Blyaunte

I love the OP's pose!!! :lol:

Seriously eh. It can't last... Difficult to say. Is it that he's playing that well, or is that he's got some sweet offence in front of him, controlling the puck away from his defensive zone, and the Oilers' "D" is playing just that much better this year? Khabibulin has never traditionally put up the kind of numbers to merit his #1 status -- and he's 38 now -- which means he's nearing the end of his career. I dunno -- maybe he's finally going to pull something out of his backside and play his "A" game every night for a change? He's overdue for it. From what I have seen -- he's played well, for sure, this season with a .963 save percentage, but he's not really been challenged too much. Over the past 5 games, he's averaging only 28 shots against per game, and in the two games he's got his donuts, he only had 19 shots each game. That said, Edmonton's had some awesome young guns "up and coming" in their roster for a while now: Gagner, Eberle, Hall -- now Nugent-Hopkins -- so they've got some good young legs out there that can bury the puck. On top of that, they added a character player in Ryan Smyth (one of my all-time fave players) and bolstered up their "D" with Cam Barker out of Minny, where he learned *how* to play defence. Frankly, I am really excited about this Edmonton team this year. I doubt they will win the Cup, but I think they may go a long way -- and I will be excited to watch them play for years to come. Guarantee it, the Cup will come back to Edmonton soon -- maybe sooner than we think!! :thumbsup:

As long as my character's got one of those cute English accents, I won't mind ... :thumbsup:

Question: Are there updates that can be beta-tested that don't or won't have any economic impact? Frankly, I don't see what, say, Dominion Tower would have on the economy, for example ... :unsure:

http://services.runescape.com/m=news/log-in-and-frame-rate-issues

I managed to lget past the log-in in my other computer, but I cannot play on that computer as it overheats. Sweet! Now try logging in on the previous computer and see if you're out of the lobby-respawn cycle!

That doesn't work for me sadly :( I can't log in on different accounts as well. Changing my graphic settings doesn't work either. I'll just have to wait I guess. Not much I can do about this. Have you tried deleting all the data under the runescape subdirectory? I am trying to recall what that subdirectory is called and where it's located, but it's a relatively small set of files that saves your settings and world preferences, etc. :unsure:

Seems to me that there's a fair number of people having log-in issues since the most recent update (Dominion Tower) and even some before that. I got stuck in the Dominion Tower when I logged out in the middle of an Endurance trial. After that, I could not log in past the lobby. However, I could log in on my F2P noob fishing account from the same computer. I logged in on one of my son's computers, and was able to access beyond the lobby. So I got out of the Dominion Tower and banked my gear at Mobilizing Armies bank. After that, I had no more issues with getting stuck in the lobby. That said, I am still not able to get into my clan's citadel using the same computer that I could previously not gain access past the lobby. I am note sure if this is an issue with "cookies" or what it may be. I intend to try tonight and see if I can gain access from specific computers in my house. I'd strongly suggest to anyone that's having issues logging in past the lobby to try and gain access to the same account from another computer and see if that helps. Good Luck! <3:

With respect to the issue of lag -- I've noticed that, since the bot bust, most of the worlds have got triple-digit pings to me right now -- which goes a long way to explaining the "lag" as far as I am concerned. There's very few worlds with low "pings" and those that do have lower pings are generally more crowded and tend to lag as a result of that (like w60 penguin hunting). Not to mention that, with the recent and untimely death of my home PC, I've been forced to limit my playing time to shared time on my hubby's computer, which is not much of a computer to begin with. :unsure: But yes -- I've got some terrible lag at present ... ----- With respect to the issue of "stuck in the lobby" issue: I got stuck in the Dominion Tower when I logged out in the middle of an Endurance trial. After that, I could not log in past the lobby. I could log in on my F2P noob fishing account from the same computer. I logged in on one of my son's computers, and was able to access beyond the lobby. So I got out of the Dominion Tower and banked my gear at Mobilizing Armies bank. After that, I had no more issues with getting stuck in the lobby. That said, I am still not able to get into my clan's citadel using the same computer that I could previously not gain access past the lobby. I am note sure if this is an issue with "cookies" or what it may be. I intend to try tonight and see if I can gain access from specific computers in my house. I'd strongly suggest to anyone that's having issues logging in past the lobby to try and gain access to the same account from another computer and see if that helps. Good Luck!

Unfortunately, the bot scourge of the last year has mostly done away with any remaining feelings of community the average player might have had left. I've been seeing that slowly return now that they're gone but sometimes I'm afraid that the damage has already been done. Of course, that's not going to stop me from chatting with anyone around me that wants to. An hour of skilling and chatting with less xp is better than grinding max xp per hour anytime. :grin: Personally, I always try to attend when my friends achieve a 99 whenever I can, be it their first or their tenth. I don't know if it counts as being sentimental, but the TIF community has helped me maintain my faith in my fellow players and supporting their achievements has been a big part of that. Well considering that the "community" itself has considerably "shrunk" in the past week, with most P2P worlds averaging running in the 300-400 players per world range on any given night, and F2P worlds averaging considerably less, it may well be more like those heady early days of RSC when one could wander the world and not see another soul. When you did actually see another player, you were so grateful for outside contact that you'd willingly start up a friendly conversation. I dunno -- most places I go, I'm not seeing a lot of people, but when I do see someone they're almost always friendly now. I am hopeful that the friendly "community" aspect of the game is going to return -- so far, it seems well on its way in any event ... :mrgreen:

Well, while I applaud the effort at making a Runecrafting update, I sincerely hope that it's one that actually generates "rune production" of some kind or another ... :unsure:

All I could think when I heard that question was the Quick Chat option: "This is not a dating site" ... :rolleyes:

Well there's ^this^ for sure. There's a lot of "meta-gaming" solutions out there wherein you can max-skill quickly, with a lot less grind, but your bank account suffers in the short term for it. The real reward is, as you know, that once you get the "skilling" out of the way, you've a lot more time for "end game" scenarios which are far more profitable. ... but I wonder too -- if the problem is not as much an issue of the community involved, as opposed to the actual game play. Do we, as players, put way too much emphasis on the "e-peen" (i.e. coins, items and skill levels), and not enough emphasis on the community itself? I wonder. :unsure: Last night, one of my clan mates attained her first ever 99 skill (woodcutting), and it was a momentous occasion for her. Most of the clan gathered at the site and we watched her get her 99 skill and her cape. She was so emotionally moved by the moment that she actually had to go AFK to get some tissues and dry her tears. It simply meant that much to her to not only achieve the 99 skill, but to also have her friends around her lending her their support and approval. Now, the non-sentimental among you will poke fun at this -- sure, go ahead. But those among you who understand what it means to have both the community around you, and appreciate the work and dedication involved in achieving the skill level, may actually appreciate what she felt last night, upon achieving that ever-elusive first 99 skill. :shades:

I don't think the big issue is "if" decryption of the system is possible, but rather whether or not such decryption would have sufficient longevity to be profitable. Based on what I an reading here and elsewhere, while being able to unscramble the new system is likely possible and is likely to happen -- the system will simply be re-scrambled a short time later and it's "back to the drawing board" for "the old electronic brain" ... :thumbsup: As I indicated elsewhere -- this may just be sufficient enough to make Runescape a lot less easier to break into and, as a result eliminate the vast majority of botting, just by sheer attrition. My impression is that there's prolly not a lot of botting companies out there with sufficient overhead to be able to stay afloat while they frantically work to break this system. At what point does trying to create bots for Runescape become financially non-viable? For all intents and purposes, that non-viability isn't too far across the horizon right now. :thumbup:

... and how does one get this in-house currency that cannot be bought? :unsure: No, you seem to have misunderstood (as usual). Gambling is dangerous in real-life because it becomes a preoccupation of the addict, to the point where they need to spend excessive amounts of their money in order to sustain the addiction at the expense of other vital needs. If someone becomes addicted to dicing on RuneScape, they'll lose all their GPs and... then what? Whether someone loses 1gp or 100 billion gp is irrelevent, each player on RuneScape can lose a maximum of £3.50 per account per calander month. Gambling on RuneScape is not as dangerous as gambing in Las Vegas is, just as the three dozen or so free-to-play poker apps on Facebook/IPhone/Blackberry/Android which use "made up" currency aren't really dangerous either, all of which are quite routinely used by under-18s. Hell, even Super Mario 64 on the DS had a spoof version of five-card poker. I'm not personally seeing the hoards of prepubescent Mario addicts you seem to be suggesting would be the inevitable consequence of said feature. In any case, I actually see this discussion as being besides the point. The fact is, Jagex doesn't need to facilitate dicing in order to essentially allow it on a de facto basis. They simply need to not stop it, even when it's clearly obvious it's taking place. You're right in saying gambling is dangerous, however I'd rather have the gambling controlled and monitored, than being left to simply run riot in the middle of the Grand Exchange. Since I am still in the process of my usual misunderstanding :rolleyes: please -- you still have not explained how someone gets a hold of this "in-house" currency that you've deemed to be entirely safe. I assume he means gp. :rolleyes: No, you don't get a hold of the in-house currency because it's in-house. It doesn't leave the casino, hence it can't be traded for real life goods. It's for the same reason you can't real world trade, say, Pizzaz points. I suppose you technically could, but that would require access to your account, since the currency is bound to your character as opposed to freely floating in an open market (which is what gold coins are). Gold coins can be freely exchanged between players. Character-bound currencies cannot. Hence why an "in-house" currency (a currency which is only active when your character's in the casino) could not "grabbed hold" of; there's nothing to grab on to. That's if I understood your question. If you're referring to how you earn it in the first place, I assume you'd earn it in the casino, and what you earn deactivates when you leave it (meaning you and only you could have access to that particular iteration of currency). So -- in other words -- neither of you know for sure either. Let me make this a little more "clear": how does one "earn" in house credit? Are we all simply assigned a number, like loyalty points, and then we go to this "in-house casino" to gamble those credits away? If so -- where is the fun or challenge in that? Sounds to me like you're trying to make an in-house casino to be about as much "fun" and "use" to the RS community as all the other in-game "activities" that no one else plays. :rolleyes:

... and how does one get this in-house currency that cannot be bought? :unsure: No, you seem to have misunderstood (as usual). Gambling is dangerous in real-life because it becomes a preoccupation of the addict, to the point where they need to spend excessive amounts of their money in order to sustain the addiction at the expense of other vital needs. If someone becomes addicted to dicing on RuneScape, they'll lose all their GPs and... then what? Whether someone loses 1gp or 100 billion gp is irrelevent, each player on RuneScape can lose a maximum of £3.50 per account per calander month. Gambling on RuneScape is not as dangerous as gambing in Las Vegas is, just as the three dozen or so free-to-play poker apps on Facebook/IPhone/Blackberry/Android which use "made up" currency aren't really dangerous either, all of which are quite routinely used by under-18s. Hell, even Super Mario 64 on the DS had a spoof version of five-card poker. I'm not personally seeing the hoards of prepubescent Mario addicts you seem to be suggesting would be the inevitable consequence of said feature. In any case, I actually see this discussion as being besides the point. The fact is, Jagex doesn't need to facilitate dicing in order to essentially allow it on a de facto basis. They simply need to not stop it, even when it's clearly obvious it's taking place. You're right in saying gambling is dangerous, however I'd rather have the gambling controlled and monitored, than being left to simply run riot in the middle of the Grand Exchange. Since I am still in the process of my usual misunderstanding :rolleyes: please -- you still have not explained how someone gets a hold of this "in-house" currency that you've deemed to be entirely safe.

Thanks Jo! You read my mind! :thumbsup:

I am hardly in a position to make a decision on behalf of any botting group as to whether or not they've got the props to take up Jagex's anti-bot gauntlet. But I do wonder how long these bot "companies" can operate without a revenue stream and, at what point do they say "[bleep] it, time to move on to easier prey ..." :unsure: ... and my name is "B-L-Y-A-U-N-T-E" ... <_<

I think that ^THIS^ pretty much nails it ... They didnt file that case in US District Court for shiggles. It was filed on June 28, 2011 - almost 4 months ago. Before Runefest. Before Jiblix. I fully expect some assclowns will test Jagex and end up as Does. In the end, it doesn't necessarily matter whether or not these threats, with respect to legal proceedings, are idle or earnest. They do provide some very important aspects, namely: 1. It's a formal services of notice to those parties against which they may take legal proceedings; and 2. It's likely just enough to throw a scare into those individuals who would be "spooked" into ceasing and desisting from botting in the future -- i.e. those individuals who thought they were "safe" to bot because "Jagex would never know they did it". Obviously, Jagex doesn't stand much of a chance of enforcing U.S. law on a gold-farm operating out of a Chinese Prison (*snerk*), and any idle threat aimed at those "players" will plainly go unheded and ignored. That said, the typical "13-year-old teenaged boy" who botted his account to get "epic PKer stats", and who's resident in the U.S., and isn't in "pre-law" doesn't know any of that. All he knows is he got an email from Jagex that told him if he bots again, his ass is grass. In the end, it's the 13-year-old teenaged boy that Jagex wants back and playing as a "legit" player so this is an opportunity for Jagex to throw a scare into them, warn them about botting, warn them about banning, and not lose their paying membership fees.

Actually you'll all be united. Any achievements will be devalued. May as well give things away just like cooking capes. The same whingers who moan about grinding will then be moaning that their achievements are worth zilch because everyone will have them. But then again I have to accept that the quality of players aren't what they used to be. What if -- and it's a big "IF" -- Jagex went the way of Maple Story, and simplified the "grind"? :unsure:

An array of Object[][] is actually very hard to get around. The botter has to figure out the PRECISE object layout, since the type is (hopefully) hidden on the server. Also, properly encyrpting and randomizing the layout of the object array would make it difficult. The thing is, yes, you can crack the object array. But how difficult is it? Can jagex just shift things again and make you have to do the same amount of work on your end for little work on theirs... Being able to typecast out the object array is a very useful feature for explicitly hiding the contents of the object from the calling code. ... which begs the question -- just how HARD is it to break? One of the comments from bot-makers was that, the reason why so many people botted Runescape was because it was so easy to do. But what now? It's not so easy anymore. Is this the virtual lock that's so difficult to get past that it prompts the burglar to just move along to the next house? :unsure:

I think that ^THIS^ pretty much nails it ...

... and how does one get this in-house currency that cannot be bought? :unsure:

They can't and shouldn't and I will tell you why -- because if they do this, then Runescape becomes a gambling site -- with all the negative intonations that are included therewith. It's more of a tax on stupid people, but yeah ... But what is the difference between players gambling with each other and gambling against the game? Btw you can already gamble, look at barbican assault. It's one thing for some guy on one world to run a dicing game on the side. It's quite another for Jagex to open a virtual casino on 190+ worlds ...

Considering that their most recent efforts at fixing the grind were: Livid Farm, Artisan's Workshop and Charm Sprite Hunting, I'm neither excited nor worried about it ... :rolleyes: