C.R.E.A.M.

I grew up on the crime side, the New York Times side… Sorry. Ahh money. Such a major force in the world. The dollar, the euro, yen, pound sterling, francs, lira, pesos, gil... The almighty GP! Why should Runescape be any different? So many people play the game simply to get rich at it. There’s RWT sites that will charge you real world money so that you can be rich in Runescape (hopefully these are fading away into oblivion). There’s countless websites with strategy guides stating that their way to get rich is the fastest and the easiest. Christmas crackers, party hats, Halloween masks all seem to cost as much as the gross national product as several small countries. My thoughts on gp have changed significantly over the years of playing Runescape, and here’s how.

As a lower level I couldn’t help but admire those with an almost limit-less income. They’d talk about the millions they made killing creatures I’ve never even heard of and selling their drops so they could buy armor that I’ve also never heard of. I never begged for anything to be given to me in game, I never really saw the point. Even when I was just starting out I found it to be a little annoying. We all start someplace. We all had to struggle to kill goblins to get that 10gp to get to Al Kharid at some point. Maybe it was because I started playing this game as an adult, but I always wanted to work for the gp. I would run to the pasture, kick cows to death (sorry PETA!) and run their hides over to Al Kharid to sell, and sometimes even try to hop worlds to find that elusive buyer who was willing to offer 120gp each. I toiled away, not making a lot of money and would be in awe of those who could throw millions around and not bat an eyelash. Saving up to buy full rune was a huge deal for me, and I wore it proudly.

Flash forward a couple years to present day. I feel like I’ve become an old man on Runescape. Like the old lady who clips coupons and counts pennies at the grocery store. Sure, I don’t have any problems spending money on things that I need, that’s why I worked for it. However, when you get up there in levels, you start to realize how long it takes to get to that next level. Leveling a few times a day is unheard of as it was when you were younger. Someone told me once “If it gives you experience, do it. If it doesn’t – buy it.” Since then, I’ve tried to live my Runescape life like that. I value my Steel Dragon and Avansie drops much more that I mined my mith, smithed the ores, smithed the bolts, crafted the emerald tips and enchanted them. Sure I could buy a bunch for a few thousand, but I value that little bit of Mining, Smithing, Fletching, Crafting and Magic experience so much more. Unexpected leveling is such a bonus of the game. Getting a Mage level while teleporting on a herb run, getting a Fletching level attaching feathers to bolts, the odd Mining level while getting ess to RC, its these things that are worth more than gp.

There’s the constant debate over the value of Skillcapes. Many argue that Fletching and Cooking capes are worth less because they’re relatively quick to get if you buy everything. First off, any 99 takes a good amount of time and dedication and deserves to be congratulated. These capes might not be fully appreciated by the ones with them, and have gotten them just for the sake of owning a skill cape. However, to the person who chopped all his own trees, picked his own flax, crafted his own bowstrings, the Fletching cape is a huge achievement. If a person reaches 99 cooking by cooking only the food they have accumulated themselves, its also a huge deal. I’ve been dying to get 70 Prayer recently (no pun intended). Now, I do well for myself in game. I don’t have Bill Gates or Oprah kind of money, but I live comfortably. Maybe Noah Wylie in the ER days - kind of money. Sure I could buy a bunch of Dragon Bones, find a gilded on forums and have the level I want. I feel like I appreciate it more knowing that I’ve gotten every one of my bones fighting dragons myself, and squeezing every drop of xp out of them by using the Ectofunctus.

The new lending system is something Runescape players have asked for, and most are now complaining about it. Everyone was up in arms over the trade limit and about not being able to help friends. Now, you can do that in a rather novel way, and people are complaining that their rare items are going to plummet in price. Its almost as if there is some sort of class war in Runescape society. The rich don’t want the poor acting like they have rare items as well. “OMG a lvl 49 with a phat!” In all honesty, who cares? The ones who have made the gp the ultimate goal in playing the game seem to have a lot of stress in their lives. I love my Dragon Chainbody. I fished my tail off and saved forever so that I could buy one. I had always wanted one since I was a low level. Since the update, about 5 or 6 lower levels have asked if I could lend it to them. Did I get upset, refuse to lend it to them, berate them for not being able to make millions and state that I’m boycotting the lending system? No. I wasn’t using it. Here, knock yourself out with it for an hour, kid. I know it’ll be waiting for me at my bank when I get back. It might motivate them to work harder to get one of their own. “Remember how good I looked in that D Chain? Man, I can’t wait to get one of my own!”

The game is so much more than just GP. It seems to trivialize it boiling it down to one minute aspect. There’s friends, fun, a plethora of skills to experience, quests to go on, monsters to be slain. Don’t play a game with the sole purpose of making money in it. We do these things in real life, its called work. Do it for the experiences and the experience (xp). Play it for fun, and you know that person who asks to borrow one of your items might be a pretty cool person. There’s too many Gordon Gekko’s in life as it is, don’t be another one.

Even Old New York Was Once New Amsterdam

When the motivation strikes, you have to seize it. I wanted to get a lot accomplished this weekend and got to do just that. I had nothing planned in real life aside from a BBQ and a couple runs to stay in shape, but with as hectic as the last two weeks have been, I just wanted to relax, play a little RS and watch some movies. I've mentioned before that I'm not a big quester. I kind of hate the back and forth-ness of it. Plus my uncanny ability to die in the oddest of situations doesn't sit well. However, as quest after quest is released, I keep falling more and more behind. So I set out to play a little catch up. I was sick of not being able to use Chivalry, so I completed Holy Grail and Kings Ransom as well as defeating all the knights. Someone had mentioned maybe a clan Trouble Brewing trip, plus I wanted the Holy Wrench so I cranked out Rum Deal and Cabin Fever. Tribal Totem and Monk's Friend seemed easy so I got those done. I can't believe I haven't done Big Chompy Bird Hunting so I did that along with Zogre Flesh Eaters (love the name, I'm a huge Fulci fan :P). Grim Tales seemed pretty cool so I did that. I can always use another place to bank so Contact! was interesting (and a little nerve racking at the end, it was the closest I came to death out of them all). And to round it out, Perils of Ice Mountain and Another Slice of H.A.M.

So there you have it 12 quests in a weekend to get me up to 204 QP. Not bad for a reluctant quester. I thought this would come in handy at Tears, but I left with a measly 55. Again. I must be terrible at that. All those quests got me some decent levels. Most notably, 71 Farming, 106 CB, 60 Agility, 62 Thieving. I finally got Summoning up to 60, costing me a pretty penny. Not a money drain, Jagex? Tell that to my wallet... Oh well, I've been doing a lot of herb runs lately, they're worth a bunch. However, I can't bring myself to sell them. I know I'll need them at some point and xp is always worth more than cash for me.

A friend came up with a pretty amusing way to measure Total Levels last night. I pretty much loved it because it instantly brought up memories of long hours of playing Civiliation. Thinking of Total Levels as the year is highly amusing. While my higher level friends are about to embark on The Great War (note - its not WW I yet), I have just renamed Neiuw Amsterdam - New York, the Ottoman Empire will be defeated in a number of days and Louis XIV is starting up the French East India Company.

This made me reflect on my earlier days as a player. Since you start off early AD, I didn't have to invent the wheel or wait for Prometheus to make his daily fire run to Zeus's house so that I can cook my mantas. Instead I've seen the discovery of new worlds, empires rise and fall, medicine make incredible leaps and bounds, the religious persecute and be persecuted, the scientists persecute and be persecuted, the heavens studied, wars fought and generations come and go. In 1664, I've seen a bunch. There is also a long way to go. Now if I can only somehow making it to 2100 without starting Global Thermonuclear War like I always do in Civilization, then we'll be making progress, my friend.