Jump to content

17 July 2007 - Pest Control update and Game Improvements


no_way2go

Recommended Posts

[if you have info about this weeks update, don't hasitate, and help the Website Crew!

 

Submit all info you have found here.]

 

 

 

17 July 2007 - Pest Control Update

 

 

 

bug_tracking_5.gif

 

 

 

We've made some adjustments to the Pest Control minigame. The biggest change is to include the very heavily requested feature to have three different boats with three different level requirements. Boat 1 requires a combat level of 40+, boat 2 requires a combat level of 70+ and boat 3 requires a combat level of 100+.

 

 

 

Now, this change makes a big impact on the game, so we've had to put a lot of thought into rebalancing other areas accordingly. We needed to make sure each boat provides a game which is correctly balanced for its level requirements. This means that in each boat we needed to determine such things as monster levels, Pest Control points given per game, experience given per Pest Control point, and make a change to the way killing portals works.

 

 

 

If you are interested in what these changes are and our decision process in coming to them, then this is detailed in the bottom section of this news story.

 

 

 

We have added an intermediate points-for-experience deal. Before, you could only trade in points for experience in batches of 1 or 100. You can now also trade 10 points for experience which will give you a 1% experience bonus.

 

 

 

We've slightly increased the stats of the Void Knight armour.

 

 

 

We've made some new things to buy with your Pest Control points, too. We've released 3 new helmets. One is for rangers, one is for mages and one is for meleers. When a helmet is worn with the top, robe and gloves you will receive a set bonus appropriate for the corresponding character class. You don't need to wield the mace to receive the set bonus. The player owned house costume room will store the new helmets.

 

 

 

Another new item to spend points on is the Void Knight seal, an item specifically for helping you in the Pest Control game. The seal has 8 charges and will deal 8-12 damage to all adjacent monsters. This can only be used within Pest Control, and it does not contribute towards the minimum 50 damage needed to earn points.

 

 

 

The squire now has a right-click "quick leave" option so you can now leave the island even when under attack.

 

 

 

Bottom section of this news story.

 

 

 

As outlined earlier, once we split the game into three boats, there were a lot of knock on effects we needed to address, which are explained in this section.

 

 

 

Firstly, we've had to adjust the strength of the monsters according to the boat you are on. A boat containing only level 40-70 players couldn't beat the game before. Now if the game is harder on a high level boat then it needs to give more points or it wouldn't be fair. Now, winning a game on boat 3 will give you 4 Pest Control points, winning on boat 2 will give you 3 Pest Control points and winning on boat 1 will give you 2 Pest Control points.

 

 

 

That's a lot more points per game! We obviously can't give as much experience per point if points are that easy to get, so the amount of experience you get per point is now 35% of what it used to be. You may be wondering what will happen to the Pest Control points you have collected already - we thought of that, and you will still get to cash in your old points at the old rate. (Phew!)

 

 

 

To do the maths for you, that means that on boat 2 you'll be getting just slightly more experience per game than previously and on boat 3 you will getting a lot more experience per game. This isn't as extreme as it sounds because games can take longer to complete now (more on that below). You'll be getting less experience per game on boat 1, but that's okay because low levels will probably be able to win more games than they could before. The experience you will receive per point if you choose Ranged and Magic has been reduced by a further ten percent as we felt receiving experience in those skills without using runes or arrows is rather generous anyway. Herbs, seeds and minerals have also had their point cost tripled to stay in line with the new point rewards. The Void Knight equipment has retained its old point value, effectively making it cheaper.

 

 

 

Pest Control has always given very generous combat experience. In a strange way, the main thing which kept the experience rate from reaching ludicrous levels was that the presence of enough people with low combat levels made the game hard to win quickly and consistently. Not the best balancing mechanism, I'm sure you'll agree! It was rather unreliable and could unfortunately even lead to verbal abuse of low level players who were doing no harm beyond wanting to play a minigame - not really the community building we'd hoped for from this minigame.

 

 

 

So, since that effect is now greatly reduced (low levels have their own boat), and since the high level boats now give more experience per game, we've had to compensate for that in some way too! The rate of experience is now kept in check by the fact that the portals will start the game being shielded and invulnerable. One portal will become unshielded 15 seconds after the game starts, then another every 30 seconds, until after 1 minute and 45 seconds every portal is unshielded. This actually brings about the strategy in game play that we had always intended as you actually have to put up a proper defence up for the Void Knight rather than simply relying on people killing the portals very quickly. Our general aims with rates of experience are to make features worthwhile training on while not being so good that they render other training methods obsolete and it is this balance that we have worked hard to achieve.

 

 

 

To further fine tune gameplay, the behaviour of a number of the npcs has changed. Most of the npcs now do not block players except for the brawlers and the portals, so it's much easier to move around the island now. Spinners will poison nearby players when a nearby portal is killed, portals can no longer be poisoned and shifters teleport around a lot more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Game Improvements

 

 

 

unicorn_support.gif

 

 

 

We've just added a bunch of extra features to the game to make your lives a bit easier and much safer. These range from improving existing interfaces to changing the way magic logs look.

 

 

 

We've introduced a couple of changes that should make the trade system easier and safer to use. Firstly, the trade interface now shows you how many free inventory spaces your trade partner has. Secondly, the interface provides a visual warning when your partner removes an item from their offer. If you're worried about your trade partner suddenly changing their offer, this is certain to make it much more obvious.

 

 

 

Throughout various areas of the game we've added the ability to 'make-x' on some more items. This includes a lot of the areas of Cooking such as pie making, pizza making and potato making. It also includes making arrows, potion making, glassmaking, amulet stringing and a number of other areas. You might have noticed that 'make-x' for smithing is missing - do not fear! It is still being worked on and will be brought to you soon.

 

 

 

A new warning system has been unveiled, which will allow veteran players to mute those pesky warning messages that they see on a daily basis. Areas like the Shantay Pass and the Wilderness will no longer force you too see a long message explaining the dangers of the area, unless you want it to. Newer players, and those that have not been to the area enough times, will still see the messages and be safer for it, but those that are more familiar with the dangers will be able to toggle them on and off as they see fit, speeding up journeys through the desert and other dangerous areas. If you want to check out the new warning interface, head to Lumbridge and find the Doomsayer, who wanders around near the Lumbridge Guide.

 

 

 

We have added Town Criers to Varrock, Falador, Draynor, East Ardougne and Seers' Village. These knowledgeable men know all about the Rules of RuneScape as well as providing some handy information regarding Player Moderators and what they can and can't do. So, if you have a question regarding a Rule and don't want to look on the website, just talk to a Town Crier!

 

 

 

We've also updated the Duel Arena so that you'll get a warning if you try to take a double-handed weapon into a single-handed duel, kebabs can no longer reduce your Hitpoints and will affect a different skill instead, and magic logs now look properly magical and very different from other logs.

 

 

 

New Random Event

 

 

 

Just when you thought school was out...SURPRISE! It's an exam for you! Mr. Mordaut is going to put you on the spot and test your abilities at spotting patterns. Will you prove your worth or be sent to the back of the class?

 

 

 

Aside from the terrifying Mr. Mordaut, the class is full of delinquents and dunces: from the bored goblin and the zombies who want (to be) brains to the giant trying to better himself and the imp serving time in the corner. It's just like being back at school - well, it would be if your teacher was a dragon and you had a mummy for a classmate. To prove that you've learnt something in his class, Mr. Mordaut will grant you a tome of experience when you leave.

 

 

 

We like to keep a bit of variation in Random Events but without just adding new ones, so in order to keep the balance right, we've removed the Broken Axe event. We've also magically repaired any broken axes you have, and any handles missing a head have been whisked away to wherever it is that lonely axe handles go.

 

 

 

Click here to read about all the Random Events you might come across.

 

 

 

Extra information

 

 

 

Void Knight Armour

 

 

 

You must have at least level 42 in Attack, Strength, Defence, Hitpoints, Ranged and Magic, as well as having 22 Prayer or more to buy these items from the Knights.

 

 

 

If you wear a complete set of void knight armour (you don't need a mace for the set), you will receive a bonus 'set effect' depending on the helm you have chosen to wear.

 

 

 

* Void melee helm: +10% to Attack and damage

 

* Void mage helm: +30% to Magic attack

 

* Void ranger helm: +10% to Attack and damage

 

 

 

 

 

Trade interface (KB link)

 

Warning messages (KB link)

 

Random events (KB link)

 

 

 

[hide=Screens of trade interface]

 

trade_offer.gif

 

trade_changed.gif

 

newscreen1lb7.png

 

[/hide]

 

[hide=Screens of new random event]

 

pop_quiz_intro.jpg

 

quiz_type_2.gif

 

quiz_type_1.gif

 

Screen taken by Red Ftk Bolt

 

random1ob2.png

 

Screen taken by Red Ftk Bolt

 

random2av8.png

 

Screens by myself:

 

messageyd6.png

 

examinemz7.png

 

examinebookwz4.png

 

readbookpo4.png

 

rcxpxs0.png[/hide]

 

[hide=Screen of the new magic logs]

 

screenshot002lg6.png

 

[/hide]

 

Some screens might not be working due to direct linking to the RS KB.

 

 

 

A rather big update, feel free to share your toughts on this thread.

Th3_C4bb4g3.png

Th3_C4bb4g3.png

Th3_C4bb4g3.png

- Back to casual f2p scaping due to limited time (university and girlfriend <3:) -

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 260
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Spam FTW?

 

 

 

Anyways, any speculation on what it's gonna be? I hope quest.

lSEHB.gif

Being immature is a part of being mature.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's us TIFers for you - more loyal to TIF than the game =D

 

New random? Sweet!

lSEHB.gif

Being immature is a part of being mature.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our general aims with rates of experience are to make features worthwhile training on while not being so good that they render other training methods obsolete and it is this balance that we have worked hard to achieve.

 

 

 

Just as I was getting into PC training....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well this is what all those high lvls moaned jagex for and they finally got, look out for the PC clans.

 

 

 

The problem now for us non Pc clans is that the boats will not be as full and we could be sitting there for a few mins before getting games.

 

 

 

Still its good to see jagex is trying to please some people.

leebrave.png

 

Gorak Chronicles Ended, thinking of something new for next week

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They have finally nerfed pc! considering games now take a minimum of 1min 45sec cant see if its really worth doing, specially for range and mage.

 

 

 

What i was going to say.

 

 

 

Im interested in how large the xp obtained from the tomes of experience will be from new minigames, as the event doesnt seem straightforward.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pest Control is now completely nerfed for high levels. 35% of the exp and 1:45 minimum per game? That's the new definition of NERFED.

 

 

 

I suggest reading the whole article, people on the lvl 100+ boat get 4 PC points. You're right about the time difference since most games were under 45-60 seconds and it now almost tripled in time but only gained 40% in xp.

Th3_C4bb4g3.png

Th3_C4bb4g3.png

Th3_C4bb4g3.png

- Back to casual f2p scaping due to limited time (university and girlfriend <3:) -

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.