Honest Players Overrun RuneScape

This one is probably from April 1 issue, but it's both funny and witty. There is even some hidden truth inside, if you really think about it. Enjoy!

Meeting Zezima

Well, I met Zezima in game yesterday. I guess it happens to everybody sooner or later.



I've been restocking at Edgeville bank for another trip to Chaos Tunnels, when somebody pointed out that Zezima was there. Indeed, he was standing at the same spot I was - presumably fletching. If not for that remark, I wouldn't even notice him and would simply go back to the tunnels.

As you can imagine people started to freak out and ask Zezima for various favors: pictures, phrases etc. Nothing too extreme, after all there were just about 10-15 players in the bank at that time. It wasn't like a big crowd following Zezima into the wilderness or something of that nature. But still, it was stalking and after a few kind responses Zezima stopped answering any questions or remarks thrown at him.

What about me? I was standing there, thinking about all those things I could say. After all for me, Zezima was (and is) one of a very few true Runescape folk heroes (or legends, if you will). I don't think anybody else (despite being #1 or whatever) quite achieved his status in the eyes of Runescape players. I doubt anyone ever will. I could have said that, right? Or maybe I could have said that I have special code just for him at Runewise, because people enter his name there all the time. But no, I know that he doesn't actually use Runewise and I wouldn't be able to explain my "folk hero" theory in a few words as well. So I said the only thing I could under the circumstances and that was how I met Zezima.

I ain't dead

I ain't dead...

I am just slacking. Actually, that's not entirely true. I've been playing some and I did major rework at Runewise (fixed ALog based services), but I was generally not in a mood to write anything or even join Canting Away's clan chat. I did today, so maybe that's why I am writing, who knows... Or maybe it's this time of the year - I remember skipping a month or so last year too, right around March/April. It's spring after all: lots of orienteering, field work and just "work" work.

Plus I am still kind of mulling over the whole "Jagex"/"Night moth" situation. It's rather disheartening. Oh, and BTW, Runescape Adventurer's Log is broken now (go check yours). Yeah, well...

I do have a link for you, though, which is sufficiently gloomy and depressing, yet interesting at the same time: Fred kins' investigation of the Runescape's dark side, aka tracing roots of RWT companies.

P.S. I won't promise to resume regular posts just yet, but I am pretty sure I will eventually...

Night Moth

I feel like a night moth trying to break through the glass. It hurts but I just keep bumping into it. Why do I get this feeling almost every time I communicate with Jagex?! And I can't even blame them. Working for a big corporation myself I know how difficult (if not impossible) for them is to deal with "unknown" entities (well, like me, or other fan sites for that matter), but it still hurts. I wish the world would be simpler, I really do...

Oh maybe I am just too tired these days...

I wish I could share with you "Come, O My Love" song by Carolyn Hester, which shows exactly how I feel now, but I couldn't find it anywhere...

Bob Dylan's "One More Cup of Coffee" from White Stripes will have to do

Grand Exchange Central Re-opening

Below is an announcement from Absenm about the Grand Exchange Central re-opening. Yes, it's up and running again, yay!

Set your calendars friends. April 15 is the official re-opening of The Grand Exchange Central. Before then we will be bits and pieces. But portions of the site will be up. Even today.

We have spent a month finding everything we could to secure our site. Our security is not just watching our users back. We have taken the offensive. Fool me once shame on me. Fool me twice shame on you.

No. Sadly, you will not see anything new. Not yet. Six weeks of work went into security. But at the same time, while rewriting everything, we put in to place some very powerful plug in routines. Once we know you visitors are safe, we can start adding things at a startling pace.
Our little baby hacker has awoken a sleeping giant. We at the GEC will be bigger, stronger, and way more cool than even we had dreamed.

I personally, Absenm, apologize for taking so long. It was required to protect our visitors. We will never again allow hackers to take us down again. I am not issuing a challenge. I am making a statement of fact.

We are going to be smart. Just adding pages slowly. There will be broken links. But in a month you will hardly notice we had been gone. By April 15 it will be business as usual. It is time for resurrection. And the GEC will be there when the dust settles.

So please, RuneScape friends, check on us. You will be glad you did. And on April 15 you will have your GEC finally back. Until then, please watch our progress. We will be a little messy, but we are back, and constructing the site you always wanted us to be.

Merch Gwyar's 1000th post

This is Merch Gwyar's 1000th post and it is beautiful.

Do you realize how lucky we are, that Merch Gwyar plays Runescape and chooses to write about it? I am so glad she does and I am happy that it helps her too.

That day we spent together (to commemorate her 500th post) was one of my best days in Runescape. Maybe the best. I am also an avid reader of her blog about Mexico - in the last two years I happened to travel there a lot and came to love that country.

Thank you, Merch Gwyar. There will be time, when Runescape will be no more, but wherever you go and whatever you do, please, know that you have a special talent: you can touch and heal people's souls with your words. Thank you...

Bonus XP Weekend

It was a very busy weekend, indeed. But mostly IRL (orienteering - ftw). I did manage about 7 hours of playing time, though. I wanted to raise my Smithing to an "effigy" level (which is also a level where I will be able to finally smith myself promethium 2-hander and plate - still to be done). And I wanted to get my Summoning up (I didn't have enough charms for 91, but it's an ultimate goal). So I went through 12K adamant bars and then spent all my Summoning charms. Here are the results:



12K bars is a lot, no way I would try to smith all of them in a row. Instead, I made short breaks every half an hour or so and trained some other skills for a bit. That's where Construction, Fishing, Fletching, Herblore and Crafting exp came from. Runecrafting came from Tears of Guthix.

I also took advantage of people selling by-products of BXPW Smithing for prices way way below their high-alch values. Made a few millions on that. It's always fun to look for and exploit such merchanting opportunities :)

As far as links go, I have a non-RS one. I simply love this picture (and, of course, the movies it's based on). Thanks to Jamie for the pointer (again non-RS blog, but some of you may remember her as Bluebrisingr).

Apple 0123 or is it Apple O123 after all?

Dan recently posted a promotional "100b+ staking video". I don't want to promote the guy who made it (my reasons below). If you really want to see it, you'll find it without much problems anyway. The video shows a few staking clips, one of them with a guy staking and loosing a full set of party hats. They call it insane staking and it is. But call it any way you want, in my opinion, there simply too much dirt related to this aspect of the game.

I don't like staking. I don't like how it emulates gambling and fosters gambling addictions in Runescape players. It also has historical ties to RWT and, of course, luring and deception are right there as well. And it's the deception aspect I want to talk about here. That guy who lost a set of party hats, his name was in the video and it was displayed as Apple 0123. He is in the highscores with mediocre combat stats: 70 Attack, 70 Strength, 81 Defense, 84 HP, 90 Ranged, 52 Prayer, 60 Magic. There was no way someone would use such account in Dueling Arena and bet anything valuable. Something was very fishy. Naturally I got curious and went searching for Apple 0123. I found him (on RSOF selling party hats and also on some rather fishy forums - surprise, duh). There was a few threads where he boasted his staking gains and they were indeed significant - not just one set of party hats, but something like ten of them. But he wasn't Apple 0123 after all - his real name was Apple O123 (aka letter "O") and he used this deception as his means to lure other players in staking big items. Apple O123 has 85 Attack, 99 Strength, 99 HP, 1 Def - figures...

Finally it all made sense, but it didn't look any less foul to me...

Return to Canifis. Prologue

The prologue of upcoming new Runescape book (Return to Canifis) is out in public. Enjoy!

Thanks to Ben for the pointer.

Cause of bad manners in Runescape

I think everybody noticed that people's manners in Runescape are rather low nowadays. Many possible causes were brought to consideration, such as return of the free trade and wilderness, bots and gold farmers, removal of the word filter, maturing of the Runescape populations, un-maturing of the Runescape population, Jagex, world wide crisis and unrest in North Africa. But finally, Kayla was able to nail it on a head and found the very original source of all the troubles. See for yourself!