n_odie

Tip.It Homeworld (w99) 10% (92 votes) Activity Themed 16% (146 votes) Game-Selected 26% (246 votes) Least Populated 25% (239 votes) Clan Homeworld 22% (211 votes) Looks pretty even to me. :P

This week's poll asks: What RuneScape server do you mainly play on? [*:1zkhjfdc] Tip.It Homeworld (w99) [*:1zkhjfdc] Activity Themed [*:1zkhjfdc] Game-Selected [*:1zkhjfdc] Least Populated [*:1zkhjfdc] Clan Homeworld Feel free to discuss if you view the rewards as "fair" or if more could have been done. >>> Vote Now! <> View the Results <<< Still see the old poll? Press [F5] or [Apple+R] to force a full reload of the page. Remember, you can also submit your ideas for future polls here. ~N_odie

It's your achievement, not theirs.

Tomorrow.

Time for a new release of the: >>>Tip.It Times!<<< When replying please make sure to clarify the article you are replying to! Thanks! Enjoy the articles! ~odie

Question 4 Will there be a new expansion or a new quest regarding the area south of Al Kharid in 2009? I dont think we can say anything on this matter. -- Mod Tim :lol: Might as well have just said yes.

Glad your using the forums brah! Just wait and see, these guys rock. :)

This reminds me of a rule that lasted a week, a while back where the discussion thread was moved to RS News. It didn't last long. :lol: I think it is fine as is right now. :)

Many users are part of the community in other ways. They may not post but they read threads and/or use the site. They are part of the community, they are another user clicking adds allowing the site and forum to be maintained (Server cost bear in mind :P). As a leader of the Tip Pic in past years I would NEVER want to see the thread limited. Some of the people have been using the main site for years. How is that not better than a user who made 50+ spam posts just to get access to a forum? In theory, its a great idea, but in this community that has been open to everyone sense the foundation, I hope it stays as such. ;) ~odie

Corrected. :) Thanks! PS I know it was mentioned earlier in the thread so thanks to others for pointing it out.

Time for a new release of the: >>>Tip.It Times!<<< When replying please make sure to clarify the article you are replying to! Thanks! Enjoy the articles! ~odie

A major part of the functionality of the TT is guide is to be able to Cnrl F something. So spelling is helpful! The guides have been updated and your work has been credited. Thank you very much! ~odie :D

The best captains stand on dry land huh? No one is a better fit than Siobhana. It is an INTRODUCTION thread. Just wait and see what happens in the future before you go and make personal attacks. I see this as a great public relations feature for both sides. I would hope that someone choosing a fansite would look at both. ;-) Ours right off is superior. :)

Brings back memories of hohto's (sorry if i didn't spell correctly) thread. Believe it or not all one can do as a person is set the example and let the mods take care of the rest. Don't feed a conversation that will escalate. It's tempting but just take the first step.

i l u

Damn. I watched the whole vid and don't think I would have appreciated the work without the seeing that. Very well done!

[hide=Interview With Das!]Das & N_odie Tip.It: Today we are Interviewing Das, an Administrator here at Tip.It to get a feel of the future direction of the site. Thanks for accepting the invitation Das! Das: Thank you very much for the opportunity to be interviewed. Tip.It: Haha, our pleasure. To begin the interview, lets get a feel of how long you have been a member of the Tip.It community? Das: I have been a member of the community since 2001. When I first joined Tip.It, it was on the black forums. Before the current Tip.Tt forums, they were called "Scapeboard." Tip.It: That really interesting, it is crazy to imagine 8 years have passed since that time. How has watching and being part of the community over those 8 years affected your Rs gaming? Das: I would say Tip.it had impacted my gaming more in the older days than currently. In the older days, things such as "logging out in the wilderness is bug abuse" impacted how I thought about pking honor and how I want to play the game. The game then had tough debates on X'ing, teleporting, among other things. Now things are not as exciting, I'm set into my ways and generally the community cant get behind many things to actually make a movement that would affect how a player played the game. Tip.It: So, why have you stuck so close to Tip.it over the latter years? Das: My relationship with Tip.It has been sort of love/hate. I always considered Tip.It my home website. I have not always agreed with the way it has been ran, but I came back because the staff wanted my views on the clan section in a sort of evaluation type thing by the users. Tip.It: So naturally, as staff received your views you ended up being invited as a moderator. How do you feel clan and Tip.It relations have improved from this point on? Das: I feel, that is improving slowly, our clan section took a hard hit back in the old days due to bad moderating, and a poor view of clans in general from the administration. I feel we have slowly improved to a point to where we may be in position to be the #1 clan fansite someday soon. Tip.It: Thats great to hear! I know I am personally loving the clan page found on the main site. Many of the features are very interesting even to those who may not be in a clan at this point in time. Does the clan moderation team have any future plans or surprises for us? Das: The Tip.it War Rankings (TWR) is a really exciting system we have in place for clan wars. As far as for surprises and new content for the webpage, I have a few ideas in mind that I would love to get coded up, but as of now they are currently in the planning stages. Tip.It: Sounds sweet! I look forward to seeing some of those features in the future! Now, how long where you a mod before you where invited to become an Administrator? Das: You know, honestly off of the top of my head, I dont really know. *goes to look* Das: I became a Moderator on Jun 26, 2007 I became an administrator officially on Mon Jun 23, 2008. It sure does not seem like I was a clan mod for a year. Time flies. Tip.It: Ah, it sure does, so you have been an administrator for 10 months now! What are some of the changes you have seen over those 10 months that you would deem notable? Das: Well, I would say seeing Jagex work with us overshadows anything. I would say the clan section has received a very notable overhaul with it's very talented clan staff. Bigger Avatars and Signatures - I would also like to think we have made some great additions to the staff in that time. Tip.It: I know all those where received happily! Now, you mentioned the announced Jagex partnership. Would you say staff as a whole is pretty excited about this? Das: I dont know anyone who isnt excited about this. I think some people fear that our forum quality will degrade with the influx of RSOF users, but I dont think this will happen at all. They are not looking to replace RSOF with other forums, just help out other fansites. Tip.It: Do you think the forum community will be affected with this partnership when it comes to full realization? Das: Yes, only in positive ways with more to discuss and talk about. Tip.It: Thats very promising! How do you think the partnership will affect the main site? Das: I think it may provide new content, I cant really say much, Jagex likes surprises! I really dont, so all I can say is knowing what I know, I can see new content. Tip.It: Haha, well it is something we are definitely looking forward to! Aiming towards a conclusion, where do you see Tip.It and its community in a year from now? Das: I see us as a stronger fansite than ever, I see our forums more active and with more new features than Tip.It users have ever had! Tip.It: More features! Sound cool. Any last comments or advice for the community? Das: I have had a fun time working for you guys, if you ever have any ideas for features, rule changes or improvements, please PM them to me. Tip.It: Great! Thanks again Das for taking the time for this interview! I have personally enjoyed it and I am sure the community will as well![/hide] [hide=Two Birds and a Stone]Ts_Stormrage For a while now the new PvP system has been in place, and it has been horribly abused by whats commonly known as the PvP-trick. To explain it to those who don't know about it; if you and your partner risk 25k+ on an F2P PvP world or 75k+ on a P2P PvP world and take turns killing each other with the other one "fighting back", you can get drops FAR better then the amount risked by your opponent. This is determined by whats known as "drop potential", and for that I refer you to the Knowledge base. Doing this in a single way combat zone prevents other people from crashing. I know that Jagex intended on making PvP popular again, but in my opinion this is ridiculous. It shames the true nature of what PvP was all about. PvP means you make money, yes, but at the demise of others - not having both players gain from it. It defies all logic that your opponent would be dropping more value then he was holding. Talk to any old school PK-er and they will tell you the same thing. Bottom line so far: the PvP system needs to be updated and tweaked to resemble more closely what it used to be in the old wilderness. Another venom courses in the economic system of RuneScape. Junk-trading has made it completely impossible to buy the true wealth-status items such as Party Hats, 3rd Age gear, or Elysian Shields in the GE. People who have such GP intensive items in their banks keep track of the item's real value as opposed to what the GE says. And this fluctuates faster then what the GE can accommodate. With Junk-trading, people want to have more GP for their item than that it is currently valued at. Which means they sell you Item X plus a bunch of junk that nobody wants anyways, which you have to pay the additional GP for. As a result, the item no longer trades in the GE, and it becomes frozen, unattainable for the common man. The solution to both problems is easier then you think. Jagex could modify the system. Just enough to make sure that the drops of a killed person on a PvP-world never exceed the total value that which he carried. But at the same time, they could factor in the "drop potential" of the person who just killed him to put the total dropped value closer to the maximum, depending on that drop potential, of course. This would not only remove the "junk" label from a lot of items, as more and more people will now be welfaring (and a lot of the easily obtainable junk items are used in whats known as welfare pk-ing). It would also provide you with an opportunity to transform the junk back into actual money. And all of a sudden the notorious Maple Longbow (u) suddenly has a value again. I know that there are still a few holes to be patched. But these simple solutions would give the respect back to PK-ing that it deserves. And while slamming the breaks on Junk-trading; it wouldn't remove it completely, so it is still possible to give your friend a gift.[/hide] [hide=Invoking the Muse]A Behind the Scenes Look at the Tip.It Times Deathmath This is a semi-behind the scenes look at the Editorial Panel. When one starts to write an article they obviously need a topic. But this can be very difficult. Now that we are writing multiple articles a week there are very few truly fresh articles that can be written. So when you think of a topic any given member of the editorial panel needs to cross-check it across all of the other previous articles. Once this has been done, it is imperative that the article has relevance to the community. Generally an article focused on a 4 month old update does not seize the attention of the community. Then, is the topic writable? Is it possible to write a decent length article on the subject? Here is an example of the general development of an article. Not only this: there are many subtopics of articles that can be chosen. An article can be opinionated, neutral, factual, or simply meant to spark debate on the forums. In this case, we have a factual article. Then it is really important that you take into account the reader. You cant go on a thirty-page well-written rant about the problem of Real World Trading in Warcraft. As a slightly more subtle example, if something is already being debated on the forums, generally interest is focused on that. Also, the forum-goers will going to be interested in newer updates. This is even more difficult if an opinionated topic is taken. In the case of an opinionated topic you definitely should not spark anger in all of your readers. Once a topic is thought of the article must be flushed in. If you are going to reference any figures or examples they must be researched, and sometimes this involves playing a little bit of RuneScape yourself. Then comes the analysis of this data. What does it mean, how was is caused how can it be fixed. Ts Stormrages article this week demonstrates how an article can include possible solutions for a problem. As well, the editorial panel does obviously not have unilateral views: we are not the Borg. For this reason, although articles do not need to be entirely one sided, they must be open to all views. There are also two other types of articles from the community: one is a response to a previous article and the other is an article itself. Sometimes these come in well-written but are edited for coherency or grammar etc. Then the article is looked upon by other members of the staff and edited, trying to improve it to the type of quality we need. As a reminder, we are still accepting Tip it Times guest articles and responses to articles. To find out more be sure to visit this topic. After looking at this article, we hope that you greater understand and appreciate what happens before it magically appears on the main page.[/hide] [hide=Rat King - Part 2]Necromagus All around the room the crowd roared, animals shrieked and money flowed in a steady stream into the pockets of the pit bosses. Borr tried to ignore it all, but the noises, the sights and the sounds were impossible to drown out. He sat huddled behind the highly decorated chair that had been placed in the centre of the room to accommodate their special guest. Lady Pianna observed the spectacle quietly, showing no outward reaction to the cacophony of bloodshed that she had come to inspect. Borr had seen her arrive in the city two days previous, observing her carriage bouncing noisily over the cobblestones through the sewer grates that lined the streets. While it didn't have the luxurious trimmings that the nobility liked to boast to show off their wealth, it still had the unmistakable air of a vehicle built for someone who wielded considerable financial and political power. The army of beggars that usually trailed such vehicles was conspicuously absent, scared off by the remarkably simian looking guards that leered menacingly from the back of the carriage. Borr scampered along the sewer pipes to keep up with the carriage until it came to a stop in front of the stately manor of the master of the pits. The bodyguards got off first, flanking the carriage door. Right on cue the pitmaster made his grand entrance, his stubby legs carrying his bloated body as dignified as they could in the elaborate silk slacks he was wearing for the occasion. He looked extremely flustered, obviously feeling threatened by the mere presence of his guest and the people she represented. He had to adjust his legs to prevent them from cramping up, squeezing himself at an almost impossible angle to get the best possible view of the carriage door as it swung open to give him his first glimpse of their visiting dignitary. She was a stately woman, middle aged, with a sharp face that seemed to be pulled taut by her hair that was coiled up in a tight bun. Her dark robes, wrapped tightly around her thin frame, shimmered slightly in the light of the setting sun. From his distant viewpoint Borr had no idea what was going on between her and the master, but the nervous little man soon led her inside, obscuring her from his view. Borr quickly scampered back through the pipes, afraid that his absence would be noticed if he stayed out much longer. The next day he got an unexpected visit from one of the pit bosses. When he heard that he was to attend the night's grand show at the request of Lady Pianna his heart skipped several beats out of sheer terror or being forced into proximity of someone with so much authority. He was handed a surprisingly clean set of clothes and told to forget his duties for the day and get himself cleaned up. As he wrestled himself into his new garments his thoughts wondered at the reason why Lady Pianna wanted him to attend the show. He usually went out of his way to avoid the ghastly spectacles, disgusted by both the bloody animal fights and the audience they attracted. He knew very well that there would be no escaping the grisly displays of violence tonight and any dreams he had had about using the guest to escape his miserable existence seemed nothing more than a distant fantasy. Dinner had come and gone, the usual watery soup and hard bread, but Borr found that he couldn't bring himself to swallow a single bite. He lay curled up on his bed as each second seemed to stretch itself out to an eternity, waiting for the summons. When he finally was called to attendance his legs, which his nerves had seemingly reduced to jelly, felt like they could barely carry him. The man that had come to retrieve him angrily barked at him to keep quiet and keep his head down, which had pretty much been Borr's strategy for the night anyway. He was led into a small round room that, to his relief, was occupied by several other people that seemed to share his predicament. He recognized the faces of several rat catchers, bookmakers and pit bosses, every one of them as nervous as hew as. When the horn that signified the start of the show sounded, the door on the other room opened and those that had been called to sit with the lady filed through it in single nervous file. The crowd roared in enthusiasm as the master of the pits read out the list of events scheduled for the nights, and Borr's instincts led him to try to find a secluded spot, which was all but impossible on the crowded podium. In the end he settled for a place behind the lady's chair, hoping it would spare him from any attention he might receive. As the show went on and the crowd got louder, Borr began to notice a pair of men, dressed in matching uniforms, move back and forth between the various spectators on the podium. One by one they were called to the lady's chair, and even though he was sitting right behind them the roars of excited bloodlust made it impossible to hear what was discussed. The people called to the lady usually only talked with her for a few moments, then hurriedly left the podium. In the dim light Borr tried to interpret their body language as they left. Most seemed, if anything, relieved to be dismissed. As the group thinned however, Borr only became more nervous, wondering when it would be his turn to talk to the mysterious visitor. The fact that he couldn't think of a single positive reason for him to be there didn't seem to help at all. He was pulled out of his nervous contemplation by the sound of a large gong that seemed to instantly hush the crowd down to a quiet murmur. It was time for the main event, and despite his nerves and his general aversion to the games Borr shifted to get a good view of the pits. He watched as the master of the pits waddled to the centre of the large room, his voice echoing off the domed ceiling as he rattled off the usual pre-match speech that was specifically designed to not only get the crowd excited, but to get more of their money into the hands of the bookkeepers as well. As the master of the pits walked back through the curtain, a creaking sound came from a small trapdoor built into the roof of the room. Borr looked away again, knowing exactly what would happen next. Soon enough the crowd was counting down, working itself into an even higher pitch of excitement as the mechanism slowly lowered Borr's rat king down towards the central pit. Four hungry cats, all scarred from dozens of pit battles, circled the place where the rat king would soon land, licking their lips and hissing menacingly. Borr couldn't look, knowing full well what was about to happen. Luckily the roar of the audience quickly drowned out the screams and hisses, and Borr was left to stare at the wall again. It was over in a manner of minutes. As the bell to signify the end of the match sounded, the boos drowned out the cheers. Borr let out a sigh of relief. Boos meant that a lot of people had lost their money, and that tonight had been especially profitable. Borr didn't know the odds against his rat king, and he didn't really care. All he wanted to do now was leave, tear out of the uncomfortable clothes he was wearing, get a good night's sleep and get back to his work in the morning. He had almost made it to the door when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. He turned around, staring directly into the eyes of Lady Pianna. "You are Borr, the boy that makes the rat kings, aren't you? I was hoping we would get a chance to talk during the event, but I'm afraid other matters took up more time than I intended them to. Will you please follow me back to my quarters?" Borr could only nod, amazed that his knees hadn't buckled under the sheer weight of the terror that had hit him when he realized that not only Lady Pianna was talking to him, but that for a brief moment he had stared her directly in the eyes.[/hide] [hide=Did you know...]... that it is possible to feed your Bunyip some Lava Eels? Fishing these is very fast xp (slightly better than Shilo river Lure fishing), and feeding them to your Bunyip gives you up to 11 Water Runes, the most sought after elemental rune. And with the ability to recharge your Summoning points nearby, you can stay in Taverly Dungeon for a long time. (Thanks to The Tal Shiar Alliance!)[/hide]

Time for a new release of the: >>>Tip.It Times!<<< When replying please make sure to clarify the article you are replying to! Thanks! Enjoy the articles! ~odie

Chuck Norris dies. I have always found the sites name to be interesting. Rune Tips makes more sense than the random (yet freaking sweat!) url Tip.it

:thumbup: :thumbup:

I be a NewBEE CrewBEE \! Congratz on being crew, Lady! It is well deserved, good thing she got 99 mining before though! :twisted:

This week's poll asks: What is your most anticipated RuneScape holiday event? [*:roqwz91p] Easter [*:roqwz91p] Hallowe'en [*:roqwz91p] Thanksgiving [*:roqwz91p] Christmas >>> Vote Now! <> View the Results <<< Still see the old poll? Press [F5] or [Apple+R] to force a full reload of the page. Remember, you can also submit your ideas for future polls here.

Probably too early for Runescape to have Bunny girls walking around As long as it is accompanied with a fine emote.... on the other hand... guys in bunny suits... -.-

[hide=The Journey or the Destination?]stormveritas Ask yourself a question: do you play this game because you enjoy it, or because youre compelled to reach your next goal? For quite a while, I was stumped. The answer was so heavily weighed to the latter portion that continued hunt for goal fulfillment that it dawned on me that at least half the time Im playing, Im doing things I dont even remotely enjoy. How many times have you heard things like this, or said them yourself: Yeah, I cant stand firemaking. Only 6 more hours! Yeah, Pyramid Plunder is really tedious, but you have to do it for the exp. Camping at bandits is so boring I think my eyes are bleeding! Or, conversely: I love stealing creation, but I need to get back to work (referring to something else in Runescape) Have we lost our minds? Lets face it: most of the stuff we do in this game is insanely boring. Consider for a moment the pleasure of fishing, firemaking, or herblore. How long would you work on this if there wasnt a community surrounding you, one that you could stack your achievements against? Ten minutes? Five? Now, them are some true purists who manage to resist the temptation to grind out skills and money, but what of the rest of us cursed fools? There must be a reason that we choose to play this one of the slowest leveling games in the history of mankind as the place to toil away the hours playing. Three million Runescape fans cant all be wrong, can we? After much deliberation, the answer is a decided no. We all have our reasons, although many of them are shared. There are many elements which keep us going, keep us working, compel us to fletch forty-freaking-thousand yew longs for a cape that some would describe as nooby (Stop and think about that one!). A few of the key shared commodities: * Competitiveness - You want to be better than the next person, simple as that. Its why people strive to max statistics, or strive for 200M experience in a skill. Implicitly, these people can never be topped. Its also why people PK, and risk huge wealth to fight and defeat their peers. * The Search for Fame Very few will admit to this, but some level of vanity in all of us cries out to be recognized for achievements. Why else do we create blogs, progress threads, or enter into the rate this forum? If youre guilty of this (as I surely am at times), know at least that youre not alone. * Community The biggest, the best, the most important. The reason we show up here, the reason we browse forums. The friend list you have, the clan chats you join. The smile you get when you see that friends name pop up, eager to see whats new or fill them in on your deeds. The people you fish with, you chat with, you hunt with, and kill with. With a smile, its good to realize you havent been playing due to some hypnotic trance. I still do things in game I dont enjoy, but having fun people around certainly makes the entire experience more enjoyable. This human element connects the dots in logic; a valuable reminder the next time I stare down countless hours of work with a savagely boring skill. Since we all write our own characters story relative to those we play alongside, there are plenty of reasons to Keep up with the Joneses. I dont know where the hell Im going, but Im getting there fast! Come along for the ride[/hide] [hide=The Nature of Names]Orion_Dezagrats Names. They are our titles, our labels almost from the day we're born to the day we die. I am one of those people that not only think that the name is inherently part of the being, but defines who we are and the kind of person we become as we age. I am the kind of person who never puts numbers or unknown characters in a RuneScape name, and instead makes it sound as real and believable as possible. I am the kind of person who looks and games and thinks, "Oh, this is a good story." When I think about RuneScape in that manner, I simply can't imagine myself putting words or numbers in the name of a character. Ever. I fully realized this concept when I played through the recent "The Chosen Commander" quest, and a certain scene stuck with me. I thought, "My character is really her own being, with her own story and decisions. Who am I to believe otherwise? I . . . can only really be her guide." It has come to the point where I can no longer think of my Kurito as simply a character, and saying to others, "Oh, it was a kind of inside joke since everyone called me a girl as I was growing up," or "I did Recruitment Drive and was too lazy to change back to male" would be lying. Those explanations simply don't satisfy me anymore. She is her own person, and I shall guide her to wherever she needs to go. Now, some of you may view this as simply an excuse to have no life and play the game for all my entertainment . . . Well, in the beginning, that's what it might have been. That's what it might have turned out to be my first day playing. But no longer. I shan't succumb to such a thought. I respect that other players enjoy such a concept, but not I. I read books to see the characters win or lose or tie. I watch television to see Buffy put a stake in some poor sucker's heart. And I play games to watch characters detach themselves from me and really find themselves, becoming their own people. I realize that this is something many people might not agree with, and hell, I might get flamed for it over PM's and stuff for it. Some might think it's silly, and absurd, but what's not these days? Looking back, I realize that I couldn't have continued the game as I have with a character with a different name; a name with numbers, words . . . it would have eventually driven me away. Who wants to play through the game as far as I have with a character called "Gigatoast133769"? Looking back, I come to think that Kurito would have never really been "Kurito," the being that she is and has come to be, if I had called her anything but. And all her accomplishments are hers. She has helped witches, slain dragons and demons, saved children, defended cities, kept holidays from becoming horrible messes of failed celebrations, spied and assassinated, prayed and died, committed errors and mistakes, killed people purely for enjoyment . . . but all these are what defines her. She is a follower of Guthix, and in the end, I didn't choose that for her; she chose it for me. Any new players to the game, please look upon this and think, "Do I want someone to go 'Oh, thank you for saving my son/daughter, XxRavenmasterXx!' in the quests? Do I want my character to simply be an avatar, an extension of myself, or do I want him/her to be a character, an individual and definite being?" Most importantly, "Do I really want to have such accomplishments accredited to 'Poopmaster335'?" Thank you for your time. Disclaimer: All names except for my character's name are fictional. Any resemblance to existing character names is purely coincidental.[/hide] [hide=Rat King - Part 1]Necromagus Borr whistled a merry tune to himself as he spun the wheel around, inspecting his latest work. Shadows danced on the wall, stirred by the flickering torchlight. The thick smoke left a thick coating of soot on the damp stones that made up the arches of the sewers under the city. The light was barely enough for a normal person to so much as lace up their boots, but Borr had lived in the sewers almost his entire life and it was quite adequate for him. It wasn't easy to do what he did, let alone do it well. Still, his creations, filthy shrieking balls of fur and filth, were well appreciated by both his masters and the crowds they entertained. His Rat Kings were his pride and joy, doubly so because he fancied himself as the only person in the entire kingdom who grasped every stage of the intricate process fully. First he had to knock out the rats. This was surprisingly delicate work, as he had to blow the exact amount of smoke into the cages. Too little, and they would wake up halfway through to take a chunk out of his hands or face, a lesson that the scars that covered him reminded him of every day. Too much and they wouldn't wake up at all. This was even worse, as a dead rat couldn't fight and thus cost the pit bosses money, and down here money was everything. Once the rats were unconscious, it was time to prepare them for the bonding. This involved a large twelve-spoked cartwheel. With his thin bony fingers he lashed each rat to a spoke with thin strips of leather, carefully tying them in place. Once they were all set the messy part of his job began. He carefully took each of the rat's tails, coiling them together at the center of the wheel. When he was sure they were secured, he reached into his bucket of paste. Paste was of course a euphemism, but "carefully measured mixture of mud, blood and fecal matter" didn't have quite the same pleasant ring to it. It took several thick gobs of paste to secure all the tails in place. Once he was done sculpting the ball of gunk that would mold all the rats together, they would be left on the wheel for several hours to dry. By that time they would of course have waken up, and they usually reacted to being tied to a wooden spoke in all the usual ways a rodent could be expected to react. Hellish squeaks and shrieks echoed off the wall, creating a hellish cacophony. It was at this point that Borr usually resorted to plugging his ears with some of his own paste. His superiors often complained about the smell that created, but he felt he still smelled rather pleasant for someone who was forced to spend most of his time up to his ankles in filth. Borr gave out a content sigh. His newest Rat King was finished. It was a complicated creation, a special order for a special night. By this time next week the boss would come visit. Borr didn't know who she was, except for the fact that she apparently owned these rat pits and that the overseers were as scared of her as he was of them. They would have to put on a spectacular show for her, and his Rat King would be the main event. The mad beast let out a chorus of wild howls as he lowered it into the specially prepared cage. Just as he was about to end his sigh of relief, he felt his breath being taken away, quite literally. From the shadows behind him something wrapped itself tightly around his neck, digging deep into the skin as it cut off the flow of blood to his brains and the flow of air to his lungs. It took all of his focus not to pass out right then and there. "Hello Borr, it done?" "Y-yes sir..." He felt the noose around his throat loosen slightly, and even the fetid air of the sewers felt refreshing, flooding back into his lungs with a series of wheezing coughs. He blinked a few times to banish the spots that were swimming in his vision, and he saw the hulking figure of Vorse, the head rat catcher, stooped over the cage to inspect his work, one burly hand still clutching the rat pole that had latched on to Borr's fragile neck. The witless half-orc grunted in satisfaction. "You did good, her pleased. Make main attraction!" The rumbling laugh made Borr wonder if a section of the sewer hadn't just collapsed, and the congratulatory pat on the back sent him tumbling onto the slimy floor, driving the air that had just refilled his lungs back out again. He swore he could feel the ground shake as the foul-smelling demi-human stomped his way back out of the narrow room, leaving behind a stack of cages and the faint smell of the rotgut rum that was served in a highly diluted form to the rat pit spectators but that Vorse drank by the pint. Borr was once again left alone with his rats. The rat king was still squeaking, but it was easily silenced with a handful of food spread around the compartments of the cage. He knew he was supposed to keep his creations hungry, but he ignored it. He absentmindedly rubbed the raw skin of his throat, muttering a litany of curses aimed at the rats, Vorse, the other rat catchers, the overseers, the boss and anyone else that came to mind. He idly spun his wheel, wondering how much longer he would put up with the filth that surrounded him everywhere. They said that if you rolled around in filth long enough, you would become part of it, and he had sworn an oath to himself long ago that he would never allow hat to happen. He knew that he would have to act soon, and that the mysterious boss that would be visiting the pits soon would be his ticket out of this mess.[/hide] [hide=Did you know...]... that pressing the 's' key while the game is loading will make your RuneScape to start in Safe mode. Safe mode runs the game at minimum graphics. (Thanks Master_Smither!)[/hide]

Saw your post in General saying you where only going to post here and achievements. Sorry to hear that, I have loved some of your recent posts and viewpoints. Gives me yet another reason to check blogscape.