Dr_Elephant

Last I checked there was no minimum wage on Runescape. Also, if two parties conduct business with each other willingly and after the transaction, both parties are still happy, that is by no means a scam. What are current market prices driven by? They're driven by the average price that people are willing to pay for items! This is on the low end of the average sure, but once more: Both parties are satisfied. Your friend is satisfied because he feels that he's getting a good deal (and why shouldn't he?). His employees are satisfied because they have a reliable, continuous source of revenue. They've got a happy customer with an almost sure-fire guarantee that he'll keep coming back for more. What do you think wholesale is all about? Truth be told, I've been known to underbid the market price to speed up my sales. I'm not getting scammed just because I could get more if I looked elsewhere and I wouldn't consider it a scam even if I'm ignorant of the going rate.

When I read the newspaper, I go straight to the Editorials first. That's where the controversial stuff is. You know, the argument-starting stuff. :) If I have some extra time, I'll page over to the human interest stories. The stuff that gives you those warm fuzzies inside. I have a natural preference for controversy. Others have a natural preference for the human interest stories. I think that pretty much sums up the differences of opinion. The people who are complaining about [what they consider to be] the "blandness" of recent articles are just not recognizing them for what they are; human interest articles. Now for those who do see some controversy in this, it seems to have to do with the Editor's opinion that levels should be somewhat "segregated". To me, he/she just seems to be giving his opinion that like-levels will probably have a more fun time playing together. I didn't detect any disdain for lower levels. If you dislike Pest Control (I have yet to even try it) because it encourages like-levels to play together, there's always Castle Wars that has plenty of opportunities for people of all levels.

Not picking on anyone in particular, but I'm going to assume the same people telling you to - in as many words - blow him off, are some of the same people that will rant about the rudeness and discourteouness of the average RS player. How you treat him now can have a lasting impact on how he continues to interact with others in the game. If you were the type of person who was quick to put him in your ignore list, you wouldn't have started this thread asking for advice. Kudos to you. My advice? Leave him in your friends list. Those times that you really want to train in peace, turn your private chat to "off" (unless you've got other friends you want to stay in touch with). Eventually (when you feel your patience has returned), turn private chat back on and answer his questions. If he sees you occasionally, he won't think he was added to your ignore list. He'll just think you don't play as often. The times he's on by himself (or so he thinks), he's just going to have to figure things out for himself (or get someone else's help). Eventually - and it won't take too long - he'll learn the ropes and will crave some solitute of his own and won't pester you as much. That's what I do. That's my advice. Take it or leave it.

Sad thing is, lately I've been spending more time on these forums than playing. When I do play it's roughly 1-2 hours after I put the kids to bed. However, I keep an IE open at work dedicated to these forums and I check them between my daily tasks.

I spend most of my time in the Rants forums because I'm a fan of controversy, so at first, I was only mildly entertained with this week's article. Then I saw Kiara Kat's link to an article containing this quote: Then the thought occured to me that there is more whining going on in the Rants forum than actual rants. This is probably caused by a growing sense of entitlement in the gaming community (young and old) and negative attitudes feeding off each other. The only real way to combat this is to facilitate more positive sentiments and expose those sentiments to the RS gaming community in such a way as to act as a sort of "positive peer pressure". If this article acts as more ammunition against the growing negativity and prevents just a few would-be whines in the Rants forum, then I'm grateful for it.

I've often wondered if Jagex is passing up a valuable learning opportunity for their younger players by not implementing some form of bank loan. Something that would require regular payments and when the payments stop, items in your bank start getting repossesed.

It wouldn't have to be a lot. I'm not talking about using the Al Kharid cliffside scramble as a training spot, but even a little XP each time I crawl under the Falador wall or squeeze through the shortcut to get to the Cosmic Altar would make sense.

I've always wished there was a spell that converted all of one type of item in your inventory to notes. Sort of like bones to bananas or low/high alchemy. ...and vice versa (notes to item)

Well, since you're considering doing something outside of the wilderness, how about a species-specific location? You could make it like a documentary that you see about the pigmy (sp?) tribes or something. If you're a member, maybe gnome or elf areas and give the F2P folks a peek into the world of members. Or you could be like a war-reporter and report from the Khazard battlefield. :) If you're F2P, maybe goblin village or the dwarven mines...? Just some suggestions. Although I do like surprises.

I think the questions come from the assumption that everyone else plays the game exactly the way you used to when you were hooked. I've been playing for a year and a half and I'm only a level 78 with most quests either unstarted (is that a word?) or unfinished. Personally, I find the game an extremely amusing diversion. Then again, I'm not a graphics freak. I'm probably one of those "older" people you're referring to at the almost geriatric age of 29. If people want to make generalizations about that I can't really stop them. To answer your questions; yes I still play. No I don't have a life but that's not because of Runescape. It's because I don't consider my life my own. I dedicate most of it to my wife and children and I'm quite happy with it that way. There really wasn't much to agree with or disagree with. Most of what you stated was your own story and a few questions. The only real opinion I saw was this statement: I guess I agree about it being pointless, but that's the point. It's a liesure activity. Many liesure activities lack practicality. Note I didn't say "all" or even "most". I've seen The Godfather twice this year. What's the point in watching it a second time when I've already seen it once, you might ask. Because I enjoyed it and I enjoyed it the second time too.

Silly stuff like this is what I imagine a fan forums should be about. Thanks for the brief entertainment.

Semantics.

Um... Can you please watch your language? There are kids reading this. Seriously though, yeah, I tend to agree with you. Smackapotato, I really only skimmed your post, but if what you're saying is - basically - "Yes, it's hypocritical, but they have a right to be hypocrites because it's their own game" I would tend to agree with you too.

I don't completely disagree with you. In fact, I mostly agree. On the other hand, it depends why you're telling your kids not to smoke. If you're preventing them from lighting up because it's bad for their health, yes, there's some hypocrisy there. If you're telling them not to smoke because it's illegal for them to do so until they're 18, I don't see any hypocrisy. I'll throw back a beer occasionally, but I don't let my kids do it. I guess I like your overall point, but the analogy doesn't hold up for me. I'm being kind of a jerk for splitting hairs, I know.

Still, it is a little hypocritical when they ban people or give black marks for using the word. But it is their game, they can do as they please.

Intellect... The intellect of a cockroach.

I wish I got more of those personally. :)

Ha! It took me a second before I got that.

Chaos, you made me imagine Eminem using emoticons. :lol: So the first number is their current level and the second number is their goal?

I'm intrigued. One question. In all the chaos, how will one tell the difference between a member and a non-member?

I get a kick out of people thinking that Jagex's profits are based purely on gross revenue minus labor costs. There is such a thing as overhead. When you find yourself managing a corporate budget, you'll know what I'm talking about. :) Anyway, since I feel obligated to say something on-topic, yellow works just fine for me. I can't think of any landscape/background that I can't see the text. I couldn't say the same for any of the other colors.

Thanks everyone!

On the lower right corner of the Runescape world map is this: What locale is this? Is it for a quest? Which one? What's its purpose? Just curious. Thanks, Doc

Zanaris of course. Where else can you turn into a small animal unexpectedly and talk to a mysterious choir that comes out of nowhere? Zanaris has that "duuuuude" factor that you can't get anywhere else.

There have been many (and lengthy) replies so far. Instead of going through each person's post and refuting every argument, I will simply repeat two points I tried to make earlier, which seem to have been ignored. 1. To redistribute wealth (taking something from one person and giving it to another person) is arbitrary and immoral. Swampjedi, I respect you and agree with much of what you said, but you missed that I wasn't likening taxation with stealing, I was likening wealth-redistribution with stealing. To live as a member of a nation, I expect to have to pay my dues. I'm not anti-tax. I am however very vocal about how I prefer my taxes to be used and if I feel I'm overpaying my dues (because much of what I'm contributing is being wasted), I will use my vote to send that message and I will continue to call a spade a spade. Wealth-redistribution - when the group providing the funds would not do so if given the choice - is immoral. If you don't like me using the word "stealing", I'll adjust my verbiage and call it "legal extortion." 2. Someone here - I can't remember who - actually compared government welfare with private charity, calling government welfare the superior form of assistance for those in need. The reasons given were theoretical and lacked any substantive evidence. Granted, my reasons for preferring private charities were anecdotal (not my favorite kind of evidence), but at least some evidence was present. Whoever you were, I dare you to do a side by side comparison of how the funds are allocated (how much is actually getting to the recipients), what the success rate is (is it a hand-up or a hand-out) and include in your next post what evidence leads you to believe government charity is more impartial.