Tact

Sounds very wilderness related to me. Perhaps Jagex is releasing another patch to the PvP system? I can see the wind and whirlwind reference referring to some consequence of 76king.

It depends on what Jagex's intent was in creating these worlds in the first place. I personally think that these restrictions are to bring a sense of "maturity" back to the game by limiting access to players who have been around for a decent amount of time. But then again, it's your choice to play on a level 3 account. There's already plenty of other content that you chose not to gain access to through your self-imposed parameters, and this update is just one more piece. Second, "deserve" is a really subjective term. Who are we to decide that one account is more "deserving" of access to these worlds than another account? Granted, the 1000 total level is an arbitrary figure, but so would replacing it with X amount of total experience. You mention that F2p skills include mining and runecrafting, which are widely considered two of the most admired skills due to their lengthy training process. And yet, should we really be valuing and devaluing levels and experience based on the skill that it's achieved in? You can say that having all mediocre levels which add up to 1000 total is less impressive than 12 million xp concentrated in a few skills. However, I could just as easily say that cooking and fletching levels are so easy and fast to obtain that it doesn't take much time at all to obtain tons of xp by training only those 2 skills. Herein lies the issue; there's simply no completely objective way to set up the limit. Finally, you'd have to admit that no matter what happens, there will always be a segment of the RS population that's unsatisfied. If the bar is set high, there will be people complaining of an "elitist" world, and if the bar is set too low, people will still complain that access is too easy to achieve.

3 months? I'm pretty sure you finished this level ahead of the schedule you told me back in early October... Huge congrats again, and I hope you enjoy all those extra seedlings you have in your bank! :P P.S. I rate this level 9.9/10. If only because I know you're going for mining next. <_<

I see vials as being victims of manipulation, but not by Jagex as a lot of people seem to think. If only demand from players training herblore was at work here, we'd see a steady increase in price with possibly some small fluctuations due to variations in daily volume sold. What should not have happened are the large spikes and subsequent drops in price equivalent to 25% of the cost of vials, which occurred several times and was about to happen again before Jagex implemented the price cap. That is the work of merchants hoarding vials and then dumping them again for personal profit.

I've played since fall 2004, and since starting that time, I've taken several lengthy breaks. I achieved my first cape in mid October of this year. 1. Woodcutting I'm really happy with this as my first 99. It was reasonably fast training so I didn't get bored, and I found the time spent on it rather relaxing and a nice break from doing combat and minigames. Doesn't hurt that it has the most awesome emote in my opinion, with a neat looking cape that will look even better with a green trim. 2. Magic Magic has always been my favorite combat skill. Ancients is deadly, Lunar is helpful, and Normal is just plain useful. I recently bought 20 million worth of bursts, which should get me to at least 98. It's the first time my BoB has actually decreased in value, so this shows how badly I want it. Emote is fairly weak, but the cape makes up for it. One not-so-good side effect is that my combat level is going to stay below 120 for the foreseeable future. The rest of the skills I'm still fuzzy about, so the reasons will be less descriptive. 3. Thieving- I recently discovered Pyramid Plunder. It's rather fun and definitely beats pickpocketing. In addition, I look forward to testing and finding a decent method of thieving from dwarven traders once I hit 90. 4. Attack- I used to think strength was all-important when it came to melee combat, but I've come to realize that accuracy is even more so. Plus, attack cape > strength cape when it comes to emote and color scheme. 5. Strength- Who doesn't like hitting high? It annoys me when I see the hoards of people with untrimmed strength capes though. 6. Crafting- Stealing creation is great fun and it'll be less expensive with clay needles. 7. Fishing- I don't enjoy this skill as much as woodcutting, which is kind of ironic considering the similarities in training between them. Plus, I never understood why at 99 the emote involves catching a goldfish. 8. Hitpoints- From training combat. 9. Defense- To round off melee. 10. Smithing- Great emote, will be fairly expensive though. 11. Hunter- Red chins, hand down. Nice cape too. 12. Ranging- Will probably end up using the chins I got from hunter to get to 99. Otherwise, would be very time consuming. 13. Farming- Takes time, but will be worth it. 14. Herblore- Very expensive. Hopefully I'll have the cash to throw away at this point, along with the herbs saved through MTK and farming. 15. Prayer- Useful, but again, very expensive. 16. Slayer- I find the trouble of getting tasks boring and repetitive. It's also not as profitable as people tend to think it is, unless you camp certain monsters, which really isn't training your slayer then. 17. Agility- Awesome emote. 18. Summoning- Don't really have an opinion. It can certainly be useful, I suppose. 19. Mining- Time consuming and extremely boring, especially powermining granite. 20. Construction- I don't see the point in training this skill past 60 or 70. Not many people will be able to see your house anyways, so it seems to matter only as a money sink. 21. Runecrafting- Probably not going to be happening. 22. Fletching- See cooking. 23. Cooking- Boring, and the cape is far too common. 24. Firemaking- Absolutely useless skill. Should not even exist, in my opinion. Also, has a terrible emote.

Absolutely not. I can only see pures, both combat and skill, benefiting from this change. Combat pures came about to exploit the wilderness system and gain an advantage over players of a similar combat level, while I presume low combat level skillers play that way for the certain challenge or enjoyment. However you decide to play the game is your choice, but Jagex should not be tailoring their content to make it more accessible to these types of specialist accounts. If you really want quest rewards, then go ahead and get them, but realize that you may have to play all aspects of the game.

Smite doesn't work since 1-itemers don't eat food. There's no way to deplete all of their prayer points even if they have full hitpoints. Personally, I ice barrage to freeze, then shadow barrage to lower attack. Back up, wait for a few seconds after they thaw, then repeat. You get called farcaster a lot, but it's not as if 1-itemers have any moral ground to criticize me. :rolleyes:

Ah well, that may the case. I never really went down into the challenge arena since I've tried without success in the past to get some champions scrolls. It has been confirmed that all 3 new champions exist, and I must say, this update has made me want to try getting one.

Those are the Champions of Champions, and I think they've always been there. However, you can currently only be challenged by the human and gnome champions. You left out the dwarf as well. The three new lesser champions are banshee, mummy, and aberrant spectre.

They do since this week's update. :) Personally, I prefer killing Mighty Banshees in the Smoke Dungeon for better drops. However, the rarity of the champion scroll drop itself is hard to predict. I've heard of people killing tens of thousands of a monster without luck.

Thanks for the positive comments. Amonitas, there is an element of luck when it comes to clue rewards. I did state in the guide that I average about 250-350k per hour using this method. Of course, there will be times when your profit is much higher, and times when it's much lower. My friend Hunteravenge had done over 30 "dry" clues before finally getting 2 consecutive scrolls worth a combined 1.7 million.

Ivotjuh: Nice reward! If you do plan on keeping a clue log, I'd be happy to include it in the first post. Warrior: Haven't done that quest. :oops: Still, I'm willing to do some time trials there in the future to compare against the HAM, although clue scrolls are supposed to have a random drop rate.

Zaaps, I admire that you took the effort to post a really detailed intro thread and also continue to follow up, but reasoning with the greater RS community seems like a lost cause to me. (Lol @ the forum troll rank in your sig though :D ) For me, calling Jagex names like "evil", "stupid", and "out of touch" is absolutely ridiculous. As far as I know, the people who work there are not dictators of some third world country, have the mental capacity to design a game that thousands of people pay to play on a daily basis, and has managed to keep them coming back for years on end. This debate really boils down to personal preferences. While I may value minigames and certain skills, another player may prefer that Jagex add in more high level content or reform Pking. It's simply not possible to please everyone, nor is it feasible for Jagex to devote their attention onto several issues at the same time. I like that they are not rushing out big pieces of content every week now, but instead releasing chunks of material that seek to revitalize areas which have been overlooked. Jagex has made some positive moves in recent months to reach out more to the community. They've finally acknowledged the importance of fansites, have made regular updates to the development diaries, and started involving the players in official events such as the machinima contest. Yet the smart people at Jagex has realized that you can't keep the entire community happy at once, so they've simply stopped trying. What I dislike seeing is yet another thread ranting about the new [cabbage] update and how it just ruined said ranter's entire playing experience as if Jagex owes them something. Jagex doesn't owe you squat. As a comparison, let me ask you: Have you thought about where RS will be in the next 2 years? In the next 5? Or even 10 years into the future? You can bet that Jagex has done such long term growth planning, and while the specific situation is always in flux, at least they have a clear goal of where they want RS to head in the future, whereas the vast majority of players may think only up to the next month or two, and then only in terms of themselves. Face it. Unless you have a more complete picture of what actually goes into the decision making process at Jagex and know what they know, you have no right to constantly complain and criticize everything they do.

It might be useful to mark the closest bank for those items which aren't stackable. Also, the lunar isle general store stocks 1000 empty vials. It's not very well known, and could also be useful for people training herblore as another source of vials.

...play Trouble Brewing.

Thanks for your rate. I've been preoccupied by training woodcutting and now magic, which is why I haven't added any new clues for a few weeks.

I still wouldn't recommend grinding any activity until you feel comfortable about having explored the different aspects of membership. Here's just a partial list of my recommendations, but feel free to do whatever you want or interests you in the first week: Quests: Hero's Quest (for dragon battleaxes and maces) Fremennik Trials (to unlock lyre tele and fremennik helmets) Throne of Miscellania (to unlock Manage Thy Kingdom for weekly profit) Royal Trouble (to increase the number of workers in Kingdom and therefore profit) Tears of Guthix (free xp per week to your lowest skill) Fishing Contest/Giant Dwarf (starts dwarven quest line) The Lost Tribe (starts cave goblin quest line) I assume you've already started The Grand Tree, since that quest is required for Monkey Madness. Minigames: Castle Wars Stealing Creation Barbarian Assault Pest Control All the different Distractions and Diversions Also, check out all the new guilds which you have access to. For cash, you could take a look at my guide to level 1 clues through the link in my signature. Low skill requirements and fun to do.

Click the link in my sig for my guide to making money from level 1 clues. It has very low level requirements and doesn't involve any boring grinding or repetitive actions. ;)

There really needs to be separate OOC and IC threads. I don't want to wade through a bunch of arguments every single time I want to see what new developments occurred, like I just did. Since I don't see any rules limiting the number of threads per RP scenario, here is what I propose to make things more organized: 1. Limit the current thread to discussion on the ground rules of this RP. We need to streamline the debate from ideas just being thrown out at random intervals, to a set of clear yes/no votes. If no one else wants to make said list, I'll do it. Once the rules have been decided on, that's it. Unless it's a pressing matter which has been overlooked, I'd rather spend my time on actual RPing than arguing with you all. 2. Each civilization creates a "factbook" thread that contains all the necessary history, unit stats, research progress, etc etc. Specific trade agreements, alliance proposals, and whatnot should also be made in these threads. This eliminates having to search through this one thread for all the scattered information. In addition, there's no more issues with opening a hundred hide tags only be to confronted with a gigantic map that's impossible to take in. 3. Likewise, each conflict or situation gets it's own thread. Say I designed a scenario where a renegade Shu ship raids a Han port. I'd post an intro, giving the background information, then wait for the Han player to respond. Obviously, more participants can join in at any time, unless it has been agreed beforehand by the thread founders that there are limits to the action, in which case said limits should be noted in the first post. However, there cannot be limits which infringe on the RPing-possibilities of other players, ie. an army travels through your territory without your permission. Since the format is so open-ended, I find that this really encourages the creative process in everyone involved. 4. There will be more freedom in regards to time. Whereas currently, if you don't post for a few days, you've just missed out on a sizeable chunk of research, having a looser "flow" to the RP opens up more possibilities. Would you like to revisit a conflict that happened 2 weeks ago? Or perhaps you would like to explore an earlier part of your tribe's history and its interaction with neighboring states? No problem. It will move things away from being too dependent on researches and unit stats to focus on writing quality. 5. More IC posts please! Creative and interesting story-telling is the heart of every RP. It's no fun to browse a page of nothing but "The Shu recruit 100,000 spears, and research Advanced Logistics." followed by "A Florentine army moves into square E54 and defeats 5 monsters which attack." Instead, bring in interest by looking at the situation from a more personal view. For example: You can also write up a proclamation issued by the king, or draft up a diary entry from one of the refugees fleeing the war. Post an account of action from the view of a common foot soldier, or take a peek into the heated discussion taking place in the inner council chambers. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination, but remember, descriptive phrases are an RPers best friend. Sure, this involves investing in more time and effort, but the increased excitement and fun pays off. Besides, which account would you rather read? 6. To avoid confusion with other RPs, all threads pertaining to this RP will have "TIK" in the title. For example, my factbook for the Shu could be titled: "TIK- Shu Factbook." Or, if I were to declare war on the Romans and make a thread for that: "TIK- Shu Army Advances into Roman Territory." What do you all think?

Zombies can't swim right? I'd move to Hawaii.

I would like to see strength and weaknesses added to each unit's attack and defense (if applicable). For example, pikemen aren't nearly as effective against archers as they are against cavalry. [hide=First Half of Unit Descriptions]Militia Spearmen: As the most numerous units in the Shu army, spearmen are often mass recruited from peasant levies. They are equipped with inexpensive spears tipped with a sharp iron point and hook which can be used to pull riders from their mounts. Although poorly armored and sometimes ill-fed, they can be effective if kept, and deployed, in dense formations on the battlefield. OS: 6 (+3 against cavalry), DS: 3 (-1 against archers), MS: 4, RNG: 1 Skirmishers: Skirmishers usually advance in loose groups. Armed with a variety of both thrown and hand-held weapons, they are often used ahead of the main battle to disrupt enemy formations. OS: 5 (+2 against archers), DS: 3 (-2 against cavalry), MS: 5, RNG: 1-3 Foot Soldiers Shieldmen: The shieldman carries his most prominent piece of equipment in his left hand. The six-foot shield is fashioned from sturdy oak reinforced with heavy iron bands. With a slight concave surface and a minor taper on the bottom half, they perform an excellent job deflecting arrows and other thrown objects. Also lightly armed with a short stabbing sword. OS: 5, DS: 6 (+2 against archers), MS: 3, RNG: 1 Special Ability: Reduces the damage done to other foot units by 3 from archers if deployed together. Men-at-arms: A professional soldier, men-at-arms are either hired for a specific campaign or retained as part of the permanent core of the Shu military. They are well armored and armed, and their experience makes them a dependable presence for the rest of the army. OS: 10 (+2 against archers), DS: 5 (-2 against cavalry), MS: 3, RNG: 1 Pikemen: Clad in metal armor, and armed with a fifteen-foot steel pike, they are the well trained in cavalry deterrence maneuvers. OS: 8 (+6 against cavalry), DS: 6, MS: 2, RNG: 1 Missile Units Bowmen: Archers that have received instruction with wooden bows and iron tipped arrows. OS: 6, DS: 3 (-2 against cavalry), MS: 5, RNG: 1-5 Crossbowmen: Crossbows deal a greater punch against armored targets. Their handlers wear a metal helmet and padded leather armor for balance of protection and ease of movement. OS: 8 (+4 against infantry), DS: 5, MS: 4, RNG: 1-4 Zhuge Crossbowmen: Better trained than normal crossbowmen, they are equipped with an advanced weapon design. Featuring a drawback action and feeding mechanism, these semi-automatic crossbows can fire up to ten bolts per minute. This fast rate of fire does come with slightly reduced penetrating power and range. OS: 10 (+5 against infantry), DS: 5, MS: 4, RNG: 1-3[/hide] Mounted Soldiers, Siege Weapons, and Ships to come soon. Please note that not all of these units are available to the Shu immediately; many require research before being "unlocked."

In that case, I want Ballistics and Advanced Logistics as my two unique researches. Ballistics: Provides a +1 damage and range bonus to all missile units (archers and siege weaponry). Allows for the recruitment of of Zhuge crossbowmen (Shu special unit). Advanced Logistics: Improves supply lines, communication, and field logistics. Decreases the cost of maintaining units by 20%. Also, why don't we allow each civilization to pick a "free" basic research that they start out with? This would allow for some diversity in start-up strategies, choosing from the following: Basic Farming Herding Basic Mining Basic Construction Basic Science Government If you all agree, I pick Basic Science for the Shu. Also, my research points for today go toward Education.

I like my tree though. It has certain aspects which apply only to my civilization. Why don't we all just post our tech trees beforehand so that there's no confusion later on? Edit- Current Composition of the Shu Army: 300 Militia (peasant levies) 100 Bowmen 50 Light Cavalry 50 Mounted Scouts Stats and more unit descriptions to come soon.

I thought this RP with strictly medieval? I'd hate to spoil things by bringing aboard spaceships and long range missiles...

OOC: It's only the end of October. There's plenty of time left in winter for Scandinavia and all of the northern latitudes to get positively frigid. If not, you can always blame global warming. Alright, here's the next batch of information on the Shu. A tech tree, with horizontal lines meaning "required for," and vertical lines meaning both technologies must be implemented before anything further down the line can be researched. [hide=Diagram][/hide] [hide=Descriptions]Irrigation (3 days): Boosts food production and population capacity. Animal Husbandry (3 days): Boosts food production and allows for the recruitment of lancers. Crop Rotation (4 days): Boosts food production and population capacity beyond that of Irrigation alone. Artificial Selection (6 days): Further boosts food production and capacity beyond that of Crop Rotation. Masonry (3 days): Allows for the construction of additional heavy walls and increases building integrity by 10%. Architecture (4 days): Allows for the construction of additional castles and increases building integrity by another 10% on top of Masonry. Fortification (6 days): Allows for the construction of fortified camps and further increases building integrity by 10% beyond that of Architecture. Blast Furnace (5 days): Allows for a larger standing army and the recruitment of long swordsmen. Mechanics (3 days): Allows for the research of Ballistics and Engineering. Ballistics (4 days): All missile units receive a +1 bonus to damage and range. Allows for the recruitment of Zhuge crossbowmen. Engineering (4 days): Allows for the recruitment of engineers. Siege Warfare (5 days): Allows for the recruitment of siege engines and siege engineers. Chemistry (6 days): Allows for the recruitment of gunpowder units, and munitions experts. Civil Administration (4 days): Increases all research speeds by 25% and decreases military recruitment times by 25%. Allows for one additional research to be performed at any given time. Public Works (4 days): Allows for the efficient construction of roads, canals, and bridges. Cuts down on construction time of all buildings by 20%. Census (4 days): Allows for Conscription to be researched. Conscription (5 days): Allows for the recruitment of up to 15% of the total population in military levies. If activated, food production will be cut up to 30%, and a similar proportion of up to 100% of non-military public projects will be halted. Academy (5 days): Increases all research speeds by an additional 25% beyond that of Civil Administration. Allows for a larger standing army and the improvement of field logistics. Navigation (6 days): Allows for the construction of galleys and transports. Dry Dock (6 days): Allows for the construction of large seagoing junks. Cuts down on ship repair times by 50%.[/hide] I was going to type up more detailed descriptions of each research along with little intros, but that would have taken even longer than it already did. And Im lazy. :mellow: Next up are unit descriptions and stats (I hope some of the names have intrigued you), followed by an overview of the socio-economic and military situation. Hopefully I can make or find some neat little avatars for my units. Edit: The Garlons' poisonberry spit reminds me of the veloceraptors in Jurrasic Park. :D