The updates this week caused a bit of a whirlwind among players. (To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen an update that hasn't set off a mass panic). This one was a little different. I'm not going to touch on the graphics or the auto-cast of spells. I want to focus a little bit on the limited stock update for stores.
I actually really like this update. Hear me out. When I started Runescape, there was limited stock at stores. This was offset by the fact that the trade limit had yet to be imposed on the players. The prices of many items were much higher than they are in the game today.
There were rewards in skilling. Rune Platebodies need 99 Smithing in order to obtain them. This is a little ridiculous, being that there have been so many other, better, platebodies introduced since, but at the time, getting the best armor meant needing to have the best skills.
Needing runes meant you worked on Runecrafting, etc. I see this as a push to everyone who has gotten so used to buying everything they need, to train skills that they might never have. I put it on the level of the Achievement Diary. I hated getting my Farming and Smithing up at the moment, however, down the line I'm glad that I have those levels and that I worked on these skills.
Am I saying that every player should make everything for themselves? No, that's not what I'm getting at. I'm just stating that there needs to be a more drive for player-made items opposed to unlimited stock store items. Say you want a Rune Platebody, but are only 65 Smithing. Yes, its impossible to ask you to train to 99 to get what you want, but the point is, there are players out there who have trained to 99 Smithing. They are able to make one for you. Sure, it might be sold out of the GE, but there's entire forum threads dedicated to these things, as well as Worlds. If you need 1k vials and don't want to make them, that's fine as well. Someone out there is willing to do it and sell them to you. We had Runescape "jobs" for a while. I'd get the cowhides, the xp from attacking them and sell them to one high level everytime I got 1k. Same goes with coal. It gave the game a more personal feel to it as well as gave one more way to get to know your fellow players. It was walking into the mom & pop shop every weekend, saying hello, having a conversation, exchanging business, everyone wins. It feels to me that Runescape has taken on a very Wal-Mart feel lately.
This might drive the prices up on countless items, but I really feel as if skills have been hit hard over the years. Take Death Runes for example. You train your Runecrafting to 65, complete one of the more difficult quests in Mourning's End Part 2, all for what? You can create Death Runes now, but its more profitable to create Law Runes or even double Cosmics. That's really not much of a reward for those feats. Blood Runes have an insanely high level requirement considering the skill is so slow at giving xp, and the price really needs to reflect the work put into it.
Smithing as well. What started out as one of the most profitable skills on Runescape has really become a money sink over the years. Its to the point where rune armor and weapons are usually just alched when you get them as a drop. The value is negligible between selling it and its alch value, which really is kind of sad if you think about it.
I really hope this update sticks. A little legwork and "getting to know your local seller" as well as some price increases, I feel are a good thing. If I seem a little combatitive in this post its because its something I really feel pretty strong about. Merch clans, 75k, 26k schemes, etc, generating gigantic amounts of cash I feel has almost made players soft in a way. No need to train Herblore, just buy pots. No need to train Runecrafting, just buy runes, etc... Maybe it'll make someone second guess why they're spending all that cash on an item, which is now no longer selling and if it ever does it'd be for quadruple the price, say "why don't I just make that on my own?" Who knows, maybe they'll actually like it.
There was a time before the GE, before unlimited stocks where we all survived. I love the convenience of the GE, don't get me wrong. However, there was a time where that Rune Platebody we all take for granted now wasn't available in stores. To get it, you needed to know someone with 99 Smithing, if you weren't yourself. That really meant something.
As with everything, there are always exceptions. The main one for this is Shards. The limit on that is ridiculous and should be removed. Any items that are not able to be made by a player, shouldn't have a limit. As for the ones that are player made, the low limit makes me excited to use certain skills which have fallen by the weyside, again. I think its a good re-vamp by Jagex to brush the dust off of things like making vials, crafting in general, even RC. I'm excited that it looks like it will be profitable to be a skiller again.
Showing posts with label skilling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skilling. Show all posts
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Bring on the Games!
Got my Quest Cape last Friday. I was never a big fan of questing, but WGS was pretty interesting. Also, no death, which is always welcome. I never claimed my xp reward and probably won’t for a while. The only thing that has me torn about it is the fact that there’s a cutscene preview of upcoming quests and I really want to see it, but to see it you need to claim your xp. There’s just not one skill I’m focusing on at the moment, but maybe with new releases or whatever there’ll be something I really want to get to, so for now, it can just wait. Its kind of good to know you have 400kxp in the bank.
Sunday was another awesome game of skill only Stealing Creations. I think there was a game that was only 12 minutes at one point, but I could be wrong.
I didn’t realize it until it was too late, but I definitely forgot to do penguins and I hate myself for it. Not only for the xp, but I actually kind of enjoy it. Also, it was the fact that when I realized it, I was only an hour too late and I had basically spent that time just clearing out bankspace.
I’m loving the Q&A with the company on the forums. I never grasped why people love to hate Jagex. They created something awesome, but for every update there’s someone reacting as if it ruined their lives. The game is fluid, we can adjust. They seem very candid and honest in their responses, while still being able to withhold information that they should. That information being upcoming plot lines, quest details, etc. You don’t see an author come out and say “the book ends like this…”, you need to have some things kept secret. I loved that they addressed the dragon pickaxe issue by saying they’re coming out with it, but are just figuring out a decent way to do it. I get that. You don’t want to release something people have been begging for directly for sale in a general store. You want to wow people and make you feel like you earned it. I’d love to see it released in a quest/mini-quest involving the star sprites since they’ve become such a big part of the Mining skill. Maybe deal with their origin or whatever. I also like that they not too subtly called out their mistakes. Its not the exact words, but it was along the lines of “do you really want another Firemaking skill?” Ouch. To my view, it pretty much calls out Firemaking on sucking and not really useful. Which, I think, is true. But the cape is orange, which makes it kind of awesome.
I hope this becomes a regular thing. A little bit of effort goes a long way. Even when people had suggestions that they shot down, they came up with pretty good reasons. The “yeah, we thought of that but just couldn’t figure out a way to execute it properly because of x, y and z” at least shows the player that they are in fact, trying these things out. And a few times, it makes perfect sense. Lag vs an unresponsive player? I get that too.
The reasoning behind Stealing Creations not giving skill xp cleared so much up for me. It makes sense. It *does* give xp basically, its just not given on the completion of the game directly. it’s the bonus xp you get from using their tools, which still makes you go out and actually do the skill. it’s a motivator to both play the minigame and actually go out and train that skill. Brilliant!
They hinted at a “Runescape Olympics” and it looks like they gave us just that with the Jagex Cup. Its on the forums under clans. I can not wait for this. I’m crossing my fingers our clan can enter all 3 things. However, we are kind of on the small side, spread out in a million different time zones, and the fact that I’ve never seen 20 people online at the same time is kind of an issue. We do our monthly in-clan skill months, but honestly, there’s only me and a handful of others (5 tops) that actually care or do it. I want to do the skilling one, just hope that others do too. I’d help out at the combo one, not saying how good I’d be at it and I’d probably be terrible at the combat one. I can be there for the sake of being an extra body, but will probably be dead before I know how to react. It starts shortly after 3/23 and I’m trying to figure out if that means they hate college basketball or not.
Sunday was another awesome game of skill only Stealing Creations. I think there was a game that was only 12 minutes at one point, but I could be wrong.
I didn’t realize it until it was too late, but I definitely forgot to do penguins and I hate myself for it. Not only for the xp, but I actually kind of enjoy it. Also, it was the fact that when I realized it, I was only an hour too late and I had basically spent that time just clearing out bankspace.
I’m loving the Q&A with the company on the forums. I never grasped why people love to hate Jagex. They created something awesome, but for every update there’s someone reacting as if it ruined their lives. The game is fluid, we can adjust. They seem very candid and honest in their responses, while still being able to withhold information that they should. That information being upcoming plot lines, quest details, etc. You don’t see an author come out and say “the book ends like this…”, you need to have some things kept secret. I loved that they addressed the dragon pickaxe issue by saying they’re coming out with it, but are just figuring out a decent way to do it. I get that. You don’t want to release something people have been begging for directly for sale in a general store. You want to wow people and make you feel like you earned it. I’d love to see it released in a quest/mini-quest involving the star sprites since they’ve become such a big part of the Mining skill. Maybe deal with their origin or whatever. I also like that they not too subtly called out their mistakes. Its not the exact words, but it was along the lines of “do you really want another Firemaking skill?” Ouch. To my view, it pretty much calls out Firemaking on sucking and not really useful. Which, I think, is true. But the cape is orange, which makes it kind of awesome.
I hope this becomes a regular thing. A little bit of effort goes a long way. Even when people had suggestions that they shot down, they came up with pretty good reasons. The “yeah, we thought of that but just couldn’t figure out a way to execute it properly because of x, y and z” at least shows the player that they are in fact, trying these things out. And a few times, it makes perfect sense. Lag vs an unresponsive player? I get that too.
The reasoning behind Stealing Creations not giving skill xp cleared so much up for me. It makes sense. It *does* give xp basically, its just not given on the completion of the game directly. it’s the bonus xp you get from using their tools, which still makes you go out and actually do the skill. it’s a motivator to both play the minigame and actually go out and train that skill. Brilliant!
They hinted at a “Runescape Olympics” and it looks like they gave us just that with the Jagex Cup. Its on the forums under clans. I can not wait for this. I’m crossing my fingers our clan can enter all 3 things. However, we are kind of on the small side, spread out in a million different time zones, and the fact that I’ve never seen 20 people online at the same time is kind of an issue. We do our monthly in-clan skill months, but honestly, there’s only me and a handful of others (5 tops) that actually care or do it. I want to do the skilling one, just hope that others do too. I’d help out at the combo one, not saying how good I’d be at it and I’d probably be terrible at the combat one. I can be there for the sake of being an extra body, but will probably be dead before I know how to react. It starts shortly after 3/23 and I’m trying to figure out if that means they hate college basketball or not.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
All Different Styles
I’m not sure why I can’t keep this updated on a regular basis. I believe its another symptom of the disease that I have which also prevents me from returning DVDs and library books on time.
I haven’t had a level in a little while. However, I seem to have set myself up for a weekend of possibly getting 10 levels. I’m about 26k away for Range, 24k from HP, 23k Mining, 22k Thieving, 7k RC, 20k Herblore, 50k Hunting, 50k Summoning, my next Farming run consists of all Magic and Palm trees so that should get me a Farming level and I’m only about 100k away from a Woodcutting level. However, I wouldn’t put it past me to be overwhelmed by the choice of what to work on and end up Fishing. It’s happened before.
One of the great things about this game is the many different sub-categories of gaming style which are available. From DIY, to pk, merching, skilling, etc. Even those can be broken down even further. I got into a discussion with a few friends last night about how we play very similar, although, completely different. I like to calculate and track how much xp each option gives, in correlation with its secondary use in another skill as well as value. Take Fishing for example. The fastest xp is Barbarian Training by Otto, however Monks give still a fast amount of xp, have pretty decent Cooking xp value, and sell for a decent amount. It benefits all the way around.
The opposing point of view is that they just did whatever activity until they leveled. I can’t do this. For some reason I need to know when I should be getting the level. I usually keep one eye on the xp countdown, doing the math at how much xp/hour it is and when I can expect it. I couldn’t just do something until I’m bored, then move on to something new, etc. The best part is there’s no right or wrong. I just couldn’t fathom doing that. For me that’s like being on a Slayer task and forgetting your gem; you need to bank, but maybe the next one is the last one, you never know!
There also seemed to be similarities in the ones who were on either side. People like me are kind of the types that have one eye on the TV or a movie, the other on the game. Which also lean more towards the “set-it-and-forget-it” type skills. Things like Fishing, Woodcutting, Cooking… The others which don’t watch TV, just focus on the game itself seemed to lean towards the more click-tastic of the skills. Hunting, Agility, along those lines… Personally, I don’t mind focusing all attention on the game once in a while for clan boss trips, slayer tasks, or whatever. I just don’t have it in me to play the clicky skills that much. I almost want to say it wears me out. It’s probably why my hunting level is so low. I do it to get that level (which I know will only take 1.5 hours), then I need to do something a little more calming afterwards.
I’m not saying these are across the board or even fact, just something I noticed in a conversation among a few friends. I’m sure you could break it down even further into more sub-categories if you tried. It’s interesting each player can carve our a little niche for themselves at which they want to excel. No matter how many times its explained to me, I can’t even begin to comprehend some of the charts/graphs of the merchanters and how to read how the market is changing, but they might not be able to comprehend my scratched out notes of equations, excel files, either.
It makes me wonder why there isn’t RS humor which starts out, “A skiller, a pker and a merchanter walk into a bar…”
Feel free to finish that in the comments if you come up with anything good, I’d love to hear it.
I haven’t had a level in a little while. However, I seem to have set myself up for a weekend of possibly getting 10 levels. I’m about 26k away for Range, 24k from HP, 23k Mining, 22k Thieving, 7k RC, 20k Herblore, 50k Hunting, 50k Summoning, my next Farming run consists of all Magic and Palm trees so that should get me a Farming level and I’m only about 100k away from a Woodcutting level. However, I wouldn’t put it past me to be overwhelmed by the choice of what to work on and end up Fishing. It’s happened before.
One of the great things about this game is the many different sub-categories of gaming style which are available. From DIY, to pk, merching, skilling, etc. Even those can be broken down even further. I got into a discussion with a few friends last night about how we play very similar, although, completely different. I like to calculate and track how much xp each option gives, in correlation with its secondary use in another skill as well as value. Take Fishing for example. The fastest xp is Barbarian Training by Otto, however Monks give still a fast amount of xp, have pretty decent Cooking xp value, and sell for a decent amount. It benefits all the way around.
The opposing point of view is that they just did whatever activity until they leveled. I can’t do this. For some reason I need to know when I should be getting the level. I usually keep one eye on the xp countdown, doing the math at how much xp/hour it is and when I can expect it. I couldn’t just do something until I’m bored, then move on to something new, etc. The best part is there’s no right or wrong. I just couldn’t fathom doing that. For me that’s like being on a Slayer task and forgetting your gem; you need to bank, but maybe the next one is the last one, you never know!
There also seemed to be similarities in the ones who were on either side. People like me are kind of the types that have one eye on the TV or a movie, the other on the game. Which also lean more towards the “set-it-and-forget-it” type skills. Things like Fishing, Woodcutting, Cooking… The others which don’t watch TV, just focus on the game itself seemed to lean towards the more click-tastic of the skills. Hunting, Agility, along those lines… Personally, I don’t mind focusing all attention on the game once in a while for clan boss trips, slayer tasks, or whatever. I just don’t have it in me to play the clicky skills that much. I almost want to say it wears me out. It’s probably why my hunting level is so low. I do it to get that level (which I know will only take 1.5 hours), then I need to do something a little more calming afterwards.
I’m not saying these are across the board or even fact, just something I noticed in a conversation among a few friends. I’m sure you could break it down even further into more sub-categories if you tried. It’s interesting each player can carve our a little niche for themselves at which they want to excel. No matter how many times its explained to me, I can’t even begin to comprehend some of the charts/graphs of the merchanters and how to read how the market is changing, but they might not be able to comprehend my scratched out notes of equations, excel files, either.
It makes me wonder why there isn’t RS humor which starts out, “A skiller, a pker and a merchanter walk into a bar…”
Feel free to finish that in the comments if you come up with anything good, I’d love to hear it.
Monday, September 15, 2008
We all have our little things that motivate us. For me, recently it’s been hiscores. I know it might seem petty, but I love watching my rank change. I like seeing how positions fluctuate week to week. I love the contrast between the member and free to play skills. I got a lot of levels this weekend, I just happened to be close to a few and banged them all out at once. I love how 74 Farming ranks you at 27,000 but 74 Woodcutting doesn’t even get you under 500,000. I planted my first Magic Trees with the use of a garden pie. As cool as they look fully grown, I kind of think they look awesome as half grown saplings. Can’t wait to get the xp from checking health later on tonight.
I’m kind of disappointed with a few recent clan events. Our Bandos trip this weekend was cancelled due to only about four people showing up. Only a few have been taking part in training Agility as well. Even though I really don’t like cb that much, I try to make all the trips for a number of reasons. First, the more the better. With a large group, chances are you’ll be perfectly safe. You can stay for multiple kills and if anyone needs something, everyone’s willing to share. Second, I’ve done some things that I wouldn’t have done on my own. New music is always a plus. I’m just willing to try anything new, as long as I know its safe. Last, I just like to hang out. Everyone’s friends, its more like a group in that sense, opposed to other clans that are rank and cb level based for Clan Wars or what not.
It seems skilling kind of takes a back burner sometimes. People get upset no one shows up for cb trips, but no one even cares about even a mass skilling event. A lot of skills people find boring and much improved when you have good company. And think, if you do it now you won’t have to do it later. It’s just disheartening when you come up with a seemingly good idea, and no one pays much attention. At least just feign interest…
Ok sorry, gripe over. I’ve been really struggling with bankspace recently. I still haven’t done the circus yet because I know I have no room for whatever items it gives me. Next month is Crafting and I’ve been hoarding all my uncuts and battlestaves for then. That should free up some space, but still have to wait about 2 weeks to do it. I see they’ve come out with the follow up to the Wildy quest today. I’m sure that’ll end up taking even more bankspace. With so many things added just in the past couple months, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an expansion on the horizon. I guess the real basis of it is that I need to get my Construction up. When I got 60 Hunting this weekend it left me only having 2 skills left in the 50s. 58 Runecrafting and 57 Construction. I keep my RC up so I can use my tears for Construction. It kills me spending an arm and a leg without having any real way around it. I guess I could just use limestone, but where’s the fun in that?
Phils sweep the Brewers! As great as it is that they are tied for the wildcard, I would rather they won the division and once again the Mets fail to make the playoffs. Let’s see if that can happen, ok? It was sad to see the Jets fail to beat the cheating empire that is the Patriots. It’s awesome when your team plays on Monday nights, but it makes Sunday seem a little off. So tonight I’m going to hunker down, play a little RS. Watch The Sarah Connor Chronicles then watch my Eagles destroy those wretched Cowboys in their own home. Go birds!
I’m kind of disappointed with a few recent clan events. Our Bandos trip this weekend was cancelled due to only about four people showing up. Only a few have been taking part in training Agility as well. Even though I really don’t like cb that much, I try to make all the trips for a number of reasons. First, the more the better. With a large group, chances are you’ll be perfectly safe. You can stay for multiple kills and if anyone needs something, everyone’s willing to share. Second, I’ve done some things that I wouldn’t have done on my own. New music is always a plus. I’m just willing to try anything new, as long as I know its safe. Last, I just like to hang out. Everyone’s friends, its more like a group in that sense, opposed to other clans that are rank and cb level based for Clan Wars or what not.
It seems skilling kind of takes a back burner sometimes. People get upset no one shows up for cb trips, but no one even cares about even a mass skilling event. A lot of skills people find boring and much improved when you have good company. And think, if you do it now you won’t have to do it later. It’s just disheartening when you come up with a seemingly good idea, and no one pays much attention. At least just feign interest…
Ok sorry, gripe over. I’ve been really struggling with bankspace recently. I still haven’t done the circus yet because I know I have no room for whatever items it gives me. Next month is Crafting and I’ve been hoarding all my uncuts and battlestaves for then. That should free up some space, but still have to wait about 2 weeks to do it. I see they’ve come out with the follow up to the Wildy quest today. I’m sure that’ll end up taking even more bankspace. With so many things added just in the past couple months, I wouldn’t be surprised to see an expansion on the horizon. I guess the real basis of it is that I need to get my Construction up. When I got 60 Hunting this weekend it left me only having 2 skills left in the 50s. 58 Runecrafting and 57 Construction. I keep my RC up so I can use my tears for Construction. It kills me spending an arm and a leg without having any real way around it. I guess I could just use limestone, but where’s the fun in that?
Phils sweep the Brewers! As great as it is that they are tied for the wildcard, I would rather they won the division and once again the Mets fail to make the playoffs. Let’s see if that can happen, ok? It was sad to see the Jets fail to beat the cheating empire that is the Patriots. It’s awesome when your team plays on Monday nights, but it makes Sunday seem a little off. So tonight I’m going to hunker down, play a little RS. Watch The Sarah Connor Chronicles then watch my Eagles destroy those wretched Cowboys in their own home. Go birds!
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