RuneScape Discussion
This month's Runescape discussion is something your eyes can snack on, as it includes one splendid article on the event that has been written in the big book of Runescape history. Yes - the third party clients riot, typed out wisely by Steve. Also, look out for an article to find out if Ranging, an Underpowered Skill?, an appealing insight with some thoughtful provocations raised by Wr1t3r. Yet it doesn't end there, Neo Avatars voices his opinion on RuneScape players' reactions to moderators in Last time I checked, I was human. Sit back, relax and have a Slam's ice cold (on Cameron).
-Darkdoom
Last Time I Checked, I Was Human - By: Neo Avatars
We've all heard of it. Many of us have done it. Nobody likes it. Nothing seems to be able to stop it. We're obviously all human, so there is clearly no need to do it. So, why do we do it? For fame? For pride? For honor? For bragging rights? All of these could be used as excuses, but none of them truly give a reason for the action that is done by many day after day.
When we see a high rank player what is the reason that a large majority of people will stop what they are doing and find the “follow” option on the player in question? Surely they are just like me, just like you? How would you like it if wherever you moved, whenever you logged in, whatever world, there were people tagging on you like Leeches sucking blood from a wounded person? This is a dilemma that large numbers of people have to put up with each time they log into the world of RuneScape and have had to invent ways to put up with it.
The wonder of Public chat should be able to be used by all; however the sighting of certain names or symbols within it can cause unrest among all who see, and even those who are in different worlds.
“Z0mg it r that uber high rank dud3”
“L1ke h0w u get that crown?”
These are just some examples of what many have to put up with each and every time they decide to speak or make conversation with others beyond the boundaries of Private chat. Why should people have to put up with repetitive, pointless, pre-answered, unreadable questions day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute? Aren't they just the same as you: plain, ordinary human beings?
Once the initial shock of spamming the chat box with repeated questions and statements has worn off there is one thing that is often much more deadly. This attack will come in the form of slowing the friendslist server to a standstill by numerous people adding this ‘great person' to their friends list. Surely this point shouldn't be what each and every person should fear whenever they log into RuneScape. Why do these people need hundreds of random people saying “Hi” to them? How many of the people that go “Hi” would the person they are messaging actually recognise? Do they really want to have hundreds of messages saying “Hi” so it is impossible to read or reply to anything? Have you ever tried replying to messages flying at you at a speed of 5 messages per second and managed to succeed?
Whether it is a high ranked player, a Player Moderator or a person straight off Tutorial Island, they're all human, they all play RuneScape for fun and they all deserve to be allowed to speak freely with others without getting infested by spam moving faster than a racing car!
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Third Party Clients - By: Steve
On January 2nd, Jagex updated the RuneScape rules to ban the use of all third party clients. Rule 7 , which discusses the use of third party software, was revised to include any third party client, including world switchers (such as SwiftSwitch and BlazeRX, two of the most commonly used ones). Rule 9 was also added to saying that you cannot create or distribute any third party clients that break Rule 7. Jagex issued the following statement. "When RuneScape fansites are distributing programs which are then used to discuss breaking the rules or result in their own users being scammed, it's clear that our rules need revision! We don't want to be unnecessarily restrictive, but we obviously also have to balance that with protecting our users. We've thought long and hard about this, and hence this update." For an unknown reason, both mentions of the rule changes have been removed from the RuneScape.com site. You can view the first update here and the second update here .
This update to the rules was done for a few reasons. One reason was "The sheer number of users losing their account/password to programs which pretend to be one thing but actually steal their password." Another reason was "Problems with some of these programs including extremely unsafe chat channels where large amounts of scamming go on, and users encourage each other to try to break the rules." The chat channels that this is referring to is mainly IRC, a popular online communication system.
Many users disliked this update, and showed their disapproval anywhere that they could. Both the official RuneScape forums and the forums of many fansites were flooded with replies of people who wished for Jagex to allow the client. People were also displaying their opinion in RuneScape. There was a large crowd of people in Falador on World 27 "asking" for the rule revisions to be removed. Though some of the people were asking, there were also those that were spamming the chat and even some were flaming. It should be noted that there were many player moderators and Jagex moderators at the scene on many worlds muting those users that were misbehaving.
The crowd in Falador was very large in size and at times was spamming and flaming. Image by Fruityfed Xeko .
The following day, on January 3rd, Rule 7 was revised yet again. "We have tweaked them both a bit more - to take into account some constructive feedback and thoughts we've had on the matter." Instead of banning all third party clients, it was decided that all third party clients that embed the RuneScape game inside themselves (including world switchers) must adhere to the following. "The program/website does nothing to encourage breaking of our rules and does not endanger users' accounts." For more information, Jagex created a seperate article that explains the rules for creating third party clients. This article can be viewed here in the RuneScape Knowledge Base.
"Despite popular opinion - the so called "rioters" were not a particular influence on our decision.
In fact if anything rioters probably made me less inclined to support revising the rule.
I most certainly do not want jagex to be seen to be catering to those temper tantrum throwing little brats.
However while I don't want to make the wrong decision to shut-up a bunch of whingers, I also don't believe in stubbornly making what we believe to be a suboptimal decision just so we don't look like we're weak and backing down ...
We do try to take into account all views of players - and if they've got valid points to make we take them into account - there are many factors to take into account in fact. but at the end of the day we have to make our decision based on what we think will be best for the long term of the game. " (Paul, on the RuneScape official forums)
Users of SwiftSwitch and BlazeRX should be happy to know that both clients are having their code edited to follow the new rule changes. BlazeRX has been pulled from RuneHQ's website until the update is written, while SwiftSwitch is still downloadable from its site, however it does have a warning that it violates some of the rules of RuneScape and it is recommended that you do not use the client until it is revised.
You should always remember that before downloading any third party client you should make sure that you scan it. There is always the chance that there will be a keylogger included in the program and your password may be stolen. Jagex does not recommend downloading any third party clients..
Note: Unless otherwise noted, all quotes are from RuneScape.com.
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Ranging, the Most Underpowered Skill? - By: Wr1t3r Ever since i can remember, all i can hear is how ranging is such an underpowered skill, but is it? In my article we will talk about all point's of ranging, to come up with a final conclusion to this accusation, whether you agree or not.
My first point is the level system, ranged levels particularly fast above the other skills, Training from level 1-40 takes only a few hours in the right spots. Ranging also allows for better equipment particularly fast, with more armor to wear at every 10 or so levels, why even just 40 range gives dragonhide, a good substitute for armor and a great mage defense bonus for avoiding those deadly spells. Black dragonhide is such a great magic bonus it has become a pkers choice, even for meleers. It is because it has the defense bonuses of around Adamant armor, and the greatest mage defense you could ask for, all in a small lightweight outfit.
The second area i will cover is the speed of range compared to other types of combat. On rapid a bow fires a shot every second or so, maybe faster. This means you can attack twice by the time the other person/monster can even hit you once.
You may not hit as high, but you hit 2 hits, those hits start to build up as you fight, allowing you to do reasonable amounts of damage. If using a magic shortbow you can Use your special attack and hit 2 good hits, then another shot in before they hit you, a particularly good strategy in the duel arena as well, because then you can hit 4-5 times before they run to you, especially if in an obstacles type arena.
Pking with range is a timeless classic, i see rangers in the wilderness all the time, but then why are the rant's still pouring in? I've seen ranger's hit through armor, and obliterate mages. If you are about 60+, possibly 50+, I would reccomend range as a pk type if you want run energy, and free runes from mages. If you are about 80+, You pretty much own the wild and can hold your own fairly well, a back up melee weapon is reccomend when using range to pk, because Meleers can come to you. Although bolt's now have an effect to lower range defence, one new tactic is to do that until the trigger works, switch back to magic shortbow.
Ah yes, Crossbows. This update provided with crossbows up to rune, needing 61 Range at rune, most will say their too slow and not worth it because of cost of bolts, but if you want power, i might suggest Crossbows. Crossbows give an ok range bonus, but of course can be boosted by the armor you are wearing, amulet, etc. Now crossbows are slow, 2.5 seconds to fire one bolt, and if the bolt isn't enchanted, it's not going to hit higher than a normal ranged hit, and you're going to be wasting your time there. However enchanting bolts is essential for effectively using a crossbow. I've seen basic bronze bolts with enchanted opal tips on them become deadly weapons in the duel arena, it has a pretty good activation rate, meaning the lightning will come from it often, and i've seen 21's from people with 60-70 range. The following chart is from a friend of mine on the official forums, it is his review of the bolts, not mine.
*Opal: Lucky Lighntning. 10/10
- I LOVED this bolt. It is cheap, easy to make, and the effect triggers at a decent ratio, allowing my 88 ranged to hit a 21 with a bronze projectile, w00t for me!! THAT and the animation for it looks WONDERFUL.
*Jade: Earth's Fury. 8/10
- I like this bolt aswell, also cheap, effective, with a cool effect and an even better animation rivaled only by the almighty opal bolts of dooooooom. My only concern is that it seemed anyone with over 40 agility could almost always dodge its effect.
*Pearl: Sea Curse. -/10
- I'll admit i didn't really test this one enough, and never tested it against fire staff wielders, but as for the amimation and rate of trigger, it was quite nice.
*Red Topaz: Down to Earth. 4/10
- Tested against my lvl 70ish mage buddy. Not sure exactly how the effect works, but as far as we could tell it only lowers mage by one every time it triggers...which was very seldom for a lvl 88 ranger...
*Sapphire: Clear Mind. 9/10
- Alright, my buddy shot me with this one, as as far as we could tell it drain 3 prayer every trigger, not sure how much it gives to you though (my buddy is dumb and had full prayer ). BUT, it triggers at a fairly nice ratio.
*Emerald: Magical Poison. 4/10
- Alright, i'll admit I had too high of expectations when i read of this one. The poison is only for 3 dmg, and it seems pretty slow, I always died when using these ones. and the animation was kinda lackluster to me...
*Ruby: Blood Forfeit. ??/10
[[NOTE: these bolts i'm not sure of, theres about three solid, mostly sensical explinations to how they work, and due to the randomnessof my personal hits while testing, the following is just the most accepted explanation. Thanks]]
- knocks off 10% of you life to kill 20% of your enemies, not so great in PvP, but say hello to quickly murdering big monsters? If they didn't hurt me i would use these almost always because i highly favor this animation! it's awsome!
*Diamond: Armour Piercing. 10/10
- By far the most effective in the arena yesterday. Buddy with range under 70 was hitting 16+s on me with it, and she was not wearing a ranger set either, just red hides. The animation is cool, but i'm not sure what it is really...lol.
*Dragonstone: Dragon's Breath. 6/10
- Good damage of course. However my lvl 90 ranged friend used on me multiple times while I was in multiple armor sets and managed to max hit @ 33, WHEN IT ACTUALLY TRIGGERED. The highest hit i've heard reported is on THIS thread, a 50. My only two problem with this bolt are the fact that the triggering ratio doesn't really seem worth the price and the animation is BORING, I don't like it at all...it looks as if a swarm of red bugs is attacking your hat...muh!? However, it should be noted that my friend and I noticed you only lose about 1 bolt every 40 or 50 shots, but thats more than likely just the rune effect of basic bolts.
*Onyx: Life Leech. ??/10
- Alrighty, Found a lvl 122 with 98 range testing his set of onyx bolts...he dueled me about 5 times, NEVER SAW THE ABILITY TRIGGER.
Overall:
I cannot make great suggestions for PKers, as i'm not one, But I will say that for pking it APPEARS that the best bolt to use would either be the sapphire for prayer drain/steal or the diamond (prefered if you can afford it).
For PVM, I think the only event calling for a c'bow would be in the case a monster with a LARGE amount of health, therefore making the RUBY bolt much more usefull, if i've have the correct information on its effect of course.
Other than that, due to the crossbow itself (see below), I find that this update is pretty much for fun and games and to show off the cool animations. There's talk of jagex coming in and making small tweaks here and there, and if that happens DO expect me to change this guide...
up to this point I still find most of the bolts useless, save the sapphire, diamond and ruby. Dragonstone and Onyx tipped bolts so far have proven to be a HUGE waste of cash and time.
#### The Crossbow Itself... ####
Alrighty, so I see more complaints about the slowness of the weapon than the effecivness of the bolt. All I can say is that if you're not a patient person, then your crossbow is only good for using DIAMOND bolts, maybe dragonfires if you can land the actual fire...
I don't really like them much, they should either have a higher range bonus or range distance to compensate the speed...or shoudl simply be made a little faster.
There you have it folks, my complete evaluation. Is range the most powerful skill? Most underpowered? It depend's on how you use it, it can be a pker's best friend, or it can lead to a terrible disaster, so don't go and say it's underpowered until you realize it has limits.
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