Frzphnx

Note: Not sure if this is the best place for this. Greetings! After a several year hiatus (occasionally logging in on holidays), I was wondering if there were any general suggestions on easing back into the game. I've always been free to play, and I feel that I fall into the category of average player. I'm not particularly wealthy aside from a Santa I picked up years ago and 2m ish in coins. All skills are trained, but nothing really high (73 combat). I'm not really sure what to look for at the present, but I feel like I have caught up with the changes which took place during my absence, and I guess I'm curious what mid level people like me do these days. I've started to dungeon, but I'm not sure if that's what I really want to be doing (though I will admit the rewards are spiffy). I'd like to think I can hold my own to some extent in combat, but I'm not really specced for pvp. I apologize for the lack of specifics, and would be happy to provide more information if needed.

Yes I did edit it, I tend to not plan out every post ahead of time, but I tend to add as needed. Sorry. Thinking about how there's no way to really change the semi-afk thing, perhaps it could be changed to be based on individual performance, with a decent team bonus depending on the final outcome. Ie, I'm bad with mechanics, but say each orb is worth x points and if it gets to center, then give x/(number of players who helped) to each player, with additional bonuses at the end based on team performance. I really want to use other examples, but find it difficult to put it into non-specific terms. That's how they solved similar problems in other games, as I recall. Thanks for the input sees! I'll look into competent groups.

I'm curious how you're conducting tests. I've spaded a few games, and have seen many rants on balance. The best way, in my past experience, is to use a large sample, rather than use a single person's experience. As RS doesn't have a great tracking system, I'll refer to WoW, where statistics on nearly everything can be found via combat log extraction, videos of high end tournaments, etc. While individuals may be able to use unconventional combos to great effect, in the end, the best numbers come from looking at the overall picture. MS warrior + Resto druid making up 65% of the top 2000 teams in 2v2 arena during a few seasons tends to hold a bit more weight than that Warlock Priest duo that is number one on the most hardcore PvP server during the same time. Or the representation of Hunters at the highest levels of PvP, compared with their representation among the general player base. My point is, it's mildly amusing to see people squabbling, and I have no real interest in taking a side, but aside from hearsay and interpretations of actions carried out by those in charge, I haven't really seen any sort of solid evidence backing various arguments, many of which are being between people of vastly different experiences and personal experiences.

27 straight losses...gets to you after a while. Are there ever games where it *isn't*? one team of people that have been working together for a while vs a pug group? Just starting to grate on me. When at least a dozen games open in the range of 22 to 9 and go down from there, with myself getting at least 8/9...is it even worth it? Or am I missing some great secret. Because of Compfreak's kind assistance, perhaps I'll clarify. It really doesn't matter how individually skilled one is, when people insist on just afk-ing, or building completely random barriers continuously. Unlike FoG, afk-ing has no serious negatives, and unlike say, soul wars, it only takes a few afkers to completely shift the balance. After carefully reading compfreak's response, I'd like to point out: -My rant was not a "incoherent one-sentence rant". -Valid argument: Clearly the losses aren't random unless I'm missing something. Considering the fact that joining teams is based purely on which slots are open where, unless the grouping *aren't* random, such a string would be exceedingly unlikely. -Anticipation of responses? --Similar experiences --Statements giving various explanations --Unhelpful people --Suggestions for improvement -Title? This being Runescape, GoP generally refers to the Great Orb Project -Why it is negative: Perhaps other have similar frustrations and aren't quite sure what to do. Going with friends who are good is a good idea though, will definitely give you that. Improving personal skill is, in my opinion, of debatable value. Obviously I wish I could perfectly anticipate everything before it happens, but frankly, running myself ragged while people are just standing around time and time again is very demoralizing.

Probably a necessary step, due to people starting to freely admit to using BH to trade drops, meh.

except none of those 'overpowered' melee weaps can hit while you frozen in place for 20 seconds =D> The need for distance creation is in itself the balancing factor. I'm f2p RS wise, so I don't have experience in terms of ancients, but the general idea holds true in many many other games, most famously WoW in my opinion. As a fairly high rated mage, I can trash warriors (pure melee) via utilization of snares/roots to create distance. However, if a melee class is able to overcome that without excessive effort, such as the rogue class via stealth, root breaking, high resistance on demand, etc the mage will be in trouble. Range I can't comment on, as Line of sight and pets are much less a role in RS pvp.

WoW love X) But yes, I went from RS to WoW, then eliminated WoW and only occasionally pop into RS when time grew tight. (might go back, idk) Yes I played a mage in wow, yes I did arena with fairly skilled players. Totally different mindset, really, and I feel that a comparison isn't really that great here. The mage class in wow is extremely solid, though it was rather gimped in 2v2 arena during Burning Crusade (Though RMP in 3s and Eurocomp, 2345, etc in 5s was amazing). Back on topic, the reason we can't really compare, at least in my view, is that RS offers a character everything at once, or at least to choice to go between different things, while from the moment you make your happy little caster in WoW, you are 100% committed to that role. Sure, in RS you can say screw all melee/range, and just level mage, and be happy when you finally get your high end mage gear, but you must remember, if you do so you're not really at the endgame. If you do decide to go magic at max level, and commit yourself, that's great. But you're not locked. As needed you can whip out a spec wep, retreat and change styles, etc. Also, the tactical aspect of the game is completely different. WoW pvp is not built around 1v1 (though such situations are not at all uncommon), whereas plenty of RS pvp is oriented around 1v1. While you access to all sorts of status/drain effects through ancients, you'll most likely be using ice, against targets you know are coming, and generally using just that spell series magic wise. Resources aside from prayer and hp and pots are infinite, there is little cooldown management. Line of sight is an issue at times, but autocasting slightly mitigates that, and generally most combat is at fairly close quarters. Pet management was added as well, but it's not nearly as complex as pet management elsewhere. As a mage in wow, you're dealing with buffing, decursing, shielding, kiting, cast pushback from damage, LoSing, CC, pet management, mana conservation, iceblocking to wipe status/prevent damage, cooldowns, midbattle eat/drink and trying to set up damaging combinations (such as double shatter if you have the haste) etc while not even beginning to mention more specific such as pulling stealth classes out, keeping healers in combat, etc. One big thing though is the lack of instagibbing assuming equivalent skill. Finally, wow pvp involves healers, as a huge huge factor which completely warps a pure dps v dps viewpoint for team conflicts. I don't really see anything short of an overhaul to really change the role and style of magic in RS. Also, in RS enough money will net you whatever gear you desire, in WoW, you could be very very rich, but never come close to top end gear as that comes from high arena rankings (Several changes set win-trading back a fair amount). Basically, the gist would be something along the lines of "be in the top 10% of BH Rogues before you can think about getting this item, which is untradable but has good stats. (Vast majority of good WoW gear is untradable) 2x frost mage from season 2/3- http://files.filefront.com/2on2wmv/;929 ... einfo.html beautiful demonstration of wow mages.

I have 75 mining, 100 ms ping, yet unfailingly, I get beaten out by anyone 40 or higher mining level. I mean everyone. I have no issues in other lag sensitive games (A certain blizzard game comes to mind), but mining is just starting to really irritate me. I play min settings, no sound. Not sure what's going on.

Range trains roughly 3x faster then melee if your paying attention, and around 1.2x faster if you AFK train at spiders. Any other arguments? :| Does this hold true in f2p? Lessers/mossies certainly don't feel faster than flesh crawlers/spiders, though I guess afk ranged training at spiders I haven't tried, though (no guide ever recommends it :-# )

I could definitely go without RSOF access. Seems a rather trivial point really to me, with the possible negatives far greater than the positives.

I don't have enough pvp experience to really comment a lot, but I guess I'll throw in a question. F2P Range/Mage are amazing at lower levels, and range definitely so in the mid levels. I remember seeing the sheer awesomeness of a 99 ranger just perhaps a level or two above me (I'm 71 combat, meh) tearing up people left and right. But what happens at the high ends? Like for the lv100+ characters? I generally chill with pvp acquaintances in fally, and anyone I see above lv100 is almost always melee. Since the range tank is designed to be below 100 combat, does it mean that in the end, melee wins at the highest levels of f2p?

try http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Merchanting

Training range, and I've just been going back and fourth between the 2 lesser demons on top of karajama for the past 10 levels about. I have 70 ranged, and am wondering whether the title combination would be better. Lessers have no competition, but it's still fairly slow in the spot I'm at. I'm f2p, btw.

I'd suggest checking out the wiki for money making methods. It has most common methods for making money.

Frequency seems the same as usual for me. Many in the stronghold of security-usually purposeful, only a handful from time to time elsewhere.