RuneScape Discussion
Welcome to the Runescape Discussion part of the newspaper! Neo Avatars has stepped down as Section Head, in order to become a Sal's Realm Administrator. We wish him all the best in his new role. It's a hard act to follow, but I'm giving it a shot.
The selection of reports for this issue seems to reflect a growing cynicism about the direction in which Jagex is steering Runescape. The previous few months have seen a lot of changes, whose impact upon the game appears to be increasingly leading to disenchantment amongst its players.
The big news during this period has been the announcement of a complete graphical update of Runescape within the near future. Dr Skull and Xela King, in 'Graphic Update', have both shared their views on the subject, reviewing the information provided thus far and analysing its implications for the game. Is it simply a ploy to plaster over the hurts of less popular decisions in order to entice lost members back or should we be giving Jagex a break and welcoming this amazing development?
Meanwhile, Runecrafting has traditionally been viewed as one of the best money-making skills in the game. Recent changes to the market and Jagex's bid to stamp out real-world trading may well have changed all of that though. Henrique has investigated the evidence in his article, 'Runecrafting - Not So Good?' The next round of Jagex's attempts to keep their players safe involved the advent of the Reporting Academy, along with the controversial ruling that fansites and clansites may not be named in-game. In 'Something Rotten in the State of Gielinor', I explore the history and the implications of this standpoint, particularly in regard to the fact that Jagex persist in linking such sites with keyloggers, trojans and viruses. Equally scathing of Jagex's policies, this time on the subject of automated responses to warns and their appeals, Doddsy has a few issues to air in, 'Something Wicked This Way Lies'.
On a lighter note, ZacharyB has considered the place of minigames. Are you ready to take up his challenge? See 'Minigames' to find out more.
We hope you find food for thought and enjoy this edition of the newspaper.
- Merch Gwyar
Graphic Update - By: Dr Skull
On the eighth of May, Jagex released their “rather large secret”. But where did it come from? Was anyone really expecting something like this? There weren’t any hints to this. It came out of the blue. And Jagex themselves said they were keeping this from us. It seems a bit weird to suddenly announce this big update they are planning to do.
Two days before they announced they would make a graphics update, Jagex asked everyone to "send in their specs", or information about their computer. They said it would be used for planning future projects, and evidently the first of these projects is the graphic update. But what is the graphic update all about? It's hard to be sure, for Jagex isn't giving much away. But it could be linked to the same reason that Gnomecopters was released: to get more members.
The number of members overall is decreasing, along with the number of people playing Runescape. But how far is this number dropping, and how fast? If it is going too fast, Jagex is in trouble. But if it is not, they are safe, for now. But for how long are they safe? And I don’t think even Jagex knows this. I’m sure they can predict about when it will happen, but they can not tell for sure.
And what if this time is coming faster than they think? Before they know it, they are losing money. What happens now? Get that graphical update out, and then think of something else that will get more members, and only give it to the members, not freeplayers, and hope it will get those numbers back up.
Click images for full size versions.
Now let’s look at the first of the graphical update picture Jagex released. Even though there are still some things the same, a lot of it is different. In the first picture they released, the biggest change I see is there is more detail. The cobble stone, the dirt paths, the trees, the benches, the person and what he is wearing. Then something not as many people might notice, is shadows. You can see the tree’s shadows and the wall of the castle. What I do think could be updated a bit more is the grass, but it is still better than before. It doesn’t end abruptly anymore, it ends more gradually. And it looks like the “squares” on the ground are gone, which is always a good thing.
Now let’s look at the second picture. This one they don’t give you anything to compare to, but you can notice some things in it. The person is wearing the exact same clothes in this picture as he was in the last one. You can see shadows again from the pillars. The snow looks more detailed, and so do the various cart and wagon pieces. The barrels and crates on the left side definitely have some nice shading. You can also see how the entrance to the God Wars Dungeon has been updated. But one thing that you don’t see is The Dying Knight, who you need to talk to when you first go there. And on the picture that you can zoom in on, in the bottom part of it, you can see a what seems like dead person, but notice the detail on the shield. Zoom in to see it better. This could possible be The Dying Knight, but I doubt it.
All we can do is wait to get these questions answered. It will only be a matter of time, and now that the two Development Diaries are coming out, some of these questions might get answered. All we can do is sit, wait, and watch.
~Dr Skull
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Graphic Update - By: Xela King
The date was the sixth of May, and we were all asked to send in our specs, so that Jagex could gauge how far they could push the boundaries on some mystery project. Nothing like this had ever been done before and rumours abounded as to what had caused this unprecedented drive for our details, making some players suspicious.
Two days later, the graphics update was revealed with a reminder to send in our information, and the community went wild. Massive amounts of people heralded the birth of RS3, while equal numbers of people remained skeptical about the whole thing, claiming it was only revealed to distract people from the loss of the wilderness and the trade changes. Others pointed out the repeat of the message to send in details of our computers, suspecting that not many people had done so, most likely thinking that Jagex might not be a company they can trust.
At this point, I must confess that I didn't send in my details. As I used SwiftSwitch, a popular RS toolkit and ex world switcher which was and is legal, but had not always been so, I decided that I was at risk of being flagged up as a possible cheater if I sent in my specs, as did many other people.
When I saw the first screenshots of the graphics update however, I looked over the idea of sending in my specs once again. Amazed at the idea of shadows, textures and lighting in the same game I know and love I very nearly did, but my distrust of Jagex won over and I stayed as a spectator to the development process.
So, what does this mean for the future of RuneScape? Will the new graphics be members only? How long will the older graphical styles be supported?
The only reference point we have for such a big change is the transition from RS1 to RS2. As we know, RS is still available to freeplayers, so clearly they were allowed to use the new graphics then, however you couldn't use the old graphics to play the new game, which is the key difference in whether both members and freeplayers will have the update. As the new graphics will be entirely optional with no requirement to have the new graphics to play the current game, the chances of freeplayers having access to the improved graphics are dubious.
As for the matter of how long older graphical styles will be supported, the key difference between RS1/2 and now again is that you couldn't play the "live" game with old graphics, which forced anyone who wanted the full game to use the new graphics. This meant that no staff time apart from maybe a little moderation and keeping the servers running was dedicated to RSC and development could continue at the old pace. With the new graphics update, all new quests will have to be developed for 3 graphics modes rather than the two before, and it looks as if it will be significantly more difficult to produce updates for the new graphics than the current ones. This could lead the low detail options to be scrapped eventually to keep update turnout high, or else we could be seeing fewer new features as a price to pay for the improved graphics.
Alas, only time can tell what exactly will happen, but we can be sure that the rumours about this will abound until the day we see for ourselves what is coming.
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Runecrafting: Not So Good? - By: Henrique651
Ever since the implementation of the Grand Exchange and other various rules to stop out 'bots, the runecrafting skill has been completely destroyed at the pinnacle of its era of glory.
Runecrafting is a skill that was mainly used by members. In the free player world it was simply not worth the time, since there were much better ways to make money. Conversely, members who crafted nature runes could get a profit of sometimes 250gp per nature! Back in the days, runecrafting was one of the biggest (although most tedious) money makers that existed. A player could technically make as many runes as he wanted, and know he would make good profit out of it. Players needed natures, because it allowed them to use the high alchemy spell, which is one of the best magic experience training methods.
There was also another factor: the amount of pure essence in the market. Now, since this has been dealt with previously (Here), I shall not focus on it, but just give an overview.
Ever since the extinction of autoers (I call it so because there are too few of them to actually make a difference) prices of raw materials have been going up. The demand for the materials is the same, but people can't compete with bots'. The buyers pay higher to get the same amount, incentivising the normal people to collect the materials. Pure essence is no different, and since it is a particularly easy raw material to obtain, autoers got it a lot. So people can't get as much. Simple.
Now, let's see the effect on the market. The pure essence stock diminished, and so everybody wants it. The prices skyrocketed up to 170gp a piece at times. Now, seeing as the price was higher, more people abandoned other tasks to collect pure essence. This made other materials more sought after than pure essence, yet people preferred pure essence, since it was easier to collect.
So, people got too much pure essence, and crafted natures. Simple? Look again:
With the quick ascendance of the price of pure essence, the profit of nature crafting is becoming scarcer each day, and as such, while it was supposed to go up, it went down. People can get more profit with law runes, so law runes are higher in the demand, and as such there is a larger stock of law runes, making natures less attractive to the average mage. The natures were basically "left to collect dust" as the laws took its place on the world of Runecrafting.
Now, while you make a better profit with laws, it is still not that good: 130-140gp per law. This is 100gp less per rune than the natures before.
Now, with the release of the blood altar and blood runecrafting, the price of bloods, if over-crafted, will fall too. Now, there is a strong likelihood that this will happen because of a single reason: bloods do NOT have a high demand. Their buyers were mostly stakers for Ancients and pkers, also for Ancients. Now that both of those methods can not be exerted, the bloods will not have nearly as much demand as they had, because no-one will honestly use them. Who wants to train magic using blood rune spells when they can high-alchemy? No-one. That is the problem. Bloods will keep falling and land into obscurity.
Deaths are a different matter than bloods, but will still be in the same league. Pking is off, staking is off, almost no-one wants to buy them, right? Well look again. Death Runes are the best runes for f2p, where people actually use high-level spells for their needs, so demand for deaths will keep higher then bloods, even though having possibly a little drop.
Now, counting with another factor: the ZMI altar. While I personally am not familiarized with it, this is a major modification of the way people used to runecraft. Being able to craft any type of rune at a lower level is helpful. While you normally make less money using this method, you will gain more experience, which means that people looking for a faster level up will choose this method. By choosing this method it will happen that soul runes will finally hit the market, which will be a minor change into the way runecrafting works, proportioning more runes for teleother spells. Also, as soon as you get higher runecrafting, you will craft more high-level runes, which will be a factor that may lead more and more people to use the ZMI altar.
This has proved that runecrafting, as a money making method, is no longer the most viable option, and is expected to take a secondary stance, following things like god wars, slayer, or even material collecting - grunt work - instead of being followed by those tasks.
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Something Wicked This Way Lies - By: Doddsy
JaGeX have always stated what appears to be a very simple rule: Never share personal messages from JaGeX with the public. To most this seemed like a reasonable rule, it didn’t appear to be twisted or cruel but to most it has always seemed a bit unnecessary. I, myself, had always wondered why we were not allowed to share them with the public, my general impressions of messages that had leaked into forums and the official forums (RSOF) were generally funny, informative and plain. There was nothing special about these messages; I had always believed that it was JaGeX just being over-protective again. They were my beliefs until I got a true understanding why we could not spread them.
When a player is reported, the report goes through a few stages of analysis*. Firstly, a computer checks to see what the claimed report was and whether the two correlate. For example, if a player had been reported for offensive language, it would check to see if anything offensive was said. If it is flagged down as having an offence then it is passed on to a team who check to see if it is something that actually breaks the rules or whether it was truly innocent. The impression JaGeX gives us is that a huge amount of reports flood through their office everyday so they try to be as accurate as they can. What many players feel they get is a quick glance to see if the infringement has happened, if it has anything that leads to this conclusion they warn you appropriately. This is what many believe has lead to hundreds, if not thousands, of unfair warns. With the appeal process conducted in much the same manner those who are given such warns are often unable to redeem themselves.
The unfair distribution of warns is what has lead JaGeX to ban the publication of such messages. A fear of people hearing about the huge, gaping flaws in their Abuse Report system and feeling a wrath of criticism about how it needs to be fixed. If the failures in the system are not denting their bank vault they will not act to fix it. The problem is only made worse by the obvious fact that those who are worst affected are those who are silenced or banned. The ones who know exactly what is going on are unable to act to save it. If JaGeX wishes to keep its members in the dark about the flaws in their systems it will only make it worse when they are finally revealed, whether by their own will or forcibly, it will only cause more ruckus in the realm.
*These are not known steps just those that have been assumed and deduced from the minor clues they have left us
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Something Is Rotten In The State Of Gielinor - By: Merch Gwyar
The government issued a proclamation that no website must even be mentioned. There were exceptions in a handful of state-sanctioned URLs deemed suitable and safe for the people's access. This was just the latest in a string of increasingly repressive, restrictive legislation. The population were encouraged to inform upon each other. Incentives for doing so were handed out as promotion within the hierarchy of authority. Those who transgressed were silenced or, in worse case scenarios, joined the disappeared.
If this was a real-life country, then Amnesty International would have already started a protest campaign, while the international community would be sending ambassadors to negotiate change. But it isn't reality in that way, it's Runescape and that's just a game. A tighter rein on what is or is not permissible in conversation is supposed to be simply acceptable, no more outrageous than, say, the imposition of the off-side rule in football.
There are certainly arguments in favour of such things. The filter against swearing and other age-inappropriate language ensures a friendlier atmosphere. Parents are happier about allowing their children to play the game, which enriches the Runescape community and provides more revenue for Jagex. For the rest of the players, a bubble of non-offensiveness reduces the risk of being offended, which is always nicer than the alternatives (though human beings are very adaptable in finding ways to be offensive within the rules, if they feel the necessity). Meanwhile, after encountering frustrations or worse in the wider world, it is wonderful to have an abuse button, which may permanently silence the bigot, the racist, the homophobe and the other such rubbish.
Recently, the Reporting Academy has sought to reduce the number of unusable abuse reports by clarifying when, or in what circumstances, they should be used. After a week of confusion, when Jagex Moderators, at best, appeared to be singing from very different hymn-sheets, the Forum Mod Curator team, represented by Mod Emilee, produced a final, definitive ruling on what constituted 'good behaviour'. This included advice on discussing websites.
The official stance is that websites may not be even named, let alone URLs given out, with the exception of those owned by Jagex or specifically listed. The latter comprised anti-spyware, anti-virus or anti-keylogging software downloadable sites. 'YouTube' was given special dispensation, in that it could be mentioned. However, no URL could be given nor could players direct people to specific channels within YouTube. Then came the ruling on fansites and clansites. Their names may not be spoken at all.
7. "Are we allowed to name fansites in game without the ".com" part on them?"
I'm afraid not. This would be classed as directing players to another website which is against the rules.
Mod Emilee
The implications were sounded loud and clear, over and over again. Jagex cannot guarantee that certain sites are safe. They know that some sites contain keyloggers, which steal account details and so the account itself is taken. All players reading the statement must have secretly been thinking of real world trading sites, gold farmers or any of those dodgy ones with more adverts than content. Whatever their private thoughts, Jagex did not mention these at all, instead they followed each warning of dire threats to your computer and account safety with a mention of 'fansites and clansites'.
For security reasons, we cannot allow you to post website URLs or guide players to other websites. This rule includes fansites and clansites. The reason for this is that many sites are deliberately designed to steal account details or infect players' computers with keyloggers, trojans, viruses or other malicious software.
Mod Emilee
In the 'real world' that would that count as libel? Would we be watching Salmoneus and other fansite owners appointing lawyers to clear their names? After all, several million people have just been told over and over again that it's not the real-world trading sites we should be concerned about, it's Sal's Realm of Runescape, Tip It, Zybez, Rune HQ, Runewise, Truthscape and many others of this ilk.
So what has happened in the past? It is true that two fansite forums suffered an instance, in 2003, where their members' security was compromised. Simultaneous hackings occurred, at Tip It and Zybez, whereby false administrative accounts were created. The hacker had no direct access to password details. There was a brief concern that forum passwords could be obtained by altering member e-mail addresses, then using the lost password request facility. This didn't seem to have happened in reality. The Tip It and Zybez administrations quickly informed Jagex, who issued an announcement advocating common sense in such matters. If no-one used the same password for Runescape as they did for fansite forums, then no player account could be illegally accessed. However, Jagex also added what has since become their mantra,
We have always stated that you should NEVER download unofficial runescape software from fan-sites, because it may contain a virus or keylogger. If you ignored this advice your runescape account and computer is in danger, since the software may have been modified by the hacker. We recommend you delete it, install anti-virus and firewall software, and change your password.
'Behind the Scenes', Runescape, July 21st 2003
However, there was never any suggestion that the hacker administrator had had access to the main website. Lightning, the owner of Tip It, wrote, on the same day, that his database had not been breached and that security was being tightened. W13, over at Zybez, had to contend with his database being erased by, presumably, the same hacker. However, this again only related to the Runescape Community forum attached to his website. The forum disappeared with a picture of Bob Marley taking its place, with no evidence that usernames and passwords had been collected in the process. Neither site-owners felt the need to warn their members about viruses or keyloggers, because the hacker had not accessed areas where these were potential threats.
A strange announcement, in April 2005, did directly accuse an unnamed Runescape fansite of spreading keyloggers in the form of .jpg images allowed on their forums. Though it was stated that Jagex were in contact with the owner(s) of the sites, all of the main ones issued statements that it wasn't their site. Forums across the board erupted with mud-slinging, as members of each site blamed their rivals, until Runescape Bits and Bytes confessed that it was them. A forum administrator's account had been hacked, with the database copied, but no indication that any keyloggers had been uncovered. Speculation was rife that Paul Gower himself had received a keylogger from the site, though his brother, Andrew, was able to remove it with the use of Ad-Aware.
In May 2006, a successful hacking of the Tip It database took place. A few thousand user name and password combinations were accessed. Lightning, on behalf of Tip It, wrote at the time,
We ask our users to accept our sincere apology for these problems, but we also ask for understanding that we have done (always have, always will) all in our power to protect our users, and to give us credit for what we do on a daily basis maintaining and keeping this very popular fan site alive.
Lightning, Tip It, May 18th 2006
Again the administration there alerted Jagex, who made another announcement. This repeated the sensible advice that people should not use the same password for both Runescape and its fansites. If this simple precaution is adherred to, then there should be no problem with Runescape player accounts being hijacked.
Finally I'd like to reassure users that our own security has in no way been compromised. As long as your RuneScape password is unique there is no risk from this.
'Behind the Scenes', Runescape, May 17th 2006
The research for this article has led to endless sifting through the archives of the official site and fansites alike, yet the only authenticated instance of a keylogger infiltrating a site occurred in February 2005, at Runescape Bits and Bytes. A link to SwiftSwitch led to a keylogged copy, not the safe original. This was quickly discovered and Dan, on behalf of the site, alerted all members, whilst replacing the link with the correct URL.
All other breaches of security have been contained with fansite forums and have generally involved an administrator account being overtaken. While this was temporarily chaotic for the forum-owners involved, none of these incidents could have compromised Runescape player accounts, as long as the same passwords were never used for both forum and game. This is not the message currently being hammered home by Jagex, who have formed the party line policy that all Runescape fansites are potential sources of keyloggers, viruses and trojans. The threat is now deemed to be so great, that even their names may not be spoken in-game.
While the 'tribes' of the fansites and clansites bristled at the slur to their home-communities, other implications to the state of gameplay became more subtly apparent. Picture the scene: it has been a hard, busy day, with just a few minutes to unwind with a bit of Runescape. There is only really time for a few 'essentials', buying some battlestaves, having a round of crop harvesting, burning a few handfuls of logs, but then a player appears beside you. 'I'm stuck on my quest, can you help me?' It's been a long time since you did that quest and, when the problem is described, you find that you don't quite recall it. You reply, 'Sorry, I can't help here, but if you go to Sal's, there's a guide. I used it to get me through.' The player asks for the URL, but mindful of the rules, you decline, urging the use of a search engine instead. 'Just search 'Sal's' and 'Runescape', you'll find it.' A moment later, the player thanks you and goes on. You smile, pleased with yourself for having been able to help, then get on with those few precious minutes left of gameplay before the world demands your return.
*Scratch* Reverse back to the initial response. 'Sorry, I can't help here.' Stop. No mention of Sal's nor any other helpful site. At best, the other player goes away unassisted and still lost, while you silently resent again another restriction; at worse, the player hangs around throughout those remaining minutes repeatedly asking for clarification or pleading for the name of the website which helped you. Suspicion hangs in the air. The wry internet joke, that this is a world were men are men, women are women and children are FBI agents in disguise, takes on a new local twist - is this player a Jagex mod in disguise? A moment of weakness, in which the site's name is fearfully whispered could result in a permanent ban. It's a moment which breeds disquiet, bad feeling, rule-breaking or switching off public chat; or will the players become adept at flying beneath the radar? Is there a series of emotes which spell out Sal's? Spin, angry, laugh... I didn't say a word.
Jagex, through Mod Emilee, stated that they could have produced a list of safe websites beyond those included, but it would grow too unwieldy and would be constantly changing. In seeming to save themselves time and energy in not compiling that list, it may be argued that they have caused a lot more work elsewhere. Until this proclamation, while no URLs could be given, it was perceived as permissable to mention the names of fansites. Now it isn't, so the stack of abuse reports receive more fuel and the players will inevitably discover for themselves a new minigame: how to pass on fansite and clansite names without breaking any rules.
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Minigames - By: ZacharyB
Whether you're piercing Dharok with your dart, taking out the Dagganoth Kings, or placing flags on potato seeds, minigames play a huge part in Runescape. They offer high level items, experience, or just something to do in your spare time.
What is a minigame, you ask? There really isn't an exact definition (at least, runescapewise), since each game is different. They will usually involve three things, strategy, skills, and ,of course, A REWARD.
Strategy is used differently in all of the minigames. It's not as big in Pest Control as it is in Fist of Guthix and Vinesweeper. All boss monsters (boss monsters count as minigames in this), involve a piece of strategy. This includes knowing how to spread around the tunnels when Giant Mole hunting, or positioning yourself just right around the Kalphite Queen. If you don't know what you're doing, you could end up with everyone's favorite message in the chat box.
"Say you're at Dagganoth Kings, and you're ranging Prime, step up to far, and supreme sees you. Now they're both on you, and you're probably dead."
Tis Alex
But strategy isn't just limited to boss monsters. Outwitting your opponent or placing flags over the potato seeds requires strategy, and is needed in Fist of Guthix and Vinesweeper.
Skills is a fairly simple idea. You're not gonna be able to take out the King Black Dragon with attack strength and defense at level 30. You're welcome to try though.
Now for the reason most of us play minigames, and that is for the reward! The reward usually is experience, resources, a new or high-levelled item. These items could be farming seeds, or bars to smith with, to the infamous Fire Capes and that oh so lovely Guthan's Spear. Rewards can give us an alternate way to train, more resources, or, of course, gold coins.
A conflict inherent in the launch of a new minigame is the idea of change. When a minigame comes out with the idea of a faster way to get experience in a slow to train skill, people that spent the time doing that skill are angry because they had to do it the old fashion way. Wouldn't you be mad if you had just got 99 farming using trees, and costing you a lot of money, when the day after, a game comes out that gives you farming experience for free?
There are 34 (not including boss monsters) minigames out there, and only 15 of them are probably used by a lot of people daily. Over half of the used ones are combat related. The other 19 are probably some of the best when collecting experience or items. I'm sure lots of people have only done one or two Burgh de Rott rambles, and don't know how great the rewards can be. They're a great source of pure essence, and silver bars.
I asked a couple of Slammers what their favorite minigames were and if skill or strategy were required.
"Castle wars or pyramid plunder.
Cwars because it's fun to do with friends and takes strategy.
Pyramaid plunder is fast paced and tests how fluid you are."
Wolfhe
"I love 'Barbarian Assault', especially the role of Defender. It does take a lot of strategic thinking, on the part of all of the team-members. If there is a great healer, then you don't need to have a high combat level. In fact, the team gets more points for all the healing of low-levelled players."
Merch Gwyar
I have a challenge for you. Look on the minigame list in the Runescape Knowledge Base. Find a minigame that you have never played before, and play it. Who knows, you may find an awesome new game!
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