Skillcapes - Advantageous or Disadvantageous?

[Tim_Tam_Tan_Tien]

IMO They are Advantageous.

 

 

 

They drive people harder and faster to achieve their goals. This usually gets them their quicker with an inscentive at the end.

 

 

 

Also i always thought of cooking to be used to make food for myself lol.

 

 

 

Not until the GE came out did i ever buy food, and i only rarely do now.

[nerdboyxxx]

Now, most of what I have said is negative. Now here comes the positive. Those who achieved 99 Runecrafting, Fletching, Cooking, Strength, Slayer, Thieving, etc. who didn't do it "just for the cape" still have the fulfillment of getting the skill to 99, but the cape allows them to show others there achievment. You'd be surprised how many people actually say "nice cape" to me despite it been an untrimmed fletch :)

 

 

 

Honestly I think they just say "Nice cape", and immediately after say: "Emotez pl0x!!" :roll:

 

 

 

Yeah that does happen quite often, even though the emote on the cape sucks :|

[quelmotz]

IMO They are Advantageous.

 

 

 

They drive people harder and faster to achieve their goals. This usually gets them their quicker with an inscentive at the end.

 

 

 

Also i always thought of cooking to be used to make food for myself lol.

 

 

 

Not until the GE came out did i ever buy food, and i only rarely do now.

 

 

 

But honestly speaking, what's the point of driving people to reach their goals faster? It'll make people think they've so-called "finished" the game quicker, resulting in less money for Jagex. Though the 3-4 years of membership fees in trying to "finish" the game helps.

[nerdboyxxx]

IMO They are Advantageous.

 

 

 

They drive people harder and faster to achieve their goals. This usually gets them their quicker with an inscentive at the end.

 

 

 

Also i always thought of cooking to be used to make food for myself lol.

 

 

 

Not until the GE came out did i ever buy food, and i only rarely do now.

 

 

 

But honestly speaking, what's the point of driving people to reach their goals faster? It'll make people think they've so-called "finished" the game quicker, resulting in less money for Jagex. Though the 3-4 years of membership fees in trying to "finish" the game helps.

 

 

 

Skillcapes do seem to be the end of a skill. It's like saying, "well done, you've gotten as high as you can go in this skill. Have this cape, show off for a bit, then quit. You've finished the game." There should NEVER be an ending to an mmo. NEVER. Skillcapes are a way of saying you've finished this skill, and it shouldn't be that way.

[ultimatballr]

WHY would you want to train a skill FAST in the first place? That's my point. Skillcapes "force" people to train everything fast.

 

 

 

Why would you spend more time on a skill than you need to?

 

 

 

I for one know that I would rather spend 3 weeks on cooking and take a loss than spend 3 months on it and possibly profit.

 

 

 

Your post kind of forgets that making money is a part of the runescape experience as well. Actually, though I have not taken time to read every post as they get rather lengthy, this thread seems to focus on the same.

 

 

 

I realize that you have narrowed it down to skillcape discussion but there are still many other things to do in RS other than skills. So can you really say that they are disadvantageous because they cause people to spend money to achieve one? Most of the prices were the same way they were before the release of skillcapes too (as Kent said). I believe the only difference now is that the prices are higher than they were in the past, both raw and finished resources.

 

 

 

I would say they are advantageous even though they can cause annoying moments while playing.

[Cptbaker08]

IMO They are Advantageous.

 

 

 

They drive people harder and faster to achieve their goals. This usually gets them their quicker with an inscentive at the end.

 

 

 

Also i always thought of cooking to be used to make food for myself lol.

 

 

 

Not until the GE came out did i ever buy food, and i only rarely do now.

 

 

 

But honestly speaking, what's the point of driving people to reach their goals faster? It'll make people think they've so-called "finished" the game quicker, resulting in less money for Jagex. Though the 3-4 years of membership fees in trying to "finish" the game helps.

 

 

 

Skillcapes do seem to be the end of a skill. It's like saying, "well done, you've gotten as high as you can go in this skill. Have this cape, show off for a bit, then quit. You've finished the game." There should NEVER be an ending to an mmo. NEVER. Skillcapes are a way of saying you've finished this skill, and it shouldn't be that way.

 

If you notice, tons of player continue to do skills past 99. Some do it to have maxed exp. Others like the skill. I know a few that like to do slayer and train agility. I even heard someone say they like fletching. Why people do what they do we will never know.

[quelmotz]

WHY would you want to train a skill FAST in the first place? That's my point. Skillcapes "force" people to train everything fast.

 

 

 

Why would you spend more time on a skill than you need to?

 

 

 

I for one know that I would rather spend 3 weeks on cooking and take a loss than spend 3 months on it and possibly profit.

 

 

 

Your post kind of forgets that making money is a part of the runescape experience as well. Actually, though I have not taken time to read every post as they get rather lengthy, this thread seems to focus on the same.

 

 

 

I realize that you have narrowed it down to skillcape discussion but there are still many other things to do in RS other than skills. So can you really say that they are disadvantageous because they cause people to spend money to achieve one? Most of the prices were the same way they were before the release of skillcapes too (as Kent said). I believe the only difference now is that the prices are higher than they were in the past, both raw and finished resources.

 

 

 

I would say they are advantageous even though they can cause annoying moments while playing.

 

 

 

I should rephrase: "Why do we mad-rush-powertrain a skill? Why do we devote days and months and even years trying to achieve some virtual object? Why do we waste our life away doing these pointless things?"

[langer]

I should rephrase: "Why do we mad-rush-powertrain a skill? Why do we devote days and months and even years trying to achieve some virtual object? Why do we waste our life away doing these pointless things?"

 

 

 

It's a matter of personnal choice. Not everyone powertains, not everyone skills to obtain a cape. Getting a trimmed cape also gives you the second best cape in the game and the best prayer bonus from the cape slot.

 

 

 

If you think you're wasting your life playing a game, you should quit.

 

 

 

I don't think skill capes ruined the market, the end skill have always been at a loss ever since they introduced the x-features.

[quelmotz]

I should rephrase: "Why do we mad-rush-powertrain a skill? Why do we devote days and months and even years trying to achieve some virtual object? Why do we waste our life away doing these pointless things?"

 

 

 

It's a matter of personnal choice. Not everyone powertains, not everyone skills to obtain a cape. Getting a trimmed cape also gives you the second best cape in the game and the best prayer bonus from the cape slot.

 

 

 

If you think you're wasting your life playing a game, you should quit.

 

 

 

I don't think skill capes ruined the market, the end skill have always been at a loss ever since they introduced the x-features.

 

 

 

Not everyone power trains, but skillcapes drives more people to power train.

 

 

 

Skillcapes didn't ruin the market, they worsened it, increasing the gap between primary products and secondary products.

[langer]

They certainly did that. I don't mind though, I just adapted to the situation. Skill capes give nice stats and the effect they have is some people powertrains to show their level because they think it's cool.

 

 

 

All in all, I don't think the market's that bad because of them.

[quelmotz]

They certainly did that. I don't mind though, I just adapted to the situation. Skill capes give nice stats and the effect they have is some people powertrains to show their level because they think it's cool.

 

 

 

All in all, I don't think the market's that bad because of them.

 

 

 

Well I think they are. But since neither of us have evidence, we'll leave it at that.

[ldailey06]

It's obvious to everyone that skillcapes affect the economy, but there's absolutely no way to tell how much of an effect they have or whether the effect is necessarily bad.

 

 

 

The only other argument I see is that skillcapes make your 99 less respectable, which I think is self-discrediting.

 

 

 

You need a pretty high level to get magic logs, and they're hard to obtain in large numbers. To make those into bows, you need a very high Fletching level. With those requirements met, you can make the most powerful shortbow in the game. What do you get for doing that, with all your high levels? A bow that's worth less than the logs needed to make it, and that's not even counting the string.

 

 

 

Think about it, how hard was it for you to make that bow? You did two clicks and 1 second later out popped the bow. You can't think of these things in terms of their real life counterparts. Now if ingame it took an hour to fletch each bow, you would probably make a decent profit.

 

 

 

 

As its stands now there is no labour cost cause labour consists of walking 5 steps to an anvil.

 

 

 

 

I don't know...I could be doing anything in those 5 steps...not to mention the time spent banking and the time actually spent smithing. That time soon mounts up.

 

 

 

 

Correct, and in the time you spent walking you earned: whatever xp you gained from the item and whatever amount of money it is worth over its raw materials. If you spend very little time on the item (or it rewards a lot of xp), you might end up losing money.

 

 

 

Part II:

 

It sounds to me like people aren't complaining about skillcapes, but are upset with a flaw in the game where secondary skills aren't profitable, and you are (inaccurately) blaming skillcapes for the discrepancy.

 

 

 

First of all, you guys overlook runecrafting, the most profiable skill and a secondary skill! To make all secondary skills profitable I propose that they make them more like RC:

 

1- speed up the rate of collecting raw materials and slow down the rate of crafting them. The latter might include increasing the level requirements to craft high level items (or make high level players craft them more quickly a la RC). The former would definitely include making it good xp to gather high level raw materials.

 

2- increase demand (this might mean you have to raise alchemy values)

[quelmotz]

It's obvious to everyone that skillcapes affect the economy, but there's absolutely no way to tell how much of an effect they have or whether the effect is necessarily bad.

 

 

 

The only other argument I see is that skillcapes make your 99 less respectable, which I think is self-discrediting.

 

 

 

You need a pretty high level to get magic logs, and they're hard to obtain in large numbers. To make those into bows, you need a very high Fletching level. With those requirements met, you can make the most powerful shortbow in the game. What do you get for doing that, with all your high levels? A bow that's worth less than the logs needed to make it, and that's not even counting the string.

 

 

 

Think about it, how hard was it for you to make that bow? You did two clicks and 1 second later out popped the bow. You can't think of these things in terms of their real life counterparts. Now if ingame it took an hour to fletch each bow, you would probably make a decent profit.

 

 

 

 

As its stands now there is no labour cost cause labour consists of walking 5 steps to an anvil.

 

 

 

 

I don't know...I could be doing anything in those 5 steps...not to mention the time spent banking and the time actually spent smithing. That time soon mounts up.

 

 

 

 

Correct, and in the time you spent walking you earned: whatever xp you gained from the item and whatever amount of money it is worth over its raw materials. If you spend very little time on the item (or it rewards a lot of xp), you might end up losing money.

 

 

 

Part II:

 

It sounds to me like people aren't complaining about skillcapes, but are upset with a flaw in the game where secondary skills aren't profitable, and you are (inaccurately) blaming skillcapes for the discrepancy.

 

 

 

First of all, you guys overlook runecrafting, the most profiable skill and a secondary skill! To make all secondary skills profitable I propose that they make them more like RC:

 

1- speed up the rate of collecting raw materials and slow down the rate of crafting them. The latter might include increasing the level requirements to craft high level items (or make high level players craft them more quickly a la RC). The former would definitely include making it good xp to gather high level raw materials.

 

2- increase demand (this might mean you have to raise alchemy values)

 

 

 

I disagree on runecrafting. Ignoring 70-80% of the skill and just looking at some parts of it like nature runecrafting is a very unfair and bias generalisation. How come fire runes and stuff cost less than rune essence?

[Sir_Kurity]

Because, fire runes get dropped by like a million different monsters in stacks of 100's.

 

 

 

And because it has limited use.

 

 

 

The reason RC is still profitable is.

 

 

 

Runes get used, regardless of weather you die, arrows can be picked up, armor doesnt degrade, etc.

 

 

 

Altars are far away from bank.

 

 

 

Its really hard to train.

[quelmotz]

Because, fire runes get dropped by like a million different monsters in stacks of 100's.

 

 

 

And because it has limited use.

 

 

 

The reason RC is still profitable is.

 

 

 

Runes get used, regardless of weather you die, arrows can be picked up, armor doesnt degrade, etc.

 

 

 

Altars are far away from bank.

 

 

 

Its really hard to train.

 

 

 

Yeah, but its not practical because:

 

 

 

1. Altars are far away from bank.

 

2. Its really hard to train.

[Sir_Kurity]

And great profit comes with...

[Darkbeni2]

Ehhh , Skill Capes have advantages and disadvantages.. I myself have the crappiest skill cape in the game.. the cooking skill cape , I bought my way to 99 when I was a noob lol. Anyways back to the point, Some of the advantages are the stats, i mean it has the same stats as an obsidian cape ( May be better ) Defense wise.

 

 

 

I think the disadvantages are the way it effects the economy, raw mats are more than finished and what not.

 

 

 

Either way i barely ever wear my skill cape anymore , it looks ugly.

[Sir_Squab]

ADD ME TO THE LIST OF PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY ARE DISADVANTAGEOUS.

 

 

 

I have never really liked skillcapes; skillcapes were made, in my opinion, for people who got 99 in a skill either by constant use or by training it because they are a skiller. The number of people who have gotten 99 skills since they have come out has gone up tremendously, with the effect of making production skills almost entirely unprofitable. The GE didn't help that mind you.

 

 

 

Also, people now often strive for skillcapes not as an accomplishment, but to not feel like a noob; which is a bit of an irony because I look down on people who get 99 cooking just to "keep up with the Jones.'" (Keep in mind that I'm not trying to say getting 99 cooking isn't an accomplishment, I am looking down on the motivation to achieve it, not the work done to get it.)

 

 

 

Also, it has turned RS from a fun game to mindless grinding for many just to get a skillcape to keep up with the Jones. They aren't easy to get, they are generally a tough grind; the only purpose to the tough grind is to be better then the next guy. I'm all for healthy competition, but skillcape grinding competition is unhealthy...

 

 

 

Worth noting that I wasn't really aware of the prices of things like raw vs cooked food, and didn't bother because (I thought, might not've been true) you could only trade stuff like food and such in quantities of thousands. I didn't know general item prices until the GE came out, long after skillcapes.

 

WHY would you want to train a skill FAST in the first place? That's my point. Skillcapes "force" people to train everything fast.

 

 

 

Why would you spend more time on a skill than you need to?

 

 

 

I for one know that I would rather spend 3 weeks on cooking and take a loss than spend 3 months on it and possibly profit.

 

 

 

WHY are you training in the first place? BECAUSE OF SKILLCAPES. This may not be the case for you, but that is the case for a lot of cooking training; yes, although it makes sense to use the faster way to train cooking, how many people would be training it if it wasn't for skillcapes? And although raw fish were apparently worth more before skillcapes came out, skillcapes probably increased the gap.

 

 

 

It's obvious to everyone that skillcapes affect the economy, but there's absolutely no way to tell how much of an effect they have or whether the effect is necessarily bad.

 

 

 

The only other argument I see is that skillcapes make your 99 less respectable, which I think is self-discrediting.

 

 

 

You need a pretty high level to get magic logs, and they're hard to obtain in large numbers. To make those into bows, you need a very high Fletching level. With those requirements met, you can make the most powerful shortbow in the game. What do you get for doing that, with all your high levels? A bow that's worth less than the logs needed to make it, and that's not even counting the string.

 

 

 

Think about it, how hard was it for you to make that bow? You did two clicks and 1 second later out popped the bow. You can't think of these things in terms of their real life counterparts. Now if ingame it took an hour to fletch each bow, you would probably make a decent profit.

 

 

 

 

As its stands now there is no labour cost cause labour consists of walking 5 steps to an anvil.

 

 

 

 

I don't know...I could be doing anything in those 5 steps...not to mention the time spent banking and the time actually spent smithing. That time soon mounts up.

 

 

 

 

Correct, and in the time you spent walking you earned: whatever xp you gained from the item and whatever amount of money it is worth over its raw materials. If you spend very little time on the item (or it rewards a lot of xp), you might end up losing money.

 

 

 

Part II:

 

It sounds to me like people aren't complaining about skillcapes, but are upset with a flaw in the game where secondary skills aren't profitable, and you are (inaccurately) blaming skillcapes for the discrepancy.

 

 

 

First of all, you guys overlook runecrafting, the most profiable skill and a secondary skill! To make all secondary skills profitable I propose that they make them more like RC:

 

1- speed up the rate of collecting raw materials and slow down the rate of crafting them. The latter might include increasing the level requirements to craft high level items (or make high level players craft them more quickly a la RC). The former would definitely include making it good xp to gather high level raw materials.

 

2- increase demand (this might mean you have to raise alchemy values)

 

 

 

It's not entirely inaccurate to blame skillcapes for the discrepancy; I didn't realize till I read through this thread that the discrepancy was there before hand, but it still made it worse. Also, as people have pointed out, changes (like speeding up the rate of collecting raw materials and slow down the rate of crafting them) is just going to make an even worse problem. Also, if you double the alch value of say the magic longbow, what would happen is that would double not only the price of the magic longbow, but the price of magic logs, and quite possibly bow strings; and at the end of the day, it would still probably be a loss to make a magic longbow, and the same with alching them.

 

 

 

WOOT! FINALLY FINISHED READING THROUGH EVERYTHING.

 

 

 

Hmm...my colour makes me the enemy of the topic starter, even though I agree with him...

[quelmotz]

ADD ME TO THE LIST OF PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY ARE DISADVANTAGEOUS.

 

 

 

I have never really liked skillcapes; skillcapes were made, in my opinion, for people who got 99 in a skill either by constant use or by training it because they are a skiller. The number of people who have gotten 99 skills since they have come out has gone up tremendously, with the effect of making production skills almost entirely unprofitable. The GE didn't help that mind you.

 

 

 

Also, people now often strive for skillcapes not as an accomplishment, but to not feel like a noob; which is a bit of an irony because I look down on people who get 99 cooking just to "keep up with the Jones.'" (Keep in mind that I'm not trying to say getting 99 cooking isn't an accomplishment, I am looking down on the motivation to achieve it, not the work done to get it.)

 

 

 

Also, it has turned RS from a fun game to mindless grinding for many just to get a skillcape to keep up with the Jones. They aren't easy to get, they are generally a tough grind; the only purpose to the tough grind is to be better then the next guy. I'm all for healthy competition, but skillcape grinding competition is unhealthy...

 

 

 

Worth noting that I wasn't really aware of the prices of things like raw vs cooked food, and didn't bother because (I thought, might not've been true) you could only trade stuff like food and such in quantities of thousands. I didn't know general item prices until the GE came out, long after skillcapes.

 

WHY would you want to train a skill FAST in the first place? That's my point. Skillcapes "force" people to train everything fast.

 

 

 

Why would you spend more time on a skill than you need to?

 

 

 

I for one know that I would rather spend 3 weeks on cooking and take a loss than spend 3 months on it and possibly profit.

 

 

 

WHY are you training in the first place? BECAUSE OF SKILLCAPES. This may not be the case for you, but that is the case for a lot of cooking training; yes, although it makes sense to use the faster way to train cooking, how many people would be training it if it wasn't for skillcapes? And although raw fish were apparently worth more before skillcapes came out, skillcapes probably increased the gap.

 

 

 

It's obvious to everyone that skillcapes affect the economy, but there's absolutely no way to tell how much of an effect they have or whether the effect is necessarily bad.

 

 

 

The only other argument I see is that skillcapes make your 99 less respectable, which I think is self-discrediting.

 

 

 

You need a pretty high level to get magic logs, and they're hard to obtain in large numbers. To make those into bows, you need a very high Fletching level. With those requirements met, you can make the most powerful shortbow in the game. What do you get for doing that, with all your high levels? A bow that's worth less than the logs needed to make it, and that's not even counting the string.

 

 

 

Think about it, how hard was it for you to make that bow? You did two clicks and 1 second later out popped the bow. You can't think of these things in terms of their real life counterparts. Now if ingame it took an hour to fletch each bow, you would probably make a decent profit.

 

 

 

 

As its stands now there is no labour cost cause labour consists of walking 5 steps to an anvil.

 

 

 

 

I don't know...I could be doing anything in those 5 steps...not to mention the time spent banking and the time actually spent smithing. That time soon mounts up.

 

 

 

 

Correct, and in the time you spent walking you earned: whatever xp you gained from the item and whatever amount of money it is worth over its raw materials. If you spend very little time on the item (or it rewards a lot of xp), you might end up losing money.

 

 

 

Part II:

 

It sounds to me like people aren't complaining about skillcapes, but are upset with a flaw in the game where secondary skills aren't profitable, and you are (inaccurately) blaming skillcapes for the discrepancy.

 

 

 

First of all, you guys overlook runecrafting, the most profiable skill and a secondary skill! To make all secondary skills profitable I propose that they make them more like RC:

 

1- speed up the rate of collecting raw materials and slow down the rate of crafting them. The latter might include increasing the level requirements to craft high level items (or make high level players craft them more quickly a la RC). The former would definitely include making it good xp to gather high level raw materials.

 

2- increase demand (this might mean you have to raise alchemy values)

 

 

 

It's not entirely inaccurate to blame skillcapes for the discrepancy; I didn't realize till I read through this thread that the discrepancy was there before hand, but it still made it worse. Also, as people have pointed out, changes (like speeding up the rate of collecting raw materials and slow down the rate of crafting them) is just going to make an even worse problem. Also, if you double the alch value of say the magic longbow, what would happen is that would double not only the price of the magic longbow, but the price of magic logs, and quite possibly bow strings; and at the end of the day, it would still probably be a loss to make a magic longbow, and the same with alching them.

 

 

 

WOOT! FINALLY FINISHED READING THROUGH EVERYTHING.

 

 

 

Hmm...my colour makes me the enemy of the topic starter, even though I agree with him...

 

 

 

Very good post.

 

 

 

I'm sorry I'm too lazy to maintain the list any more... :oops:

 

 

 

I'll do it now.

 

 

 

And in all honesty, most of the people that say they are disadvantageous have more evidence and good points than those who say they are advantageous. No offense though - its a matter of opinion really, like in all debates, and there is no right or wrong answer.

[quelmotz]

Here it is:

 

 

 

From now onwards, please state if you think they are advantageous or not. Makes things much easier for me.

 

 

 

Advantageous

 

1. MrDespair

 

2. klankaos

 

3. Inuashakent

 

4. pantim

 

5. Faiylen

 

6. Jaffy1

 

7. Pika_Tim_Tam

 

8. ultimatballr

 

9. ldailey06

 

10. Twibb

 

 

 

Disadvantageous

 

1. quelmotz

 

2. archimage_a

 

3. Est0rrath

 

4. Cptbaker08

 

5. rawr_im_very_scary

 

 

 

Neutral/Other opinion

 

1. Dark_Aura

 

2. tyluke

 

3. Salvette

 

4. nerdboyxxx

 

5. langer

 

6. Darkbeni2

 

 

 

I apologise for any wrong placement, please inform me if you have been placed in the wrong section and Ill move your name to the correct one.

[Sir_Kurity]

Skillcapes are like saying.

 

 

 

I HAVE 99 THIS SKILL HAAHAHAHAHAAHAH, but you can do it without people telling you to stfu, get and life and stop bragging... Which seems to happen all to often.

 

 

 

Coupled by numerous entries of "we don't care about your stats gtfo"

[quelmotz]

Skillcapes are like saying.

 

 

 

I HAVE 99 THIS SKILL HAAHAHAHAHAAHAH, but you can do it without people telling you to stfu, get and life and stop bragging... Which seems to happen all to often.

 

 

 

Coupled by numerous entries of "we don't care about your stats gtfo"

 

 

 

Everyone made a mad rush for 99 when skillcapes came out, then when they arrived they suddenly realized a 99 isn't that good after all because 79834 other people have gotten it earlier than you... :roll:

[new250]

I think that skillcapes are an advantage because they give you recognition for getting 99 in a skill and they look cool too.The disadvantages of the prices are nowhere near how much the grand exchange has crashed because of updates and merchanting clans recently.

[Cpchris]

I decided to go for 99 smithing just because I found out I liked it (although originally back 3 years, I always thought it would be my lowest skill...surprise surprise...)...Yes I want the skill cape, but no, that's not why I'm going for the 99...(Being a pure f2per, and having seen Mod MMG personally say there are no longer intentions for skill capes becoming f2p have ruined that part of it for me, but I'm still going away at Smithing anyways...)...

 

 

 

Also, I'd love 200m xp in Smithing, but...pure f2p, that's basically impossible...or at least improbable...

 

 

 

I guess you could say I'm undecided. I do sort of hate how skill capes have been the inspiration for 99s...even today I saw someone saying "____ Skill Cape costs ____m" and not the actual 99k cost of it. They don't even see it as a skill, they see it only as the skill cape...but I suppose you can't really argue it any other way...some people want the 99, some want the skillcape...

[quelmotz]

To bring new life to this topic, I've come up with a new discussion topic.

 

 

 

Should there be rewards/items of accomplishment for achieving, say 200M xp in a skill? If so, why? What advantages/disadvantages would it bring about?

 

 

 

I'll post my opinion after a while...