News updates from Runescape.com http://forums.zybez.net/index.php Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:42 +0000 120 http://www.zybez.net/images/rsh_banner.png http://forums.zybez.net/index.php http://forums.zybez.net/index.php?showtopic=1322478
You can access RuneScape Classic here.

RuneScape Classic is the predecessor to the current RuneScape game. It was closed to new members over four years ago, but we want for players to be able to try out this important part of our history. We also have potential further plans for Classic (as discussed in this blog), so another reason for this re-opening is to see how many people are interested.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss this, please visit this forum thread.

Mod Jack H
Tools Developer

Note: If you would prefer not to play through the RuneScape Classic tutorial, there is a button to allow you to skip it under the 'Spanner' menu in game.]]> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:42 +0000 http://forums.zybez.net/index.php?showtopic=1322478 http://forums.zybez.net/index.php?showtopic=1322477 Elite Tasks
by Mod Maz 19-Nov-2009

Back in 2006, Mod Mark and I sat down and started to develop what we then called ‘area tasks’. This idea was concepted and developed into the very first Achievement Diary: Karamja. This was a completely new idea within the game - not a quest, yet not a minigame or skill. It was quite an adventure finding and pushing the boundaries of what was possible at the time, and yet staying within our core ideas for what was to become Achievement Diaries: "To highlight existing content that perhaps players hadn’t used in a long time or simply didn’t know about, and to show players around an area by using existing content in the area."

Elite

So, seven diaries later and what has changed? Well, we give far greater rewards for the newer diaries than we gave to Karamja; we’ve added a special beginner diary to Lumbridge to introduce new players to the concept; and, of course, we recently released the Ardougne diary with a hidden elite section.

We were a little wary about how this elite section would go down considering how few players could actually complete it. Overall, the feedback appears to have been positive, with many players using it as a goal, rather than seeing it as a disappointment that they’ll never reach.

So, I’m now starting to design the elite sections for all of the diaries (hard for Lumbridge). What does this involve? It’s generally split into two parts: coming up with tasks and coming up with rewards.

By far the easier part is coming up with the tasks, which is in no small part due to you, the players. I cannot begin to count the number of good tasks that have been suggested for previous diaries on the forums. Being a player of RuneScape as well as a developer, I’ll also use my own game knowledge of the area to come up with some tasks, as well as walking around the area to get a feel for it.

In the case of elite tasks, I will also be talking to the curators of the other diaries that I didn’t develop or do not curate - that’s Mod Roderick (Lumbridge and Varrock), Mod Trick (Falador) and Mod Hew (Fremennik) - to see what they’d want. Oh, and listening to the squirrels’ instructions for world domination... Wait, what?

Task master

What do we look for in elite tasks? Well, pretty much the same as any normal task, but they should be higher in level than the hard tasks for the area.

This means:

• Bearing in mind the core aims of the project.
  
• Trying to stick to the skill ‘theme’ of the area, if at all possible. This is the loosest requirement; after all, a diary that only featured Thieving tasks would be fairly boring and predictable!
  
• Avoiding anything that relies on a random possibility, as this has caused problems in the past (remember the gout tuber in Karamja’s Achievement Diary?). This means avoiding things like monster drop tables, clue scrolls and other such random features.
  
• Avoiding bottlenecks - e.g. things players can only do one at a time, such as successfully Thieving from one particular stall or killing the KBD, which prevents other players from doing the task for a short time.
  
• Never using any part of a quest as a task. This last one is quite tricky, as things like getting some boots of lightness would make for a nice little task, but as it is part of a quest, we don’t add it as a task because the mechanic has already been used.

Rewards

Having found some good tasks it’s then on to the hard part: the rewards! At least here we have a small start, as all of the diaries have XP lamps as part of the reward, but what else to give that is both balanced (so as to not be overpowered) and in keeping with the previous rewards? At the moment, that, along with the tasks, is a question I am pondering and coming up with ideas for.
Overall, I’m very proud that I am able to reward players through these diaries for their everyday playing of the game. Not just the XP and the item rewards, but the reward of discovering (or re-discovering) parts of the game that you find fun and useful.

If you feel you’d like to contribute ideas for elite tasks, elite rewards or tasks/rewards for any of the areas that don’t yet have an Achievement Diary, please post them on this forum thread. If you have questions relating specifically to this blog, please visit this forum thread.]]> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:57:53 +0000 http://forums.zybez.net/index.php?showtopic=1322477 http://forums.zybez.net/index.php?showtopic=1322193
As you play we’ll be generating interesting news about your character’s experiences: high-level NPCs killed, expensive monster drops, and even player kills made on PvP Worlds will be logged. You can also look at other players’ logs (if they’re public) and compare characters. We feel we’ve covered a broad selection of newsworthy events, but would love to hear your ideas for what else you might like to see.

Be advised that every player’s Adventurer’s Log is publicly viewable by default, but you can set your profile to be available to ‘Friends only’, or make it ‘Private’ so only you can see it. Regardless of your Log’s privacy setting, your ‘Time Played’ information will only be visible by you. The Adventurer’s Log can also be accessed via the website’s Community menu, or by clicking here.
We also like to point out that it’s possible for members to directly link to the images of their avatar as taken in the Photo Booth. These are the images displayed both on the forums and in the Adventurer's Log. The process for doing so is quite straightforward, and is explained here.

Mod Dylan
RuneScape Content Developer]]> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:17:40 +0000 http://forums.zybez.net/index.php?showtopic=1322193 http://forums.zybez.net/index.php?showtopic=1321954
As part of this, we’ve slightly changed the way in which the extreme magic potion works – it now provides a visible Magic stat boost of 7, which decreases over time as with other stat-boosting potions. The normal magic potion’s level boost has been increased to +5. We have, however, also made a change to the Magic skill itself, so that if your Magic level is boosted by any means, you will inflict +3% magic damage per boosted level. This is on top of the +10% magic damage you inflict when wielding certain staves.

Part of the reason for these changes is that we’ve added four new high-level elemental battle spells to the standard spellbook. The Wind Surge (level 81), Water Surge (level 85), Earth Surge (level 90) and Fire Surge (level 95) spells each require one blood and one death rune, and some air runes (and some water, earth or fire runes for those respective elemental spells).

The max hit of Fire Surge is:
28 without boosts
30 with a magic damage-boosting staff
33 with extreme magic/overload
37 with both extreme magic/overload and a magic damage-boosting staff

With those updates, you’re going to need some more runes, so, to top it all off, Runecrafting also gets a tweak. As of today, crafting multiple runes out of one essence has changed for the better. Before, you would only gain the ability to craft an extra rune at specific Runecrafting levels (e.g. 2 air runes at level 11, 3 air runes at level 22, 4 at level 33, and so on). Now, there is a ‘chance’ of getting an extra rune on ‘some’ of your essences if you are between those set levels, with that chance increasing as your level increases (e.g. at Runecrafting levels 12-21, you will gain 2 or 3 air runes per essence). If you want to imagine it visually, what used to be a step graph has been smoothed out into a curve. This is explained in a little more detail in the Game Guide, but the bottom line is that you’ll receive more runes for your hard work.

Mod Chris L (potions/Magic), Mod Rathe (new spells) and Mod Nancy (Runecrafting)
RuneScape Content Developers


In other news...

Your run mode setting is now stored between logins.

You can now take Ava's Attractor and Accumulator to Lanthus and you will be able to retrieve dropped ammo while in Castle Wars. There's also a toggle option on both items to allow you to stop receiving junk.

The pharaoh's sceptre now displays its remaining charges in the name of the item.

The Summoning skillcape now has a boost option to match other skillcapes.

Cannons will no longer waste cannonballs on NPCs in the process of dying. You can now also top up the ammo when it's already firing and there’s an auto-setup feature.

Bones to Peaches and Bones to Bananas can now be used to convert any bones up to and including big bones.]]> Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:35:07 +0000 http://forums.zybez.net/index.php?showtopic=1321954 http://forums.zybez.net/index.php?showtopic=1320812
Once you have purchased your card, you can use the PIN number on the back to subscribe to RuneScape. Click here to find out how.

These cards are also available in the United States, and they can be found in branches of Target, 7-Eleven, Wal-Mart and Rite-Aid. We are hoping to launch these convenient cards in more countries in the future, so keep an eye on ‘Recent News’ for updates.]]> Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:24:14 +0000 http://forums.zybez.net/index.php?showtopic=1320812