Honey! It's Time For Bed! Just One More Minute Mom! Does this sound like you? Always pushing for an extra minute to accomplish one of your many Runescape-related goals? This could be a sign of Runescape-Addiction. Don't worry, addiction to a game is nothing to be ashamed of, heck, I know I am, and it really can make the days go by faster, and gives you more enjoyable times. However, you need to know your limits, and try to not let addiction of the virtual world interfear with the real world. This post is intended on giving tips how to multi-task with real life, to make addiction not something that will ruin your life, which I have used for a long time, and it really helps me, and I hope it can help you as well. IMPORTANT - ALWAYS use these tips while playing on HIGH DETAIL! This will avoid any unwanted deaths and teleportations from random events. Part 1 - School Yes, there are many people who really struggle with school because of their times on rs. I personally know 3 irl friends who play, and their marks suffer dramatically because of it. But this doesn't have to happen, and there are a few tips that can make you avoid getting bad grades at school, without losing time to get your levels to where you want them to be. If you need to study for a test, there are things you can do to help you concentrate, while playing rs. First things first, ALWAYS play on high detail, that way you won't have to worry about dying to a random event. There are great skills to train that allow you to not pay attention to the screen, giving you time to study for that big exam coming up in a week. - Fishing is a GREAT skill for multi-tasking with school. I personally do this all the time, just let your character fish on it's own while you read up on some notes for school. Make sure you watch the screen when you click the fishing spot before you go to your notes, because 90% of all random events appear as soon as you click on the fishing spot. All you need to do is occasionally look up to the screen to see that your fishing spot hasn't moved, and the rest of your attention can go to the mounds of textbooks you need to read through for tomorrow's class on Bio-Chemical reactions. - Woodcutting, like fishing, is also a good skill to level up while you study or work on some assignments. The only flaw in this, is that trees disappear very often, so I don't reccomend it as much as fishing. Remember to watch out for Dr. Ford, and those hippy tree spirits, and you'll have no problem doing the 5,000 word essay thats due in 3 hours. - AFK (Away From Keyboard) Combat Training is a very good thing to do, since it lasts the longest without having to move anything on the screen. There are many places that you can AFK train, mostly on a members side, like Hobgoblin Mines for f2p and p2p players, Axe Hut in Member's Wilderness, and Bandits In The Shantay Desert. Just make sure your defence is high enough so you arent killed while you're reading up on Physics. - Smelting isn't really the *best* thing to do while doing school work, but with the "Smelt X" it isn't too bad. Members can make Cannonballs, which is a very good thing you can do while working on school work. Since Cannonballs take so long to make, it gives you lots of time to explain the Theory Of Relativity for today's presentation. - Cooking is a good thing to do now with the "Cook X" option built into the game. All it takes is a few clicks for your character to start cooking your entire inventory while you're digging into the depths of American History. - Halberding works in some cases, especially if you're killing something that generally takes a while to take down. I don't suggest you Halberd monsters that die in a few hits, because you'll be spending way too much time changing monsters, and not enough time factoring out Trigonometrical Equations for tomorrow's test. - Fletching is pretty self-explanitory, "Make X Amount" for bows is the best thing to do in this situation. Cut all your bows while you work on your Musical Theory assignment, and string them all when you're finished your homework. There are other things you can do while you work on school, and if i think of some more, I will add them, but those are the basics, and it gives you a wide variety of skills to choose from, so pick the one you like and will benefit you in the future. It may be pretty hard to do your homework while playing at first, but don't give up on it, and you will quickly get the hang of it. This way, instead of getting 0s because of incomplete assignments and lack of studying, you will get some good grades. Remember, a 50% mark is still better than 0% mark, so don't be discouraged because you're getting bad marks still. Part 2 - Social Life Runescape can quite easily take over social life, and it is alot harder to cope with than school. It's not like you can just fish while you go to a movie, since your character will log out after 5 minutes. IMPORTANT - DO NOT make the mistake many people do of turning to auto-programs, they are ILLEGAL and you WILL be banned eventually. Don't think you can get away with it, because you wont, and you will lose so much time spent on your character for no reason. Lets face it... Your 50k away from the fabled 85 Slayer, and you are going to get it today, and noone can tell you any different. A great way to get that level, without ruining your social life, is a simple phone call away... literally. Call up some of your buddies and chat with them while you kill another 180 Dagannoths, and you will see that before you know it, you will have your level, and plans to go hang out next weekend or something as well. Most people on the internet have messengers, which is a great way to keep an active social life, right from the seat of your computer room. It's very easy to multi-task in Runescape while talking on messengers, and can be done with pretty much anything in the game. Keep in contact with your friends through messengers, and if you know them IRL (In real life), have webcam / mic convos with them, it will really help. If you have a girlfriend/boyfriend, make them your #1 priority. Don't let Runescape ruin a good relationship. Remember that it's just a game, and even if you don't think so, if you break up over it, you will STRONGLY regret it in the long run. If you have to, balance out your time with her/him with your time on the game, and set times aside where you'll do one or the other, for it will really help keep your relationship together, instead of drifting apart like so many people unfortunately do. I wish I could add more to help social life while playing the game, but there's so little that can be done to multi-task the two. If I think of anything else, I will add them. Part 3 - Work Face it, work is probably the most important thing in life. Without work, you cant pay to support a family, or yourself. You need to eat, and you cant pay for your Runescape Membership without a job. Try to remember that you don't HAVE to take those extra hours that you are offered by your boss. Only take them if you feel that you have the time, and would like the extra money. Try to avoid getting others to cover your shifts. This puts a very bad impression on you, trust me, I was a manager for a fast food restaurant when I was 17, and I saw the way people were looked at who constantly do that. If you only want a job for 10 - 20 hours a week, make sure you state that when you APPLY for the job, using availability times to fit your needs. Part 4 - Sleep Lots of people have a problem with their sleeping patterns over the game. They will stay up all hours of the night to get a head start on their skills and such, which will cause some serious health problems over lack of sleep. Remember that if you are staying up that late, you're going to end up sleeping off the extra time anyways, so it will even out in the end. So why feel sick and cranky when you don't have to? Sleep can really effect the way you think and act, and causes bad grades, forgetfulness at work, and can even effect the way you play the game, causing you to end up doing stupid things which make you lose all those items you just gained. Part 5 - Cutting Down The Hours This section is dedicated to those who want to cut down the hours they play Runescape, but don't know how. Here are some simple tips that could help you cut down the hours you play, for whatever reason you have. 1. DON'T QUIT! - Don't say "I'm just going to quit the game!". Going cold-turkey will NOT help the situation. The majority of those who do this end up coming back, and most become more addicted than they were before. It's just the same as cigarettes... You don't just quit right away, you take small steps to eliminate your addiction. 2. Take Breaks - If you feel that you are burned out from what you are doing, just take a break. These breaks don't have to be long, even a 5 minute break can help wonders. Sometimes, a more extensive break is needed, which could span from 1 hour, up to even a year. Shorter breaks work the best, since the longer you take a break, the more you want to play usually. 3. Gradually Cut Back - Play 12 Hours a day? Try and only play for 11 and a half the next day, and continue that for 3-4 days. Once you do that, eliminate another half hour, and play only 11 hours a day, and continue until you have reached your desired daily time. It's important to not cut back every single day, but to take a few days to get used to the cut back before you cut back even more. Try those out and see if they help. If they don't some more extensive methods may be required, or try for 1-2 weeks in Tip #3 of this section, maybe you're not getting used to the cut backs for long enough. I hope some of these tips can help you guys. Remember, the decisions are up to you, and don't let anyone else tell you different. *~Amy~*
