Makoto_the_Phoenix

You should be able to create the partition's size for Windows 7, but leave it unformatted - Windows 7 should "know" how to create its own NTFS partitions.

Strange... it might be that the level of defense is taking the higher value of the integer when calculating its overall defense stat. But there isn't any other way to absolutely reduce the defense of any character on freeplay to 0.

I gotta tell you - I don't care that the exp rate in the short term is slowed down, so long as I can get my goal level. Same with Smith-X - don't care that it takes time to smith each platebody or knife, but I'm getting 92 Smithing sooner or later. :P

This is the crowning jewel of the argument for Do-X skills. Even if Firemaking were to acquire a burn-x, you'd still have to have the logs to begin with in the first place. Only difference now is that you're not murdering your finger in the process.

How many times does it have to be said? WoW isn't like RuneScape, or vice-versa. Neither company has the same ideology to developing updates, and neither company's approach is "the right" approach. Moving on... While it was a bit of a short DD, it was informative. They're looking at finishing the Red Axe series soon, which should be quite pleasing and interesting. It's going to take a while before it's finished, so there's a shot that this quest appears sometime in September (rough estimate). I'm glad that this format of DD reflects what's really going on in the mind of a developer as they do their thing. It's not the 90%-finished version of the DD we got with Summoning (which was simply hyping up the skill, let's be honest), but it's an earnest look at how the process is starting. I'm looking forward to more of these.

A scientific study on hits, ooh, I'm so in. As a Computer Scientist myself with Java experience, the following three premises of "random" numbers associated with RS combat can be confirmed: 1) All numbers generated are pseudo-random, so if the same seed occurs again, a similar pattern will emerge. 2) Our stats (Defense, weapon power, etc) affect the potential of our hit (I think it comes out to the overall difference of your weapon's attack and your attacking stat versus their defense and defensive equipment). 3) It is probable to miss frequently or hit frequently on someone with either 1, 0, or 99 defense. A pattern occurs with pseudo-random number generators, simply that's how a pseudo-random generator works. I don't like getting preachy about this, but software can't use a truly random generator, for debugging purposes - it's exponentially more difficult to debug a random-generated string of numbers (real, rational, integer, etc) than it is a pseudo-random string of numbers. With Java's pseudo-random generator (both Random.nextGaussian() and Math.random() are equivalent), the range is from [0.0, 1.0). It's feasible that this number has been expanded on by 2 orders of magnitude, giving [0.0, 100.0). 100 is not possible, but it's feasible to believe that the higher number you get on a roll to determine if you actually hit (bounded on the initial range) plays a role on the number that you can hit. This number is then subtracted (multiplied, divided, whatever is done to it to make the number smaller than initially possible) by the defensive stats and equipment that the target has, and the end result is the hit. I must insist that our stats and equipment have an effect on the chance of us getting hit. Re-run your test with one character wearing Bronze, one with a weapon, both with a weapon, and so forth. I'll even provide the Bronze.

Fair enough, but I don't remember them stating that they would stop BTS to release bug-free content. I think it was more along the lines of stopping rushed content, but you have a point there...

This would be a very bad thing, based on one simple premise - not everyone can get access to D Claws or any of the other godly stuff you're using to beat them down.

Please don't be surprised if there are serious bannings over this. So I guess you can program a bug-free Java game, right? :P

My opinion on this is mixed. Sure, it means that PvPers will be getting something new to whine about- I MEAN getting Bounty Hunter back, but the drop system will be much more difficult to control than normal. BH was made to regulate and constrict the amount of people in the Wilderness to a substantially smaller area while they bashed themselves over the head with stuff; open this up to everywhere and we could have some issues with keeping a lid on RWT. [i suppose the one plus side to that is that players can't really "teleport" out of the Wild...] Anyway, I anticipated that the new BH would be akin to PvP worlds, but with a drop system that rewarded players that hunted their targets. This could mean bad things for players that want to split drops from boss NPCs, but could encourage more use (and improvement) of LootShare, too. Who knows what this whole thing will lead up to? Perhaps it would make BH more interesting for those that occasionally PK.

This. I had the option of DIY 99 Smithing (mining and smelting Gold), but I decided to spend the money instead on 92 Smithing with iron bars. DIY is not more efficient or more fun. It's a overglorified waste of time. And I refuse to play in a game where I have to make absolutely everything I need on a daily basis myself.

I don't get what the problem is. What would any rational, healthy person choose - faster EXP rates and the risk of carpal tunnel, or slower EXP rates and a (substantially) reduced risk of carpal tunnel? You have to realize that carpal tunnel is serious business. No one's ever happy if someone gets carpal tunnel over a video game. If you're upset that this now made Prayer tons easier to level, please, explain to me how much easier it is to afford the bones needed for 99 prayer to begin with.

It's unfortunate that this had to happen like that, but the key idea is that your friend had it in her mind to begin with that she didn't want to speak to a particular person while playing RS. She should have told her friend that she didn't necessarily wish to talk to her all the time on RS, and that would have probably gone a lot better than what happened there. I can't say that I've ever had a real falling-out with my parents or friends behind RS, but there were times when I was younger that I would get just as agitated with them, if not more, if I couldn't play. Luckily, my friends and family were very patient (not understanding, just patient), and I was able to break that cycle. Anyway, and more to the point, I don't think that X can truly blame RS for breaking a friendship. RS is most definitely a catalyst, but it was ultimately her actions that did the friendship in. I've got a platonic relationship going right now. It could be that your mind is in the gutter.

Rune looks like rubber, but I don't mind the look of full Dragon or Vesta - really look nice in HD.

I'll be blunt here - I'm no PvPer, but for 1.3-3.3M, you can have a set of armor that surpasses most Barrows equipment in every way, and it looks cool while doing it. So long as I don't run into a random that actually attacks me (and I seriously doubt I will), I've found my new Smithing outfit. :P It's great armor, [relatively] affordable, and gives impressive combat bonuses. Why isn't this stuff more popular than the norm on PvP worlds?

In order for this system to actually become useful to level any skill, one has to have a decently high level in the skill to begin with. If someone were to just use Soul Wars to train a skill, they'd be there for a really, really, *really* long time.

Do I use marijuana? No, but I come from a neighborhood where the kids were baked practically all damn day. Do I think it's bad? Yes, but only for people that I care about or have influence over. If you're a grown person, then you should be able to make conscious decisions about what to put in your own body, and be able to accept the consequences (if there are any) at a later date. I'll tell you that you shouldn't smoke weed, but I'm not going to bother stopping you - do what you want.

I have the stitches from when I hit my head on my parents' waterbed, back when I was 2 and a half. Guess what disappeared three hours later. -.- (Naturally I don't remember this, but I can verify that I do have a weird-looking cut mark outside of my right eye.) This happened when I was about eleven or twelve - I managed to catapult myself into the air on a 21-speed bike (my sister's), going more than full blast, by hitting a rock in the street. I think I flew about six and a half feet and landed on my left arm, which skinned the hell out of it. Bike was totaled in the process, too. Knife sharpening accident when I was fifteen...flesh wounds on my finger and thumb, but nothing major. Of course, NONE of that compares to childbirth, which, while I did not have the displeasure of feeling, my sister was none too shy to share. It made me cringe. There's some other stuff in there too, but me not remembering what it was or how it happened is probably a good thing.

This new category doesn't infer that the next quest will be "special". At the moment, it has RFD in it, which, of course, should have gotten a bump in its difficulty rating (Master doesn't do it justice). All this means is that perhaps more "Special" quests will come out, much like more "Grandmaster" quests will be coming out as well.

Wow. Let this be the day that Hell dropped a few degrees, since I actually agree with you here. The "halcyon days" of RuneScape are not so "halcyon" as we like to remember. Maturity? It existed to the same degree that it did back then. Mod MMG has actually made a few turn-arounds to the way that Jagex interacts with players. You've really got to lurk more often here, you'd know that Jagex has finally begun to open up to fansites in an official capacity.

I'm rather stunned at some folks. Jagex never said that they were delivering Quest #150 on any sort of time frame. This is why assuming things doesn't work so well; all it does is give anti-Jagex folk more fodder to work with. It still applies in large teams. On a super-complicated piece of software such as RuneScape, one line can produce bugs that appear in the wildest of test cases (take the ? incident for instance). Hence, testing for absolutely every permeation of breakage, while not totally impossible on a large scale, is simply not feasible with a staff of 200, working on programming. Players, on the other hand, which outnumber the developers 6,250:1, can find more errors in programming in less time. But, that's really not the point here. So, you've done absolutely every piece of content there is to do in RS? Done all the quests? Maxed out all the skills? Done (read: have a high ranking in) minigames such as Bounty Hunter, Duel Tournaments, and Fist of Guthix? You've literally played the game out to its maximum potential with existing content? If you have, then perhaps you have a reason to piss and moan like you've done. But, since you haven't, why don't you enjoy what you're got instead of whining every time an update comes out that you don't like?

Even though I have a paper and an assembly project due right after Spring Break, I'm going to take the time to finally relax, stop worrying about deadlines, and probably get drunk - I MEAN plan for my 21st birthday.

I'm willing to say yes. With C and C++, you get into pointers and references, where in Python, that's not nearly as complicated. Start slow with Python, go to www.python.org, thumb through their tutorials there, and experiment with as much as you can.

I'm of the persuasion that quest #150 didn't need to be uber special. It's funny though that the 100th quest (which, mind you, is a true landmark) was RFD, and fifty quests before that was Legends, but that doesn't mean that 150 needed to be epic. I'm quite satisfied with the quest that they picked for 150, as it does something that no other quest (modulo 50) has done before - end a storyline. Top that, MEIII. :P

To begin with, I must express my deepest condolences for your situation. Seriously, I thought I had it rough. 6PM is just too far. I mean, there are the neighborhood kids that are still runnin' around until sunset, man! :( I was in your position at your age, although I didn't get nearly as many good grades as you did (and I didn't really pick up my interest in CS until about 16). It was my mom, who was rather strict about the grades I do, attendance, so forth, blah blah blah...anyway... There's a way to resolve this conflict, and it won't involve a full-out rebellion or threats of suicide, the latter being by far the WORST idea to ever surface. My guess is that your parents don't want to see you fail, are worried for your health, and have extremely high expectations for you. That's typical of parents, it's just that many of the restrictions that are being levied against you are, in a word, obscene (no games until straight-As). Flipping through this post, my understanding of your "system" is as follows: - You work extremely hard in school - Rewards? What rewards? - You don't get to spend much time out - You have a medical condition (hoo boy, now THIS is big - almost perfectly explains the paranoia and borderline psychological abuse) - You are miserable in your current situation, and you're fed up Talks don't work as well as simple actions do. Prove to your parents that you're capable of staying out well into the wee hours of 7PM. Then 8PM. Just be back in before dinner (whenever that happens), and keep your grades high. Discuss with them that with your brains, you will probably never have to touch Burger King or any other fast food joint for that matter, and you've all but written your ticket to some of the more prestigious colleges in Cali. Play some games to keep the balance of doing homework, well...balanced. There are games out there that don't have to rot your brain, namely online Chess and some other puzzle games. Just make sure that during this period of quiet rebellion, you're at least meeting their minimum requirements. (From the looks of it, those minimums are just insane. Keep getting Bs, tune their silly yelling out for that, then carry on with your day.) What this amounts to is borderline rebellion, but always make it absolutely clear what your intent is. Keep an open channel of communication with your parents, and sooner or later, they'll listen and back off. Honestly, tell me - what do you have to lose if they disagree with this? In my mind, they've all but taken away your will to leave the house. [seriously, if they take any more away from you, it's probably grounds for psychological abuse.] Lastly (and this is very important), do NOT outright disown your parents because of the crappy way they've treated you (crappy from my point of view). Having a relationship with your folks is one of the things that you will regret not having. Just let us know how it all goes, and hopefully, you can get things worked out with them sooner or later. Now that you're 15, you should be able to stay out until at least 7PM by yourself. [Aside]