Divination - one of the new skills reported by IGN

[Trey]

Wasn't it announced that there will be a system in the future for adding "enchantments" to items? Was it at Runefest or a post by mod Mark about updates for 2013 and beyond or am I remembering wrong?

[Binary Mage]

Wasn't it announced that there will be a system in the future for adding "enchantments" to items? Was it at Runefest or a post by mod Mark about updates for 2013 and beyond or am I remembering wrong?

They are planning on having certain types of weapons and armor that will be able to gain experience and level up on their own. This was included in part of the Special Edition BTS for 2013, but was listed as something that is only an idea for the future and isn't in development yet.

[Zantareous]

Ture i spose the dumb research free journalist factor plays in to it, but still the way he phrased it really sounds nothing at all like the rs model.

 

Anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKZAA_9mQGg

 

The trailer is official atleast.

Why do they always give that "Thousands of hours of gameplay" metric? I fail to see how that would make someone go "oh damn, I need to play this now!" (and the fact that it's an MMORPG would limitless play makes it weirder - I remember when they first started using this phrase that people thought we would be kicked out of the game after a few thousand hours, haha.)

[Miss Lioness]

I think those 1000s of hours is meant as: There is soo much gameplay timewise, we are sure you won't get bored of our game!

[Sy_Accursed]

I think those 1000s of hours is meant as: There is soo much gameplay timewise, we are sure you won't get bored of our game!

 

Yeah its a very common trope of modern game advertising to up sell how many hours of gameplay there is to make it clear there is lots to do and you won't get bored. It sort of follows on from the early 00's where there was a spate of games that people went out and paid their £40 or w/e for only to find you could literally complete everything in a matter of an hour or 2 which lead to the modern spate of games where the main story may only take 2-5 hours but all the side content ladles on many more hours of gameplay.

[liljjp]

sounds extremely lame to me, but ill give it a shot..

really disapointing to be honest..

[Fire_Hawk154]

I hope it's P2P because it doesn't sound really interesting. |^_^|

[Ruinous Edge]

I hope it's P2P because it doesn't sound really interesting. |^_^|

I'm sure they said both skills are ftp & ptp.

[Ginger_Warrior]

Even if it's F2P, no one says you have to train it.

[Ruinous Edge]

Even if it's F2P, no one says you have to train it.

If divination is god related, i.e. linked with emissaries, I can see ftp being severely limited to the basic 3, Saradomin, Zaramok & Guthix (Godless), be interesting to see pocket use in ftp with the production skill.

[Squakus]

Didn't Jagex say the gathering skill will be f2p while the processing one would be p2p?

[Low C]

Just did The World Wakes, I could see how this could tie into a skill such as Divination.

[asfcjfdyitfhglh]

Do you think they'll remove the Prayer skill altogether? I have always felt that there should be more ways to train it than just burying and offering bones. This seems like it would add an interactive aspect to what is otherwise a very bland skill, requiring you to be actively involved in your training. I'm not sure how the skill would work, as it might be limited to currying favour to your god of choice, but I feel like they might replace prayer, taking what they already have and developing it further. It would also be a viable method for F2P players, who are currently limited to big bones and below.

[Cheat]

I severly doubt they will remove the prayer skill to be honest^.

[Platinum_Myr]

Replacing sort of implies that you keep the xp, which defeats most of the point of a NEW skill.

[Urza285]

I have a feeling divination rewards will be something more like gifting from gods, but to what extent would be up for debate. I would imagine progression through divination will be quite similar to that of dungeoneering. Both will have a heavy narrative play through as hinted at by the IGN article. With that said I would suppose divination will be carrying out the works of these gods.

 

div·i·na·tion

[div-uh-ney-shuhn] Show IPA

noun

1. the practice of attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means.

2. augury; prophecy: The divination of the high priest was fulfilled.

3. perception by intuition; instinctive foresight.

 

I have another feeling from the dictionary definition of divination that we won't necessarily be attempting to foretell things to come. Instead I believe we will be the acting force that makes these events come to fruition. This was also something Mod Mark pointed out that we would be doing. Mark stated the player would be taking an active role in "shaping" the world around us in the events after TWW. What might come fomr from the new skill for example might be some "divine" scripture handed to us from one of the emissaries that reads Saradomin's forces will purge Misthalin of the Zamorakian forces. You might be the enacting force going into the bowels of the Black Knight Fortress killing elite black knights. Keeping in mind that Jagex stated that this skill would incorporate the other skills - this one being the combat skills obviously.

 

So lets start discussing the mechanics of the skill and keep in mind that we might be enacting out our gods will. I feel that divination might be something similar to other outside game mechanics. Specifically I am referring to the mechanics similar to how player owned ports plays out. What I am also eluding to is the old facebook games that make you progress through a story line where encounters and in game experiences are given to you at random, can be rolled through at a whim and reward you with upgrades to outfit you to handle the harder challenges ahead. Keep in mind players probably wont be able to roll through as many challenges as they want. They may be limited much like player owned ports are with 15 voyages and 3 rollovers. Much like player owned ports you might catch a rare chance at a much harder encounter. So ideally as we progress through helping out god in his set of scenarios we might progress to harder scenarios such as facing off against some of the other gods apposing generals in a troll invasion-like way.

 

How we might be rewarded other than experience for obvious skills used I'm not sure what else might come.

[Quyneax]

"discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means."

 

Do want :D. Sounds like a fair skill too. Getting afk xp @ Varrock library go!

[constrictor]

interesting. i bet they'll have some sof spin on it as well.

[muggiwhplar]

TBH they'd probably make a killing if SOF lamps worked on the new skill. Not sure if that'd justify the potential damage to the game's integrity if they did that though

[Urza285]

TBH they'd probably make a killing if SOF lamps worked on the new skill. Not sure if that'd justify the potential damage to the game's integrity if they did that though

They'll obviously halt divination from appearing on lamps.

[baileydafrog]

TBH they'd probably make a killing if SOF lamps worked on the new skill. Not sure if that'd justify the potential damage to the game's integrity if they did that though

They'll obviously halt divination from appearing on lamps.

 

they'd make an absolute fortune off it, can never be too sure

[ilovecuttingyews]

I can see it now... Getting spammed by the world news with RWTing gamblers getting 99 Divination an hour after release.

[Binary Mage]

Considering that Mod Mark described the skill as "an old-fashioned Gathering skill like Mining or Fishing" when asked if it was going to be complicated like Dungeoneering, I doubt it is going to be anything that is particularly innovative in that regards.

 

Divination is a broad subject, but the particular part I believe they are going for is that known as Dowsing. Here's an article all about it.

 

In Dowsing, you use an object known as a Divining Rod (two L-shaped metal or wooden rods) to search around for things hidden under the ground. It's sort of a magical precursor to the thing we now know as Metal Detecting, except it was meant to find burial sites, ley lines (magical sources of energy in the world), relics, water, and rare materials. Considering that the Diviners in Guthix's memories were excited about the discovery of a new source of magical power, not linked to the gods, makes me think that this is the most likely route.

 

It is essentially, in many ways, a lot like an Archaeology skill would have been. Places like Guthix's final resting place are exactly the kind of discoveries a Diviner would detect in the world--and it's likely that we will see many more like it.

 

This ties in with Jagex's announced plans for "resource war" world events--where players would discover a rare cache of materials that are useful to the Gods, and be able to decide which god their portion of the spoils go to. It's likely that those will be found through Divination. Think about it this way--through Divination, you could find old journals, rare materials to give to the god of your choice, new parts and resources for making things in other skills, ancient ruins full of new lore, and potentially rare weapons from the God Wars that are still leaking power. The potential is endless.

 

Of course, this is just my thoughts, but considering what we know about Divination so far and what the in-game hints are pointing towards, I think it's likely to be something like that.

 

Note: This wouldn't necessarily need to be something where you particularly have to track down discoveries, like WoW's Archaeology or the Frozen Key buried treasure trails. It could just be patches of dirt in the world that you can randomly search through for all we know. There's lots of directions they could take--I would enjoy it either way.

[jasignhagj]

I really can't see Jagex stooping as low as allowing lamps to be used on the new skill for at least a month or two. But then again if you told me 2 years ago they'd introduce a feature ripped straight from cashshop MMOs I wouldn't have believed you either.

[asfcjfdyitfhglh]

Replacing sort of implies that you keep the xp, which defeats most of the point of a NEW skill.

I agree. Additionally, considering how there are many players that have invested hundreds of millions of GP into this, it is highly unlikely that they'll remove the skill altogether. I'm very curious as to how they will make an intricate skill out of what could very well pass as a branch of Prayer.