Mithril Dragons - Grade: A+

 

 

 

While these dragons suffered from poor QA in their first few days, they were quickly tweaked and are now a great example of what a high-level monster should be like. They are challenging, while rewarding those who rise to that challenge with the chance for a great high-level drop (the dragon full helm or draconic visage) and even some good routine (You mean Runite :P) drops. Plus they also drop chewed bones, which can be used for pyre ships to give you XP bonuses in a variety of ways. A great update.

 

 

 

A little mistake I found. I am not done reading all of it, but, I decided I might want to write that down before I forget about it. More to come.

 

 

 

That's not a mistake.

that was an really good summary of the year, you went through every update in detail and picked their good and bad points very well.

The Barrelchest anchor isnt as bad as you put it, the special lowers defence and takes 50% allowing 2 hits, if ur lucky you can get high hits, i have often 2 specced some lower lvls in duel :lol: ! I managed to 3 hit k0 a lvl 105 with anchor spec and a whip, bet that he was suprised :P .

 

Id give it an A.

 

Let's look at the numbers.

 

 

 

Full Armadyl: +63 Ranged attack, +82 Slash defence, +120 Magic defence, +3 Prayer

 

 

 

Karils top and bottom with robin hood hat: +55 Ranged attack, +68 Slash defence, +104 Magic defence, 0 Prayer

 

 

 

You seriously consider an additional +8 Ranged attack and a whopping +16 extra magic defence "negligible"? Not me! :) And the prayer bonus is nice too.

 

+16 defense won't save you from a level 99 barrager, let's just put it that way :(

 

+8 Ranged attack can be made up by using Ranger boots or Archer Ring. Heck, with the 40M you're paying, even using diamond(e) 100% of the time seems reasonable.

 

 

 

You're forgetting that Armadyl armour is redeemable, so you can use it for a week, sell it, and still have the same amount of money. With diamond bolts (e), on the other hand, you constantly waste them, and they aren't redeemable, therefore losing money.

 

 

 

I actually haven't read the article yet, I wanted to read the posts here first, then see how these posts will alter my perspective now going back and reading it.

Jagex really messed up end half of '07, but they'll fix it.

 

 

 

Overall, I give them a B- (82%) for the year. :D

 

Let's look at the numbers.

 

 

 

Full Armadyl: +63 Ranged attack, +82 Slash defence, +120 Magic defence, +3 Prayer

 

 

 

Karils top and bottom with robin hood hat: +55 Ranged attack, +68 Slash defence, +104 Magic defence, 0 Prayer

 

 

 

You seriously consider an additional +8 Ranged attack and a whopping +16 extra magic defence "negligible"? Not me! :) And the prayer bonus is nice too.

 

+16 defense won't save you from a level 99 barrager, let's just put it that way :(

 

+8 Ranged attack can be made up by using Ranger boots or Archer Ring. Heck, with the 40M you're paying, even using diamond(e) 100% of the time seems reasonable.

 

 

 

That's a rather bizarre counterargument... ranger boots and archer rings can be used *with* the Armadyl armor. That's the entire point.

 

 

 

Thanks for the other replies too!

 

 

 

I'm talking for the people with limited cash and want to purchase the most optimal items given their shortage of money (and many players are in this predicament)

 

 

 

 

You're forgetting that Armadyl armour is redeemable, so you can use it for a week, sell it, and still have the same amount of money. With diamond bolts (e), on the other hand, you constantly waste them, and they aren't redeemable, therefore losing money.

 

 

 

Armadyl's value has gone down tremendously, and will continue to go down since (in my eyes) it is overvalued). This "cost" is much higher than the sunk cost of diamond (e).

 

Let's look at the numbers.

 

 

 

Full Armadyl: +63 Ranged attack, +82 Slash defence, +120 Magic defence, +3 Prayer

 

 

 

Karils top and bottom with robin hood hat: +55 Ranged attack, +68 Slash defence, +104 Magic defence, 0 Prayer

 

 

 

You seriously consider an additional +8 Ranged attack and a whopping +16 extra magic defence "negligible"? Not me! :) And the prayer bonus is nice too.

 

+16 defense won't save you from a level 99 barrager, let's just put it that way :(

 

+8 Ranged attack can be made up by using Ranger boots or Archer Ring. Heck, with the 40M you're paying, even using diamond(e) 100% of the time seems reasonable.

 

 

 

That's a rather bizarre counterargument... ranger boots and archer rings can be used *with* the Armadyl armor. That's the entire point.

 

 

 

Thanks for the other replies too!

 

 

 

 

 

not only that, but the barrager statement is clearly over exagerated. you stated you dont have 94 magic, and yet you think that the 16magic def wont save you? the fact is, armadyl armor is close to un-mageable.

 

 

 

and you say "wont save you" define save? mages rarely are on the winning side of a fight. at least when i see it, they just simply are larger targets and are more focused upon, and really unless the person matches my stats nearly exactly its rarely close, people to easily rely on the freeze to not die, then all the sudden they are shocked when a bow is used? im not sure about you, but the mages i fight and see on literally, a daily basis are not a threat

 

 

 

if you were to go watch castle wars on w24 you will see several players wearing armadyl armor, some score the flag some are true rangers. but the thing about them is, they are so rarely frozen hell... even with tassets and armadyl plate on i my self am untouchable to most common mages in cw(them being the standard mages or ice burster's).

 

 

 

 

 

now i do agree the armor is clearly over prices, i prefer ranging in my void range gear, i was disappointed heavily in armadyl armor when i owned it. but, some of it does prove useful, take for example the helmet. i would wear that @ gwd and wear a bunch of other random stuff so i can maximize my range attack and decrease my attackers.

i give this year a B- \

 

i love the gw update, i make money alot faster there..

 

great xp for training. but i admit i asn't to happy with the wildy

 

update.. but it won't really effect me because i used to go pkin

 

occasionally when im bored.. the holiday updates was very disappointing

 

in my opinion.. the fact that ppl actually voted for the mask was disappointing... and it didn't even "look good".. the christmas update was boring.. building a snowman .... and the reward is useless unless you want to throw snowballs at each other... which isn't that fun in my opinion btw...

 

not only that, but the barrager statement is clearly over exagerated. you stated you dont have 94 magic, and yet you think that the 16magic def wont save you? the fact is, armadyl armor is close to un-mageable.

 

 

 

and you say "wont save you" define save? mages rarely are on the winning side of a fight. at least when i see it, they just simply are larger targets and are more focused upon, and really unless the person matches my stats nearly exactly its rarely close, people to easily rely on the freeze to not die, then all the sudden they are shocked when a bow is used? im not sure about you, but the mages i fight and see on literally, a daily basis are not a threat

 

 

 

if you were to go watch castle wars on w24 you will see several players wearing armadyl armor, some score the flag some are true rangers. but the thing about them is, they are so rarely frozen hell... even with tassets and armadyl plate on i my self am untouchable to most common mages in cw(them being the standard mages or ice burster's).

 

 

 

now i do agree the armor is clearly over prices, i prefer ranging in my void range gear, i was disappointed heavily in armadyl armor when i owned it. but, some of it does prove useful, take for example the helmet. i would wear that @ gwd and wear a bunch of other random stuff so i can maximize my range attack and decrease my attackers.

 

 

 

The fact that you're untouchable has more to do with your stats than your equipment. You could easily do the same wearing Karil. Besides, you can't say you're invincible to magic if you're comparing to bursters.

 

 

 

By "save" I mean not being frozen at all. Even if one barrage slips by your defense, if you've got 20 people chasing you, it'll be hard to survive without using a massive amount of food.

 

In other words, I don't care about the magic damage that barrage causes, rather the freeze.

 

 

 

+16 magic def is the difference between black d'hide body and Karil body. :-k. Try wearing the two and comparing.

As a frequent CWer, I'll try to add something to the Armadyl vs. karils discussion. Armadyl is hands down the best attackers armour in the game; together with inf boots, master wand, fury, mage book and seers ring the mage defence bonus is just through the roof. I'm having serious problems killing someone in that gear with approximately (I don't know it exactly and I can't check it now) 160 mage attack bonus, 86 mage and +15 mage prayer. The difference between karils and armadyl is huge. That's one of the good things in runescape, little bonus differences (at least for mage attack and defence) still matter even if you already have high bonuses.

 

The mistake, however, most inexperienced CWers with armadyl make is to underestimate those little differences. They swap inf boots for dragon ones, wear a crystal shield and/or equip a berserker ring, this completely removes the benefits the armadyl armour gives.

 

 

 

To Qeltar: your neutral writing has improved, this article wasn't just bashing Jagex article any more (even though negative subjects were given much more words ;)). Kudos. I also believe the RWT updates have been rushed. Not very long ago (I can't find the exact date), Jagex released an update that Pkers could attack players in the single wilderness even if one of them already was in PVM combat. Either the communication between Jagex staff members is very bad or RWT wasn't that big of an issue at that time. I also believe the theory the new CEO from Paypall has a part in this, it seems the updates started a short time after he got his job.

 

 

 

Only one more thing: a real English speaker spells armour with an "u". ;)

 

 

 

EDIT: Yes, I love to see the majority of the PKers leave too.

Currently reading through it all :)

 

 

 

Just finished the policies bit, and would like to stick my input in:

 

 

 

The Third Party Client Fiasco (January 2-3)

 

 

 

Initial Grade: F

 

Final Grade: B+

 

 

 

I would disagree here, I would say that both the initial decision and the ending one where both good, I would rate them both at B. The issue was more (in my opinion) how Jagex handled and went about this which is still having major implications today...

 

 

 

The 3rd party client change was the first time in any noticeable fashion disruptive players rioted, and the way Jagex announced the change in policy made it seem as if the change was made due to the riots. I fully blame Jagex for why people riot now.... that does not put me on the side of the rioters, but I can understand why they would think it would work...

 

 

 

It seemed that to anybody who had no contact with Jagex, that rioting was the reason it was changed and not constructive feedback.

 

 

 

Issued two: Strider, after just banning his program from use Jagex chose to name him on the front page, praising him for his hard work, and thanking him for his feedback.... this just led to a huge advertising of the client, and has probably meant far more people use it now then previously did.

 

 

 

In my opinion all 3rd party software that is related to Runescape (as a game) should not be allowed, and Jagex should have introduced a new offial client to replace them before a full out ban.

 

 

 

The fact is these bits of software have a huge risk of danger.... maybe allot of them are safe (probably), like SS but a heck of alot are just there to cause damage...

 

 

 

I would grade this update set as:

 

 

 

Initial Grade: B+

 

Final Grade: B+

 

Delivery and application: U

 

 

 

(U is used in English marking and stands for unclassified... aka a total failure)

 

 

 

 

 

____________________

 

 

 

The Luring Legalization/Retraction Fiasco (February/March)

 

 

 

Initial Grade: F (G, H, I, J, etc.) J

 

Final Grade: C

 

 

 

 

 

Just to correct you here.... Luring was never against the rules, and all Jagex did was to clear a Grey point as it was commonly through of (for very good reasons) as an item scam.

 

 

 

As such, I don't think the wording of how your graded it is correct..... but the grades them selves are good :)

 

 

 

The delivery of this announcement was probably the second worst (after 3rd party clients) bit of community relation that Jagex has ever done, and I don't think any member of the non pking community (and allot of pkers) agreed with it. The forum mods as well where VERY upset about it.... and from what was conveyed to me (although I doubt they would be allowed to say it) most of the Jagex forum curator team where very disappointed with it too...

 

 

 

Hell I even seem to remember some of my fmod friends resigned their positions and left the game due to it.... I don't know why they thought putting the sticky up in the only forum that lurer's would would would be a good idea.

 

 

 

On one angle Jagex did the correct thing in clearing up an aspect of the rules that previously was gray.... but in the more obvious angle, the rule was just totally wrong.

 

 

 

I believe from how it was written that it was Andrew him self who stepped in and stopped luring (he has a very distinctive witting style)... and too right!

 

 

 

I however don't really like you point about idiot forum mods.... we where just as annoyed as everybody else.... it's just we had to apply sensible community management onto it, it may have seemed harsh in allot of places, but it was needed (which would not ever be fully appreciated by those who where not in full possession on the facts surrounding it.

 

 

 

 

 

I would rate this:

 

 

 

Initial implementation Grade: U

 

Final Grade: A

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know whey you gave it a C to be honest i would have though you would have made finally out lawing this a good thing....

I'm reading it right now, and just finished the Web Updates section. You missed something: The Mute Button on the login screen! Personally, that bit alone deserves an A!

I'm reading it right now, and just finished the Web Updates section. You missed something: The Mute Button on the login screen! Personally, that bit alone deserves an A!

 

 

 

That was done as a reaction to, player complaints as suddenly the music was playing in both high and low detail, rather then before construction when it was just on high detail... it's good but I would prefer it to remember my request for silence :P

 

 

 

 

 

------

 

Mistake Qeltar....

 

 

 

In section one you say

I just pyred two sets of chewed bones and got 5 silver bolts and a pair of mith grapples

 

 

 

But then in a further article you say you got a dragon full helm.... I put this down to bad wording on the first section where it should have read:

 

 

 

The first two sets of chewed bones I pyred only got me 5 silver bolts and a pair of mith grapples

 

 

 

(or something?)

part 1:nothing wrong with what youve said at all,bang on imo.

 

part 2:utterly disagree about barb assault,second favourite minigame but i do agree it didnt live upto jagex's exponential hype.Rest i agree with although i would rate the bounty hunter and clan wars thing a grade higher because technically tehyre awesome,its the jerks who mess it up.

 

part 3:You gave the dfire shield and d full more credit than it deserves in my oppinion.Far too expensive both of them and only the d fire shield provieds worthwile bonueses.The dragon full is simply a status symbol.

 

part 4:totally agree about wyverns :lol: and teh rest particularily pc,makes it accesible for youre regular player whos just after the items.

 

part 5:id grde lootshare slightly lower because it seems to decrease my chance of getting anything good at kbd but i suppose for 2008 it will be improved or something well have to get used to with teh trade changes.

 

part 6:i agree that music is so freaking annoying,love the rest you mentioned just like you.

 

part 7:You were way too harsh on jagex about revenants,no-one could create accesible ai like taht in a java game which could emulate pkers because theyre situational atatckers,a mage runs past they range it or mage it if they feel like it.They are overpowered though,even the lowest level ones.

 

part 8:bit of a tyraid on youre part at the end of the section.Reading it felt like i was reading a ranters summary.

 

final part:I wouldnt be able to come up with a suitable grade for the year and neither will anyone else who dispells this article unless they come up with their own in the depth qelt went into.Its a big thing to analyse a whole year and i appluade you for it.I do think that jagex were way more honest this year than they were last publicly announcing that they acknowledged some of the updates werent to the players fancy.

 

 

 

Runescape through 2008 will heavily rely on summoning if its going to remain in the fashion it is otherwise jagex will brink out the aces in terms of finishing stuff the players actually wnat like the end of the mourners series and the whole armadyll battle

 

not only that, but the barrager statement is clearly over exagerated. you stated you dont have 94 magic, and yet you think that the 16magic def wont save you? the fact is, armadyl armor is close to un-mageable.

 

 

 

and you say "wont save you" define save? mages rarely are on the winning side of a fight. at least when i see it, they just simply are larger targets and are more focused upon, and really unless the person matches my stats nearly exactly its rarely close, people to easily rely on the freeze to not die, then all the sudden they are shocked when a bow is used? im not sure about you, but the mages i fight and see on literally, a daily basis are not a threat

 

 

 

if you were to go watch castle wars on w24 you will see several players wearing armadyl armor, some score the flag some are true rangers. but the thing about them is, they are so rarely frozen hell... even with tassets and armadyl plate on i my self am untouchable to most common mages in cw(them being the standard mages or ice burster's).

 

 

 

now i do agree the armor is clearly over prices, i prefer ranging in my void range gear, i was disappointed heavily in armadyl armor when i owned it. but, some of it does prove useful, take for example the helmet. i would wear that @ gwd and wear a bunch of other random stuff so i can maximize my range attack and decrease my attackers.

 

 

 

The fact that you're untouchable has more to do with your stats than your equipment. You could easily do the same wearing Karil. Besides, you can't say you're invincible to magic if you're comparing to bursters.

 

 

 

By "save" I mean not being frozen at all. Even if one barrage slips by your defense, if you've got 20 people chasing you, it'll be hard to survive without using a massive amount of food.

 

In other words, I don't care about the magic damage that barrage causes, rather the freeze.

 

 

 

+16 magic def is the difference between black d'hide body and Karil body. :-k. Try wearing the two and comparing.

 

 

 

 

 

for karils vs dhide, i have. i typically wear dhide as it does not degrade. i dont honestly like the look of armadyl nor do i fight enough mages or try to slip by them for the degrading armor factor to be a reason to use it.

 

 

 

but that "save" no, the way you stated it was as if magic was going to kill you, or so how i understood it. but okay, yes generalyl 20 people on you and a 20sec freeze can be detrimental.

 

 

 

thats rare for a freeze to hit on armadyl. but, it does and in the case it does, melee prayer really saves you. its the spears that are more hurtful then any mage spell.

 

 

 

anyway, if you get down to it, that 16 def might just actually be the only thing saving you in CW if your a flag scorer. 1 slip up by a good mage can spell disaster for CW games. that armadyl armor and a barricade could spell a 10-0 winning game for you.

 

 

 

but anyway, i still think your idea of armadyl not saving you against a 99 mage is at all accurate. even if their is 20 melees following you.

It was getting a B until about summer time. As soon as they messed with PC, staking, pking, and trading it's an instant F.

 

 

 

This year it's going to have the backlash from all these updates. What's lower than an F?

erkid"]What's lower than an F?

 

 

 

An F-, duh.

 

 

 

Anchor you compare to DH axe and flail. I say that you can't do that reasonably because of one thing.

 

 

 

DH axe and flail both require 70 att. Anchor? Only 60. Anchor is the strongest 60 att weapon in the game by far, and for pures with 60 att, it was REALLY good. Especially for range-2h combo in p2p. Until PKing got owned. Don't get me wrong, being top 20 bhers is great, but I miss pking.

Hi Qeltar,

 

 

 

Just posting to let you know that I've read it.

 

 

 

I will have to see if I can find some time later in the week to return and give my feedback as you've requested.

 

 

 

Glad to see you are doing your best to promote honest and fair conduct in the game though. I think that goal is something we have in common.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

 

 

Fey

Runescape deserves an F

 

 

 

..and you're a grade 'A' retard, good job.

 

 

 

Great report Qeltar, amazing job as usual! :mrgreen:

I think todays update to the staking limits put slightly more fun into it for a higher leveled player.

 

 

 

Whilst still very low.... it atleast is at least a nice figure to have fun with (against gambling)

great read.

 

 

 

I agree with you on just about everything...that was really interesting to read...great job!

 

 

 

I think you really did a good job looking at everything. Looking a lot of responses, people remember the bad a lot more than the good and think about that a lot more, and you didn't jump to that conclusion.

Sadly, I technically quit playing Runescape this year so cannot offer much insight in the minor improvements or quests. I have been following the large updates in the last half of the year with great interest.

 

 

 

For Luring: Here's the problem, there were two types of luring. The "legal" ones would be Dagganoth King luring and a luring where the "bait" is a low level trying to draw a pker or pker team from single player to multiplayer areas of the wild.

 

 

 

Problem was, this type of luring was mixed up with the illegal scamming where you got guys to goto dangerous areas on the guise of it being for a legitimate reason. There's reasons Jagex banned players for luring others to Draynor manor for a "drop party".

 

 

 

Anyway, was the "luring" that the mod was calling legal the type I consider nothing more than a scam or the legal type (as I see it).

 

 

 

2. Your rants about loaning woodcutting, fishing and mining skills probably single handedly got them removed. While at first it made sense (so the change was welcome), with the Balanced Trading in effect its easy to see Jagex needs to revert it back to allowing those three skills to be loaned. Of course, the problem was Jagex was not honest with the reasons for its updates (even though players could read the writing on the wall).

 

 

 

3. You missed the addition of the Unnoting NPC's. This REALLY made the Blast Furnace useful at themed worlds. They even added the one for essence. Perhaps later we'll see other NPC's (maybe even our Butler make an appearance outside our house) doing similar jobs.

 

 

 

4. Player Suggestions forum. For a year now, there have been 4 or so stickied threads in that forum that has had CONSISTENT Jagex Moderator feedback. I think there have been a number of updates that originate from those stickies. Certainly an improvement for those that like to offer verbose suggestions, but do not have time to live in the forums to keep it from page 50.

 

 

 

I found 2007 to be an exceptional year for Jagex. They took a DRAMATIC stance at the end that will have impact in the gaming community over the next few years. Seeing the impact that MMORPG's have had with government entities (such as the IRS looking at what constitutes tangigible wealth), I do not think I'm understating this. Yes, the US Congress could tell a US based corporation in charge of a number one MMORPG it must change its set-up to discourage funding of organized crime syndicates in 3rd world countries by its members.

 

 

 

Other than that, the graphical improvements all around have been pretty nice.

 

 

 

The addition to mini-game high scores are appreciated (though limited at the moment).

 

 

 

Achievement Diaries I think can be adapted further, making them REPEATABLE and be TIMED. Fastest times completing them get in the high scores. I'm of the opinion the average person will go to insane lengths for a little publicity (based solely on the the Jerry Springer phenomenom).

 

 

 

Lastly, great article. Good to read a synopsis of the year I missed.

i give rs a C for 2007, PKing was what made most skills profitable, or at least, more profitable, not to mention being the most fun thing to do (for me) in the game.

 

even with the announced single combat BH, its still going to be assigning me level people level 120+ every second time, and you can't teleport, so using top-notch equipment when you're solo'ing is all but completely out of the question.

 

 

 

the GWD items looked great, but they weren't really anything revolutionary, except for maybe the saradomin sword and godsword, for better strength training and an alternative to guthan respectivley.

 

 

 

market control is horrible, full stop.

 

 

 

the recent party room change, which i feel deserves a special mention, was completely nonsensical, has anyone ever try to transfer gold gold using the party room? no.

 

simply because it drops, what, 200 balloons, and the gold is in 1 of them, so the overwhelming majority of the time the gold will simply disappear.

 

thats just something i've wanted to get off my chest for a while.

 

 

 

and as for the rest, i can't even remember what was added, so that just goes to show that none of it was really that interesting.

absolutely spectacular the depth u went into, must have taken a lot of time and stping back into the archives

 

 

 

owever, i think RS get only a slightly better mark this year, a B+ at most by my standards.

That was a great article, I read all of it and I agree with you on most parts. I'm looking forward to seeing TruthScapes take on 2008. :D

 

 

 

Me too