jaklumen

Maybe I'm being thick, but what other possible purpose could a man dressed as a King with a plastic face and crown fulfil other than mascot? Chief Operations Officer? Sorry, I'll clarify. I didn't mean to suggest that they would bring him back OTHER than a mascot. I meant to say that the marketing using him as a mascot would probably change. They might go back to how he was presented before, when he was clearly an answer to Ronald McDonald. Ugh. If I'm condescending in tone, I don't mean it, but let me explain how he was originally used, because I'm old enough to remember. The King in his first incarnation was not a guy hidden in a big plastic torso. He was more like Ronald has been over the ages; they had an actor in more theatrical sort of garb and makeup. There was no obstruction of vision because the actor's face could be clearly seen. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41wXKTAUcPU (there a few more commercials in this particular series floating around the Internet) EDIT: I don't know if these commercials aired outside the US, more particularly if they aired in the UK. Ask Fat Slug, I guess, or another UK Tip.It'er that's over thirtysomething like me.

QUICK DISCLAIMER: I read much of the RSOF topic that Croce referenced, more especially the pages he specifically referenced. Now, re: Crocefisso's and Racheya's articles, it's time for a blast from the past, yep, back in the Tip.It Times archive itself: The Nightmare of Working for Customer Service, by Hugh_Mannity Bear with me, Tip.It-- a "devil's advocate" argument is classically recognized as part of a serious and thoughtful debate. I'll summarize and briefly quote as best I can. Emphasis is mine. This article appeared a little over 5 years ago, on the first week of April 2006. It should be noted that Randall Munroe of the webcomic xkcd has suggested managing the entire Internet would be like herding cats-- specifically LOLcats. (http://xkcd.com/494/ if you're curious) Seriously, though, in the time I've been playing Runescape since about 2003 or so, I've seen a lot of players blame Jagex-- but who aren't willing to take a lick of blame themselves. Quoting further: Please, if you're thinking up a statement of "I know plenty of OTHER players who are guilty of that, but *I* have never made mistakes as such," spare me. I would hope that there has been plenty of ample and obvious evidence that some players who have whined the hardest were the ones that were messing up the hardest, too. And I say this as I freely admit that as far as the community, I've often been a cynical, anti-social curmudgeon. I've told people repeatedly that no matter how coveted Player Moderator status has been or will be, if Jagex offered it to me-- I'd say no every single time. (On that, I have thoughts about how the role of pmod has changed from volunteer cop to social barfly-- but that's for a later time.) So I know I'm not contributing as directly to the game as I could... but I just don't want the attention. But if you'd like to see the very real scars on my back that are evidence of my pain and invasive surgery (to deal with such)-- let me know privately. There IS a real reason that I am grumpy... although it doesn't excuse the most caustic of my remarks. And I quote this while saying that the RSOF thread was VERY well thought out and discussed. I am suggesting, however, that the community should also take a hard look at itself. "He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone..." is an old saying by a certain man of Nazareth-- whether you are part of his ancient fan club or not-- wouldn't that apply? How many really are well qualified to criticize Jagex? How many players whining about updates are studying to be developers, coders, programmers... or at least are trying to think like such when they complain? How many players complaining about customer service are actually economic or business students? Moving on... DING-DONG... hey, whattya know, I'd say that's PRECISELY what is happening right now. Don't get me wrong; I do think that Andrew, Paul, and Constant leaving the board DID change a lot of things drastically. I think their personal touch is probably gone, and gone for good. (Then again, not everyone was terribly satisfied even then, back in the early days when Paul and Andrew *were* very plugged in.) But I think you should look at the upside, Tip.It. I was there when Andrew made his lawsuit threat here, as I have said recently and a number of times before. I'll continue to say w13 of Zybez was a real jerk to take advantage when the veiled backhand came-- i.e. a major fansite was accused by Jagex in a press release to be leaking passwords-- and w13 basically said, "Ha ha, that ain't us-- that's Tip.It!" Just like Google, Microsoft and some other corporations-- Jagex is starting to grow into a corporation-- and of course come the accusations of money-grubbing. In a word, folks, some of that comes with the territory. (Yes, Google is criticized despite their efforts to retain the moral high ground.) I could go on... but I will leave it at that. Maybe I'll come back and hash out my thoughts some more. We'll see. I continue to enjoy reading the Tip.It Times, but I *am* very disappointed that the articles have become very subjective and emotional in tone, when I think the real argument should be much more nuanced. +1 if you managed to read through all of my ramblings, by the way.

I'm amused that I learned of this in my local printed newspaper before my online news feeds. As far as appeal to children... well, yes, McDonald's excelled at that far, far more than Burger King ever did. I'm old enough to remember that the "King" was once pitched to children, and he had a group of other characters with him, most notably "Sir Shakes A Lot". They weren't ever really memorable like the McDonaldland characters were, so I understand how they've been easily forgotten. But the news stories I read basically said that Burger King is trying to appeal to a broader audience. Young male teens and adults were hit pretty hard by the economic downturn, and BK really wants to appeal to women-- especially moms with children. McDonald's whole "McCafe", free wi-fi, iced coffees, etc.-- that's catering to the chick market and I apologize if that sounds offensive, but really the majority of people I see slurping cheap Italian-style coffee in paper and plastic cups, and hanging out in "coffee shops" are women about 21 to 45 years old. Plus, I'd also say that McDonald's probably puts more into their play areas than BK does. That's pretty important to parents (but if Subway ever got play areas-- I'd be there in a hot second with my kids). So I guess Burger King wants to catch up and be hip with ALL the masses of ALL ages. The news article I read also pointed out that they might bring back the King later, in some different capacity.

I'm too tired to read through 12 pages + every other thread that's been posted on this so far, so if my take on it is repeating anything that's been hashed to death before, I'm sorry. HEMP As far as I know, no one has mentioned hemp yet. The plant is of the cannabis family, but in most circumstances, the bud (which is what is needed to make marijuana) is bred out. In other words, most hemp plants are cultivars that can only be used for the fiber. And the fiber is EXCELLENT. Paper can be made from hemp that does not require dioxins (which can be toxic) for bleaching-- it is naturally white. Hemp fiber is longer than wood pulp fiber, so not only is paper made from it stronger, it can be recycled more times. Growing hemp is less demanding on the soil than growing trees. If the plant drops leaves, the leaves will return nutrients to the soil. As tobacco smoking is ever increasingly restricted in a number of Western nations, I would assume many farmers that currently grow tobacco could make an easy transition to hemp-- so the rebuttal that growing hemp takes away farmland that can be used for other crops is not terribly valid. WAIT A MINUTE. WHAT DOES HEMP HAVE TO DO WITH MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION? I'm so glad you asked. At a glance-- if you can't quickly distinguish which plants have buds and which ones don't-- it's hard to tell the hemp plants apart from the marijuana ones. At a distance, they look VERY similar. Many farmers in the U.S. that WANT to grow hemp are very stymied by current laws. Hemp products in most cases must be imported because there is no real way they can grow the crop without legalization for the cannabis family in general. That brings me to a horse that has been beaten to death indeed... but I think it's a real thorn for most legalization efforts within the U.S. and possibly North America generally. There are legitimate uses for cannabis-- pain management is the one I hear most about. It's my personal opinion that those that are just looking for ways to be legally stoned all the time have posed a real obstacle. Now I dated and had intimate relations with a pothead years ago, before I got married. Understand, people-- it's the pot culture I'm not really a big fan of. Despite the very hot sex, I just wasn't thrilled to get conversation after conversation about Rastafarianism, reggae, and intricate ways to smoke cannabis. HOWEVER I had back surgery two (almost three) years ago (fusion of two vertebrae in my spine), and have dealt with chronic pain for a long time now. My father has two serious chronic neurological conditions that have left him in great pain for many, many years. We have discussed how we both have considered marijuana as a pain medication. So I am NOT anti-marijuana. But I would prefer to take it in very controlled and specific ways-- either by vaporization, or by sub-lingual (place under the tongue) drops. But I am not interested in advertising it or partaking of the pot culture I described. Let me be straight with you-- I've taken the heavy hitter narcotics, muscle relaxants, and other pain relievers. Vicodin. Oxycontin. Morphine. Valium. Quite a few of these I KNOW are much more powerfully addictive than marijuana. Since I'm very sensitive to medication in general (and I know-- having had to take a plethora of psychiatric drugs) I have been extremely sparing and careful with all of them. Some I detested because of side effects-- I did NOT like how Valium woke me up in the middle of the night. BLAH BLAH BLAH you bored yet? In a nutshell, I favor regulative control, much like is done with alcohol. QUICK LAUGH-- c'mon, the ATF has got to have something else to be tough about. Seriously, I think it's needed for a couple of reasons. I know that most marijuana grown in recent years has a much higher THC content. I know this is NOT the pot of my baby boomer parents' generation. If marijuana was regulated in the U.S. much like alcohol is, then it probably be of the same THC content or much lower than in the '60s. And I think the way that it's done in the Netherlands-- Asterdam specifically-- is a good model to follow. Basically, it's illegal on the streets. You must have it at home or smoke at at "head shop". Besides those in the illicit drug trade being opposed to legalization and regulation (because of course it would destroy their profits) I potentially see highway patrol officers being very opposed to legalization of marijuana. Those that are familiar with seat belt and speeding laws in the U.S. I think should understand that many of them are simply tired of cleaning up messes and deaths on the road, and in a word, those foolish enough to combine alcohol AND marijuana (if marijuana didn't impair judgment enough) would be an extra danger on the road. Too stoned to drive presents a danger-- but stoned and drunk is worse. Now can you imagine someone drinking, toking, munching on food, and talking on their cell phone at the same time? I'm partly joking, but seriously... To sum up, I think legalization WITH restriction can be done but I do think that highway police would not be thrilled about it.

Sorry for bumping up a semi-dead topic, but considering that there have been and will be updates in Mortyania, is the post author still around to update this topic? The 250 damage max no longer applies, for starters.

How sly to run a fictional ("Run, Escape, and I will Find You") without identifying it as such. It took me a few paragraphs in to realize it was a story, but ultimately, I took it as a comedic horror piece satirically poking fun at "no-lifers", more so as it was anonymously written. "The Complain Game"-- well, others said it best. "The Little Things" was the important article IMHO, however. Why? Because I remember quite a few of those little things. Some of them, when they were implemented, well, I just about fell out of my chair, because they were discussed HERE. Yes, HERE, and I WAS PART OF THOSE DISCUSSIONS. The bank in the Cooking Guild? I remember participating in a suggestion thread here about that. We couldn't have guessed that it be part of an Achievement/Task system, but it still happened. I laughed when salamanders and chinchompas were released as I recalled a statement of "If every noob had what they wanted, they'd be running around with flamethrowers and hand grenades"-- or something to that effect. I figure a jmod saw that and thought it was funny as hell, and decided to give us exactly that. I mean, come on, people, EVEN MY DAIRY CHURN IDEA (churn-x) GOT IMPLEMENTED TO SOME DEGREE. And my idea to let us deposit items with Peer the Seer? YES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, JAGEX THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD. I could go on and on. I remember updating existing cities compared to putting out new areas was an idea Gugge pushed very hard for a while. So let me say to all those punks that criticized my ideas... hey man, you got had. Jagex eventually put quite a few of them in.

I should have been clearer. I should have said that stricter anti-bot code would disrupt the gameplay of those players that don't bot. That statement has been made elsewhere, RS Wiki for one. Anyways, it's an interesting ideal, but I think it'd be very difficult to achieve. You're essentially saying the developers should be so good, there's absolutely no incentive to cheat. Gaming... not just computer gaming, but wargaming, RPGs, minis, etc., etc., etc., there has always been cheating. I don't say that to justify it, but that trying to eliminating it 99.98% is a near impossible standard. At best you have to bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator: everyone can cheat equally. Here's a quick RS example: RS1/Classic has had a known problem of botting. There was an official suggestion for a little while from a J-mod... can't remember who, exactly, but essentially all players would be given the ability to alter any stat to their heart's content, similar to what a J-mod can do for testing purposes. My immediate thought is if they did that-- the game would be so severely cheapened so that the majority playing would lose any interest. It'd likely kill that branch of the game, effectively. As far as I know, the plan was never carried out. Howdy, stranger. Long time no see. I am still around, here and there. I was on Staff when that happened, and actually Tip.It got a veiled backhand in a later news release (although the fansite was never named). I've hashed out the details before and I'm not feeling plucky or defiant enough to hash them out again. (It's not purely a matter of my personal opinion, either, I backed it up with actual quotes.) Quite unfortunate, and also quite ugly, IMHO. Recalling his style of writing, I wouldn't be too surprised if he might take it personally as he did then, but, again, he, Paul, and Constant left the BoD as the record stands and I think that implies that he has cut loose somewhat-- "Principal Architect" just sounds so distant, from the old title he used to have: "Lead Developer", if I remember right. And why not? He's wealthy now and is either kicking back and chillin' a bit, or he has decided to focus on other matters of personal interest. I'm totally speculating, of course.

Oh, I'm aware of the distinction, and the argument as such. It's the principle of the idea. There is a view (which I happen to support) that Jagex may be headed down a slippery slope of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". It may be only a small crack in the dam, but if it fully breaks, can we expect to see a rush of promotional items? Will Jagex follow the path of other game developers and allow players to purchase items for the game, beyond what a basic membership offers? I can see it being a distinct possibility, more so after Jagex decided to link RS accounts to Facebook ones. (That means that I think they might *cough*stoop to the level of other game developers on Facebook*cough*) Based on my experiences on Facebook, yes, I have to begrudgingly agree with Duke Freedom: a small minority of adult players WILL cough up real money to buy game items: for Farmville, Mafia Wars, Castle Age, what have you. Yep, ladies and gentlemen, I'm quite ashamed to say I know plenty of people in my age group (28-45) will spend gobs of time on games with grinding treadmills and some will drop some cash money to beat the grind. So... will Jagex attempt to tap into that? What I said on the other article is that Jagex marketing changed VERY critically after Andrew, Paul, and Constant left the board of directors. There were no in-game items tied to real-world money before they left. Now there is. Somewhat paradoxically, I support the Loyalty Rewards Programme, but that is still tied to basic membership, albeit the incentive is for consistent, unlapsed payments. More disturbing is that there is evidence Jagex is now trying to obfuscate stricter and harsher statements made by Paul and Andrew earlier on RWT-- many players would interpret their statements (especially Andrew's) that they would be loathe to introduce official, sanctioned, purchasable items based on past experiences with other MMOs. Based on my own experiences (see my long story about MUDs on the last article topic), I *would* see it that way. *sigh* I can't find all the quotes right at the moment, but it is connected to arguments concerning the new Banned Account Reinstatement policy. (If that material has been written here, fine, hit me with a virtual frying pan, see if my memory reboots.) The biggest challenge is figuring out how to stop them without significantly crippling the gameplay of legitimate players.

I don't remember the last article on minigames being repetitive so much as there being hot flames about the opinion of the author that wrote it. I thought that was unfortunate. While I don't agree with stormveritas's stance on minigames, I thought the backlash about it was rather unfair and harsh. Concerning discussion of bots, I think there is an angle that has been missed: that Jagex seems to be softening its stance on Real World Trading, or rather, they have sanctioned items that require a monetary purchase. Those that went to Runefest 2010 received an in-game item-- the Flagstaff of Festivities. Then there is the Ornate Katana obtained by way of the Gamestop cards. I think the latter is more controversial, because although it is identical to an iron 2H sword with iron longsword attack styles, it is still more powerful that what pay-to-play members would normally receive just starting the game with a new account. I've always appreciated when Tip.It forum members have shared more direct insight into how Jagex works. (This isn't the first time, of course.)

The brothers Gower (Andrew and Paul), along with Constant Tedder, left the board of directors in December 2010. Andrew Gower is listed in the full Jagex credits as "Principal Architect", but we have no idea how involved he is with management anymore. At the same time, outside companies started or increased investments in Jagex (it was self-funded before). This was the same month the Wilderness and Free Trade was restored. Note also that the huge marketing campaigns started at about this time, too, as well as Runefest. Runefest started the first technically in-game purchased items with the flagpole; the GameStop ornate katanas were earlier this year. See a pattern yet? You are a trolling amateur and a novice debater. I mean, really, I've seen a lot better than that half-baked crap. Probably more worth your time to truck on over to 4Chan and see if you can learn some REAL trolling skills; or to go back to school and learn how to debate, rather than churn out this juvenile, lazy drivel. I've been around the block, son; your argument is pretty weak. I was playing online games back in the near Stone Ages of the 1990s, with those Multi User Dungeons (MUDs). KEEP PAYING ATTENTION-- Runescape started out as Devious MUD, right? Lemme tell you, when those text games were saturated with clients that did bot scripting-- tintin, ZMud and all that-- it got BORING. Very, very boring. People spent more time trying to design their scripts than to actually enjoy the game... but then, the last MUD I was in-- the biggest botter was the Implementor guy (dude running the show, in other words), that was trying to basically re-do most of the game to his fancy. Y'know, like, re-write it? I suppose the illicit private servers and all that junk comes kinda close to a comparison, but I betcha anything I'd find it just as boring-- yep, boring even with pretty graphics instead of text. Melee monsters that are frozen in place and buy anything you want? It gets hella boring eventually. Simple point: I've seen scripting and macros cheapen games. Your mileage may vary and you're welcome to your opinion, but man... come on... come up with something that will stand up under pressure. Or don't... and keep giving me the impression you're lazy, ignorant, and don't really care if people think you are either of those.

I'm tired. Insomnia is awful. But some random stranger rang the doorbell despite it being 23:45 at the time, so maybe I'll be awake enough for a sufficiently thoughtful response. Quick aside: the word bias as it was originally conceived by the Greeks did not originally have such a negative connotation; they thought it integral to a debate. They did, however, along with the Romans, establish the old school trend of presenting two sides to an argument. I get that the Times is Rune Tip's editorial piece, but, heh, speaking of that... The only article I wish to respond to is "Underhanded Methods Always Fail." So I was speaking of bias-- here's mine. I'm 36, and I'm a father and husband on disability. Although I've had lots of free time, by the generosity and support of family and friends, I moved with my little family into a house. It needs a lot of work, and I assure you I have many more important things I should do than kill time on a game that's notorious for being a grinding treadmill. Still, it's nice to have something that's a pleasant diversion, not to mention a cheap one. I'm on a fixed income, but right now Runescape is an incredible deal compared to the other known MMOs out there, and is a very small expense compared to my other ones, some of them more needs than wants. It also fits my playing styles very, very well. I was more disappointed with Jagex making a connection with Facebook. There were many reasons why I left-- brusque, rude behavior being one, and the Zuckerbergs' policies on privacy another. I must say with sardonic amusement that I do remember many adults my age and older playing games I ultimately found were 10X more banal, grinding, and monotonous than Runescape-- not to mention I do remember some of those players plunking down some serious money for extras. That said, I thought the bias of "Underhanded Methods..." seemed like that of someone who is not financially independent yet. (Heh, all right, Duke Freedom, I'll admit it freely to all these people, who may have forgotten you-- I have to tell them you are right about adult players, freely spending extra cash for online games, although I still won't condone RWT.) So I am inclined to think those that are complaining loudest are grade school and college students, not financially independent adults with a steady source of income. Myself, I've paid membership pretty steady for the most part since 2002 or so. I think there was once that it lapsed, and then another time a friend in Europe very kindly sent me a little bit of money so I could keep membership going. Both times I was close to flat broke. But most of the time, my rate has stayed at 5US$ a month and my continued payment by plastic keeps it right there. I did wonder why Jagex hadn't done more to reward really longtime players, and I wondered this with the cape update as well (I don't think Veteran stretched back far enough). But really, my main reaction was, "Cool, a little something extra for something I'm already doing." Those that know me know I'm a niche player, finding value in training spots long abandoned or ignored, and that I observe some fairly obscure aspects about the game. The auras will suit me fine; I'll find uses for some. Others have none for me, but I'm not worried. Others might remember my odd sense of humor and my strange obsession of costumes. For a time, I demonstrated that female players seemed to have all the best outfits. That changed with Treasure Trail updates, and these new costumes from the MLP. I'm also a bit anti-social for reasons of post-traumatic stress. I play with all chat set to 'Friends' most of the time. Besides random fun, the emotes do serve a purpose for me now and then. It also ties back to my strange sense of humor: on rare moments I like to mess with random players I don't know at all. Oddball aura, you'll be mine for that purpose, almost all by itself. I don't mean to say Jagex isn't doing some cheap marketing; on the contrary, I do agree. I just don't think MLP is the prime example. I remember discussing it with a college/university student friend of mine in-game. She really detested the flagpole that RuneFest attendees received, as well as the Ornate Katana by way of Gamestop's card. Again, I think these are better examples of how Jagex could go down the path of some game developer on Facebook. But strangely, she was not as phased by the MLP, and we shared what rewards we'd got for ourselves. I think that's more the average opinion of most players who have steady memberships, and really, others here have more or less pointed out that those taking membership breaks for school and such are the ones complaining the most. And I don't mean to say that Times authors aren't entitled to their opinions. I've known stormveritas for a while, but I don't agree with his opinion on minigames at all, even that Jagex is making a trend of them. But I thought the backlash against his article as it stood was immature and quite rude. That also said, I have to also agree that descriptions of faeces does not make a compelling argument to me. Oddly enough, Crocefisso, if Tip.It allowed you to say "this is bull****", I would have gotten your point immediately; because most people I know do not use that term to make sure I am thinking specifically of the stench and odor of fecal material. But I understand the forum and website policies are as they are. I doubt that overall the users would use such language sparingly and only with their truly intended meaning. In other words, you wouldn't have to be careful with me, but I will say that your euphemisms failed. I've had enough experiences smelling faeces that I think a more direct description of such fails to tell me what you are truly thinking about the update. p.s. this friend of mine noted that the marketing blitz seemed to come when the Gowers left the board in January. I think Tip.It would have gotten my attention far more if that possibility was considered, despite Andrew's threat of a lawsuit way back when still fresh in my mind (oh yes, ladies and gents, it was over allegations in a Times article, too).

Re: #1 "They Shaped My View on Ethics": I'm simply impressed that sees_all1 listed examples of his own of cheating, both in Runescape and day-to-day life (such as school). (+1 on top of that, as I see he has listed other examples of his own in this thread.) I haven't met many, especially online, that are willing to do that. More often, I find people either trying to hide such things, or they will rationalize it away. "It's a game" of course is the most common rationalization for the RS examples. For that, I believe this is a stellar article. I'll spare you any thoughts I have on principles, because I've seen it argued dozens upon scores upon hundreds of times on the Internet. If I was to dissect everything I've come across on that, I could write you all a doctoral dissertation on just that subject alone. I invite you to breathe a sigh of relief that I'm not interested in subjecting you to that boredom, especially the parts about the etymology of the words moral and ethic and how therefore claims that the two are different have no basis in what they originally meant or how they came to be used. Re: #3 "Does RuneScape Have a Pro-Melee Bias? Part 3": Actually, I had to go back to Part 2 (I'm behind on the articles at the moment), and found it odd that there was no mention of the sling or the salamander, which came to mind reading part 3. Yes, Jagex has a long way to go, but I think those two weapons were worth mentioning on how the gap has been bridged so far. I admit that the sling is seen as a puny noob range weapon. The thing is, however, it requires no ammunition: the premise is that the player is gathering rocks and debris for projectiles. I see lower-end players training with a sling a lot more now, such as at cows, where before it would have been a bow and arrow or maybe a crossbow. The assertion that Range requires money/time for ammunition to begin training it just isn't so anymore. The salamander (along with the chinchompa) I'm fairly sure came along because a Jagex developer thought that the statement "if every noob had what he wanted, they'd be running around with flamethrowers and grenades" (or something to that effect) was terribly funny and inspirational. While any ranged weapon can be used point blank, or close quarters, that is, the salamander was designed specifically for such (although I think it can reach through fences). I'm an oddball player and for a time, I got very bored with melee training. The salamander was a great choice fighting monsters that could not be fought behind an obstacle. It was also good for situations that required changing combat styles, although I agree the Scorch style, which trains Strength, is pretty useless. So I used a black salamander to finish "While Guthix Sleeps", particularly against the Balance Elemental, although it was amusing to see how high it could hit with a godlike boost after touching the Stone of Jas. Although I went back to training melee with new weapons that suitably amused me (Guthan's Infestation set effect, the animation of the abyssal whip, etc.), I still enjoy training with salamanders from time to time. Other than that, well, online RPG games have had a melee bias for a long time, all the way back to the old text muds. I do like ranged and magic combat in fantasy games, probably more so in Runescape-- but this bias does easily predate Jagex's game and I think it will be some time before this is significantly changed. (Just so you know, I'm not interested in World of Warcraft examples.)

The Times had an article that DID provoke the wrath of Jagex, even from Andrew Gower himself. It was called "Biased Banning Raises Brows". It was removed from the archives shortly after it was published, with an official explanation here ("An Ethical Dilemma"). Although "Biased Banning Raises Brows" was removed, the text can be found here. I was on Staff when it happened. Yes indeedy, Andrew Gower DID come in and he DID threaten a lawsuit against Tip.It. Lightning tried to assure us that she'd handle everything: for those of you that don't know, she worked with Andrew, along with Gugge and Rab, on another game before Runescape even came about. For a time, all was quiet. But then Jagex released this following article on 17 May 2006: Do not use your RuneScape password on other sites! Note the following text: Rumors spread like wildfire that this was Tip.It, and apparently, Jagex just gave the community a subtle backhand. At least one fansite community jumped on the bandwagon, and w13 of Zybez/Runescape Community even stated that they would never be like Tip.It in this instance. I was curious about the veracity of this claim, so I asked someone that I trusted, that was still an Admin here at the time. This person's name is not important, although I would also suspect that this person would not care at this time about a backlash or a punishment of sorts from this site. Yes, it was true. Passwords had indeed been compromised. Please pardon my lack of digging to find the appropriate news here that urged all users to change their passwords, and to something that was NOT the same as a password on Runescape: I trust that interested persons will find it themselves, or point out that such a policy should be followed anyways. Suffice it to say: why, yes, Tip.It has indeed provoked the wrath of Jagex in the past. If this article was a "kick in the hornet's nest", then we shouldn't be surprised if the community is stung once again. Now, if my reply is edited, or "THE Boss" decides that he must finally take the bother of banning me-- or otherwise discrediting what I have said, I shall laugh. I shall laugh, long and hard. Perhaps binyam will laugh too... I don't know. Who's binyam? Oh yes, he that created the Tip.It Times in the first place. He shall probably have a chuckle or two that the boat is still rocking hard even though Mr. Silverion tired of us years ago.

I understand where you're coming from, but... that just isn't quite so. Such reasoning isn't consistent with how the game is laid out. It may be argued that it's true in most cases, but there are very notable exceptions, some which have been around since the beginning. Smithing has always been connected to melee. Always, since the start of RS. Now it can be argued that smithers don't smith anything that is useful to the higher-leveled warrior, but that's not quite so, either. Both the dragonfire shield and the dragon chestplate must be smithed from separate components, albeit not ore. Yes, you must kill some monsters to get the visage (and completed a basic quest for the antidragon fire shield, getting it from Duke Horacio) and the lump/shard pieces, but you still have to smith them together. There are several very valued pieces of ranger equipment that cannot be crafted, of course: - ranger boots from Treasure Trails - Armadyl and now Pernix armors from God Wars Dungeon - Karil's set, from Barrows, specifically leathertop and leatherskirt As far as Magic, I already just stated in my thread that light and dark Mystic is dropped by slayer monsters. And then there's also the Virtus armor dropped by Nex. It's obvious I need to do some streamlining of this idea, from the responses I got at the forums. The thread has been pruned off, now, so I guess that makes it that much more apparent that I need to do a revision. But hey, developers don't copy suggestions they get here just precisely as they are put down here. Yeah. I've seen some suggestions made here that became a reality. The cooking range in the Cooking Guild and churn revisions were discussed here, and I was part of those discussions. I think the "if everyone had their way, noobs would be going around with flamethrowers and grenades"... that became salamanders and chinchompas... was here, too. I shouldn't have to list every suggestion made here that Jagex implemented to make my point. I've been around the block, son. I've contributed to these forums and worked on Staff. Go check if you don't believe me. I'm not going to come half-baked on a poorly thought out idea. Heh. Ask Fat_Slug if she remembers protesting about the notion that botters might farm silk the last time I suggested craftable mage robes. I'll refine this as I need, and I'll keep on it, hopefully until it happens. If not... eh. Many a suggestion hasn't made it in, but I'm not going to suggest something stupid and I'd appreciate it if you changed your tone because I am not a fool, nor am I ignorant of how this game works. Go find Duke Freedom and bring him back to the forums here if you think I'm an ignoramus about the economy... I've talked to him, and I'm not.

EDIT: I have been quoted, so I guess that will suffice. But being quoted just fed ammo to flaming, and... that's not cool with me.

EDIT: RSOF thread has been pruned off. This space will change, soon. There needs to be some revisions. I am posting this because I told another player I would, and I consider myself a man of my word. I had suggested something like this before (some years back) on one of the major RS fansites, and since the release of Dungeoneering, I don't see why Jagex hasn't implemented it yet. Warriors can smith armor, rangers can craft hide armor, so why can't mages craft robes outside of Daemonheim? And now that the original Wilderness and Free Trade is back... again, why not? All sets would require a needle and thread, of course. F2P WIZARD ROBES Tier 1: Wizard/dark wizard robes Here's the main draw: I'm suggesting that wizard robe bottoms (skirts) get a Magic Attack and Defense bonus of +2. This does mean that Jagex may wish to alter the skirts in the trimmed and gold-trimmed Treasure Trail sets, and prices for those sets will probably climb as a result. Material: Wool, as balls of yarn. So now it's not just for stringing amulets anymore. Amounts are as per Daemonheim: two balls for hats, five for robe tops, 3 for robe bottoms. Pieces are listed as "unfinished", have no stats, and are greyish in color. Coloring wizard robes is just like changing colors for the rune guardian pet; they are finished at a runecrafting altar, which gives them a color and the bonus stats. The quest Rune Mechanics does not need to be completed. So, for the runecrafting altars available to F2P, each altar changes the robe set to the following colors: Air - white Mind - orange Water - indigo Earth - brown Fire - red Body - light blue Use one robe piece on the runecrafting altar to change them all and to add bonuses. Bonuses are as regular wizard/dark wizard robes, except skirts get magic +2, def +2. P2P WIZARD ROBES Tier 2: Gnome/Canafis robes The next "tier" is equivalent to Gnome or Canafis robes. With F2P robe bottoms bumped up to +2, this robe set simply adds a pair of boots. Granted, they are the same stats as leather boots... so mainly I am just including this to be complete. Material: Flax, as linen (again, spun on a spinning wheel). Now it makes more sense why the Gnome Stronghold has so many spinning wheels, as players would have an incentive to use them there. Amounts of linen per piece are as before, as they are in Daemonheim. Again, pieces are listed as "unfinished" and are finished at these altars to give them colors and their stats: Cosmic altar - yellow Chaos altar - gold Nature altar - green Tier 3: Mystic Material: silk, as is. Once again, the amount of silk needed is in the same ratios of materials that they are for Daemonheim. The robe pieces also require a special thread that is only available in the Magic Guild from the Robes seller. It cannot be traded. Unfinished pieces are done at these altars: Law altar - blue Death altar - black Blood altar - crimson There will be a color reserved for the Soul altar, if and when it is released. Any colors will NOT be the same as mystic pieces obtained as special drops from Slayer monsters. Tier 4: Moonclan robes (TOTALLY optional... not sure it's worth it) Material: flax spun to linen, regular thread. Moonclan hats and helms require the same number of linen. Cape requires one. Unfinished pieces are laid upon the Astral altar and will be colored violet. Tier 5: Lunar robes, a.k.a. "Ceremonial Traveling Robes" Basically, you'll get the option to craft everything just like you did during the quest, instead of buying them from the Oneimancer again. Not sure how to deal with the ring, cape, and amulet, since they are found, not crafted, during the quest. I think it'd be pretty cool if Jagex would also give us the option to craft additional Lunar staves from Dramen staves. But I won't push it. It'd also be nice if we can get that lighter color "Me" has in the Lunar Diplomacy quest, if we use our pieces on the Astral altar. Tier 6: Splitbark Material: Same as it is now; hollow bark and fine cloth, in the same amounts that the Splitbark Mage at the Wizard's Tower asks for. Offhand, I think it'd be reasonable to require the same special thread that is sold at the Magic Guild. Unfinished pieces (gauntlets, boots, body, helm, legs) are taken to the Wizard's Tower as normal-- but the fee is a little less. There should be a right-click option that brings up a menu just like for tanning hides; the prices for each piece will be listed with a picture. I would imagine that Jagex would probably introduce more mage robes than I have listed, to keep pace with the amount of range hide armors that can be crafted in the game.

I wish Duke Freedom was still around and active. He'd have a lot to add to the thoughts in the second article. The kid has talent in economics, although that's not his focus of study right now.

*sigh* This is right up there when I learned from the OoC very late that Stevester77 had passed. I believe he made the rank images which are currently being used, correct? No. That credit still belongs to Greatsilverwyrm, a name I would presume is all but forgotten by much of this community. There were some additions to GSW's original image set, which I think Pup might have contributed to. Can't remember offhand. I worked closely with Pup for a time. How and when isn't important (those tempted to divulge the how and when of my involvement-- mind your own bizzo and keep your lip zipped, it ain't your story to tell, K?). I will say that he was kind to me regardless of what happened. I did know that he had CF but missed the news of his transplant. I know he worked in forensics; that he managed to be employed just adds to the testament of his work ethic and courage despite illness. To be quite honest, I was rather envious of that. (Seriously, those of you thinking to blab about me-- let me say this-- I'd say above most everyone else, he let me keep my dignity when it counted. I'm also not a stranger to chronic illness, by the way. Consider that for a mo before typing.) I always enjoyed asking him about the weather in Arizona. Hopefully he can still feel that warmth, somehow.

I know I'm essentially bumping a dying thread, but I rarely post anything here. Oh, my request still applies. If you remember who I am, please, leave me alone. Or at least I ask you to respect my efforts to wait until I have something truly worthwhile to say. I've known stormveritas for a good while now. I think his writing is of very good quality. If you feel cheeky enough to follow my well-burned electronic trail, you may find I'm no slouch when it comes to writing; well, that's what they tell me. At best, I believe that he let his personal bias override what could have been another good article. Oh, I could see it coming. He'd made statements in previous articles that led me to believe he very much disliked minigames and felt that Jagex was wrongly putting an increasing emphasis on them. So I was not surprised by his opinion in the slightest, but I was surprised that this time, he was extremely intense about it. I think he could have done better if he had explained carefully that this was only HIS opinion (because it's polite to let others speak for themselves) and that he was presenting it as such. He knows quite well that for me, I do my own thing, and will chase after obscure and odd things many players have overlooked or ignored, and that he should know better than to assume how I should play the game because he thought I liked some particular thing. I hope I can say with a minimum of embarrassment to him that he does seem quite hurt by some of the very underhanded and personal attacks some commenters made. I can't say I'm surprised about that, either, and I have to point out to Racheya and the other Admins and Super Mods that came along since my Staff time that it is nothing new. Remember when Andrew Gower threatened a lawsuit? Yep, I was on Staff when that happened. It was in response to a Times article that was struck from the archives "Jagex banning raises eyebrows" or something like that. And Jagex made a backhand slap saying in a news article of their own that a known fansite was leaking passwords. It was this one, of course, although I thought w13 of Zybez/RSC was a real jerkwad for posturing how much better their site was for it *cough*RS gold ads*cough* Oh yes, the security of the boards was compromised for a few years. It may be that Silverion decides to permanently ban me for saying that, but, I don't think Tip.It's warts and flaws should be suppressed. The dramafest is hardly anything new; he's let scores of Staff most of you forgot or don't even know backstab themselves to oblivion and more or less prepare their path out the door. Hell, I met and spoke personally to the guy that started the Times articles to begin with, but few probably know who he is because his involvement was so quickly made a forgotten memory. I've moved on. Runescape is just a pleasant diversion and time-waster. My life is good, despite any opinions others may have formed about the circumstances of my general exit from this community. If Staff believes I should be punished for pointing out Tip.It's ugly bits, that's fine. Or if they believe I should be punished because I'm saying they're being a bit petty themselves, and such pettiness has been a downfall for many years here, that's fine too. I'm just hoping Bob will calmly and rationally understand when I say his article was rather ham-fisted in tone and that he will lighten up next time for the sake of his audience. Anything else... eh, the chips will fall where they may. Oh snap, that signature is old! Kat's been a good friend, though, maybe she'll make me a new one, although I doubt it'd get much use here. Oh, and it's nice to see meili is still around.

First: I don't expect many of any of you to remember who I am. Second, those that do remember, please, let it go. I'd like to be left alone. Just know that I contributed to this community once, and that I am disappointed to see a big argument over something I see as relatively trivial. I thought that overall, the first article was a good one, and I was curious as to what others had to say. I agree somewhat with what Das and others wrote, but I don't think the conflict needed to go as far as it had and I'm not particularly interested whether TS or tortilla was to blame first. I will change the subject for a moment-- so just wait before winding up any rebuttals. I know how Mod Ash has a presence on Tip.It. But I made a promise to a friend to keep confidentiality; there are fairly good reasons why details have not been provided. I intend to respect and honor those reasons. I wanted to say that Das is spot on about conventions. I haven't traveled a wide array of them, but I used to be involved in local gaming/SF ones. My sister works for the one that's done in my home area. I've had many, many, many discussions with friends and family about convention stereotypes, so I can say with confidence that Das is right that they exist and that many that live up to them aren't terribly concerned with changing them. Yes, one of them is lack of personal hygiene. My sister said one year they did distribute antideodorant sticks and the like hoping some would get the hint... I don't know if any did. Of course, similar stereotypes have been WELL documented about MIT students. Steven Levy's "Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution" is one, speaking of so-called "computer nerds" in general. (Click here for Levy's thoughts today looking back on the subject.) There's some crossovers from that culture, particularly at Linux conventions, but the easier comparison is how so many video gamers use hacker lingo: own, woot, pwn, etc. In short-- conventions ARE a geeky and nerdy thing much of the time, and many of us are much more comfortable with it now. I mean, really, guys. I know some of you are old enough to remember when the jock vs. nerd divide was much bigger than it is now, and only so-called nerds used computers. The term was nerd and rarely anyone used "geek", which I think many people are more comfortable with. I read the article, I enjoyed it. I did not feel jealous; I can't even afford to go to the local con every February a mere 15 minutes from my home. Nobody minds particularly much; those who know me well know I have two small children and those who know me quite well understand my eight-year old was often bored at the con even when they had "kid's activities". I married into a geek family but my parents-in-law no longer attend conventions nor roll the dice and create characters for D&D. (There's other things they are plenty geeky about and such qualities I continue to adore.) I don't give a lab rat's furry white butt what people think of me playing Runescape. Sure, go ahead and ask those here that remember me here, they most assuredly will say I am bent on doing my own thing, including how I play the game. Don't get me wrong; I would have cared maybe more in my high school and college days, except... I didn't, really. I cared what people thought of me, yes, but I pursued my interests anyway. Not all of them were geeky/nerdy so not all of my friends and acquaintances were that way or are that way. But oh yep, YEP I have met the single people living in their mom's basement and the social reclusives and all that and I can name names, although I don't think it's important to do so. Statements like "shut the hell up!" and the whole flames that erupted on this thread probably could have stayed behind closed doors-- that is, private messages and the like. I could be leaking into the wind saying so, metaphorically speaking, because I see in the Age of Facebook, people seem to be letting it all hang out, including a total lack of manners-- but again, that's just a general trend, and cannot be construed to mean every person on the 'Net. Well, I don't intend such, anyways. I'll leave y'all to keep hashing it out however you want; this is a rare appearance for me anyways.

Any chance that the Microhelper might be made compatible with Prism/XULRunner 0.8? It would be a big help to those of us trying to run Runescape as lean and mean as possible.

*gone*

Perhaps, but this may not be where the actual problem lies. Just did a quick check of the first page. There are 13 locked posts there,(perhaps Neo's post is working already - down from 23 :lol: ) Of those locked, only three are from what could be termed casual users. Only two others have been here less than 3 months, five have been here over 6 months and 3 have been members for a year or more. Over half are people who have 50+ posts to their,(dubious) credit. These can hardly be classed as 'casual' users. Then it's mere laziness, unfortunately. Either way, the goal is to send the message that says something like, "look at this Rant Guide right here! You know you want to, and it'll help you." The only thing I can think of is to quickly steer such posts to more thoughtful discussion, if possible. If it could be a great topic, then posters might ask for or suggest more clarification on the problem, and potential solutions.

Ancient Magicks chew up deaths pretty fast, and they are used faster the higher the spell is. I'm currently running PC as an ancient mage. I'm using deaths pretty fast-- and I'm just using spells that require 2 deaths a cast. The barrage spells use 4 deaths a cast (ice being the most popular) and are frequently used at Castle Wars. If you don't have Ancient Magicks and/or don't have a high magic level, I'd go with the Magic (Slayer) Dart spell. It's decent at PC and is very popular for Barrows. I'm not sure if your levels are high enough for Barrows, but you have the magic levels needed for Slayer Dart and Ice Rush. I would get those magic levels up to 70 to use Ice Burst at PC, however. Very handy for getting spinners in the midst of other Void monsters.

Heavies??? Are you calling me HEAVY???? I think he meant me. I'm heavy. Our biggest challenge is to catch the attention of casual users who stroll in and post right away. Mullein wrote a guide a while back that had some points I wanted to preserve. I often included a condensed excerpt in a reply to a post that I was locking. Ard has worked very long and hard to make a guide that is easy to read very quickly-- but we can elaborate a little more, perhaps in another existing sticky.