Potpourri

I finally did the Halloween event (on 11/1, I’m happy I didn’t miss it!) and it was pretty good. I had some trouble finding all the spiders but it didn’t take long to get them on their matching tiles. I had heard this was super hard for some people. I think I really just lucked out, half were correct before I even realize what was going on. The talking to the dead musician guy was probably the worst part of it for me. I actually pulled up a guide because that kind of thing frustrates the hell out of me. However, when I looked at it, I realized I was on the last choice anyways.

I think the bone brooch is pretty cool and the emote is fun. Overall I liked it. I like how it incorporated people from previous Halloween events. I liked the Poe references and I had to look it up to confirm it, but there was a Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey reference. I got worried there that I was reading Bill & Ted’s into it, but its there! Whenever I see the grim reaper I think about challenging him to battleship and twister so I already had that goin on in the back of my head. Also, I don’t know where Bill S. Preston gets off adding Esq. to the end of his name. There’s no way that kid went to law school and passed the bar. Also, they’re coming out with a third one soon, which... will be interesting.

Yesterday I got to 93 Crafting, which I’m pretty happy about. Staves and the occasional assist is really the only way I train it. I had about 800 staves laying around so I bit the bullet and bought the air orbs to make them. They’re super expensive now, but they bought at mid instantly. I go in and out of my DIY phases and I just didn’t have it in me to make the orbs from scratch. Part of that has to do with not visiting Arnheim in Catherby for my seaweed. I just don’t really think of it because I have enough pineapples to last me forever.

The cash supply was running a little low, so I went to my favorite alching spot and took care of those. The best place to alch is the Skavid caves at Gu’Tanoth while collecting nightshade. It’s a second for herblore and its respawn rate is a little slow, not to mention it being untradeable. You just need a lightsource and the Skavid map. I wear my Seer’s 3 headband but you can also use the mining helmet to save an inventory spot. I wear my dueling ring so I can bank pretty quickly at Castle Wars. You also need to wear any kind of gloves or else it’ll hurt you when you pick it up.

It never ceases to amaze me how much of Runescape is based upon actual things. There really is belladonna and nightshade and it actually is a toxic plant. I’ve touched on this before, but the amount of real life knowledge you gain while playing a fantasy game is astounding. I always just assumed about 10% of it was real, while the rest is all just imaginary.

Do you know that when Jagex said that they were going to find a use for Ecto-Tokens, that was in 2008. It’s been 2 years and they still haven’t touched on it. They can’t think of anything to do with them? Really? I guess they have better things to do, but they just keep piling up. What would you want them to do with them? Have any ideas? New outfits? They stated originally that they’d be required for a pet, but something with the ex-ex-parrot got it askew. Which reminds me, I should get one of those… Spending 25 or whatever every, say, 4th week because there’s a penguin on braindeath doesn’t exactly deplete the pile. We already have ghostly robes, so that just seems redundant. I wouldn’t want to trade them in for xp being that the ecto place already gives the best pray xp you can get.

With two months left in the year and motivation at a pretty low state, I have to admit I don’t think I’ll make my goal of 90+ (Dungeoneering aside). I’m ok with that. I really wish I posted a list of my skills last January to see how far I’ve come. That’s something to remember for this year. It was a lofty goal, but I’m ok with not achieving it. It was something to reach for and I’ve done a lot in these 10 months. Training some skills that were already over 90 took some time away from leveling the lower ones. I got my Woodcutting cape which I never thought would happen. I brought Thieving up from one of my lowest, most hated levels to one of my higher ones. I got my Strength cape, have been working on Attack, etc.

I just looked back through this blog and my first post of the new year mentioned that I had just lost to Jad 4 times. Things don’t seem to change much I guess. I also noticed that it’s almost been a year since I had the idea of all the RS bloggers to kind of have a get together. It didn’t go exactly as I had thought it would, but it was a lot of fun to get to see everyone in game that I read about on an almost daily basis. Would anyone be interested in doing this again? I think it could be fun. Make it pretty informal, like a house party or meet in a tavern somewhere. Actually, maybe a F2P place would be better since some don’t have memberships. Falador pub? We can stack up on Dwarf Stouts and Wizard Mind Bombs when we’re there. Let me know your thoughts. I’ll organize something if people are interested. And I promise this year I’ll make it at a better time for the ones on the other side of the Atlantic.

Jax’s blog must have me thinking about goals. Congrats to her on her 4th complete year of playing and just plowing through levels. I’ve been playing years longer and haven’t accomplished nearly as much.

Superglass - afragelisticexpealedocious

PvP is back! And I am… pretty indifferent. I never PK’d, not my thing. I am glad that the ones that want to now have the option. Maybe this will clear out the forums of all the “BRING BACK PK AND WILDY NOW PLOX” threads, but I seem to doubt it. People will always find flaws in the new updates. In all fairness, I just want the Glory glitch fixed so I don’t constantly have a spear sticking out of my chest.

I’m sorry for not posting in a bit, work has had me spending more time in my car than at the computer. Although, I really have no excuse, if Vaskor can blog from Siberia, than I should be able to do it from a hotel in the middle of nowhere MD.

Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough time in the game? This has been happening to me recently. Even when I’ve had a longer amount of time to play per day, my to-do list just seems to keep growing. I’ve been saving money, I think I want to swap my Dragon Chainbody for a Bandos Platebody. I know that’s money that can be used for leveling, as I normally would, I think it will be a good investment. When you get to higher levels, the stat boosts really seem to come into play. An extra +3 or +4 here and there can justify an extra million gp. If it allows you to consistently hit just 1hp higher than normal, and you’re trying to level somewhere in the 90s in Attack, Strength, Defense or Range, it adds up. With pots and prayer, along with the armor bonuses, you hit 3hp higher, think of the hours you can save in leveling! In that time, you can easily make enough cash to justify the price difference. At least, that’s how I justified it to myself. Maybe my recent Slayer kick has corrupted me.

Back to what I was saying, I’ve felt rushed recently in the game. I’m doing it to myself, and I realize that, its just this weird justification thing going on in my head. Why would I pay for 1k Nature Runes when I can just make them myself? But I know why, its to have that time I’m putting into mining ess and crafting the runes back. I just feel the need to save the money and do it on my own. Maybe the recent state of the economy has carried over into my game playing. I’ve been trying to get a lot of Crafting experience this month which has led me to making a lot of orbs (thank god for Superglass Make!). Since they’re made, I might as well as enchant them, right? This might be another reason why I’m playing like this. If the process if half done, might as well complete it. I love deconstruction, taking seemingly basic things, breaking them down to their simple ingredients then building them back up in an entirely new way, but still having its base core is a fascinating process to me. It might be that it’s the processes that I enjoy, not their products. I subconsciously do the painful tasks of mining ess and making molten glass because that’s what I actually enjoy and the end product is the justification to my madness. I take some sort of demented sense of pride in knowing the things I use daily are things I’ve created. Some things I will easily pay for if they are not readily available. Take drops for instance. I’m not going to only use armor I’ve received as drops. I’d still be wearing a Rune Chainbody if that were the case. I don’t even want to guess the number of Dusties I’d have to kill for the D-Chain I wear now. But something as simple as collecting “x”, modifying it, then making it into the product seems so easy, that why shouldn’t I be doing it? I’ve sacrificed peace of mind for a procedural addiction. Just say No, kids.

I have tickets to game 6, but if the Phillies win the NLCS tonight in game 5, that’s just fine by me. Baseball also is taking a toll on my game playing. Half paying attention to the game, half on baseball leads me to doing more menial tasks that require less attention. I’m sure that will change after the Phillies win the World Series :)

End of the Month

There’s a new quest out today. I seem to have the requirements for it. It looks pretty interesting. I’m a little surprised All Fired Up isn’t a requirement. If Varrock’s being attacked from the Wildy and the beacons aren’t used, then what’s the point of them? I kind of love all things zombie related so I’m looking forward to this.

I found myself being indecisive again yesterday. I got all the levels I seemed to be close to, including 75 Range, 73 Agility and 69 Mining. The main reason I want 70 Mining is because of the stars now. Although mining my own addy will be nice. I won’t have to rely on Avansies just to work on my Smithing. My main default activity was always Fishing. If I couldn’t decide what to do, I’d Fish until something else came up. As much as I love moving up in the ranks by adding xp after my 99, I just think that all that time needs to be spent working towards levels in other skills. Sure I could always use extra food, but I have a decent supply still, and cooking is just so boring. I think I might be the only one who’s stayed at 94+ Cooking for over 3 months now and not gotten a cape. I just hate doing it.

Took an impromptu clan trip to the Zammy boss in Godwars yesterday. We had roughly 8 people so it was relatively safe. One person did die towards the end then timed his re-entry into the boss’s room poorly only to be killed again. Such are the risks I guess. I accidentally ended up tanking it one of the times, that was a little stressful, but I lived to see its demise. No great drops, but that’s ok. We were able to make about 15 kills before having to tele out. One more thing done that I’ve never tried before and new music is always fun. I couldn’t get over how dark it is in that room though, its like fighting with the lights off.

Just today and tomorrow remain for Agility and I think I’m done. I got from level 60-73 this month and am thrilled that I don’t have to walk the entire way around Tav Dungeon anymore. My original goal was 80 but other things kept getting in the way. It’s a shame Agility doesn’t get you any cash. I had to stop and make some money for the daily errands. I’ve been stockpiling my staves and I am THRILLED to be able to assemble/alch them on Wednesday. All that Crafting and Magic experience just waiting to be raked in. That’ll give me a good amount of cash too, maybe I’ll splurge on something. Maybe buy a bunch of bars for Smithing or what not.

I’ve been neglecting Slayer, I should really train that as well. Hopefully this week is a little more calm. Last week was kind of hectic between going to baseball games and weddings. This one seems a little more settled down. No more sneaking out of a wedding reception so I can see the Phillies clinch the National League East crown! However they play when I’m at work. I’m waiting to hear about NLDS tickets and already have my NLCS tickets purchased. Can’t wait! Go fightins!