadn't used their godly programming powers to alter the price mechanism as some players had suspected.

It's possible that Jagex could have been lying about their involvement, but there are other plausible causes to the Limpwurt's fall in value; it could've been the result of a glitch in the pricing system or perhaps an even larger group of players than Goldmerch could've been selling the Limpwurts at lower prices.

Nothing conclusive can be drawn from here since no one knows for sure what really caused the abnormal price changes, but this whole issue has really prompted me to decide on my stand towards merchanting clans.

The players at Vaskor's site who commented on the article seem to be rejoicing about this blow against Goldmerch. I guess I feel a little smug that my solo merchanting activities have proven to be more lucrative, but I harbour no hostile feelings towards such clans. Price manipulation through their pump and dump tactics never bothered me much; I only draw the line at dishonest methods such as the announcement of phony trade offers in the forums.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 200k Prayer exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:44 PM |

05 June 2009

Level 99 Looting

Dabbling in the DFS market and performing the 75k trick with Mat continue to fatten up my bank account.




My merchanting activities got me another 1.3 million gp, and I picked up drops worth over 300k twice from Mat. In spite of the size of these earnings, my PvP partner was still somehow able to put me to shame. He had the ridiculously good fortune of looting a Dragon Scimitar, an Obsidian Cape and an Amulet of Fury from my cadaver in a single kill. The haxx0r.

Monetary issues aside, camping in PvP servers has also done wonders to my Smithing. Due to my being spurred on to gather loot potential, I'm making cannonballs a lot more frequently now. I reached level 97 and can now smith Rune Kiteshields!




Stuff achieved today: Level 96 Prayer, Level 97 Smithing

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:01 PM |

04 June 2009

Hate Crimes

I'm making a lot of enemies in the PvP servers.

Besides looting Mat's corpse, to further supplement my income, I am now lashing out at any skillers in the vicinity, who are within attacking range. Port Phasmatys, my current PvP base of operations, isn't as deserted as I had earlier thought. From time to time, Smiths or Firemakers would drop by and train near the bank.


Good ol' Mat was around to shut the door to prevent my target's escape.



They were unarmed, so it was just a simple matter of discreetly wielding my DDS and Rune Defender, before activating the Piety Prayer and catching them off-guard with the dagger's Special Attacks, with the objective of knocking them out before they are able to flee to the safety of a bank. Unfortunately, my strikes are highly inaccurate and I've only managed to fell one target so far. At least the loot was good, though Mat and I had to put up with his flaming when he returned from his trip to Lumbridge.

But it wasn't all Pking for me today. I got round to finishing the Hunt for Red Raktuber, which incidentally is one of the most bizarre quests I've done in a while. The penguins continue with their plot to destroy the human race, and I was once more dispatched by Larry the Zookeeper to investigate the matter.


Me infiltrating the interrogation room of the KGP base in my penguin
disguise.

Through my espionage of the KGP outpost, I discover that, with some aid of the engineering expertise of the Dwarven Red Axe, the penguins now have a submarine at their disposal. A small faction of the penguins has also gone rogue and has joined the mind-controlling slugs (from the Slug quest series). This new development is of little consequence though, since the slugs too have a single-minded purpose of driving all humans in Gielinor to extinction.


The penguin's submarine, AKA the Red Raktuber.

It feels like everyone and everything is out to get me.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 100k Prayer exp, Completed Hunt for Red Raktuber quest

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:37 PM |

03 June 2009

Human Piñata

The DFS trades have slowed down considerably, but at least I was still able to reap in another million gp today.

Mat and I continued performing the PvP trick. We've decided to make it a regular thing, so I'm now restricting my Smithing activities to PvP servers in order to amass as much "loot potential" as possible. Mat's doing likewise and is now actively training the skill.



Though business in the Dragonfire Shield market had not been brisk, I was considerably luckier during our mutual assisted-suicides. Mat actually dropped a Dark Bow during his first death today, which I later sold for over 800k. Though my earnings are now greater than Mat's, it'll only be a matter of time before he overtakes me.

As I was excitedly telling him about my spoils, Air Dragon reminded me that killing a higher leveled player could potentially grant the assailant even better loot.


Stuff achieved today: Gained 100k Prayer exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 11:54 PM |

02 June 2009

Money-Making Schemes

Ka-ching!

I decided yesterday that I wasn't satisfied with just owning a Dragonfire Shield. After observing that the shield's price had fallen by over 9% for the past month, as well as being reminded of its volatility, I've chosen to jump into the DFS market and participate in some good ol' fashioned speculative merchanting, an activity I hadn't undertaken since I merched Dragon Platebodies in late 2008.


The first sale of Dragonfire Shields earnt me 590k.

Although waiting for a price spike had been the initial plan (which is what speculative merching involves), I've found that a quick and sizable profit can still be made by simply buying the Combat equipment at slightly below the current market price and then selling it for more.

I bought ten shields and proceeded to sell them all hours later to earn roughly 600k. I repeated the cycle of buying and selling, and raked in an additional 600k. I did this a third time and gained a whopping 2 million gp. All this was done within a period of approximately 24 hours, between yesterday afternoon and today. As it stands, I've placed a GE order of twenty Dragonfire Shields and am hoping that the trades will come in overnight.



My money-making schemes do not end there. Mat suggested yesterday that we experiment with the 75k PvP trick, which involves players taking turns to kill each other in a PvP server, with 75k+ in their inventories. The objective of these seemingly crazy assisted-suicides is for both players to pick up drops of greater value than the cash they lose when they die.

It took a YouTube video to convince me of its lucrativeness; I eventually caved in to Mat's persuasion and tried it out today. We killed each other thrice. I think I pocketed around 125k worth of items, after deducting the money I lost.


Mat and I took turns to kill each other.



Mat emerged way better off. His last kill, for example, yielded an Obsidian Cape, some Dragon arrows, as well as the 76k I had been carrying in my inventory in the first place!


Stuff achieved today: Gained 100k+ Prayer exp

Posted by Timothy Gold at 10:52 PM |




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