The Return of Ess Runners?

[Rsvote]

http://rsvote.wordpress.com/2011/01/01/nostalgia/

 

Wrote proposed blog, if anyone's interested.

[deskjethp]

FFL 66 ruled. Awesome. People wanted gp? They went there. People wanted xp? They went there.

 

I hope to find a lot of people in zamorak robes bustling there again soon

[Naraku893]

good times good times

 

easy money for new accounts and pures and helped the higher level players out too

[lucipher6]

Probably already mentioned but can't see why people would want to do either of these any more.

 

Nat runners - This was at one point profitable, around 2005 people would generally trade 35 nats or ~12kgp for 25/26 ess and give noted ess if not stocked shops. 400 each nat at that point so essentially getting 6k profit per trade.

Bit before free trade being removed the very least people would expect would be 2 nat:1 ess, some people offering more to get the exp as runners were less common - more money making methods.

Also meant to be like 45k/hr for exp.

 

FFA I'd never cared about or wanted to bother with, though I'd heard that was meant to be like 25k/hr max, not good for p2p but pretty good f2p. Guess it's good for earlier levels.

FFL was 30k/hr max, heavily dependant on the runner:crafter ratio.

 

So basically you can do runners slower than ZMI, at a cost, more click intensive to trade constantly, plus typing to tell people you're open (FFL), plus a lot more people are exp focused now than previously so I would imagine less runners, though as that's low levels it could go either way. Not to mention you could slay and get effigy's instead of having to trade people.

[mister_moocky]

If I got 78 rc for 4* earth runes I could afford to pay f2p runners 2500gp per load and still break even, or even make a tiny profit. As I've got many thousands of currently useless fog tokens I could buy earth rcing cloves and get 13 xp per rune (bloods are 10.5).

Hmmmh...

[Vex]

You can already reliably purchase RC XP via effigies.

Even if you used effigies from say 75 RC. (Which is quite low to burn effigies on)

 

For a cost of 500m you can have 99 Runecrafting in ~330 Hours. Average of ~36,000 RC xp an hour. (Probably less once you get 91+ to open the RC options on effigies)

 

So this makes Cannoning Cave Crawlers 42gp/xp @ 1.5m/1 effigy per hour cost.

 

However if you can open them you also get the xp from opening them & ranged & combat xp (if you value it past 99(which you will most likely have), also 40k xp worth of charms should you need them.

 

Obviously the later you start using your lamps on RC it drastically reduces how many you need thus shifting the average xp/hr.

 

So I think if you are prepared to pay for runners for increased RC Xp, you may as well spend money on cannoning cave crawlers for less RC XP but a lot more total xp.

 

For it to be worth paying ess for runners you'd have to pay quite a bit as there are numerous ways to earn 500k+ being fairly nooby now with or without any skill requirements (in members).

However paying someone a dedicated runner for an hour who runs with you, could be an option for ~ 50% more xp, however they'd have to be quite quick as to not slow you down at all.

 

Honestly unless you are extremely pushed for time or already maxed in every other skill, effigies have pretty much killed off RC, especially if you don't enjoy it.

[mister_moocky]

At the above post, 36k rc xp/h is bad as is, especially if you're paying a ridiculous 42 gp/xp. You get faster xp ZMI rcing while breaking even.

[Laura]

But you're also getting ranged, melee, and constitution experience.

[Vex]

Yes it's bad, if you only got Runecrafting Experience. I know this thread is about runners, however this is a counter argument to perhaps why people wouldn't use runners or why runners aren't really applicable anymore.

 

To make someone run for you, you have to make it worth their while, which you means you need to pay them money. So like I said, unless you solely want RC XP only - or have maxed all other effigy opening skills, I can't see why, if you were willing to pay for runners, not just go for effigies instead. (Plus removes a lot of clicking tedium, which isn't factored in the above as each individual has their own threshold on how much they want to click)

 

EDIT: Also perhaps on the topic of this, extremely likely update. Most people dislike Runecrafting not due to it's slow xp (Who cares how fast the XP comes in, it's the process in which it's obtained. Slayer is a good example of this.)

 

Runecrafting requires 100% attentiveness and probably 2-3 more times clicking than any other skill (With Hunter and Agility close behind)

 

It used to be bearable at least for me because it had monetary value. I knew that RC'ng through the abyss was decent money, and that was why I was doing it, not for the XP. The XP was a by-product that would slowly go up over time.

 

The other thing that added some form of entertainment value to this - were the abyss Pk'ers. As you were RC'ng you would go through the motions on the lookout for them, until finally, you are TB'd and entangled. You may or may not get away, but here came the distraction that broke the monotonous process up. Off to the bank, on goes the PK gear and off for a fight (If they hadn't logged.)

 

Now being someone with my original stats. (70 att/str 99def & 99/mage/range) I used to be quite successful at PK'ng at the combat level I was at. So for me this provided a break to RC and boosted the entertainment value of the skill & made the 100% attentiveness and clicking worth the hassle.

 

Does anyone have similar experiences with the Abyss & whether or not it made the process of RC'ng through it endurable back then. I can't bring myself to ZMI much now since it's purely just for XP (No/very small amounts of GP is earnt) and it's the same repetitive clicking process over and over again.

[green9090]

@ Laura: Which are extremely valuable to the maxed out players who are likely to be doing either.

[Laura]

@ Laura: Which are extremely valuable to the maxed out players who are likely to be doing either.

Many players don't stop playing once they're maxed. Sure, there's no benefit to doing so, but people still rank hunt.

Edited January 2, 2011 by Laura

[mister_moocky]

If a player can open all effigies and gets 40k xp from the lamp you'd get 130k total non combat xp per effigy, bringing the cost down to a reasonable 11.5 gp/xp using your figure of 1.5m cost per hour. So while it's a decent method for players looking to get max total it's really not reasonable if you're just looking for rc xp. Also I think it's safe to presume there are many combat-based players who would willingly pay 8-10 gp/xp for fast runecrafting xp that lack the skills to open effigies; effigy hunting won't eclipse rc running simply because of its exclusivity.

[Vex]

To be competitive I have a feeling you'll be paying a lot more than 8-10gp/xp using runners. That's about 450xp for 26 ess(based on 17.5xp avg per ess crafted(lvl 80)), which means you are paying them 4500 gp a trade (2x 13 ess trades).

 

If you paid them I think the previous mentioned figures were 20k or so for a trade, the 26 ess. Then you minus the profit made from the runes which I think is ~4000 on average. So 35gp/xp @ level 80 paying 20,000 for 26 ess.

 

However the runner is only earning 16000 gp if they provide the essence. If you provide the essence then any runes crafted would cancel out the essence cost. Making it 43gp/xp.

[tuggernongy]

I can't bring myself to ZMI much now since it's purely just for XP (No/very small amounts of GP is earnt) and it's the same repetitive clicking process over and over again.

 

 

Actually, ZMI is pretty decent profit at higher levels (compared to doing other forms of RC like abyss deaths / bloods or graahking nats.). Last time i was at ZMI doing 1 minute laps was ~10k a lap, for an easy 600k an hour. Compare that to the 700k or whatever graahking is nowadays, or the slightly more for abyss deaths / bloods, and at high levels doing anything other than ZMI for RC that doesn't cost you is pointless (assuming you don't want to just level with assists).

[pulli23]

I can't bring myself to ZMI much now since it's purely just for XP (No/very small amounts of GP is earnt) and it's the same repetitive clicking process over and over again.

 

 

Actually, ZMI is pretty decent profit at higher levels (compared to doing other forms of RC like abyss deaths / bloods or graahking nats.). Last time i was at ZMI doing 1 minute laps was ~10k a lap, for an easy 600k an hour. Compare that to the 700k or whatever graahking is nowadays, or the slightly more for abyss deaths / bloods, and at high levels doing anything other than ZMI for RC that doesn't cost you is pointless (assuming you don't want to just level with assists).

Compare that to 2007 when natures went for 300-350 each. And you could make 900k an hour abbys-double-nats.

 

And take inflation into account!

[Vex]

I can't bring myself to ZMI much now since it's purely just for XP (No/very small amounts of GP is earnt) and it's the same repetitive clicking process over and over again.

 

 

Actually, ZMI is pretty decent profit at higher levels (compared to doing other forms of RC like abyss deaths / bloods or graahking nats.). Last time i was at ZMI doing 1 minute laps was ~10k a lap, for an easy 600k an hour. Compare that to the 700k or whatever graahking is nowadays, or the slightly more for abyss deaths / bloods, and at high levels doing anything other than ZMI for RC that doesn't cost you is pointless (assuming you don't want to just level with assists).

 

10k profit on your essence, or 10k worth of runes (ie not subtracting the cost of ess)? I thought 250-300k profit was max for 99 RC at ZMI.

[Owned_Nex]

I can't bring myself to ZMI much now since it's purely just for XP (No/very small amounts of GP is earnt) and it's the same repetitive clicking process over and over again.

 

 

Actually, ZMI is pretty decent profit at higher levels (compared to doing other forms of RC like abyss deaths / bloods or graahking nats.). Last time i was at ZMI doing 1 minute laps was ~10k a lap, for an easy 600k an hour. Compare that to the 700k or whatever graahking is nowadays, or the slightly more for abyss deaths / bloods, and at high levels doing anything other than ZMI for RC that doesn't cost you is pointless (assuming you don't want to just level with assists).

 

10k profit on your essence, or 10k worth of runes (ie not subtracting the cost of ess)? I thought 250-300k profit was max for 99 RC at ZMI.

 

Number does look high. I've never heard of 600k/h ZMI before.

[Waffleh]

I would run laws and natures. I wouldn't get cash, just the runes, and it was totally worth it. I still have about 600 laws left, and I've never actually bought laws as far as I can remember.

 

Hell, I would still probably run nats now that I use them a lot more, even though I have enough money to pay for them. Running was a lot of fun. And superheating is a lot more satisfying when you are using free runes.

[kapeg90]

Yeah I can see that coming back, such things as Law Running and Airs and stuff. I suppose it's a good thing for people to train Runecrafting.

 

It'll be useful for ZMI haha :D