celtica

Thanks Crossed_Body. One word stood out in your reply. Grind. For the first few years I played, I did not grind away training a specific skill, and I think far fewer players did. I would go killing something with friends for awhile to socialize and get the drops. Then, might fish for awhile, and then cook to have supplies for the next time we did that, but I developed many of the smaller set of skills as a result of game play and not just grinding away on a skill, which I have to admit I often do now, and sometimes do get bored from that. There is certainly more grinding than there used to be. People endlessly chopping away at ivy is enough evidence of that. Sorry, not on topic, but interesting what you said. You make fair points. I also think that Jagex puts the "skill" label on too many things that could be side activities, or exploratory experiences, but I've grown to acknowledge that sometimes, putting the "skill" label on something extends the lifespan of the activity, albeit artificially. That works well for Jagex, but it's what adds on the grinding element of the game. They have, however, slightly redeemed themselves with extra training options that reduce the grind, but it's neither the perfect solution, nor the topic at hand.

I agree with the author that many of the recent quests have been shallow. I do not even give construction as much credit as he does. I started RS in classic, in 2003 I think. When you start a game like this, you expect the skills to represent attributes of your character. So why even add new skills? Isn't it a bit weird that a character can be around for years, and then suddenly develop a new skill? Some refinement of the skills makes sense. Some of the newish skills make sense with other portions of the game, and so were good additions. (and this is completely removed from whether people enjoy a skill or not, but more from the concept of developing a game.) When farming was first added, it seemed pretty pointless, but Jagex felt they needed to add a skill. You can grow herbs that can help make potions which can help other aspects of the game, so it does integrate into the game decently. Many people like slayer, but it is not a skill. It is a series of jobs that you complete. It is a combat training series. It has a place in the game, and makes it better for many, but it is not really a distinct skill. As was said, hunting is sort of a bolted on thing that does not really interact with any other skill or activity, and is not really much of an attribute of your character. If they made the monsters you could kill for food huntable, and the ones that you melee'd etc not edible, then hunting would have a little more reason to exist, but that would also be a major change to a world that people already know, so should not be done. And dungeon is laughable. Most skills, you could view as "what is my character going to do today?" Grow food, catch food, cook? Craft or smith some armor? Cut or mine supplies? Just what you would expect from an RPG. Not Im going to zap somewhere different, with all the ores and weapons and such completely renamed, then zap back to this reality when I am done. Sorry, that was stupid and not a skill. I think RS does need fresh content. That can be new quests, new areas to discover ( WHEN ARE THEY EVER GOING TO DEVELOP SOMETHING BEHIND THOSE HUGE CRYSTAL GATESS!!!), new different weapons and monsters, though the new monsters should be in new areas and not jack around a world some characters have thoroughly explored, but they really should not just re-define the attributes of a character in different ways just because it has been x months since last time they did that.

Years ago, I suggested bank PINs and other security measures when it was common to log in, and all you heard was people complaining about having all their gold and items stolen. Even had some heated email exchanges with Jagex and cancelled subscription for awhile, did not play for a long time, and when I returned, there was bank PINs. Some time later, they added Grand Exchange, where you could put for sale hugely expensive items, and no PIN there initially either, so I suggested it again, and this time, it was quickly added.