Jump to content

Tip.It Times - 7th April 2013


tripsis

Recommended Posts

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

 

 

callingwriters.jpg

 

WRITE FOR THE TIMES - SUBMIT A GUEST ARTICLE:

Remember, YOU can write an article for the Tip.It Times! You can apply to write full time, or just submit a "one-off" guest article any time you want! Our editors will work with you to ensure that your article is ready for publication. All guest articles can be submitted to @tripsis or any other Editorial Panel member. For more information, including details on how to apply full time, read this forum thread: http://forum.tip.it/topic/209138-how-to-write-for-the-tipit-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 tripsis 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.

[/hide]

 

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

 

If you spot any typos or mistakes in an article then please PM them to @tripsis. :)

 

Enjoy the articles!

Posted Image

 

- 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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Two 3 or Not 2 Three

 

"Weapons and armor have no consistent numerical values attributed them."

It's almost like you have no idea what you're talking about, on this point. Everything scales quite logically. Balance has never been better. Of course if you like your level 70 melee 1-handed weapons to have higher DPS than your level 75 2h GODswords and EVERY OTHER THING in the game, I guess you would prefer 07 combat.

 

It's almost as if people always considered combat a chore and just wanted to have a single effective solution to it like everything else.

Maybe if people took the time to educate themselves about EoC instead of crying about how different it is, so many people wouldn't hate it...

Person A plays tutorial for 5 minutes and decides it's too different to be good. Person A tells person B, "Hey this sucks!" Person B tells person C "EoC sucks!" and it goes on and on in a continuous pattern of ignorance and aversion to change...

It's certainly not perfect but that's the reason that there are vast weekly changes - to get it to a point that it can be called a finished product, superior to the original.

 

I do however agree that skilling will always be a grind. And that I will never have a max cape, even in RS3 (tear).

The rest of these points aren't really an advantage of either game, but of time and development (as referenced somewhat accurately in the article).

  • Like 5

2dgucz6.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In regards to Two 3 or Not 2 Three, I have a mixed opinion. I can understand comparing various game features and the end message of playing what you feel is best, but the delivery was a tad too cynical/abrasive. Referring to 2 and 3 as an 'inert work-simulator' and a 'pay-to-win pissing contest' from the outset doesn't cast a good light on the rest of the article to come, as it comes off as a kind of attack on both sides of the argument. Also, while the numerical system in the EOC does look intimidating at first, one can understand how attacking and defending work in numerical terms by simply studying it, as one would have to do to understand combat statistics in the previous version as well. And the values on armor and weapons, as well as abilities, are in no way 'misleading', but are simply more aligned along the combat triangle than before.

 

On The Sixth Age, I agree with the intrigue of the player his/herself being the driving force behind events, and I do wonder if Jagex will implement a system in which choices made in future quests have more impact on your continued journey than aesthetics or certain people not talking to you. I too am anticipating what is to come.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Two 3 or Not 2 Three

 

RuneScape 3, on the other hand, is far too easy. Most skills can be trained AFK and amount to no achievement (regardless of how minuscule) whatsoever. They’re hardly anything worth noting. Anyway, RuneScape is still the same old same old regardless of what might be implied in this article. Skills have never been a strongpoint of fun for the game and they probably never will be.

 

How utterly presumptuous and subjectively self-serving. This bias discounts so much of the history of the fansite community. I mean, you've got to be kidding me, Hamtaro. Did you forget the silly furor some players blasted over server-side offering bones on guilded altars? I mean, really, are repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) are worth faster xp/hr? I've had some RSIs before... and I don't think they are fun. That's the only thing I can think of on the suggestions that skilling should have more skill than the new interfaces: "Dear Jagex, more RSIs like we used to have, please."

 

I was amazed to see qeltar echoing these sentiments at the Runescoop (previously Truthscape) closed forum (thanks again, Alg). I used to admire his commentary and meticulous guides, but I find it difficult to respect him now joining such a sweeping and childish statement. It smacks of "I am a bored, self-entitled brat who is just going to whine regardless." I am not suggesting that Charles M. Kozierok is a brat, but I am suggesting his view could be considered to enable players that complain like brats. Really now... a complaint of not having time to socialize and be distracted? I don't think that's what you would want if the next breath is "it's too easy now" instead of "oh, now I can socialize and be distracted." Two complaints, but not one solution.

 

There never was a grand strategy in skilling that I can recall... and I strongly question that removes the idea of fun. I am one who sometimes found it delightfully mind-numbing in all its grinding. Unless you want to talk about merchanting having some strategy... but that's not what I'd call skilling. This community seems to have forgotten about other playing styles in this EoC, this emphasis on combat.

 

Players now have the choice to play the broken, pay-to-win pissing contest known as RuneScape 3 or the inert work-simulator known as RuneScape 2.

 

Was Jagex's broad hint of "a certain fansite has been leaking passwords for some time now" in a seemingly forgotten news release some years back not enough? Oh yes, it's my tired old "yes indeed, Andrew Gower really did threaten Tip.It with a lawsuit over a Times article." I still think w13 of Zybez/RSC was a coward to rabbit punch Tip.It here ("we aren't like them" or some nonsense), but I am really dismayed when I see Times authors forget that although implied, Jagex gave Tip.It a stinging rebuke. Apparently enough was done to smooth things over, to improve, and to get the special "Platinum Fansite" badge, but I find such tones like yours arrogant... especially since the name of the fansite of that cowardly accuser is still filtered out in-game. There is no gratitude, nor humility. Why? Shall Tip.It remain a voice for the vocal minority of Whiny Little Brats? I think the community here can do much better, I really do. I think you in particular can do better, too.

 

Ironically, I can still recall how lambasted stormveritas was about his "no more minigames" statements in his articles. But I know he likes Player-Owned Ports very much, and... well, I've already said that structure might be the future of skilling. Is it too much to ask to suggest alternatives, and explain how Jagex might employ them, rather than effete whining about what you find broken?

 

@The Sixth Age - The Age of YOU

 

A pleasant read. Please keep writing, Dracae, and thank your editors. Speaking of editing, Hawks, I would ask for a small consideration and request on formatting: the First Age... Sixth Age segment might have done well with slightly larger font and a list indent. Maybe the "The one who lost the most" could use a blockquote indent, too. The bolding (and italics) are a nice touch, really, but such are my suggestions to make them stand out a bit more.

 

Oh, and I found "since most of us (when playing a game) want to think we are the most important thing since sliced bread" one of the most hilarious things I've read all day. So true... although most games ARE set up that way, The World Wakes stated it in such an obvious manner.

 

But at least sliced bread doesn't whine as much as some players do...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Last things first :

I do appreciate the efforts made by the editors!

Practicing won't make my articles perfect, though, English will never be totally automatic for me, but on the other hand I am not dissatisfied with it, or I would not send these articles in. .. besides, what is perfection.. maybe a good subject for an other article, or a hook to go to the feature..

I do not think our current game is perfect, but it is a hell of a lot better then 07. Jagex HAS made a lot of progress and grown, changed with the times. Grinding the way we had to in the old days can not be expected anymore from players, wile a game and its skills should also not be too easy.

I disagree with Hamtaro here, and think Jagex got it reasonably balanced. Not for all skills, but in general. If you compare RS to the big competitor it still takes a lot longer to 'max', where 'lot 'is an understatement.

JAgex has said the amount of time it takes to do everything on RS remains about the same, with individual things getting easier but also new things and skills being added. I think they are overstating that a little, since RS is probably getting a bit easier to max, but not by so much that stats and achievements loose value.

That is just the skills, combat is a whole different puppy, it got more involving, in some ways harder and in others easier, but not necessarily worst. I do miss some old features, like protection prayers, and some of the simplicity, but the new found respect for the triangle makes up for this.

Specially with regards to pk-ing I think the problem with EOC is not really with the system, but with a part of the pk-ers and their attitudes.

A part of the pk-er community wants things easy, wants fast rewards and thrills. Change is not easy and the new system certainly takes time to learn and master, so they choose to hate it instead of owning it. With 07 they now have the chance to do so and still play.

I have said this before: the best pk-ers I know are still just that: the best, because what makes them the best is their ability to do a lot of things at once , and fast. It is the onedimensional pkers ( click and eat ) in my clan who have a harder time.

 

All that being said, I am less opposed to 07 then I was at first, for a very selfish reason: almost all my friends and clanmates are still around in the real game and some that left long ago even came back for a bit to play 07... although most are gone again already.

Wile I do not agree with Hamtaro on his conclusions, the article should provide a lot of discussion... even if I really should stop discussing 07 vs 13... The title is also rather brilliant , took me 2 or..3 times reading it to get it, but then it made me snicker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't usually post here, but thought it might be time I throw in my hat.

 

Two 3 or Not 2 Three:

 

I'm afraid more then anything, this reads as some one trying to pass off their opinion as a solid fact. Not saying there aren't some valid points presented, but it all adds up basically to a negative listing of game attributes based on his views coming to an opinion based "Winner". More then anything, this article comes across to me as some one who is very unhappy with the entire game, and doing their best to make sure that others feel the same way. I would have to disagree with pretty much every "Winner" statement. I found it a very disappointing read.

 

The Sixth Age - The Age Of You

 

An interesting read, it is definitely what Jagex is promising the players. Only time will tell if that's what it actually shapes up to be.

  • Like 2

o4qq.png

My Pure F2P Blog: CLICK ME

6th Maintainer of the Pure F2P Highscores / The Top 250 F2P Skill Total Lists : May 16th, 2012 - March 30th, 2014.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"the broken, pay-to-win pissing contest known as RuneScape 3..."

 

Might as well have stopped reading right there as it was painflly obvious the author has no clue what they're writing about and just wants to rant their frustration at not understanding the way the game is changing.

 

I would say "Worst. Article. Ever." but it's not quite as embarassing as the pathetic deification of Suomi in early February.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I disagree with the quests thing. I really liked RS quests, they are IMO one of the game's strongest points. Detailed, not dumbed down, requiring you to go all over the world, with a nice helping of quirky humour.

 

However, the last two grandmaster quests have me worried; both the Brink of Extinction and The World Wakes involve the player running through a series of rooms which you never have to leave. Where's the sense of grand adventure that epics like WGS and BoD gave? (and maybe One Small Favour? No? :P )

 

Also, the combat in quests has been severely scaled down. Nomad was brilliant in that regard. Yes the EoC made Nomad laughably easy (as a byproduct of completely eradicating high level combat content), but I want to see quest bosses that are a challenge. This is admittedly a pointless request as I cannot see how any EoC combat content can be made even vaguely difficult without applying arbitrarily large amounts of HP/damage.

 

The bosses in TWW were just bleurgh. Those new mechanics they had in comparison to the current GWD bosses? I only saw Kril's - Kree and Graardor died before they used anything new.

 

So, I'd say RS2 wins out on quests.

Asmodean <3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wanted to comment on one of these for a long time. I might as well now.

 

Two 3 or Not 2 Three:

 

Okay....a painful read at best. These comparison articles tend to go that route anyway.

 

The Sixth Age:

The Age of [charname] was something I guessed as soon as I beat TWW. I'm looking forward to see how Jagex decide to fulfill their promise of player choice

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"the broken, pay-to-win pissing contest known as RuneScape 3..."

 

Might as well have stopped reading right there as it was painflly obvious the author has no clue what they're writing about and just wants to rant their frustration at not understanding the way the game is changing.

 

I would say "Worst. Article. Ever." but it's not quite as embarassing as the pathetic deification of Suomi in early February.

 

Well it is pay to win. And people have threads full of content broken by the EoC that still isn't fixed 6 months+ later. Not sure about the pissing contest bit, but you can't argue that EoC isn't a broken, pay2win game and expect people to keep a straight face. Hell they even used the phrase "Spin to win" in the most recent RWTscape update.

Asmodean <3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, the combat in quests has been severely scaled down. Nomad was brilliant in that regard. Yes the EoC made Nomad laughably easy (as a byproduct of completely eradicating high level combat content), but I want to see quest bosses that are a challenge. This is admittedly a pointless request as I cannot see how any EoC combat content can be made even vaguely difficult without applying arbitrarily large amounts of HP/damage.

I think they sort of prevented themselves from being able to balance the game when they tied equipment stats to an exponential equation; you could balance combat so that it's challenging for the average player (70-75 armor, 80 weapons) but it will be laughably easy for the high-level community (80+ armor and occasionally 90 weapons), or they could balance it for high levels and make it nearly impossible for everyone else (If you try to do Brink of Extinction and you don't have level 80-90 gear... You're gonna have a bad time). It's especially noteworthy because, as of this post, you can't make up for weak gear with high stats.

 

This is a problem they had pre-EoC as well. On the day of Nomad's release you had players in the absolute best gear available complaining that it was too easy, but for the rest of the community he was the hardest boss in the game. Power creep took care of the rest.

 

It would be interesting if they made more bosses based around puzzles/tactics, where your gear doesn't really matter too much as long as you don't screw up. Char seems to have been an attempt at this; you could fight her and win without armor or weapons, but having it essentially acted as a safety net.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem with Char is that her mechanics broke in EoC so that she does so much damage now, for people without armor.

 

At any rate, hopefully the stat EoC stuff will fix this up a bit more.

Serena_Sedai.png
Maxed since Sunday, January 9th, 2014
Completionist since Wednesday, June 4th, 2014

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Char is perhaps the only (quest-)boss who've gotten tougher to beat since EoC in comparison of Pre-EoC. And she was already a tough boss to begin with!

 

Only perhaps the DKings, but that was merely a small oversight that got fixed now.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be?~ Marianne Williamson

 

For account help/issues, please follow this link:

Account Help

. If you need further assistance, do not hesitate to PM me or post here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with Alg on the balancing problem, and it has indeed been around a long time and discussed before. They overdid themselves by making the GWD the biggest, baddest place in the game, dominated by an elite, high level team community that pretty much owned the lootshare worlds and organized hours long boss trips, while those who couldn't afford the best had to make due with what they had. Then anything comparable that was released needed a bone-crackingly hard quest or another boss, or both. Then it became a tug of war between the highest leveled people seeking challenge and the lower leveled people not wanting to be shunted aside. Even with the EOC working to repair the misbalance of the combat triangle, I agree that bosses need to become more like ones in Dungeoneering, less stats and more tactics/maneuvers. This is a better avenue towards a high difficulty level than adding raw stats.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Two 3 or Not 2 Three

 

"Weapons and armor have no consistent numerical values attributed them."

It's almost like you have no idea what you're talking about, on this point. Everything scales quite logically. Balance has never been better. Of course if you like your level 70 melee 1-handed weapons to have higher DPS than your level 75 2h GODswords and EVERY OTHER THING in the game, I guess you would prefer 07 combat.

 

It's almost as if people always considered combat a chore and just wanted to have a single effective solution to it like everything else.

Maybe if people took the time to educate themselves about EoC instead of crying about how different it is, so many people wouldn't hate it...

Person A plays tutorial for 5 minutes and decides it's too different to be good. Person A tells person B, "Hey this sucks!" Person B tells person C "EoC sucks!" and it goes on and on in a continuous pattern of ignorance and aversion to change...

It's certainly not perfect but that's the reason that there are vast weekly changes - to get it to a point that it can be called a finished product, superior to the original.

 

I do however agree that skilling will always be a grind. And that I will never have a max cape, even in RS3 (tear).

The rest of these points aren't really an advantage of either game, but of time and development (as referenced somewhat accurately in the article).

 

I agree completely with what Blutters wrote about the EoC.

 

However, I'd like to add something to his remarks on skilling. As a person who is big on skilling, I want to describe what it is that I like about it. Skilling does have a certain grind to it. I cannot argue with that. But what I like is finding a way to work quickly and efficiently. Finding the most efficient way to train a skill is part of the fun. It's also fun for me to make decisions on whether I want to spend coins on a skill or save my coins but spend more time training the skill. This is just my testimonial on skilling, I'm sure others will chime in as well.

 

Regardless of whether or not I agree with the comparisons made in this article, I definitely agree with its closing statement saying you should play the game you enjoy the most. Just remember the eventual fate of RuneScape Classic. It is as close to non-existent as it can get without actually being non-existent. Old School RuneScape likely isn't going to bring in new players once it's done bringing back people who quit. New players are going to be brought in by the latest version of the game because this is the version that is still updated regularly. Old School RuneScape is simply there to serve the same purpose that RuneScape Classic served when RuneScape 2 was released: allow old players who don't like the new updates to continue to enjoy the game.

 

I'm not trying to talk anyone out of playing Old School RuneScape. If you enjoy it more than the modern game, then by all means: play it! In fact, your membership fee covers both games. Playing both games is an option! However if you opt to stick with (switch to?) Old School RuneScape, keep all of this in mind.

-Ethan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think they sort of prevented themselves from being able to balance the game when they tied equipment stats to an exponential equation; you could balance combat so that it's challenging for the average player (70-75 armor, 80 weapons) but it will be laughably easy for the high-level community (80+ armor and occasionally 90 weapons), or they could balance it for high levels and make it nearly impossible for everyone else (If you try to do Brink of Extinction and you don't have level 80-90 gear... You're gonna have a bad time). It's especially noteworthy because, as of this post, you can't make up for weak gear with high stats.

 

While the balancing still is something of a problem, it can be solved. For bossing, it's actually fine the way it is as the exponential scaling separates the tiers more clearly than before (for example, people with T60 tier just can't do QBD, and they shouldn't ever have been able to do so in the first place). Some mobs still need rebalancing, but that's happening step by step. The interesting challenge is quest combat, and there is an obvious solution for this: since quest boss fights are instanced anyways, it should be easy for Jagex to actually scale the quest bosses to the levels of the player fighting them. Voila, problem solved.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alg makes good pints!

 

There is one thing particularly worrying me about the live game: Drygore weapons.

I don't doubt there will be mage and range equivalents, thats not the problem.

The problem is they just fixed the triangle and then broke it again, with Drygore weapons you just about melee everything effectively, regardless of weakness and strength .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Alg makes good pints!

 

There is one thing particularly worrying me about the live game: Drygore weapons.

I don't doubt there will be mage and range equivalents, thats not the problem.

The problem is they just fixed the triangle and then broke it again, with Drygore weapons you just about melee everything effectively, regardless of weakness and strength .

 

It especially worries me that this is pointed out again and again.

 

But what concerns me more is the way these weapons are maintained. There is little to no connection to skilling at all. At best, Smithing reduces the cost of repair at an Armour Stand; they essentially follow the model that was introduced by the Barrows. (Zaros-type armours, weapons, and Port armours follow this model, too.) But Jagex followed a different route with certain Dragon armours and Spirit shields, as they require certain Smithing and/or Prayer levels. Why can't they use this structure more? I appreciate chitin is one option to repair drygore weapons, but there is no Smithing requirement-- and why must in-game money supercede any chitin?

 

I run into players that sincerely believe that the only equipment of value must be dropped by monsters. This came about when bossing rose to importance, and I'd honestly say bossing seems to have eclipsed player killing. I mean, hey, it used to be that PKing was all about full rune sets, and at least those could be player-made. So I am going to jump to the conclusion, as I see it, that the rise of bossing tells players: "Hey, skillers don't matter. Kill monsters for all your gear, and even if a few player-made equipments are decent, you should still kill monsters for money so you don't have to bother wasting time with another player."

 

Skillers used to matter at least a little-- but the way the game is structured now, the message seems to be combat first, take the monies to do the non-combat skills second. It's a real slap in the face to those of us who like skilling, and our ways of playing seem to be quickly forgotten.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.