drapit

Indeed.

This is my first attempt at writing. Please read, rate and hopefully provide a thorough reply. The sun was making its usual slow descent, majestically snatching away all light and illumination. A figure, clad in black, was briefly silhouetted against one of the suns long tendrils of light. The dark form was adjusting a knob on a piece of complicated equipment not unlike a sniper rifle. This piece of state-of-the-art weaponry masterpiece was so revolutionary, it remained unknown to even the most professional gun collector. The assassin turned a dial on the eyepiece, ensuring that the target was securely in sight and well within shooting range. The sun was sinking into the horizon, turning the sky an ominous, deep shade of red similar to the colour of blood. Positioned at the top of a ruined building, the assassin noticed the change in light intensity and, almost lazily, raised a hand to turn on the rifles night vision light filter. The view through the eyepiece instantly turned an eerie green. With the other hand, the mysterious assassin stabled the huge muzzle of the gun to better fit the position he was crouched in. Through the zoom lens of his guns scope, he saw that the target was still surrounded by a cloud of people. Apparently, they were having a party in the mansion of George Lewis, the very same person who had graced the posters and television screens. The same being who sat in the Pentagon revising on the ways to stop terrorism. Agent Chase was a very patient man. He had been studying his subject for almost a week and was showing no signs of impatience. His master at the academy once told him that sniping was ninety percent preparation and ten percent action. He had stuck to that rule devotedly. Now, at the perched atop a building with a birds eye view of the landscape, Scott Chase was readier than ever. George Lewis certainly seemed like the Head of the Department of Defence. Everything from his fluid movements to his comfortable posture suggested a calm, composed man who knew how safe he was. At present, he was seated at the end of a long marble dining table, speaking animatedly to a group of his closest friends. In his mind, there was no doubt about his safety. After all, much of the cost that went into building the mansion had gone to the installation of bullet-proof windows and the placing of motion sensors in various areas of his porch. Large, Russian hounds covered the wide expanse of his front porch. These dogs were not trained to bark; they were trained to kill. Sound detectors that are able to distinguish a persons footsteps surrounded the perimeter. Any trigger to these security systems would instantly deploy a SWAT team to the vicinity. There was simply no reason to feel endangered. Yet the cautious and meticulous Mr. Lewis had overlooked one point. He had not calculated the risk of dying under a shot from a sniper. The only thing that stopped a bullet from reaching Georges heart were the bullet-proof windows that lined his mansion. And right now, an assassin who had found a way across the problem was perched atop a perfect position, ready to kill. The assassin saw the subject rising from his chair and knew that the gathering was almost over. It was to be over on grounds that the host would be found dead in his own bathroom. George Lewis enjoyed being rich. He lived a luxurious life, both in his office and his home. Even in the transition between the two, he had an uniformed chauffer who delivered him to his destination in a custom-built Rolls-Royce limo complete with a conference phone, a television and bullet-proofed, tinted windows. He had so much money to spare; he even built himself what he had called a natural bathroom. His natural bathroom was a wall-less room facing east towards a magnificent view of the canyon below. Short bamboo sticks lined space, enclosing and concealing his privates while he was doing his business. Leaving George an unobstructed view of the magnificent natural wonder. Little did he know, he was also put in danger by the lack of bullet-proof structures to the south. And the south was the assassin had so strategically placed himself. The assassin knew every working mechanism in the gun by heart. Upon compressing the trigger, the hammer of the gun would snap forward and strike the percussion cap at the rear of the bullet casing. This would set off an explosion which would propel the shell at an enormously large pace out of its casing and down the long barrel, where a spiral grove would cause it to spin so that it would fly straighter. Finally, it would burst out of the gun. The assassin was also aware that his bullets were of high quality. The Teflon-coated bullets allowed maximum penetration while the streamlined shape ensures that it makes a clean entry and exit. Agent Chase pressed the trigger. Almost instantly, a muffled sound emanated from the bulky silencer and a bullet tore through the wind. The assassin gave himself the rare opportunity for a smile. It seemed to lighten up his features a little, giving some form of humanity to his dark but handsome countenance. A bullet tore through him, making a hole in his expensive black suit and smearing his white shirt underneath. Surprisingly, he felt no pain. Perhaps reality needed time to sink in before the pain would register. Either that or he was already dead. He wished it was the latter. It would save him the humiliation of screaming on the way to his afterlife. But no, fate would not grant him even his last, dying wish. As his sensory neurons screamed and sent impulses at every possible direction, he wondered how a destiny like thus would befall him. Scott Chase crouched behind the parapet. His finger was still on the trigger and his left hand was still steadying the gun. After every kill, he allowed the adrenaline to drain from his body before making his way to the exit. In his experience, being abnormally excited always seemed to derive at one mistake or another. George Lewis flushed the toilet and made his way back, thinking of the succulent turkey still lying on his platter.

I think it largely depends. I've been playing for more than three years and I still find the game fun and enjoyable. In my opinion, the whole point of playing a game is to have fun. There is no other reason for it. Personally, I train my skills in an on-off pattern. I would dedicate one to two hours to sole training and then enjoy another few hours doing the things I like. So in my case, RuneScape haven't turned into a 'dreaded grindfest'. There are also people who enjoy grinding. Since personal preferences differ in most cases, who is to say the 'grinders' don't enjoy the game? When I was working towards my goal of acquiring a 99 for cooking, I enjoyed every moment. There were friends who accompanied me on the long journey. Strangers who chatted with me while we cook. These strangers slowly became friends and bonds were formed. It's not so much the result that counts, it's the experience that's important. To end off, I'd say no. RuneScape haven't been made into a 'dreaded grindfest'.

You're right, Jupp. Capes of Accomplishment, as the name suggests, should be something worn to show one's accomplishment. It should not be limited to the people who pay. I do not see any negative impact it'll have on JaGeX's income (which seem to be a huge factor when deciding, or vetoing, a suggestion). After all, I'm sure players who pay fork out their money for more important things. I agree to the notion that free players, too, have spent hours working on perfecting their skills. The limitations surrounding the F2P population certainly makes it more difficult for one to achieve 99 in a particular skill. Therefore, as JuppWar so rightfully pointed out in the post prior to this, I believe that free players certainly earned it. Up till now, I haven't seen one rational post on why free players doesn't deserve the availability of the Capes of Accomplishment. As far as I can see, the inclusion of skill capes into the F2P community is completely justifiable.

Every 99 attained as an achievement. If it isn't, explain why isn't half the RuneScape population running around with an achievement cape tugging in the wind. I have a cooking cape. It's one of those, in your opinion, not so special capes. I still don it on proudly behind my back. Aside the fact that it keeps the chilling northern winds out, it's a trophy to show how much time and effort I've put into cooking. It's similar for every skill. Regardless of whether it can or cannot be 'bought', you'll still have to cook shark after shark, cut bow after bow and probably tire your eyes out in front of the computer before finally achieving a 99.

No, its my opinion too. I've been a P2P before. I'm a F2P now. You're right. F2Pers shouldn't get any updates since they have to pay naught. If JaGeX bestows updates after updates upon us, the number of memberships would definitely see a decrease. Therefore, to ensure that a steady income is ever-present, JaGeX must and will continue catering to the likes of P2Pers while devoting some minor updates and bug fixes to the F2Ps. In reply to the topic, I think it's quite justifiable that the members enjoy treating themselves as royalty (and others as scum). Think of it as buying a Lamborghini. You have the financial capabilities to pay for it, you certainly have the right to flash it around. But still, labeling and associating names with the F2P population isn't a right thing to do. Not for the civilized and schooled anyway. It's true that they don't pay to play a game, most of them (us) probably don't see the need to. It's not an issue of being a freeloader or not, it's whether the option is viable. Sure, there are plenty immature, childish behavior pertaining to the F2P population, but does that make everyone an immature geek? I don't think so. So please, next time you members see an F2P, employ the appropriate etiquette and do what mannerisms dictate.

I have to agree with you. After all, who knows what lies behind the beautiful (pixelated) facade? However, this problem cannot be easily eradicated. People of immature nature (otherwise known as kids) are bound to enter this easily-accessible digital space. Remember: this isn't what was once a 'T'-rated game anymore. Teenagers have evolved from the RuneScape era to more gory-intensive games. And in its place, we have hordes of new, younger blood. Along, of course, with all the immaturity. Immature people do immature things.

Tsk, tsk. Your post is punctured with punctuation errors, sentence separation mistakes, grammatical faults and linguistic whatnots. Please get your Mozilla FireFox now.

Is racism an offence if practiced in RuneScape?

You should've known that it would be another clan-infested area.

Is it down? It certainly isn't down now.

I understand your pain.

Probably not, fishes are one thing that won't go up. Monster killing and pking, the two biggest buyers of fish are gone. The way i see it, everything will probably go down. You've a point there. There'd be no use for arrows since PKers are gone. With the recent tweak to the trading system, RCers will take longer to make runes, therefore rune prices are bound to rise. That makes magic rather expensive.

Those quitting are probably in so deep that they haven't got a choice. Merchants only have one purpose in the game, and that is to make money. With the economy so unpredictable (no thanks to Jagex), what do they do now? Cut yews? Force themselves to some activity that suit them not? Just like stakers, people put in hours after hours of work honing their staker pures and what do you think they got? A big smack right in their faces. Jagex could've told them of the changes 1.5 years ago, when they were planning on the drastic updates. Hours of work: wasted! I, too, would feel angry. As for PKers, their primary source of money is gone. Most importantly, their primary source of fun is gone. Bounty Hunting isn't much either, they randomly pair up players and they allow group killings. What really is pointless is that most groups are made up of 100+ one-itemers. Even if one do indeed kill them, they'd not reap any rewards. I won't blame them if they quit. What are the fun attributes you mentioned? Staking, gone. Merchanting, gone. PK, gone. You can't even play PC now that all the pures are dead. Prices will continually drop or rise without you having a share in the profits. You can't take a break from skill training because there is no wilderness, only bounty hunting (which, may i add, gives little to increase your wealth) which is filled to the brim with nicely grouped one-itemers. If the fun you're mentioning is clan wars or castle wars, I'd certainly say no to both. First off, clan wars IS castle wars, only with less graphics (they're lazy anyway). Clan wars doesn't even have a highscore telling you the clans who're owning. PLUS there isn't any rewards! As for castle wars, there're so many threads on this already that you probably know it's flaws.

Someone on this forum posted that Jagex strolled into the Blizzard company and started asking how they (RuneScape) should get rid of bots anD RWITs... If it's indeed true, then I'd say with a hearty pat on the back: Kudos to you Jagex =D>

They don't have to encourage peeps to PK in bounty at all! Bounty hunting and Clan wars are now officially the only places you can kill other players. You aren't given the attack option in the 'regular wild' anymore.

Now here's a funny thought. Just imagining the folks at Jagex walking into Blizzard and asking for advice on improving their game. "Suuuuure, all you have to do to eliminate autoers is nerf free will along with the foundation of your game's economy, you should see a swing in user share in no time!" Did our programming friends just get pwned? I can't believe it. Jagex PWNed =D>

I hope so too.

I agree. When a friend is dying, you can't do anything but watch him die. You can't loan your items out of goodwill or (since Christmas is round the corner) give out some gifts during the festive season.

They did that because many were complaining of the Duel Arena update. I think JaGeX decided for it's early introduction just so to divert attention.

They keep telling you to sell it on the forums, on W2, etc. But there isn't any buyers! The buyers are all using the GXchange because it is simple: just hone your skills until you've got a suitable offer! Talk about hassle free indeed! The GXchange is almost like eBay on RuneScape. Fast, efficient, reliable. The prices will keep going down because buyers will constantly bid the lowest possible price and desperate sellers will keep selling at the lowest possible price. This in turn, brings the market price down. Ever noticed the price of common items going down at the rate of 100gp/24hrs?

Whoa! So 'maybe' all the gold locked up behind the bank is also going to contribute to summoning? You speculate too much.

Why does everyone rant about the GE when they're using it? If you don't like the prices, buy your items off players.

So RS2 is a year older than WoW. Wow indeed! Even a 3 year old game can lick jaGeX's RS2 world hollow. I think theres and estimated 7million players on WoW while RuneScape only has around 1.

Nice discovery! They would fix that in a blur!