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Tip.It Times - 12th June 2011


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Time for a new release of the: >>>Tip.It Times!<<<

 

I'd like to remind people of the rules pertaining to Times threads:

 

[hide=Read these rules before posting in this thread]

Rampant flame wars have taken control of virtually every week's times discussion topics. The following guidelines must be followed when posting on this topic. Posts that ignore these guidelines will be removed.

 

1. You are invited and welcome to express like or dislike on articles and a particular author's writing style. It is not acceptable, however, to flame or personally insult an author. Posts that aren't anything but an attack will be removed from the topic.

 

2. Spelling and grammar errors can be reported to Racheya by PMing her and they will be fixed promptly. It is not necessary to post them on the discussion topic.

 

3. Off topic posts that do not discuss the content of that week's articles will be removed. This is not the place to discuss the direction of the times, how much you love or hate the times, etc. Off topic posts will be removed.

 

By keeping within these guidelines, Times discussion topics will mean more for the Panel and Administration than just a place for flame wars. Flame wars do not provide any useful feedback to the Times, which is mainly what we're aiming for with these topics: feedback.

 

This policy is effective as of now, November 17, 2010. Any posts prior to the creation of this policy may or may not be removed according to the new guidelines.

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When replying please make sure to clarify the article you are replying to! Thanks!

 

If you spot any typos or mistakes in the article then please PM them to me or @Racheya :)

 

Enjoy the articles!

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- 99 fletching | 99 thieving | 99 construction | 99 herblore | 99 smithing | 99 woodcutting -

- 99 runecrafting - 99 prayer - 125 combat - 95 farming -

- Blog - DeviantART - Book Reviews & Blog

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I liked the first one.

 

The second... no. Both numbers of password combinations are too high to be guessed unless the password is a word or something. I don't think they understand password security well. The bigger problem is that they are trying to link runescape and facebook, while facebook sends passwords over an unencrypted connection (http vs https). Any script kiddy in a public library can hack someone's facebook account, and this can now extend to runescape also, if the two are linked.

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A third article has been added: Does RuneScape Have a Pro-Melee Bias? Part 2

 

Sorry for the delay on that one :)

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- 99 fletching | 99 thieving | 99 construction | 99 herblore | 99 smithing | 99 woodcutting -

- 99 runecrafting - 99 prayer - 125 combat - 95 farming -

- Blog - DeviantART - Book Reviews & Blog

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It may just be my attitude about the day, but it seems to have carried over into my thoughts on the articles: BLAH.

 

I know the writers worked hard on these articles, but I am apathetic about the topics.

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Maybe it's just because I have maxed combat stats and gear as well as lots of experience with different builds, but it seems apparent that the author of the 3rd article is very lacking in general combat knowledge and presents flawed examples. You can't compare two players without prayers or familiars and then insist on factoring Summoning and Prayer into the equation, giving the two players different levels in them.

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It may just be my attitude about the day, but it seems to have carried over into my thoughts on the articles: BLAH.

 

I know the writers worked hard on these articles, but I am apathetic about the topics.

That's ok, really... Thats why we have more than one writer, with more than one subject to write about...

 

Try next week, see if there's anything to your liking then :)

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@The Second Article

 

There are currently ~13,800,295,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (13.8 nonillion or 13.8x1031) possible combinations of passwords between 5 to 20 digits. In my opinion, there is no shortage of passwords. With the 95 possible characters for a single digit you have suggested, this would become ~3,620,004,230,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (3.62 duodecillion or 3.62x1039). On the note of recovery questions, those should always be gibberish anyway. My favorite vacation spot may very well be frisbie1417shamrock9001tiger42, for example (it's not my answer, dw). I wouldn't mind if all those characters were to be added, but it's certainly not necessary if you have letters and numbers in at least a 10 digit password. Unless you have a keylogger, get phished, or tell your password to someone, it's highly unlikely you will be hacked. Overall, the article was an interesting read and I hope to see more articles from you in the future :smile:.

Player since 2004. All skills 1M+ XP.

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Unless you have a keylogger, get phished, or tell your password to someone, it's highly unlikely you will be hacked.

This. It is nearly impossible to get hacked if you don't do the three things mentioned above.

 

The chances of a bruteforcer trying to hack your specific account, and your password being in their dictionary or within bruteforcing practical time-limit are close to 0%.

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I can't really comment on the first article, due to my lack of experience with some of the quests, but it does seem pretty accurate from what I HAVE seen. And as short as ernest the chicken? Really? That's really, really bad.

 

The second article is very disjointed. I don't think that the author realizes that the hacks that occured at these major companies were very sophisticated, high end deals; I seriously doubt somebody would put that much effort into hacking an rs account (excepting, perhaps, a merch pure with multiple maxed cash piles, something along those lines; of which, I, nor most of Runescape players, are). The real issue is that, should a hack like that occur to Jagex, the passwords, personal information, credit card information, etc., of hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of players could be compromised. Then, our REAL money could be at stake, and numerous accounts could be lost. This is, of course, assuming that somebody would do that. I remember reading in a newspost (can't remember when) that Jagex uses a very sophisticated, above standard encryption program to prevent just that, and that all password and especially credit card entries use a secure connection and are encrypted thusly. This further adds to the security. So, all in all, I can't see it becoming a huge issue; worst case scenario, Jagex would likely freeze all accounts until the issue had been solved.

 

As for the last article, the high melee defences on melee armor versus ranged and magic armour arise, somewhat logically, from the ability of the archer or mage to attack from a distance. Mages have the ability to freeze their opponents to prevent them from moving, rangers lack this; but, I think that these statistics were implemented with PvM combat, not so much PvP, in mind. This is because many melee (emphasis on the melee here) monsters can be safespotted in some way. So, as far as PvP goes, it is somewhat unbalanced (although I'm terrible at PvP, so I'm a little less credible on the subject), but in PvM, there is some logic.

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Deadliest catch was supposed to be master level? :roll: Really could have fooled me... That was the simplest quest I've seen in a while.

 

I'd definitely have to agree that RS leans toward melee. Just look at the fact that Castle wars has no ranger or mage sets & that there are only 4 types of boots designed for rangers ( frog, snake, spined & ranger ) while melee has one in each metal , rockshell & Bandos & it's pretty obvious who's favored. Heck even super poison delivered from a dragon dagger or spear does more damage than the same poison delivered by an arrow or bolt.

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The second article is very disjointed. I don't think that the author realizes that the hacks that occured at these major companies were very sophisticated, high end deals; I seriously doubt somebody would put that much effort into hacking an rs account (excepting, perhaps, a merch pure with multiple maxed cash piles, something along those lines; of which, I, nor most of Runescape players, are). The real issue is that, should a hack like that occur to Jagex, the passwords, personal information, credit card information, etc., of hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of players could be compromised. Then, our REAL money could be at stake, and numerous accounts could be lost. This is, of course, assuming that somebody would do that. I remember reading in a newspost (can't remember when) that Jagex uses a very sophisticated, above standard encryption program to prevent just that, and that all password and especially credit card entries use a secure connection and are encrypted thusly. This further adds to the security. So, all in all, I can't see it becoming a huge issue; worst case scenario, Jagex would likely freeze all accounts until the issue had been solved.

 

 

Hacks do happen, but usually of the low sort. Look at that recent player who lost quite a sum of money after years of hoarding, or the pure F2Per who got hacked and ended up in members a while back. Then there's the infamous mass hack of many, many accounts who used a bot program, all adding up in the billions. It's certainly true Runescape is yet to be hit with a "high end deal" attack.

 

I wouldn't put too much trust on such a newspost about having sophisticated encryption programs. This is the company that said they had detection programs ready to combat bots when free trade returned.

 

But Runescape is pretty much in the bottom of the rung when it comes to being a target. WoW is more likely.

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Deadliest Catch was a joke. And also a blatant ripoff from an excellent TV show. The only thing that's worse is the large amount of hype for a quest that's only worth doing for the handsome reward.

 

I am also very much in agreement with (and enjoying) the "Does RS have a Melee Bias" series. I believe the writer is showing good examples and making their point with lots of sound evidence.

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If you only have a 5 digit password, well, you deserve to be hacked. Why not just have at least a 10 digit password? You get a HUGE jump in security. I just used a random password generator for mine and memorized it; I even cycle through my passwords every couple of months. Keep your recovery questions up to date, have a bank pin that isn't 1111, and you should have plenty of security. That is, as long as you don't get keylogged, etc. But even then, you should be able to recover your account for whatever reason. If you are extra paranoid, you can even bank all your valuables before you logout in case you do get hacked.

 

Just the other day I logged on and someone had apparently "guessed" my password (really no idea how they got on my account) and tried to cancel my bank PIN. Luckily I logged in and cancelled the cancel before it canceled (lol). I ran some malware/spyware and virus scans, changed my password, my bank PIN, updated my recovery questions, and I was once again as secure as I could be. icon_thumbsu.gif

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The issue that the first article addresses would be easily remedied if someone at Jagex just spent an hour or two reallocating the quest tiers. Deadliest Catch was an intermediate quest.

~ W ~

 

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Deadliest Catch definitely isn't master level. I don't understand why someone put such high requirements on it, it doesn't fit the quest. I guess they just wanted to give away huge xp rewards to make up for the lack of a good quest, shame that's not how satisfying questers work.

 

 

 

On the issue of security, I still don't believe there are actual Runescape account "hackers" out there. Just because someone says he did everything to stay secure doesn't mean he did. If you have a strong password you change every few months, recovery questions where the answers are just passwords and not actual answers, and no keyloggers or didn't fall for phishing attempts then your account should really be secure. No one puts the amount of effort needed for a real hack into some random Runescape account. Runescape's profile is too low to be worthwhile to attack(unless someone should manage to get the information of a large number of accounts). Btw: Chessy got hacked because someone got personal information of her on another site she was on. Her own fault.

The only issue I can really agree with is that linking with Facebook DID make Runescape accounts a lot less secure.

 

 

 

Melee-Bias: I generally like your article, but you don't put enough effort into actually making your examples comparable. Yes, a mage's armour is crap, that's why there are neat spells like snare or ancient ice spells. Mages are supposed to be farcasters. Same for rangers, they can't freeze their opponents but they can still attack from a distance. More pieces of equipment don't necessarily make a combat style better, etc. etc.

You compare those different aspects but you don't exactly check how it affects the specific fighter. If Ranged had the max hits of melee, it would be overpowered. If Mage armour would protect against melee as good as melee armour protects against ranged, it would be overpowered.

Regarding how Magic damage and accuracy is calculated: Magic damage is just dependent on the type of spell you use, including any staff effects and a 3% damage boost per *boosted* level. Accuracy is dependent on your level and your magic attack. I think that's about it. I can't give your exact numbers for everything of course, but you don't really need them, do you?

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@Melee-Bias article:

 

I don't see why people are still trying to prove something, which has been proven to be true a million times by thousands of people. Runescape is melee-based. End of story.

 

@Safety article: I don't see the need for extra safety measures. People forget that (almost) all cases of account hacking etc. are basically human faults. Maybe it's that site you visited, or your anti-virus is outdated. And the answers to your recovery questions: e.g. "In what year were you born?", or, "Where do you live?" - sometimes people just post them on Youtube

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If you only have a 5 digit password, well, you deserve to be hacked. Why not just have at least a 10 digit password? You get a HUGE jump in security. I just used a random password generator for mine and memorized it; I even cycle through my passwords every couple of months. Keep your recovery questions up to date, have a bank pin that isn't 1111, and you should have plenty of security. That is, as long as you don't get keylogged, etc. But even then, you should be able to recover your account for whatever reason. If you are extra paranoid, you can even bank all your valuables before you logout in case you do get hacked.

 

Just the other day I logged on and someone had apparently "guessed" my password (really no idea how they got on my account) and tried to cancel my bank PIN. Luckily I logged in and cancelled the cancel before it canceled (lol). I ran some malware/spyware and virus scans, changed my password, my bank PIN, updated my recovery questions, and I was once again as secure as I could be. icon_thumbsu.gif

Lol you should check your random password generator.

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I hate to be a troll, but the second part of the melee bias series has as many faults as the first (I suspect they were submitted together so I don't blame that the feedback from last week hasn't been included)

 

I was quite annoyed that you said there wasnt a decent breakdown of how magic damage or accuracy works. There is a very good breakdown and has been for 8 years on how it works: each spell has a max hit, while accuracy is determined by mage stat and mage bonus. More recently mage damage is modified by mage damage % bonus (which DOES increase with several of the higher staffs, as well as potiont). Mage defence is 70% mage stat, 30% def stat, and is increased by mage defence bonus: unless you also have a good mage level just wearing ranged armour isnt enough (there is also a link between agility and ranged defence, but I've never heard of anyone reliably measuring it; i suspect is is less than 10%). Still, agreed melee armour is a clear advantage in most cases, especially with prayer.

 

As for the imbalance of the potions: Ranged potions make more difference than att or str pots, in spite of being a smaller boost. while strength only moderately increases your damage, the relation between damage and ranged level is much more closely coupled.

 

One small note (one that has been missing from the manual since they started showing ranged str): the type of bow ALSO affects damage. The manual used to say as much, but the proof lies in the almost unused longbows. A longbow has identical stats to its equivilant shortbow but hits harder.

 

I'm hoping in the next releases you address two of the biggest reasons WHY melee is biased: The fact that you can wear all the armour in the world and still run as fast as a mage or ranger; and the fact that rangers and mages have such a short range that you can rush into melee range faster than they can fire 1 shot. the real power of bows over armour in real life was the ability to fire from 100s of yards away, with unaimed volleys of skilled longbowmen capable of firing as far as a mile away from a castle wall, shots with enough power to go through even plate armour. In the time it took even a horseman to close that distance, you could have fired a dozen shots or more and be thoroughly tired. The cross between videogame logic and real world logic as you rightly put it: the stats are balanced for a long ranged shooting sniper: but the actual range is so short I can (and have) throw a shotput further than my handcannon can fire it.

 

As promised last week: I'm not all talk: if you agree that melee is biased there is a suggestion that may help improve things on [qfc]185-186-110-62880600[/qfc]. Whether Jagex actually pays attention is a different matter, but I've had suggestions accepted before: it's down to getting the attention of a Jmod :P

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"I hate it when my target's die laughing, makes me think my fly is open or something"

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In response to the second article, just no. Check it out:

passwordvy.png

 

Brute force attack on my password would take SIXTEEN YEARS to work. This is a twelve character password with eight letters and four numbers, no symbols at all.

 

 

There is quite literally zero need for more password variety. I'll let you know my truecrypt password (since you won't be having my computer or my key file :wink:)

 

quiscustodietipsoscustodes1123

 

At the same site, I get 6 nonillion years.

 

 

6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years, to be exact.

 

 

Never been hacked, don't plan on it. I run MWB and MSE daily and never visit any link I'm not sure of, never click any emails I don't know, and never download any torrents I'm not (pretty) sure about. However, there are a few ways to literally be hacked as in not just me being a [wagon] and letting them know my pass, I mean being watched by a program, or being wifi-sniffed, RATS, etc. Very rare though, and generally not happening for Runescape crap.

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@Hamtaro, Big Stingman, and Nomrombom, by your logic, it would be perfectly fine to have passwords that are in binary, because 111101001010101010101011110101000001010101010111111101010100000010101010101010101111111110101010101010111111110000110001010010101110100110101110101110101011010100101011110101101101011001010101110 is just as secure as any good password.

 

Face it, it's a lot easier to add in symbols and numbers.

 

Nomrombom, my password that is 50% shorter is apparently 4456% more secure, because as a windows password, I can use symbols and numbers.

 

 

 

Also, and what is up with that "[consider elaborating]"? If the writers so rushed they can't even remove editorial comments, they should get 2 weeks to write articles. Personally, I found the Pro-Melee bias article a good start, but lacking focus and elaboration, as the bracketes showed.

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binary passwords lol, I like it

 

Interestingly, the biggest fault in these "how secure is your password" calculations is they assume people know how LONG your password is. I could have a password of "." and it's just as secure as a hundred letter chain simply because it is still just 1 possible combination, just as "YoudOnTspEllT3hasT3hunlessYouusedToSayTehLots!!!1!!1!" is just one combination. if every brute forcer was going to start with every 1 letter combination first then yes it's very bad, but do they start with 1 because it's easy? do they start with 5 because it's common? It's not only about the security of your password, but of all passwords possible.

 

As for your pc security: don't get complacent thinking you are secure. I run 2 (good) antispywares and a decent antivirus, do regular manual checks in key locations, registry and process checks, and I knew more about computers 15 years ago than most will know in their lives. Even I get something breaking through sometimes, it just means I'm much better equipped to deal with it before it becomes a problem. The last 2 major ones i had, believe it or not, came in through microsoft update (they arent 100% secure either and they have more resources than me), and being a microsoft product when the antispywares tried to stop it the windows defender decided that the antispywares were a threat and killed them. I was lucky enough to notice it real time (first thing I did was pull out the network cable and go standalone) and I was lucky to be able to fight it off but it does happen. I had a friend who was less lucky: swore blindly his Norton 360 said he was clean. After much bullying and getting some antispywares that were actually worth their binary he turned out to have 74 different spywares. Never trust a single antispyware fully: there are more people writting malicious code than are writing defensive code. In this age where we have increasingly powerful PCs (except for you laptop users) it is worth the tiny performance impact to have that extra layer of protection

Creater of QuestRanker

 

"I hate it when my target's die laughing, makes me think my fly is open or something"

-Me

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Comp cape might encourage shorter easier quest for people wanting to get cape back asap - i think they stopped with long list of items for quest about over a year ago... i kinda like it that way- the objective thing now shows the reward+ items needed sorta like every other mmo sorta.....but atleast it will prevent "omfg i got this far and need 3 iron bars and some logs??"

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Comp cape might encourage shorter easier quest for people wanting to get cape back asap - i think they stopped with long list of items for quest about over a year ago... i kinda like it that way- the objective thing now shows the reward+ items needed sorta like every other mmo sorta.....but atleast it will prevent "omfg i got this far and need 3 iron bars and some logs??"

 

It is annoying having to go back and forth between the bank and a quest area because you keep needing more items, but tbh i prefer it over being spoonfed everything. A quest is supposed to consist of an adventurer helping someone who cannot help themselves, and not an idiot being taken advantage of by someone who's too lazy to do a simple job.

 

A good quest is one where you to think, and do things on your own. Look at mep2, for instance. You need to recharge the defenses of the temple of light. Are you told how? No. Is Arianwyn following you everywhere, so you can ask him for help if you get stuck? No. When Thorgel wants you to get him supplies, he actually wants you to gather supplies and bring them to him, not deliver a pre-made package via Postie Pete.

 

And also, the reward for quests, especially those with complex storylines, is meant to be and added bonus in addition to the satisfaction of completing a quest and advancing the plot of the game. It is not supposed to make up for the xp lost doing the quest instead of training, and it is definitely not supposed to be the goal. Showing the reward at the beginning makes doing the quest for the sake of doing the quest pointless.

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As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapabale of solving approaches zero.

Ensure you are not a social situation.

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Y'know, I've always thought magical orbs would be a lot better than staves. Have the character hold, say, the orb of fire, for an increased defence against the opposite element (water) and infinite fire runes. That would circumvent the attack req completely.

 

Staff of light? Just make a really funk kind of orb with a metal frame. You could clobber someone with it, but that wouldn't be very effective when it's clearly brimming with Icyene magic.

I'm not an efficienado.

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