cultjunky

I liked both the editorials this week, I'd never thought about magic and herblore like that, but I have to agree. As for the second article, I don't think it's just that the F2P game needs a revamp, nor is the 'investor issue' necessarily a bad thing, there's other aspects that need to be addressed too. I've thought for a long time that were I to find RS today as I did 7/8 years ago, completely by chance, I might still stump up for membership, but one month in the P2P world and I would cancel. There's such a gap between new players levels and the majority of players that it would seem a mountainous task to compete. I've wondered about having levelled worlds where you can only access certain playing worlds if you are of a certain level or can't access other worlds if you are above a certain level. One downside might be wildy, but if you're a level 30 in the wild, I'd have a pop at you when I'm chasing penguins naked! One plus side could be for the player mods. If they could access all worlds, they could populate the lower levelled worlds to do what they were supposed to do, help! At the end of the day, if you enjoy the F2P game, complete all the quests, you're going to enjoy the P2P game - up to a point. That point being that the high level players are in much greater numbers than those just in the middling 60-100. Think about the last time you saw a player of level 50 or less. I honestly can't remember when I did. No wonder there is a huge marketing attack to try to retain P2P players, much more than there is on gaining new players. I'd be interested to see some data on how many people try the f2p game, complete the quests, and then switch to p2p, and keep membership for just one month. Or some data on how large a percentage of members have the veterans cape. I still believe that RS is a good game, for a gazillion reasons, but most of those reasons relate to how long I've played and the levels I've attained. If I were to recommend RS to a new player, I'd feel I had to add the caveat that they need to stick at it for a while.

HI Monkeychee, I had the same thing happen to me on Sunday 20th, in addition, I had my p/word for here at tip.it reset too. In total there were four recover request denied emails. I also haven't downloaded anything new recently, nor had any suspicious emails. One thing to note though, I received a google mail reset notification, in Finnish. Seems to be doing the rounds, eh?

I had a quick glance at the beta, and voted for 'improvement' (or whichever the second option was), then I used it. I'd like to upgrade my assement :thumbup: Well done to all involved.

We've been hearing from Jagex that they are able to tackle the bot issue, but they can't tells us what that is...yet. On the one hand, I'm hoping that this issue is raised at Runefest, and that there will be some kind of announcement to coincide with the event. On the other hand, I remember waiting for Santa when I was a kid.

40 hour RPGs or gtfo. Real gamers are still playing Morrowind. Yes, that means you. And you too, in the back. <3: You spying on me?

Hi There Guys, I've just got a strange rock whilst pitfalling Graahks, however, in the activities guide to SH, it isn't stated as being a way to collect the rocks. Darn! I'd have hunted them instead of Falconry, lol. Now I know what I'll be doing for my last 7 weeks. Luffs, Cultjunky

Phats off to Kamikazee (sp? - you know who you are, lol) All three parts of his history have been fantastic. I just need him to fast forward a few years so I can start saying 'ooh, I remember that'. Well, done.

I liked both articles, for different reasons though. Having just invested in my Veterans cape, I've been thinking about why I have been playing this damn game for so long. It isn't because of the reasons given in the first article. See, I work shifts and sometimes from home, so RS is something I can do in the wee small hours when I work a late shift, or when I'm getting my body ready for switching to a night shift. Because of the varying hours I work, and so play RS, being in a clan isn't something on my agenda. I could never commit to something at a certain time, or for a certain time frame on any regular basis. I know that shouldn't stop me, but I don't think it's fair on other clan members. Equally, I have very few friends on RS, as I'm not around all the time. Even though I feel I miss out on a lot of content in the game, there is still something that makes me click on that favourite tab. It's not the achievements, I must be the lowest ranked veteran! It's not the people. It really is that character called Cultjunky. I've invested a lot of time in her development. When she is pained, I rush to make it all better. I make sure she has plenty to eat, a comfortable home and a steady income. I try not to put her in risky situations, and keep her fit. In return, she's dependable. She's always there when I want her to be, eager for a new adventure or some chill out time by a river. There's probably a lot of players out there just like me, quietly getting on with being a RS member, looking after their character in a mundane manner. But I was there when Legolas327 joined, and really have said HI to Zezima. And I'll probably be there when RS winds down. What's in a name eh? I have to say I've always been CJ and I've always been pleased that I'm the one any only. Unique. But I liked that there were a dozen Gandalfs and a handful of Dark_Angels. I guess you do make an impression of the real life person from their character name. Oh dear, maybe CJ was a mistake, lol. KIDS - JUST SAY NO TO CLASSICAL STUDIES, EMPEROR CULTS ARE NOT FOR FUN.

Herb Derp by TS Stormrage - I can't say I found the article thought provoking, but I get your point. Traditionally, Herblore wasn't considered as essential as it is now, and that's down to the introduction of the higher level potions. Such is life, eh? To 99...and beyond by Necromagus - I've thought for a long time that the number of very high level players within RS create a difficult environment for new starters, and I feel that expanding other skills to 120 would just exacerbate the issue. Equally, there has to be something for those very high level players to keep them paying, I mean, interested. I'm not sure that expanding skill content and chucking out new quests is the solution, but perhaps opening up a whole new realm of Runescape, with quests, activities, skills that can only be accessed once all quests at least have been completed. A sort of Runescape - The Next Generation. It can have it's own economy, weapons, monsters, etc, but be populated by players who have got level 90+ in Runescape. In that TNG realm, stats could be reset back to zero, you could meet Juna when she was a wee snakeling, meet the Wise Old Man when he was a Handsom Young Dude, or have one of Getrude's Cat's Kitten's kitten's follow you around. A sort of expansion pack is what I'm getting at. You could still pop into the RS we all know and love to pick up the holiday items or participate in a clan activity, but generally speaking, very high level players would have their own game - for a while at least. It's important for Jagex to keep their player base, but just as important to make entering the game for new players accessible. After all, at some point we are all going to grow up, and possibly away from Runescape, so there does need to be an influx of new players into the game. Even if it meant that there was no new content in RS, as long as there was something else to move onto, that was getting the new content, I'd be happy. When the Making/Meeting History quests came out, I did wonder if Jagex might have a historical Runescape expansion pack up their sleeves. I quite fancy that, I'm sure that other players would too. I know, I know, there would be uproar regarding 'The End of Runescape as we know it', but haven't we had that uproar when RS2 came out? And Wildy was taken away? And reintroduced? I'm sure that the guys at Jagex are not applying themselves to the fullest of their abilities, probably because they are bored. As noted in previous articles, some of the updates for the last 18 months or so have been somewhat mediocre. I'd wager that some players are bored too, but keep playing out of loyalty, to their character, their clan, and yes, to Jagex. Until there is something truely new for players and Jagex staff to focus on, there's going to be less and less enthusiasm on both sides of the Runescape equation.

that's finance, not economics I understood it as an economic failure due to the irresponsible financing of risky loans. However, I intended my comment to mean that the teaching of economics is perhaps missing an element of responsible economic procedures. It could be said that as bots are employed in many trading houses, the neccesity for an individual to be 'au fait' economic mechanisms is negligible, where as an idividuals need to be aware of the consequences of various economic mechanisms and policies is potentially of greater significance. As this line of debate is taking the thread away from the intended purpose of the thread, I can't be fluffed to expand any further.

Thanks Ring World, your explanation of junk trading certainly made sense.

It would appear that the USA policy of 'teaching' economics is a failure, what with Lehmans causing a world wide economic crises. Suggesting that someone is stupid or lazy because they are not fully conversant with the intricacies of a games' economics is, frankly, arrogant. When I see arrogance, I really only draw one conclusion, but I'm far too polite to type it on an open forum.

Economic Ignorance really struck a chord with me, if someone could eplain the purpose of junk trading I'd appreciate it lol. I consider myself to be an average player, I've always played RS as a way of relaxing and passing time. If I level, I level, if not, well maybe in my next session. As such, when it comes to using GE, I buy in the middle and sell in the middle. I don't see the way I trade will change very much come the 1st. I also think that will be true for a lot of players too.

Well, it did cross my mind that at some point there could be no new content added to RS. If for no other reason that it might discourage new members because of the huge amount of catch up required, if your shiney new character of level 3, comes face to face with a hoard of level 123's, it's bound to be daunting. Recently I've been wondering if there might be a RS - TNG coming to us. A similar game perhaps, that is only accesible if you have a valid quest cape, and a minimum number of skill capes. Perhaps it could be accessible via a portal near the Making History quest start, with it's own quests, perhaps preqels to current quests, extended skill tables and items etc to take a player upto a greater level. So yes, I do think that Jagex are gearing up for a new project

Um, if you are talking about the joindate on the Tip.it Forums, then: http://forum.tip.it/index.php?app=members&module=list Just hit advanced filters, and then at the bottom of the page, select sort by joindate in ascending order. ForsakenMage Was apparently the 3rd TIF account created, and he is still active, having posted just before the post I quoted. And if you are talking about Runescape, I know for a fact that Ashley still plays, and she was the 13th account created on RS I believe. (or 9th account, possibly) I've got absolutely no interest in length of period playing, being on the forum, etc. That's just the equivalent of buying a car with a long...nevermind. If you check my profile, it gives my age. I'd don't believe that the advanced search options offer the option of searching by age, to be fair, if they do, they shouldn't. But I know giving a birthdate is a requirement of registration. So I'm interested in trying to find a player who was really born before the real me, rather than their characters age. Hope that makes things clearer

That phrase is used to give a frame of reference for the rest of the article. She's talking more about the amount of "drama" that the updates have caused than the updates themselves. I could take on board the idea that the article was in regard to the drama that the updates had caused, had all the updates caused some drama. The new quest installment and Nex have in no way caused any drama, if anything, these updates have been overshadowed by the drama of the wildy update.

RE - Start it off with a bang A misnomer if ever there was. "A few weeks into its tenth year" was the opening statement. It being a little early in the year, I felt it was a little too soon for an adequate analysis of recent updates. The first reflection regarding the Wildy & Free trade debate was almost a paraphrased account of the previous weeks' tipit times. As such it was pointless and superfluous. This is exemplified by the continuing debate regarding the validity of the vote. Dull and monotonous. The second reflection regarding the new Red Axe instalment, well thanks for the spoiler. It would appear that the author is not providing a platform for discussing the ongoing storyline, or anything, other than advertising the fact that they have completed the quest. Fortunately, the third reflection regarding Nex did at least attempt to encourage debate regarding the worth of the rewards. However, as I said befor, it's too soon for any meaningful debate, as the price of the armour will be inflated at the moment, perhaps when it's dropped in a couple of weeks when there's a few more on the market it can be assessed better. All in all, very disapointing. RE - Curious case of Dungoeneering Having never played Dungoeneering, I was interested to read an article discussing this skill. Initially, my reluctance to play was based on a desire to avoid entering into conversation with a group of younger players. I know this is a very prejudiced attitude towards younger players. As I have never met a player older than me*, that means everyone. Sorry. I will play at some point, probably once I have finished this damned Shattered Heart statue. Perhaps Kamykazee would be kind enough to help me, I estimate that as I'm putting all my penguin points on this skill, I'll be around the level 70 mark. Fingers crossed ;) All in all, I found this second article to be engaging, but it did reinforce my initial prejudices. *If there are any Tipit Mods out there that can confirm or refute that I'm the oldest 'Scaper on the block, I would be very interested to know.

If you truly believe that, than you're living in very socially isolated... This is a multiplayer game last I checked, based around player interaction... Some of the updates have indeed killed off parts of the player-to-player interactive bits, and I have every right to say that that is a bad thing for the game as a whole... You might think my views are conflicted when I say "what others do affects me" and "player interaction should be encouraged and not killed off", but do not get me wrong here: While I believe that this is, and should remain always, a multiplayer game where what other people do directly or indirectly affects me, I abhor some of the actions of others (such as botters)... I wish for Jagex NOT to remove the player interaction so I would no longer be affected by it, but instead remove those that affect me in a negative way... You may think that this line of thought comes from an ivory tower, but in the real world you would not want to stop going outside your house, even if you got mugged or beaten every time you closed the door behind you... It's a debate on what's right and what's not... To an extent, Bladewing has a point, although not neccessarily put across in a positive way, and perhaps easily taken to heart by someone who is often villified by the forum community. Playing RS for fun is fundamentally what we all do, if botters and merch clans manipulate resource prices, it should be remembered that the XP isn't maninpulated, as the immortal Billie Holiday put it - "they can't take that away from me". Nor can the satifsaction one gets from achieving a personal goal. I'm assuming that Bladewing hasn't been the victim of a spam attack or a ddos attack, as such, many of us that are concerned about the power a corrupt clan has to effect an individuals participation in the game could sound like doomsayers at best, condescension at worse. However, I don't believe there is an element of 'Ivory tower-speak' or condescension within the essay, or within the responses in this thread. It just happens to be a mature discussion that has elicited a mature response. We do have to keep in mind, that there are varying levels of interaction within the RS community. Personally, I'm not in a clan, I've never played Castle Wars, visited a God Dungeon or even played dungeoneering! But I do try to help fellow players and add to discussions on a couple of forums if I feel that I have something to add. That level of interaction is enough for me. Equally, there are varying levels of language command, age, social staus etc, that can effect an individuals perspective of, and level of participation within the game. It's unfortunate that there are elements within the game that do have a negative impact upon the enjoyment of the game. Prior to the removal of Wildy, these almost reached a tipping point where, especially in the F2P game, there was no community because of the negative aspects that were mentioned within the essay. Fingers crossed we've learned from history.

Firstly, let me say thank you for two very interesting articals. In regard to "Come on", I agree, the playing community isn't the same as it was in year dot. Equally, the widespread knowledge of fan sites wasn't as prevelant either, so if you needed help, you had to ask in game. One aspect that wasn't included in the essay, was the role of player moderators. Back in the day, those folks who became player moderators, did so because they felt they had knowledge to impart, or that they could be role models demonstrating a 'right way' to play the game - playing nicely and fairly. I haven't seen a PM being helpfull in a long time. Without that positive influence, the community may well have declined in it's in game friendliness, but that doen't mean the community has declined. It just means that the community as changed how it interacts. The rise in the number and diversity of clans is testament to that. It's perhaps the role of the player moderators that could be a strong arm in the fight against bots, scams and grifters. They could be used to help identify suspicious play, I don't mean shouting 'BOT - REPORTED' every time they walk past the yew patch and no-one is chatting (c'mon, you never watched TV while woodcutting???), but in being able to identify, correctly, any avatars that are playing in a suspicious manner. Yes, it could be interpreted as a kind of 'secret police', but one would hope a force devoid of corruption. As to the return of Wildy and unbalanced trade, it's a populist tactic. It would be possible to reintroduce unbalanced trade without the Wilderness of old, but not vice versa. Personally, I don't see that it would be the Wildy of old. Which will only disapoint all those folks that have come out of retirement and so send them back. The game has moved on, new spells, potions and prayers have been introduced, which will make participating in that aspect of the game much more tactical. It could be a very interesting development within the clan communities. In regard to "Runescape and Legacy..." I think it is important to remind players of old, and inform newwer players of the pitfalls of the reintroduction of Wildy and unbalanced trade, yet I fear that most voters cast their vote and then had a look at the debate. As I previously mentioned, it being a populist tactic, suggests that Jagex didn't want it's players making an informed choice, otherwise, the debate on the forums would have preceeded the vote by a couple of weeks. Calling it a referendum is wrong. A referendum is a period of consultation and debate followed by a vote. It suggests to me that, as mentioned previously in this thread, this is a short term solution to a financial situation Jagex finds itself in. Wouldn't it be terrible, if after all the fanfares and exuberance of the reintroduction of this aspect of the game, actually signals the deathknell of the game?

At least I'm not alone in my fear of the Wildy!!! I can see a lot of positives for the end of a trading cap. I've spent hours waiting for 15 mins to click by and reset a trading limit, which is a real pain. But I've also benefited from friends of a higher level 'gifting' me items, I got my first items of Dragon armour as gifts (for my birthday :)), which with the current trading cap I would never have got. I've also helped out folks I know in real life who were just trying out the game, most of them have gone on to become members. GE prices are easy enough to check, so just as in the real world, look for the best price you can. So scamming shouldn't be the issue it used to be. I've also benefited from the 'Old Wildy' experience, but only with lots of luck, and I've died lots of times. Those are the chances you take, so it's good advice to not take anything you can't afford to loose into the wild. But aren't the return of the Wildy and Free Trade two seperate things?

Many thanks for the review of Runefest, I couldn't get time off work or I would have been there myself. It seemed like it would have been the kind of event that I wanted it to be, about bringing together like minded people in a fun place, with no shame in being a 'Scaper. Which brings me to the second article. I too remember hanging out in the blue moon just chatting around with players rather than playing the game. I do kinda miss those days, I enjoyed the game more. I think I'd been a member for about 18 months before I heard about Tip.it, it never occured to me that you wouldn't try the quests without a guide. Back in those days, everyone who played was a guide. Players would hang around after finishing a quest to help someone who was just starting it, it was almost a kind of 'quest etiquette'. Whilst I still think that playing the game to achieve a goal is a good thing, it does mean that other aspects of the game are being missed out on. If all you are doing is grinding on Yews, I hope you're happy with your cape. But there's more to Runescape (and life) than toil.

Something odd happened when I posted a reply to the poll discussion thread. I wasn't logged in, so had to sign in befor I was redirected to where you post a reply to a thread post. I submitted my reply, but when I looked on the thread, the person above me who I had replied to had disappeared, although the contents of their post were intact, it now appears that I posted their response, as well as the one I really did submit. But as it appears to be my post, I can edit it, and I shouldn't have that level of privelidge on my account. I guess there is a hole somewhere that could be open to abuse in some way. Just to let the website mods know

I suggested an idea for storing items of a similar type in one place, like all the tools or fishing equipment. And lo! we got tool boards in our POH. The last idea I suggested was for a construction update, basically, the rooms in my house are all over the place, so I wanted to be able to visit an architect to have him redesign my POh layout. This was only about a month ago or so. I'm not holding my breath :smile:

Well my silly fear is looking at tall buildings. I can go past one in a car and feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise, my palms start to sweat and I feel an intense tingling in my lower back. I have no problem when I'm IN a tall building, up a ladder or anything height related. It's almost a phobia CJ