I, eh, don't get it

I finished the 4-day adventure that held us all in its grip. The follow-up on turkey slaying. I squeezed in an hours worth of play when I had the time to do so. You just don't want to miss out on a gigantic, epic voyage of RS with something that is connected to Thanksgiving.

Merch was right in there being a follow up. Or was she?

I will not judge the Blokes at Jagex Towers for this game. At the end of the day it seemed they were experimenting with a new format of introducing some 'entertainment'. The one thing I am wondering about is this: Why was it advertised as a Thanksgiving event? It had nothing to do with it. Not the questions/riddles, not the reward (I still wonder what I am supposed to do with a magnifying glass that I can wield but not see through). I stayed out of any chat channel lest the clues given would be spoiled, and seen the ease of each and everyone of them that would happen in 2 seconds flat.

Disappointing, that's all I can say.

Oh, woe is me... Shame and scandal in the family

Thanksgiving. Last year that feast gave players who participated a 'turkey-emote'. Since I didn't play that much in 2008 I missed it and went on my merry way without it. Until today that is. It seems this will be the only Thanksgiving content, though next week there will be a new quest. At least, according to Mod Emilee.

In all it was fun to do, killing of level 138 giant turkeys, with hits never before recorded in RS history. And I got the emote, what more could a girl want?

What has happened?

To me, or to the game? I just don't know anymore; how to play, how to react, how to... be part of this game I suppose.

An incessant stream of people go around and play. Nothing wrong with that, basically it is how it should be. A new player influx keeping the game alive, evolving to new heigts. At least, that is what it should be. I don't think that is the case anymore. As a player I reached my fourth birthday in April this year. By far the longest I spent on any game, even with a year of hardly playing at all. You could say I have seen it all, just, I haven't. When I play I tend to react to what people are saying around me. Bids for information, questions answered, that kind of thing. And I expect people to do the same, it is, after all, what keeps the player community together.

It just doesn't happen like that anymore. New players seem to be out for number one; though one could say that is a generalisation not doing justice to the 'well behaved' new players. Don't get me wrong, I'm not attacking the majority of players. I'm attacking those who are running around like headless chicken, not knowing what to do, and getting on the nerves of others. Those who, like yesterday, start yelling they need three air runes to teleport to god knows where, and when you give them teleport out without so much as a 'thank you'. One more thing I won't do.

Or those people who seem to think the game revolves around them, and only them.

In short, I miss the cameradery I enjoyed in 'the olden days'. Coming together to enjoy a new quest, helping out no matter what. Sneezingtree once made a comment on the change within the game. The subject then was the advent of a new quest: Legends. Those who didn't have the levels to complete it banded together and helped each other to get it done and finish the quest later on. For me I had that same experience when RfD came out: People helping others, without regard for status, without regard for personal rewards. Just to get something done. A new item, a new achievement, a new goal, a new area. Banding together, helping out, being a nice community.

I miss that. I have become more of a loner in this game than I ever was before. Ah well... it must be me.

Money, the lack of it, and a 'new' way to get some

At times people ask how to make some cash. Most answer that question with the obvious answers: Mine iron/coal/gold/runite or any other run-of-the-mill way to get some of those shiny golden coins.

Another thing that happens is this: You only look at items you can make, use, steal, bribe from that particular level you have. That is what happened to me today. Yesterday I got level 87 crafting and I was told I now can make Dorgeshuun light orbs. Nice, the only reference I have come across was in Merch's blog concerning a strange pink lolly-pop that needed to be repaired (find said blog entry here), other than that, zilch. Now that light bulb consists of 2 items. One is the bulb you make out of molten glass, the second part is a piece of wire (known by those who actually make lamps as a 'filament'). That piece of wire is what it is all about. You can get them by stealing from chests, but then it is a random reward, or you make your way south, climb some stairs, down some stairs and start grabbing wire from a machine (turn off sound... the low humming gets annoying).

I know I have a pretty high thieving level and most of those reading this won't get the result I had, still... Grabbing the wire. I did that for exactly 52 minutes and got 359 of them. I used Shelley (thank you again, Merch) for about 40 minutes, an crafted 28 bulbs after the first trip, thus it could have been a tad higher. When I returned to the bank I crafted the bulbs I had made, in all 108 of them, that left 251 wires...

Then I looked at the rs GE page and that was when my eyes popped out... market price 993 gp, high price 1043 gp each. I broke a home teletab, went through the Varrock portal and ended up in front of the GE. Noted Cave goblin wire (all remaing 251 of them) and offered them at the highest price: 1043 gp each. And they sold within 10 seconds.

Now I don't really need money since I try to get the stuff I need myself. But it seems to me this would be a nice way to increase the gp status of a reasonable amount of players. All you would need is thieving level 44 since that is required to thieve that wire. Sure, at 44 you won't get the same number I got, but even if you did get 40% of it it would mean 40% of 430,000 gp per hour... that still is 172,000gp... Can't see you get that from mining iron.

Some other news:

And of course that crafting level:

Must not calculate

In a way I'm in limbo. I'd like to get a few stats up, Smithing and Crafting are at the top of the list. Obviously gold is a nice way to raise smithing but it needs gold-ore, and that means mining. I don't mind that so I am working on it. I did get about 7k gold ores and am in the process of turning them into gold bars. At the same time one can use these bars to turn them into amulets.

That's a good thing: Amulets can be strung using Lunar, and since my magic level has been at 92 for ages (close to two years I think) it makes for a nice target. However that means I need to lay my grubby hands on Astral runes. And that is a problem. I don't like rc, and since stringing amulets requires 2 astrals per amulet I need vast quantities of them. That would mean I need to get rc up to 82 to profit from double astrals per essence. 7 levels, or about doubling the present amount of xp. That hurts. The ZMI altar seems to be the best choise to raise it: about 900-1000 xp per trip. That takes 2 law runes and 4 astrals, but I get those from crafting runes, so not really a loss.

At the end of the day it doesn't really matter: It will take time. Probably will get 92 mining, 91 smithing in the process. BTW 88 mining arrived last tuesday.

Some stuff out of the way, and an RC-level

After finishing the Ardougne diary it occurred to me it would be a good idea to finish off the remaining ones: The Falador and Fremmy one. One of the reasons was the possible advent of that elusive 75 RC level. Another reason was a different one: I had to do something else than combat or skilling.

So on my merry way and as time progressed I finished both. All lamps obviously went toward RC xp, which brought me about 16k from level 75.

One thing in the Falador diary struck me as odd. You need to make a Fruit basket. So on to the GE to buy willow branches. 1700 gp each and no-one is selling. You need 6 of them to make a basket; that translates to a bit over 10k to make an item worth 1 gp in the shop and between 192 and 201 at the GE. How is that for wasting resources?

Well, willow planted, checked on its health, waited for a bit for the branches to grow, and cut 6 of them off. While waiting another thing amazed me: It stands to reason that, after a tree has grown, you should be able to cut off branches; well, not in RS. You need to wait for something to happen before you can cut them. No outward signs on the tree. No sprouting branches gone wild, no appearance of a growth on the tree stem. Nothing.

After finishing: ZMI altar for the remaining rc xp and now it is 75 RC and a giant pouch. That also gave me an Ardougne Elite task done, and 108 cosmics.