Terciopelo

When I was a lass, (living in a log cabin, walking barefoot 20 miles to school uphill both ways etc. etc. etc.,) "noob" meant idiot and had nothing to do with level or time spent playing. A "newb" was new to the game and could easily be competent and respectable. Now the meaning has changed and is obviously pretty ambiguous, but I still like to stick to the old definition -,-

4/6. Missed the last one, and also got faked out by the ship on the second-to-last question. I answered PC island because it has a ship right there, and for some reason I thought that the ship on Harmony island was on the western shore, not the northern shore #-o Ah well, such is life. The general results seemed almost suspiciously accurate... I wonder how many people cheated and looked things up on their favorite fansites. :-s I mean, how many of your average RSers would remember Skippy and his funny little stickey-out hair things?

I don't quite agree with the editor. Different people play Runescape for different reasons- that is: Some people play, (and play a lot,) to set and reach goals. I can only guess that these people's lives aren't as interesting as they could be, and Runescape is an interesting activity with things to achieve. Other people play just to kick back and relax while they play, and enjoy doing something that requires *less* brainpower than whatever it is they do in their non-cyber lives. I am guessing that Runescape was created by and for the latter group, and, Editor, you do a great job of outlining, characterizing, and refocusing that group. But we also have to admit that for many, many people, Runescape is the biggest facet of their lives. Being ambitious, as all humans infallably are, (one hopes :XD: ) they will want to set, reach, and reset goals. I've said it before and I'll say it again- Runescape is so great because it's so versatile. It is capable of giving pretty much whatever it is you want to get out of it.

"Jeez, when will you GET it? Walk east on the main road through Varrock, (east of all the barbarians,) past the fountain in the middle, and just past the second bank. Then turn south, and it's the little round building with a flame symbol on it."

Burgh de Rott bank ;)

Editor- well, and wittily, said! We'll never know how many people would benifit from taking this article to heart. =D> Regarding RWITs, the fact that they're buying their way to the top doesn't bother me that much. What bothers me is that they agreed to a contract, and broke it. Breaking a contract, with JaGEx or anyone else, will lose you ALL respectability in my eyes. So, if all these people are willing to break rules instead of switching to a game that allows RWITing, then that's quite a testament to Runescape's charm and endearingness. Isn't it? Maybe I meant... addictive qualities? XD

My heart skipped a beat when I read this article. (Well, no, not really... I didn't read it that fast... hmm... let's just say my hiccups went away when I read this article.) This is because it went through a full ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâþ of the argument I am composing, and was recently researching for on the RS forums. So, if I may, I'd like to take Editor's points one step further and see what you all think. Now that we realize that bots are only there to fill a new market, and that banning the consumers by the hundred is more effective than banning the bots themselves by the thousand, Doesn't it sort of follow that the most effective strategy yet would be to stop actively trying to attract the kind of audience that most readily falls into the pit that is real-world item trading?

"The more Jagex protects players from the consequences of their own greed, sloth, or stupidity, then the longer it will take them to learn how to take care of themselves both online and in real life." Thank you editor, I had this exact same thought while working on an essay on RS's problems, but you phrased it much better than I could. I haven't seen the ditch yet, but it sounds fairly stupid. Couldn't they at least have made it, like... a rift, or something? A fault line? Something that fits in with the story (god wars) a little better?

Most- agility Least- hunter

I can't explain RS dating either. Of course, I can't even understand why anybody would go on a blind date. At least in a blind date, there's a significant chance that your date will be older than eight and younger than sixty, or even a different gender!

Oh wait, then the economy would explode in a humongous shower of flaming sparks. Never mind.

Editor- Quite frankly, I was shocked and horrified on reading this article. I'm apalled that you even think about the idea of making buying gold with real-world money legal. Its fairness and aura of not-catering-to-the-every-whim-of-spoiled-children-of-yuppies is what made me love this game in the first place. You don't buy your way to pixellated glory, you earn it. All the same, we all know what a problem the autoer-> real-world item trader-> scammer food chain is. Some of the most important rules of Runescape are the hardest to enforce, which is probably why so many of us are starting to think of the lines of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." (Or, perhaps more accurately, "If you can't crush 'em, embrace 'em.) So, editor, you ended up doing what you always do best: you made people think. I thought, and I came up with an idea. It's a little different from yours, given my (sometimes overzealous) snootiness over cheaters. :anxious: You suggested making gold-buying legal to a limited extent, such that JaGEx itself offers such competitive prices that the autoer opposition can't keep up. I would go a step further, so that JaGEx would offer unlimited gold for sale cheaply. Anyone who wanted to throw fits until their parents bought them a nice shiny dragon set would be welcome to do so. Of course, I can already hear the people who spent hours and hours getting that d chain or earning their partyhats groaning in agony. So the twist is, anyone can buy gold if they choose to, but their characters would look somehow different from those of people who stay pure. Perhaps there could be a green glow around characters decked out in real-world-item-traded finery, or the purists could have a white glow or be taller, or the RWITers could be slightly chubby, or have their names in a different font, or smell very faintly of rotten eggs. (Just kidding on that last part!) Theeeeeen everybody would be happy! Right?

With respect- baloney. A statement cannot be both true and false. That or William James just wasn't/isn't a logician X)

I know nothing about business, but I loved this article. I thought it was an idea clearly put, and even if I didn't get all the references, it was in layman's terms and very well done. Editor- excellent, excellent job! I'd been reading your last few articles and wondering why I had thought you were so great, (Yeah, sorry :oops: ) but this was an outstanding piece. I had also been thinking of writing my own rant along the kiddie-audience-move on the official forums, but now I don't feel like I need to :P This is vastly better than I could have done anyway. Keep it up!

I've more or less given up on seeing that dream quest come out, but it's still a pretty good challenge to do the reasonably hard ones, (ME2!) with no guides, no forums, etc. etc. Of course, I only have 92 combat, so that's a neat little challenge right there =)