Tip.It Times: 25 Jan 2009

Time for a new release of the: >>>Tip.It Times!<<<

When replying please make sure to clarify the article you are replying to! Thanks!

Enjoy all the articles!

~Odie

I appreciate the article on rock care. It has inspired to, possibly, let my labrador go. I'm actually contemplating making a trip to Relleka and asking for a new one. :)

As for the main article... i actually never knew about Jas, or the on-going debate of the Gods. Just makes the storyline a lot more interesting.

Thanks, Psycho_Robot! (in all sincerety)

ha ha ha, I Made it 2nd. And so far so good on the articles. Bye, got finish reading them!!!! :thumbsup: \

Regarding the article about Construction: I've had that several times, but with gaining one level instead of 99. I'm recovering from my last one now, and am on the wrong side of 350k cash. I like Construction, and have most stuff in my house at the highest possible level. Now it's just a matter of time before I hit level 67, and can build my own dungeon.

I loved tripsis' article on construction. I couldn't stop reading it. great times! :thumbsup:

a bit early today :)

I lolled at the pet rock guide :P

Very interesting read at the hunter article! :thumbsup:

I know the feeling of spending all my money on one skill

didnt read the other articles because i dont like that :P

a suggestion:put it in a newspaper kind of thing!

meh i spent all of my 20mil on my construction lv and materials for gilded alter scrying pool etc, i still have only managed to make half of that back but im happy when i use the home teleport :)

I really liked the hunter article, I felt his pain while he was trying to force himself to do something that boring :D

The construction article was really good, I'm having that problem too. In the next few months I'm going to try to use up 2k toadflax seeds. But, after I'm done, should I waste that 25m in herbs on a useless 90 herblore or sell them? I'd like 90 herblore, but are those extra useless levels worth the money :?

I loved all of this weeks articles, very nice :thumbsup:

But I was told morphic hammers from stealing creation only work with smithing and not construction, is this true?

I loved all of this weeks articles, very nice :thumbsup:

 

 

 

But I was told morphic hammers from stealing creation only work with smithing and not construction, is this true?

not true.

I think Psycho_Robot made a slight error, saying:

[hide=]".....yet so far only one of them have been named: Jas."

I think that it was named after the person that found it, not one of the elder gods. Yet I may be wrong lol.[/hide]

^ I was wrong #-o

I would strongly recommend that anyone interested at all by 'The God War Rages On' should have a look at the runescape wiki and delve into the history behind the gods. It is just like a good book, yet one that is not finished. So many questions left to answer!

Hmm, the construction and hunter articly are so focused on getting 99. Not a big fan of that.

Also, I totally disagree that you should hesistate: Buy 99 cooking, fletching, firemaking, crafting, or just construction? Construction of course, since it's less work. 4 99 skills = 4 times as boring you know. + they are not even "special".

*waits for another 99 discussion".

Some great articles this week :D

I found the one about pet rock care funny. I wasn't exactly expecting an article on something like that but it was funny and well written =D>

As for construction I'm not sure since I've never had lots of money... but if it was me I guess I would probably spread it out on other skills but... I really want a higher construction level for teleports so... I don't know :P

The article about the Runescape gods was really interesting. I've actually been looking up about the gods the past few weeks because I got curious and realised I know pretty much jack about them so the article was definately useful :D

Really nice articles this week.. Especially enjoyed the one about the pet rock. :lol:

I only read the God wars one, but I enjoyed it.

I think Psycho_Robot made a slight error, saying:

 

 

 

".....yet so far only one of them have been named: Jas."

 

 

 

I think that it was named after the person that found it, not one of the elder gods. Yet I may be wrong lol.

 

I would strongly recommend that anyone interested at all by 'The God War Rages On' should have a look at the runescape wiki and delve into the history behind the gods. It is just like a good book, yet one that is not finished. So many questions left to answer!

You are wrong, Shadow. I hide this, just in case:

[hide=While Guthix Sleeps]In the quest, you touch the stone of Jas, and you know it 'belongs to Jas'. It wouldn't belong to some barbarian (see http://forum.tip.it/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=770272)[/hide]

Apart from that, the pet rock care and fictional article are good, I like humour in the otherwise so serious business of 'Scaping.

I feel like being quite harsh today, so apologies to the authors, but here I go:

Article 1: God Wars

Why was this written? It may have provided some small part of the history of Runescape's gods, but did it actually have a point? I read it through and was still waiting for a punchline or explanation of what had prompted this short and incomplete history lesson.

Article 2: Pet Rock

I'll grant that bits of this were midly entertaining, but once again, why?!

Article 3: The Imp and the Jinn

Didn't really seem to make a lot of sense if we're being honest. Winding itself into ever more ridiculous situations, the story seemed to ramble on a bit as an inconsistent collection of ideas placed together almost coincidentally rather than because of a coherent story line which required it. Runescape is after all a fictitious game with a complex mythology of its own, and so some peculiarity should be expected I suppose, but I thought this article took it a bit too far without good reason.

Article 4: Hunter...

I agree that hunter as a skill has severe limitations. And I have experienced all of the ones laid out in this article, so I genuinely do sympathise. The only problem I had with it was that I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be just an elaborate rant about jagex' incompetence, or whether it was designed as constructive criticism. I got the impression that it was more biased to the former option, and whilst I will gladly rant about many things in the game to friends whilst playing, I personally prefer reading articles that were written for a more specific point. If, after the rant, some more suggestions could have been made I might have been more interested, sorry.

Article 5: Construction

I'll start off with saying I really don't like construction. It's a money drain that I personally don't see the point in past building an altar and some useful home portals. So expect this to be harsh anyway!

My personal take on any skill cape is: "Congratulations!!", I don't honestly care which it is. If it's one of the lesser 99s that are being frowned upon these days such as cooking, fletching etc, I'll still congratulate. Similarly if it's a combat cape I'll offer a "well done" comment, and the same goes for buyables.

This is where I have a small issue with the article on construction. What motivated this article? Why was it written? To get back at those who deride buyable skills? If so, I'll put it simply that I'd be about as interested in reading a defensive article written by a "master" chef, or indeed watching mould grow. The endless ranting that goes on in forums debating quest cape v skill cape and the like achieves precisely nothing, but I would rather read a good general commentary than a specific article extolling the virtues of one skill 99.

The final paragraph was an absolute blessing, and I'm glad tripsis wrote it =D> but the rest of the article left me bored and disinterested, which presumably wasn't the intended effect.

I'll be honest, this week was a pretty poor one for the times in my opinion. Make of that what you will, but I didn't enjoy reading 5 articles that were written without a clear objective or any reason why. It's rare that I'll get so bored by the times, but hey, it just happened!

Oh and just to take any personal bad feelings out of it, to all writers!!!!

Thanks for the rock care article! Now me and my rock can live happily ever after. Furthermore, Rocky is getting a new friend. Say hi to Stoner! He'll be living with us from now on. :mrgreen:

What a GREAT week of articles! I can't remember when I have enjoyed a week more. \

The article on the Hunting skill made me laugh will joy and almost cry with frustration. Finally, another player who admits to the oh so very human frailties that make this game so wonderful and annoying at the same time. Bless you jp7725 and good luck on that trek to 99 Hunter.

Psycho_Robot thanks for the insight into the GODS (?) of Runescape! I thoroughly enjoyed the byte of history.

Necromagus I agree with the others that your article almost, might make me go get one for myself. Pure Fun and entertainment.

Construction ~ Ah now there is a classic love/hate relationship with a skill. Tripsis makes excellent, often overlooked points about what are so-called buyable skills. As if the snooty, let me tell you how to play your game contingent has a clue! As far as I can remember right now (and I am sure to be corrected by the board critics) NO SKILL in Runescape can be completely achieved with out buying something. Can you make your own Dragon Scimitar? The point being that the achievment stands for itself.

And to the critic who asked why these articles? Are you kidding? :shock: Like art which exists for its own sake and the interpretation of which is in the eye the beholder, the value of these articles is in the eye of the reader. Oh, and to keep me from being bored out of skull whilst I burn 1000 seaweed to ash. :thumbsup:

[hide=]

I feel like being quite harsh today, so apologies to the authors, but here I go:

 

 

 

Article 1: God Wars

 

 

 

Why was this written? It may have provided some small part of the history of Runescape's gods, but did it actually have a point? I read it through and was still waiting for a punchline or explanation of what had prompted this short and incomplete history lesson.

 

 

 

Article 2: Pet Rock

 

 

 

I'll grant that bits of this were midly entertaining, but once again, why?!

 

 

 

Article 3: The Imp and the Jinn

 

 

 

Didn't really seem to make a lot of sense if we're being honest. Winding itself into ever more ridiculous situations, the story seemed to ramble on a bit as an inconsistent collection of ideas placed together almost coincidentally rather than because of a coherent story line which required it. Runescape is after all a fictitious game with a complex mythology of its own, and so some peculiarity should be expected I suppose, but I thought this article took it a bit too far without good reason.

 

 

 

Article 4: Hunter...

 

 

 

I agree that hunter as a skill has severe limitations. And I have experienced all of the ones laid out in this article, so I genuinely do sympathise. The only problem I had with it was that I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be just an elaborate rant about jagex' incompetence, or whether it was designed as constructive criticism. I got the impression that it was more biased to the former option, and whilst I will gladly rant about many things in the game to friends whilst playing, I personally prefer reading articles that were written for a more specific point. If, after the rant, some more suggestions could have been made I might have been more interested, sorry.

 

 

 

Article 5: Construction

 

 

 

I'll start off with saying I really don't like construction. It's a money drain that I personally don't see the point in past building an altar and some useful home portals. So expect this to be harsh anyway!

 

 

 

My personal take on any skill cape is: "Congratulations!!", I don't honestly care which it is. If it's one of the lesser 99s that are being frowned upon these days such as cooking, fletching etc, I'll still congratulate. Similarly if it's a combat cape I'll offer a "well done" comment, and the same goes for buyables.

 

 

 

This is where I have a small issue with the article on construction. What motivated this article? Why was it written? To get back at those who deride buyable skills? If so, I'll put it simply that I'd be about as interested in reading a defensive article written by a "master" chef, or indeed watching mould grow. The endless ranting that goes on in forums debating quest cape v skill cape and the like achieves precisely nothing, but I would rather read a good general commentary than a specific article extolling the virtues of one skill 99.

 

 

 

The final paragraph was an absolute blessing, and I'm glad tripsis wrote it =D> but the rest of the article left me bored and disinterested, which presumably wasn't the intended effect.

 

 

 

 

 

I'll be honest, this week was a pretty poor one for the times in my opinion. Make of that what you will, but I didn't enjoy reading 5 articles that were written without a clear objective or any reason why. It's rare that I'll get so bored by the times, but hey, it just happened!

 

 

 

Oh and just to take any personal bad feelings out of it, to all writers!!!!

I'm sorry waheera, but these were solid articles, and you should not criticize them.

I do sympathize with you somewhat on article one. However, even if it didn't say much, it was very well put.

Article Two was brilliant and amusing. You can't just simply put "why" at the end of it, and expect people to think you're witty!

Article Three was an excellent short story, one that I enjoyed reading. Your "critique" basically just said "It didn't make sense" over and over again. Yet the story was contiguous and self-explanatory. It was very clear, and even managed to have a satisfactory ending.

Article Four did lack direction. The writer couldn't seem to make up his mind if he was critiquing himself, or the hunting skill. But some good imagery in there, like when the imaginary skill cape was described.

Article Five was more coherent than you give it credit for. Tripsis was simply trying to show that the Construction cape isn't as simple as making a lot of oak larders. Again, using large words, and throwing "why?" into the mix make a critique doth not.

-Recksash

ps. was the Genie inspired by the one from Terry Pratchet's books?

Hunting, Construction and may I add Summoning?

All a waste of time and effort. I dread the fact the powers that be at RS are thinking of another new skill to annoy us with.

I'll be honest, this week was a pretty poor one for the times in my opinion. Make of that what you will, but I didn't enjoy reading 5 articles that were written without a clear objective or any reason why. It's rare that I'll get so bored by the times, but hey, it just happened!

I agree with you for the most part, although I found the pet rock article entertaining. This was a weak week, I think. An editorial needs to be persuasive, and a persuasive work needs a Purpose. None of the articles that were supposed to want to convince me of something actually wanted to convince me of anything, and so I was disappointed.

The construction article actually was better than the others in that respect, but I have to say that muggiwhplar said it better a few months ago.

So how exactly did you guys come to the conclusion that it's bad to spend money on skills to get them very quickly?

 

 

 

Using ranged as an example... Back when hunter was released and chinchompas weren't very well-known, I was 85 ranged at the time. I ended up going from 85-99 in only 30 hours for only like 12M. I can see why THAT needed to be nerfed; low cost, high gain - it basically made every other possible range-training method completely obsolete.

 

 

 

Though after time they kept downgrading the efficiency of chinchompas. First they did less damage. Second they could only hit 9 targets max. Finally more and more people discovered them so they shot up in price to around 800ea. I think at this point they were balanced, since while you got about 200-250k XP/hour, you were also spending over 1M per hour (I forget the exact figures I had worked out long ago).

 

 

 

That seems fair, doesn't it? Apparently not... it seems that most people here believe that you shouldn't be allowed to gain such massive XP, regardless of its cost, as if it devalues the achievement for others or something.

 

 

 

I've got a lot of friends who got 99 ranged the old-fashioned way... doing things like training on fire giants for over 200 hours with iron arrows. I told them how I almost felt guilty since I got 99 so quickly and cheaply on muggi. Because of that, I never really wore the ranged cape haha

 

 

 

Though, when I decided to go for 99 ranged a second time, I looked into other methods since I believed chins were too expensive. This is another thing that surprises me...

 

 

 

People don't seem to realize that TIME = MONEY

 

 

 

Here's an outdated, yet simple example...

 

 

 

You make your money by rc'ing nats and you make about 300k an hour. You just got a berserker ring from Rex and you go to world 2 to sell it. You want to sell it for 3M, but the highest that anybody is offering is 2.9M. So you wait, and wait, and wait, and wait some more... an hour later you find someone who buys it off you for 3M. Here's why that is bad: you just spent an hour doing nothing only to save 100k. It only takes you 20 minutes of rc'ing to earn 100k, yet you spent a whole hour saving the money. If you had sold the ring within 20 minutes or sooner, it would've been a good deal. But since you didn't, you were better off selling it cheap then rc'ing :P

 

 

 

Here's another, more specific example (I'll be making up figures, however they'll have the same basic result of my original figures)...

 

 

 

Let's say you want to get 99 ranged. You're level 75 so you've got around 1M range XP already and you only need 12M more XP :P

 

 

 

You've got 1M gp in your bank; you aren't rich. However, to make money you range aviansies. Since your range level isn't too high, you make around 500k an hour there on average.

 

 

 

You look into using the bone bolts to train range...

 

 

 

You'll need about 200k bone bolts max to get 99 range and it'll only cost you 800k. That's affordable, right? The downside is, you only can get 40k XP/hour. So while it'll only take you 2 hours of aviansies to pay for the ammunition, it'll take you 300 hours of ranging to get the remaining 12M XP. Thus, using bone bolts will take 302 hours to get 99 range.

 

 

 

You look into using the chinchompas to train range...

 

 

 

You'll need around 70k chins to get 99 range and that'll cost you a whopping 28M! There's no way you can afford that! However, you'll be getting 200-250k an hour with these! You end up spending 56 hours to earn 28M and then you spend about 60 hours using the chins. Thus, using chins will only take you 116 hours to get 99 range. More than half the time you'd have spent using bone bolts.

 

 

 

As I said earlier, I was making up very broad figures, however when I was doing these calculations several months ago after the chins had been rebalanced, I was comparing several different methods and chins were by far the most efficient.

 

 

 

So what about the rich people? They're fortunate to not have to raise the funds needed to afford the chinchompas. That money had to come somewhere. Nowadays it's much easier to legitimately earn 20M+ because of God Wars, though in order to do that efficiently/reliably, you need to have good stats. So, let's not assume that the rich people did something bad such as RWT'd or lured for their money. Rather, let's assume that they worked hard for their money.

 

 

 

So I pose the question: Why don't they deserve to spend it?

About the article on the Gods, I have something to point out about Saradomin's claim that he created Gielinor. In the God Letters, Saradomin responded to the article's accusation.

Not so dear Saradomin,

 

 

 

I am getting quite bothered by your constant lies about your roll in Runescape. In your last letter you said "although i did not create the world (runescape) , it is my creation nonetheless" I mean come on Saradomin, even though im a deicated follower of lord Zamorak I still know that Guthix is the one who used his immense power to create our world. You constantly pull the wool over your followers eyes and cover up your true power greedy nature by acting kind and caring. We are not stupid Saradomin....and soon even your followers will realize your true goal of rising to great power by spinning spiderwebs of lies. I know my lord Zamorak is a questionable fellow but at least i can trust him not to lie to me.

 

 

 

Power through Chaos (and truth),

 

Arouv

Ah... but have you questioned whatever motives Guthix himself might have, to slander me so outrageously? Would you give him the credit for the peace that mostly reigns upon this world for his contribution of sleep?

 

I call this world my creation, for the value system of honour, and courage, and mercy, and wisdom are attributes that I brought to this once barbaric land! It is true, I did not physically create the raw material of this world, but I have shaped and sculpted it into the glorious land that it is today!

 

 

 

When a smith forges a blade, is that not their creation, even though they did not create the ores which they used in doing so? I am the smith, and you are all my ores...

 

I will smelt you in the furnace of purity, and strengthen your souls on the anvils of honour, so that you may serve me as my weapons against the evil that strives to destroy this land.

@ the pet rock article:

Pet rock handbooks were actually included with the original pet rocks back in the '70s. The information was presented in a similar tone.

liekd all five articles.

although i want to know more about what will happen in the story about the fleeing kid :twss:

~~~legoman187~~~

about the construction article; no i couldnt go from riches to rags because that's poor planning and decision making. no wonder you burn yourself out when you buy 2 demonic thrones and bankrupt yourself; though i understand why you did that... to force yourself to level runecraft or give yourself a reason to.

number 1. i have 99 construction to get that out of the way and i do not agree with your article emphasising buying planks. guess what a butler does? he will unnote your oak logs then take them to the sawmill and turns them into planks. useful? you better believe it.

2. money is easy to make in runescape at any level.

3. what takes real determination is a 99 skill true; but nowadays i think the real test is the 200M max. it's like the same # of people with skills maxed is similar to the old # of people with 99's. planning a skill out to 200M xp is underestimated. you could buy outright but do you want to cut costs? are cutting costs worth the extra time involved? what are the markets looking like? what can you expect of future prices? do you have a solid plan?

4. protections from "burning out"; if you're the type that burns out you cannot blame anyone but yourself. there are numerous strategies to avoid burnout and they go along with practical gaming and money making and diversifying.

5. if you are planning to level construction to a high level have the butler plank your logs and use those planks to level; and when not literally training construction; do what you do to make money. when i start a skill that requires spending some money to spending a fair amount of money i like to gain that as i go. meaning i dont lose my bank over a skill. i have enough ways to make money in the game, just like anyone, and there is NO reason to deplete my bank to train a skill.

6. this is just a personal comment that people tend to lack patience and if they dont get a "instant sell" they reduce their asked for price causing the price of what they're selling to go down, even for those that do have patience and see/saw a lot of sales at MAX price. so do we just complain that that exists or adjust for it. we adjust for it but at the same time arent pleased. 1 moneymaking method becomes used by many and loses its value so diversify.

7. i agree with the sentiment that all 99's require dedication and determination and practical skill and game knowledge; they are a decent accomplishment and anyone with 1 99 skill i believe can get more after that experience. some things could be said about skills being easier to train or money easier to make etc. but i will give people the benefit of the doubt and i consider them accomplished players that are capable of achieving their goals. and a skillcape basically is an indication of that. i favour balanced skills but not everyone is like that; so i dont really make the skillcape the benchmark but they are a reasonable indication that a player is accomplished and capable.

The Hunter, Construction and Gods articles were all brill. Loved the God article the most though was very interesting as I do love to read up on Rs history :P