Tip.it Times 27 December 2009

[n_odie]

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!

[Hedgehog]

Once again, I enjoyed the articles, but the second one was my favorite. It was completely spot on, in my opinion.

[Master_Smither]

Good job both of you.

 

Pretty good articles that were spot on. I enjoyed the 2nd one more because it's one of those that stirs up a truth not discussed often.

[Misterknowitall]

I don't know about most people, but I kept my public chat on friends throughout the event, so that I wouldn't get everything spoiled before having a decent go at it.

[acenator]

I also enjoyed the second article. People put too much emphasis on levels and money/items. That's actually one of the reasons I'm semi-retired (if not THE reason): none of my friends ever wanted to take a break from skilling/monster hunting/whatever to just hang out in Edgeville with our skill capes and rubber chickens/play a game of CW/etc. and I just got more and more bored until I just sold everything and put all my money into the lower rares (not necessarily a bad thing, though since my bank value has since gone from ~150 mill to over 500 mill :thumbsup: ).

 

We need to remember that RuneScape is a game made for having fun. Don't get me wrong, leveling and making money aren't bad things to do and they can allow for having more fun later, but remember that great old cliche "everything in moderation."

 

Happy Festivus Merry Christmas, everyone.

[Aiel]

In my opinion both of these articles were very well written and had very good points.

Mabey, in the future jagex needs to have multiple event "areas" to avoid crowds, also other peoples imps needed to be invisible.

[bor_gamewiz]

Bah! Humbug!:

I've got to say, I agree with your article. People seem to always miss the point of the event and just think of the rewards. It's not about the costumes and items, it's about the spirit of the holidays. I just wish more people could see that.

On a side note, the snow did kick [wagon], and one more thing, the events are much more enjoyable once the crowds have started to thin out and you can actually see yourself.

 

The Christmas Item Over The Christmas Experience:

This is an interesting solution to the holiday item complaints of late but I will miss the quest every holiday.

People need to take the game a little more lightly and just enjoy it for the game,

If people are going to focus on the items instead of what's important, maybe Jagex should just stop giving out items at holidays for a little bit. That way the people who want to enjoy the quest can do so without as many people obsessed with the item ruining the mood and the others won't think they missed out on a rare item for skipping it. This may not be the best solution but it just might work.

 

 

The spirit of the holidays seems to be leaving runescape, it's saddens me to say this but, people will continue to be 'Tiny Thoms' obsessed with their presents

[edwardelric87]

Article 2, paragraph 2, last sentence.

 

"was meant to be for fun" should read "were meant to be for fun."

[Big_Stingman]

You don't have to be a nerd to appreciate good graphics (particle effects). :razz:

 

Both articles were excellent and worth the read. I always do the holiday events to actually have fun throughout the event. The little things they give us are just bonus to me and serve as reminders of how much fun the event was. And most of the time, Jagex does a good job and making the holiday items look pretty cool. It's kinda nice walking around and people asking, "whered u get chickn sute." I can then say it was from a holiday event and shows how long I have been playing.

[Sir_Squab]

I do not comprehend in any way why people are disappointed due to the reward that has no practical usage and the fact that it's untradeable. I mean, it's not like you didn't see it coming. Jagex has been doing that with every event since the scythe and bunny ears, before I ever started playing. And I've been playing for probably 4 years now (first holiday item was the rubber chicken.) I mean, it's not like it comes as a shock. If you think the holiday events are a useless waste of time, well, don't do them. I don't think Jagex will ever make a "true" holiday event useful. Although, there have been holiday quests....

 

Also, I usually ignore the cries for help because, more often then not, people cry for help because they're too lazy to figure it out instead of trying it. Plus its just too crowded >.<

 

I feel like a bah humbug now >.<

 

The did-you-know is something I'm pretty sure 99% of scapers haven't run into :)

[ForsakenMage]

Thanks guys for the comments! Remember, if you see any corrections needed to be made, please PM the OP so they can go fix it, rather than tell us here. This thread is meant for commentary on the articles, not corrections. ;)

 

As for my article, I had to write that in between a mild case of food poisoning so yea...:-# Glad it turned out okay for most of you.:thumbsup:

 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season! Time to get ready for the year 2010 party! :D

[Serpent Eye]

Great reads, from both Rachael and Ami.

 

:)

[Saradomin_Mage]

The DYK is interesting XD

Articles are a fine read, in reflection of the previous week.

[Me_Hate_Libs]

Christmas events are only anticipated because they are pretty much the only new f2p content that they get. Only f2p players with a high level of exp are allowed to post on the forums. Because those high levels have done so much that this thing doesn't mean much to them, they are the loudest of the complainer about these Holiday events. This is the cycle of the Holiday event. I really wish they'd change things. I miss the the Holiday quests. That idea had potential.

 

As for the articles. Typical fare. Nothing groundbreaking. Just expressing the normal opinions that most people share. Oh, but I hate the idea of "getting into the holiday spirit." Bleah.

[Daavorian]

actually...it was snowing outside when i did the Christmas event and tbh...the crude waterbirth polygons look a hell of a lot more like snow than some wierd perfect snowflakes.

[Sir_Squab]

You know, I really don't get why they didn't at least bring BACK the old holiday quests. Just for the holidays, you know? Looking back on it, I think that the holiday quests are one of the dumbest ideas ever, because a temporay f2p update is just dumb to me.

[Silver_Corner]

Bah! Humbug!:

I've got to say, I agree with your article. People seem to always miss the point of the event and just think of the rewards. It's not about the costumes and items, it's about the spirit of the holidays. I just wish more people could see that.

On a side note, the snow did kick [wagon], and one more thing, the events are much more enjoyable once the crowds have started to thin out and you can actually see yourself.

 

The Christmas Item Over The Christmas Experience:

This is an interesting solution to the holiday item complaints of late but I will miss the quest every holiday.

People need to take the game a little more lightly and just enjoy it for the game,

If people are going to focus on the items instead of what's important, maybe Jagex should just stop giving out items at holidays for a little bit. That way the people who want to enjoy the quest can do so without as many people obsessed with the item ruining the mood and the others won't think they missed out on a rare item for skipping it. This may not be the best solution but it just might work.

 

 

The spirit of the holidays seems to be leaving runescape, it's saddens me to say this but, people will continue to be 'Tiny Thoms' obsessed with their presents

 

I agree. The majority of the community tends to have that "Tiny Thom" attitude when it comes to events and holiday items. I applaud Jagex for trying to fill both the person who likes to event, and the person who does it for the reward.

 

I think in the future they may have more success by splitting the events into two routes.

 

1) A quick and easy route for those who just want the item.

2) A longer, more in-depth route for those who want to play out the full story.

 

At least that way the whiners can have their precious toys quickly without disrupting the fun loving story-line players like us.

 

But I think both articles were right on their point about the situation.

[Beaumonde]

I guess I'll never understand why people complain about holiday event rewards when we all know ahead of time they wont have any use.

[Misterknowitall]

I liked the exp rewards that you could get from the first two event quests, especially the hidden exp rewards. It gave some real use to the holiday events next to the fun from the quests and items. I wonder why they stopped doing that?

[Sir_Squab]

What I really wonder is why they didn't bring BACK those old quests for F2P, if nothing else. I'm a member and I did those quests way back when, but I still think they should return to F2P every holiday.

[HexiledRazz]

In the 2nd one.

 

They've crafted this beautifully designed and well thought out event and the RuneScape Community runs in like a bull in a China shop and tears through it all.

 

I loled at that.

 

Tbh, i think this reward was much better then last year's. I love the cane spin emote trick *Looks at siggy*. I really hope they don't remove it.

 

And the robes look cool too. It was well worth it, and hardly took any time anyway.

[strilmus]

What made me kind of sad was that the statement is true in the sense that I wasn't able to enjoy any of the elaborately designed scenery (the party place, Scrooge's decrepit house) because there were tons of people tromping about. I do hope they decide to relocate the ice sculptures next to, say, the Oracle's tent. That would be funny. Maybe the Blurite ore mines if they need more room.

 

I think they need to give everything a whole lot more breathing room next time, or start instancing things. The Halloween one was fairly successful at that....the web puzzle staggered the flow quite a bit.

 

I kind of also hope they make more crazy puzzles though. Being able to go back in the Halloween '08 quest and do a harder version of the menagerie juggling was just great. Those of us itching to get a puzzle worthy of being an accomplishment would appreciate the gesture.

 

Not that I enjoyed the fire puzzle too much. Running back and forth to fill the bucket (I wasn't in the mood to grab more) was kind of annoying and Simon games are more memory than puzzle solving to me. :P

 

What I didn't understand was why Frost was reluctant to try icing a fire that can be put out with water from a fountain. They could have come up with a better handwave.

[Sentry_Wolf]

Both very well written articles, good job to both of you girls. :)

 

This seems to be just modern RuneScape these days. "No money? No XP? No thanks", seems to be the attitude of most RuneScapers these days, and it's something Jagex will find difficult to work around, for instance this would reflect on no matter how much player event support they offer and praise. The same thing, I think.

 

The only community spirit I see any days now is from the small amount of genuinely spirited event-goers at TET events and sometimes at Clans, but even that is mostly to get in a place of higher power. (Despite that is terribly stereotypical and that there is some great people for events and/or their clans who want the best for them. :) )

 

Ironically in my opinion I think what killed community spirit was Clan Chats. Even though it may of strengthened some peoples relationships with their peers. I don't think we will ever see the days of hours and hours of people, dancing and chatting in Edgeville, sure it still happens occasionally, but it does not have that 'thing' it had over two years ago, when people didn't HAVE to be there. But to hang around with their friends, because they can be there chatting to them.

[ForsakenMage]

What made me kind of sad was that the statement is true in the sense that I wasn't able to enjoy any of the elaborately designed scenery (the party place, Scrooge's decrepit house) because there were tons of people tromping about. I do hope they decide to relocate the ice sculptures next to, say, the Oracle's tent. That would be funny. Maybe the Blurite ore mines if they need more room.

At least they made the access points in several locations. Remember the crowds all over south of Falador every time the events came out?:ohnoes::wall:

[Spanked]

In their article "The Christmas Item Over the Christmas Experience", ForsakenMage wrote, in part:

> While participating in the event, it was to my dismay that I found a number of people wishing that the items were tradeable so that they made make money off the event.

 

There's the greed factor kicking in. What I think is that those who wish for these items to be tradable hope for one of two things:

 

1) There is some money involved so it's "worth" doing the holiday event. A lot of players are just looking for some cash... even 25-50K.

 

2) Other players are hoping to cash in over the long run ala PHATs. They would collect up as many items as they can in the present day in the hopes that after a few years into the future they'll have billions in the bank for doing nothing other than collecting some items in the past. Ironically, I remember players DROPPING party hats on the ground or dumping them into the general store in the weeks after they originally came out... nobody knew what was coming down the road. Wild to think about it huh?

 

> Some may remember that in previous years, holiday events were holiday item drops that initially only happened once in one day, eventually changing to every few hours. Those items dropped were tradeable and became our discontinued items today. Jagex had changed how holiday events worked because it was simply not in the holiday spirit to have players selling the items that was meant to be for fun.

 

I believe that if Jagex ever saw what was coming (and they should have!) then they never would have made those items tradeable in the first place. Ironically... they could have done something to correct the ever escalating value of those items along time ago... but chose on purpose NOT to. Sure, some of the solutions might have made a few players upset at the time but the bottom line is that they could have and should have fixed the problem way back when. They let the monster get so big that it became too late to do anything about it. Well... they STILL could... but it would enrage a lot more players now than it would have way back when. Though I'd love to see them re-drop PHATs all over again and destroy the rares market thus pinching the merch noobs hard.

 

> Despite these changes, the holiday spirit still hasn't kicked in. Some players may more often than not ignore the cries for help on how to complete the holiday quest, or ignore inquiries about where they got the holiday items to begin with.

 

This, to me, is laughable... and the problem is that the players who cry simply don't do what it takes to find out what to do when the event is released... which is as simple as READING THE INFO FOUND ON THE HOME PAGE WHEN THE UPDATE HITS!! DUH!!! As for the event itself, I liken it to a quest. You can either read a guide or watch a Youtube video after someone posts one and snooze your way through it as quickly as possible... OR take the time to figure it out for yourself and take pride in your accomplishment. MNSHO is that there are far too many crybabies in the world that get everything handed to them on a silver platter... and it's pathetic. I choose to NOT tell anyone about anything other than where to find the starting point of the event if they ask. I figure stuff out, so can they.

 

> It appears the overall event doesn't get the Christmas spirit out of some of the players. We forget to have a bit of fun and enjoyment of each others' company.

 

ROFL! I think you're forgetting who you're talking about. When it comes to the majority of all Runescape players, they're kids. At Christmas... for kids? It'a all ME-ME-ME. Gimme-Gimme-Gimme! Mine-Mine-Mine!! What were you expecting?

 

> Perhaps we need to rethink the idea of how we should celebrate the holidays. Maybe we don't need items to complete the event, although they are admittedly a great incentive to participate. All we need is to find a reason why we should celebrate the holiday. Maybe we could have something like the Brimhaven Agility Arena, but without the tickets, but maybe keep the experience points to at least provide some sort of incentive to come and spend time with others. Or maybe make it similar to other mini-games requiring teamwork. However, it's just a lot of ideas floating around. Items are fun, but not if we're obsessed with thinking about how we can profit from it, or wishing we can profit from it. Quests are fun, but it feels like people are just trying to get them done for the sake of getting them done. We need something more engaging with other players, and experience may just be the way to help us get some of the holiday spirit back.

 

Funny you brought this up. Personally, I would love to see Jagex ditch the traditional style of event for once... and instead have an event that lasted 2 or 3 weeks straight that had some sort of competitiveness to it... with a great big batch of humor tossed in to make it cheerful. How? Well... I thought of several things such as:

 

1) Gnome Ice Hockey... it could be humans versus the gnome all-stars or PvP with humans going team versus team. You could take 5 or 6 player teams and have them compete for prizes, items or cash by playing ice hockey on a new ice hockey arena. There could be a scoreboard... and a tournament for the top teams. The gnomes could heckle the players based on whether they were winning or losing... of course. And Jagex could also have teams of other NPCs such as demons, elves, trolls or whoever. Perhaps there could be levels of difficulty? Elves could be ranked 10... Gnomes a frisky 5 and Imps a lame numero uno.

 

2) There could also be a sled or toboggan course... with players pitting their skills against each other or NPCs such as Rudolph, Santa, some elves, random NPCs from around Runescape or whatever. That way you wouldn't need to be on a team but you could participate anyway. Like the Gnome Ice Hockey, there could be PvP with a top scorers table, best times, most style points scored and so on. They could even make it more exciting by making the course randomized all the time... so no player could memorize any of them nor publish guides or videos of what to do or how to "max out" times or scores.

 

3) Gnomeboarding... yes, I mean clamp on your gnomeboard because there's a new half-pipe in town! Hit the snowboard course in the Penguin Realm and compete for points as you blaze your trail while criss-crossing the snow covered half pipe. While hamming it up with e-motes may gain you points, going too far will cause you to wipe out necessitating a rescue by those little tuxedo clad spies from the North.

 

4) They could also set up an arena in Varrock square (or wherever) for snowball fights like a mini-Castle Wars game... only instead of using the normal game play by capturing a flag and constantly slaughtering off oponents, you would snowball fight your way to victory by burying other players or collapsing their snow "forts". Skills & levels would mean nothing as your success would depend entirely on your own savvy and talent in figuring out how to win... be it by the most successful pelts on as many players as possible, the most "buries", the most fort collapses and so on. Jagex could program a random playfield for every game, make random pit traps... avalanches, ice lightning "strikes" (temporarily freezing players as they rampaged around in the maze) and so on... all there so that you never knew what was coming and once again so that nobody could memorize the playfield. They could do hilarious stuff like have Jad crawl up out of the TzHaar city for "Jad versus Human" style team smackdowns... who knew Jad loved snowball fights?!?... and he could mock all comers AS HE PUMMELS THEM DOWN WITH SNOWBALLS of all things. Who would see that coming? Nobody! I can envision it now... Jad mocking you as you become buried under the barrage of snowball fire, "Spanked, is that all the better that you can do? You throw like a LITTLE GIRL!" or "That fat guy called Santa puts up a bigger fight than you!". Of course Jagex could use other famous... or infamous NPCs as well. Think King Roald is snooty? Challenge his highness and a few of his elite guards to a brawl in the snow arena! Woot!

 

Like the other events, for the PvP contests and hiscores table, they could have the teams set in advance (players would opt-in for teams they wanted to be on so that friends could play together) and conduct contests with official points scoring. Have a separate hiscores table from the skills table that only lasts for the duration of the event... with the final hiscores table being permanently published somewhere in the game manual... and prizes could be awarded for the top teams and especially for teams that competed against the other top teams. Wow... it could even be something as cool as normal teams with regular Runescape players versus Jagex Moderators for bragging rights! Wooo-Hooo! Make it something like... 1024 or 2048 total teams in an elimination tournament over the last 3 days with several Jagex teams being involved... randomly placed in the brackets. Or perhaps the JMODs could just randomly challenge other teams pre-tournament? Sounds tasty.

 

Overall, it may sound complicated... but in all reality, it may not take that much to set up and do. Talk about the Jagex Cup... they could have the Runescape Winter Olympics or the Jagex Winter Cup! The best part of the deal? They could do it EVERY year for a small 2-3 week period. As long as the games were relatively short in duration (say, 5 mins max time per contest) and fun... it could be a big hit. And since it was year to year... you could always have a chance to be named champion or dethrone the previous year's champs. What I would love to see the most is Jagex programming it so that you could watch the final tournament snowball fights (or other contests) in the official tournament of champions... that way you could watch the JMODs go down to us normal schmucks live and in real time. Not that we'd spend much time heckling them... of course. Nooooo. We'd NEVER do that!

 

Bottom line here? Many players may just be sick of a new e-mote here and there... along with some clothes that they may or may not ever wear again (I didn't see too many Santa suits from last year being worn by anyone this year for example!). Maybe it's time to really give the players something new and exciting to try? Like Dennis the Snow Imp stated during this year's event when I finished it... maybe we should go invade Scourge's house and blast away in some snowball fights... but do it when it actually mean something? Maybe Jagex could set up some meaningful tournaments for those of us that would be interested in such a thing...? I think it could be awesome and the best thing that ever happened on a Christmas in Runescape! Other than a re-drop of Santa Hats... of course :-P

 

-Spanked

 

PS For those that can't stand the huge crowds on the first day or two or three... remember that you have a LOT of time to complete the event. I waited until after Christmas... and took some awesome screen shots with NOBODY around to mess up my pics. Goto the event now and it will most likely be a ghost town on slow servers. I think the event closes on January 11th... holy cow!