Marlaine’s Musings

Because Kitt Foxx asked

Kitt Foxx said:
I have a question … Do you buy a large stock of battlestaffs from Varrock and Baba Yaga and then attach orbs to them?

I answered kind of long in the comments area and thought, shoot, why don’t I just kind of comment on my day’s fiddling around?

Oh - my answer to Kitt Foxx’s question:

Kitt - I buy the battle staffs from Varrock as near every day as I can. I also get my sand every day. I sometimes get the seaweed from Catherby but I often alk and pick seaweed at Monk’s if I don’t pick nightshade from the Yanille cave. I just save them up everyday as I work on other things like mining or smithing, herblore or whatever. When I get 1k seaweed and sand, I go to Lunar. Sometimes, even when I can’t do anything else on Runescape in a day, I just go get my sand and battlestaffs. Usually check my Miscellanea, too, in case I get a Spirit seed to plant that takes 3 days to grow. Buying from Baba Yaga only happens when I am about 200 staffs away from a crafting level or something and toooooo impatient to wait for the daily staffs - she’s too expensive! I have 1700 uncharged orbs and have to make cosmics so I can charge them. Attaching will have to wait until I charge more orbs. So - basically I know I have made a certain amount of gp making those battlestaffs and keep gp just for stocking up on them until I have enough air orbs. It’s mostly patience really - at the moment, I think I have 600 battlestaffs waiting. And you’ve reminded me that I have to go make cosmics. Prime buys cosmics but I’d rather make them.

I have a lot of studying to do today so I will be running around doing things I can glance away from periodically. Personally, I make my game window about 3/4 the screen and I make MS Word just big enough to show my manuscript lines - that way I can keep an eye on my character while I type up notes. I’ve also got a TV tray set up right under my sliding keyboard shelf with what I am studying so I can read, then type and glance at my character whenever I want to. I also have this blog screen open. I use the Firefox browser - so great! I also use SwiftKit as my game portal - I love that setup so much! The link I provided is absolutely safe - straight to SwiftKit’s official site where you can read about it (and the old version) and download it if you care to.

So, I’ll log in and see where I left myself last night………. Oh what do you know? I left myself set up to do runecrafting! Good! (I often do that to remind myself what I have to work on.) I’ll need to do those few basics first - check staffs (got them), talk to Bert and run to Miscellanea. I’ll do a round of herbs too because I am working up to an herblore level slowly. It’s actually almost 6pm before I logged into Runescape for the first time today.

Herbs first - oh that dang Freaky Forester! - on my first click to tele! I usually go to ecto vial spot, then Catherby, Draynor, Ardy and Trollheim. I zip to Catherby to fill my watering can often when I am planting more that herbs or use the well by the ecto patch - now I am planting lots of marigolds - so I am watering a lot. I always do the troll patch with a good seed - I’ve been buying Torstol for that specifically. Selling the pots I make definitely makes up the price of that seed. Of course, making those pots are great for the herblore, too! I always go plant a nightshade above Draynor (wear gloves!) and then cross over to the patch to the west. I picked the Master Farmer a lot yesterday so I have a lot of marigold seeds now - they are cheap to buy - 80 gp - but the grown marigolds are selling very high right now - 4388 medium price. I try to make a batch of super compost in Catherby every day I’m doing herbs.

Just an extra note - even though I am 99 farming, two strawberry patches and one watermelon patch I planted yesterday died. I also had to put plant cure on my herbs in ecto patch twice so far! (Later today - I went back after dinner and the dang thing was dead!) I usually only do the herbs but I had a big stockpile of strawberry seeds, watermelon and marigolds so I’ve been doing those. I followed someone today who was dropping strawberries - geezzzzzzzz……. I had to go buy baskets for them! I’ll do a price check on a basket of strawberries as soon as I have done my round of herbs and Miscellania. 253 gp per 5 in a basket.

I did some selling on the Grand Exchange after making some of the pots. I usually sell the sarabrews and zammy pots. I also made lots of super weapon poison. from all those nightshades I picked while high alking air battlestaffs. Getting closer to an herblore level…… I love that farming! ….and picking the master farmer in Draynor!

Another note - when you buy either seaweed or pineapple from Arhein, if you don’t buy all you can, the left over will still be there the next day. I usually only buy pineapple to fill up the last load of seaweed I buy - just cause - but I had 11 left today so I bought them to clear his inventory. I normally pick pineapples on the way to the calquat tree and have lots of them usually.

Another note - I wear the ring of dueling in case I want to be real close to a bank fast. I saw that I needed pineapples for super compost in the ecto patch and went to Castle Wars bank, then used the vial back to the ecto patch.

Every time I go through Ardy, I steal something - usually gems but often pick a Paladin, guards, and/or silver. The best way to get rid of a nosy guard by the gem stall is to pick his pocket - he leaves. I also do whatever I have to with that stupid vine when I am in Ardy and top up my prayer after looking at the vine. (Health check this time. Later today, I’ll slay it.)

Ok - all that done and now to some runecrafting!!!!!

TokTz-Ket-Dill Quest

A giant creature is digging tunnels in the Karamja volcano, under the TzHaar city. If something isn’t done soon, their city will collapse!

This is a bit more difficult and takes a while.

Requirements:
Level 40 Attack
Level 50 Construction
Level 43 Crafting
Level 41 Mining
Level 45 Strength
Must be able to defeat a level 100 melee monster, and lower level monsters with Magic and Range.

Items Needed:
A Rune pickaxe, 30 oak planks, a hammer, a chisel, range and magic gear, food. Varrock Teleportation Runes and charged glory are recommended. As always, keep at least one home tele tab or a one click tele in case things go bad.

Start this quest by speaking to one of the three TzHaar outside of a collapsed tunnel in the TzHaar city. Enter the Karamja Volcano and head east until you see the quest start icon on the mini map to find them.

Speak to one of the Tzhaar standing outside the collapsed tunnel in the Eastern corner of the Tzhaar City. They all talk, telling you that a creature called TokTz-Ket-Dill - a big lava monster - has dug through the tunnels, causing them to collapse. They are worried that the larger tunnels they would dig while hunting the lava creature would be a problem. Since they don’t want to risk opening the gap any wider, they wonder if a human might fit through. You offer to help them out, and they send you to Tzhaar-ket-Grol, who is just south of the three.

Tzhaar-ket-Grol will give you a list of items that you will need, but he’ll refuse to translate the list into English and tells you to go to the library in the western area of TzHaar City.

Go west until you see the door line and go through.

Talk to the TzHaar-Mej-Lor, the Lord of the Library. He doesn’t know what books are and thinks the ashes are books. You find out that when the TzHaar handle the books, they burn up. You have to go talk to the the Lord of the Varrock library to find a copy.

Reldo - Lord Of The Varrock Library - doesn’t know what bookcase the tourist guide is on, but he says it shouldn’t be hard to find. The bookcase is located on the west wall, and is in the middle of two other bookcases.

Search the bookcase to find the TzHaar tourist guide. There is a note inside that is a translation of TzHaar numbers

and the book is a translation of some of the TzHaar language.

You’ll need a pickaxe, 15 oak planks and blocks of stone. Go back to TzHaar-Ket-Grol and tell him you know what to bring. You’ll have to prove it to him by telling him from the choices on his list:
First - Pick axe
Second - Blocks of stone from the TzHaar mine
Third - Oak planks that are fire resistant in the TzHaar method

TzHaar-Ket-Grol will tell you the blocks of stone can be found in the TzHaar mine, which is located to the north-east, and he says you need to go into the mine to learn how to safely mine the stone. TyHaar-Hur-Brekt will be the one to teach you.

You can talk to TzHaar-Hur-Frok about how to prepare the planks before you go into the mine. He will make them fire resistant for you. Have him make at least 20 but have another 10 oak planks in the bank in case you need more. Bank the hardened planks.

Before TzHaar-Hur-Brekt will teach you, you will need to convince other 4 Tz-Haar miners to join his theater so he can put on his play. It is already written but you have to rewrite it to suit the other Tz-Haar he wants to be in his play. This is a very confusing sequence without knowing the answers.

Basically, you must blame everything on humans in order for the Tz-Haar to go along with the play. So choose - The Humans Started it - first of all - only choose that to change at first.
Ask them how they like the play. Three are Ok with it but Klag is the holdout.
Then ask each how you can make it better for them:
There will be two options for each miner so choose the following….
Klag - The TzHaar-Hur Gets assaulted in his home
Mej - A TzHaar-Meg is aware of the situation
Xil - Staged by an evil TzHaar Xil
Ask everyone again how they like the play.

Then decide an ending with TzHaar-Hur-Brekt that the criminal’s plans are foiled!
Ask each - How can I make it better for you - again……
To get the rest of TzHaar to agree with the ending, talk to TzHaar-Xil-Mor and choose the option that says “The plans aren’t always foiled.” Go back to talk to TzHaar-Hur-Brekt and report that everyone is happy with the plot and the ending.

Then go back to Brekt - He’ll tell you to hand out the roles……….
First Klag and offer to modify it to TzHaar-Hur -Klag
Next - go to Ket-Jok and assign the role of JalYt-Jenny - modify to - not to defeat but allow him to survive the attack.
Then Xil-Mor - assign role of TokTz-Ket-Ek-Mack.
Mej-Kol - assign role of KetKul-Schmul and modify so the criminal tricked into getting only a small sum.
Talk to Brekt again and say you handed out all of the roles. He’ll say they should start rehearsing the play but you do not want to get involved with that!

Now TzHaar-Hur-Brekt agrees and teaches you how to mine magma. You go through a black out while you learn. Mine at least 20 - you might need 30 or more - from various spots on the walls. You get 40xp per obsidian you mine btw.

Have a chisel and hammer in your inventory and make pillars from the stones without help by using either one with a stone.

Now you can repair the tunnels for the TzHaar, but go to the bank and gather the things you’ll need first. Talk to TzHaar-Ket-Grol, south of the quest icon, to get a few more instructions before you enter the tunnels. You do not need to take all your supplies - you’ll be able to go to the bank. Use the ‘Go-through Crack in Wall’.

For the first area, you’ll need a pickaxe, some pillars, and some oak planks. The first tunnel area is clear of attacks but if you try to fix a place that needs a plank with a pillar, you will take damage. Don’t just check the walls for necessary repairs - the boulders in the middle of a path need fixing, too.

If you accidentally block yourself in, you will have to push over a pillar to get out and then replace it. Any repairs you make will still be there if you have to leave or log out. You might have to get extra pillars and planks made. Once you kill a monster, it doesn’t respawn. When you get to the end, if you missed something, you will take damage and have to go find the spot you missed fixing.

Take some food, and some range and magic attack for the second and third areas. There will be three areas of tunnels that you will need to repair. The first area does not have any monsters in it. The second area has 1 Fire monster. Use magic on it.

The third area has 1 Fire monster and 2 Lava monsters. All the monsters are level 47. The Fire monster must be attacked with mage attacks and the Lava monster must be attacked with range attacks. The monsters in these areas must be killed before you can continue through the tunnels.
If you need to get more stone or have more planks hardened, the stones are northeast of the quest icon, through a tunnel opening and the oak planks are done by Rok who is next to the icon.

After you have repaired the three areas with damage, you will be able to get into a new TzHaar mining area. Talk to the TzHaar-Hur there and they will tell you the TokTz-Ket-Dill is in the Northern area of cave. You can exit the mining area through the south point and you will be at the quest start point with the three TzHaars. This allows you the chance to go to the bank and prepare for the final battle with the level 100 monster.

For the big fight, you’ll need melee armor, a Rune pickaxe, and a weapon with a crush attack. This thing can hit hard but you can’t use protect prayers - you’ll get hurt even more. Take good food and potions. Use the shortcut from the Quest Start to get into the new mining area and head to the north entrance. It will start fighting as soon as you get through into the next cave area. You have to use the Rune pickaxe to crack the TokTz-Ket-Dill’s outer shell of the before you can use any other weapon so watch for the message that the outer shell has been broken. Then use a crush weapon and use the Crush attack mode. It gives you 1000 tokuls and big bones as a drop.

Exit the cave and return to the quest starting point. Talk to one of the three TzHaar.

Congratulations! Quest Complete!

5k Attack and Strength XP
10k Crafting XP
15k Mining XP
20k Construction XP
Access to new sections of the TzHaar city, including a multi-way combat Mining area.

Mining in TzHaar City:
There are 3 silver and 3 gold rocks near the bank.

There are 4 gold rocks right outside the entrance to TzHaar City.

And this is the new mining area, straight through from the Quest Start Icon. This area gets 2 addy, 3 mith and 8 coal a round. There is green on some of the coal so don’t think it’s all addy in there.

The Obsidian Mine - what will we do with this stuff? You can’t just drop it - you have to destroy it. Other than pillars…….?

Now - one more thing………… Presenting the Play of All Plays……….
The Three TokKul Opera -
Hey! I didn’t know TokKuls were worth only a Penny!

The END!

FINALLY!!

I will be working on the quest guide separately as usual. I put the complete update on For The Fun Of It, since that is for Rune Registry.

Party Pete and the TzHaar have a new look - let’s see:

Party Pete is now a kid or a midget…………. he also seems to be on speed or something, incredibly hyper. It was hard to get a good pic of him but here it is:

I had to keep changing worlds because people kept asking me to put 20k in the chest so “we” could party. Raised eyebrow…………

The TzHaar hangout is now gold based instead of red, making it a whole lot easier to see in there, especially if you are wearing red. I put on white things to be able to stand out a bit and the color change throughout the area will be easier to navigate as you can tell. Easier on the eyes, too. Wearing dragon items there used to make yourself almost invisible! Even though everything in there is so “busy”, it’s easier to see the TzHaar but I seriously think they looked tougher standing straight up instead of hunched. But in general - decent change!

I wonder why Jagex likes to hunch creatures over……. things are always more intimidating standing tall and strong. Consider the Hunchback of Notre Dame…. he was considered pathetic, even if he was strong. I also wonder why Jagex has to keep tampering with good looking stuff to make it look worse? I used to like the cute skirts until they made girls look pregnant. The cats look horrible - I won’t be getting any unless I have to. The black demons look dopey with the tongue hanging out to the side - stroke victim? The dragons plod along, heavy on their feet, no possibility of being able to actually fly.

I’ll try to get a clearer pic but after a closer look at this pic, they are dang hard to see.

Yup - pretty hard to see….. scarier? Ummmmmmm, well, shaking head………

Here’s the new quest - TokTz-Ket-Dill - but I’ll be doing the guide in a few minutes. Have a couple things to take care of in rl. I’ve heard that people are getting stuck on the play writing or something…….. we’ll see!

13 May 2008 - TokTz-Ket-Dill

A giant creature is causing havoc inside the Karamja volcano, digging tunnels beneath the city. The TzHaar now risk losing their beloved home, unless they can be convinced that they need help.

TokTz-Ket-Dill will give you a unique look into TzHaar society, as well as access to new areas, creatures and TzHaar characters. You may already know about TzHaar guards, hunters, mages, and crafters, but what about the TzHaar playwrights? Do you know how to speak the language? You don’t? Perhaps a TzHaar librarian could be of help.

But what would a trip to the TzHaar city be without some fighting? Worry not! Besides learning the language and meeting some strange TzHaar, you will also explore dangerous tunnels and fight deadly beasts. These foes are no less threatening than the other inhabitants of the volcano, so you will need to prepare yourself.

Ok - going to do the quest now……….

I started my session on Runescape seeing that I have 106k to a crafting level. I have abyssal demons as my assignment but geeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz………. I want to get this level. Yesterday I went to lunar and did glass - turning 1380 seaweed and sand into about 1995 molten glass……………. I am down to 27k to the crafting level right now. Ok……… 20k now. I have to go charge some orbs and attach to battlestaffs so that slayer assignment will be a bit delayed but well worth it. (I still haven’t gotten back to imps either blast it!)

I was in the werewolf bank making the glass into orbs and I can not believe the amount of people asking for price checks - even saying - pc? - as their way to request me to stop my crafting to let them check an item. Sigh………. what the heck is going on now? It’s even worse that it used to be! Runescape actually has one terrific link to the Grand Exchange right on their front page!

Ok off to Edgeville to do a few orbs…………. smiling…….. won’t take too many! Prime is charging orbs now anyway and we both have abyssals for assignments. We can also do tears today so we will be doing that as well. Those dang spiders don’t seem to be dropping charms - I always do some of those on each air orb run………… I’ve done 10 spiders already and no charms. Did Jagex nerf them? 15 and no charms………… well they finally started dropping and then I got 5 golds and a crimson.

I did about 350 orbs and will now be able to get the crafting level easily……. I still have over 1400 orbs to charge though - unfortunately, I ran out of cosmics and have to go runecraft again.
Ok 10k left to the level……….
Got it…………….

Things have come up in rl and I’m going to have to do a few things first before I can get back to Runescape. But afterwards, I’ll see what other level I just might get today! Smiling!

I went for an assignment and got 17 steel dragons but I went to Lost City instead of Shilo. Here’s why………. when I was doing Cave Horrors for my previous assignment, I caught two magpies and a ninja back and forth from the cave. It reminded me how fun those blasted things are and deceptively so, I have to add! You catch a snickering little impling and it might give you almost anything! I’ve gotten onyx tipped bolts, rune chains, dragon tips, tons of noted pure essence, lots of goooooood seeds - even torstol, willow seeds, 4 noted diamonds at a time, any kind of ore, oak planks noted, black dragons hides untanned, all the runes, - I can’t even remember everything even looking through my bank!

I have a few trees to plant now and herbs but I can’t wait to get back to Lost City!

BTW - I am in the top 200 farmers now - let’s have a square dance party - yeeehaaa but - nevertheless- it was dang difficult to get up there!!!!!!!!!! Next farming goal - into the top 150. Here’s just a tidbit of info - after you reach 99, anything you do after on that skill will seem to drag you down. If you do not plan on getting into one of the top spots in a skill or getting all 99 skills, work on other skills or you will lose rank in a big hurry!

Shoot - I will sensible and do those few steels. Then I’ll go back to Shilo for a bigger assignment - I hope - and then go back to imps!

Soooooooooooo…………Now - the steel dragons are dropping 3 charms per kill….almost every time! No wonder they are so crowded! Normally, I grab the steel bars and bones but it’s so crowded, I used up a whole inventory without getting a steel. Once I got a spot, I got the last 9 I needed for the assignment. I left as soon as I finished and this is what I got with the last 9…….. the charms are from the entire assignment though. If they weren’t so crowded I would have been tempted to continue. The red dragons are on the east side of the black demons and I usually do a few of those too for those hides. I haven’t worked on those or the black drags since they changed the charm drops. Sigh…………. If my assignment takes me back into the Karamja dungeon - the Dragon Dungeon, I will try out the reds.

Primefalcon and I stayed up until 7am designing the blog for Rune Registry - called For The Fun Of It. We both will be posting on there with me more likely the poster but that blog will always list the updates. After I finish quest guides, they will be added to that blog as well. I will have to take one of my secondary characters through the earlier quests to get all the pics - sigh. We also have a couple things to add to the new blog. Our goal is to search out new games and give them a rating. I will be adding a page and I think the first game review will be = Travian……… or maybe Runescape but I may not be qualified to rate Runescape - too subjective. Smiling!

Ok……….I’m going to ectofunctus…… and going to try the bone grinding! Nope - no faster for the bones at all - they are still one at a time!

Now off to the imps again!

New update on the 8th of May:

You can get a much better view of this pic and the before graphics version on Runescape’s Update page.

8 May 2008 - An Image of the Future

Over the past year, we’ve been keeping a rather large secret. We have been working on a complete graphical rework of RuneScape, which is looking truly spectacular. There’s no need to take our word for it: look at the images below and see for yourself.

As you know, we currently offer ‘High Detail’ and ‘Low Detail’ modes. We plan on adding a new and optional detail mode, bringing you accelerated higher quality graphics. This will be in addition to the existing detail modes, as they will remain unchanged.

As if the improvements below weren’t enough, an optional fullscreen version of RuneScape is due at the same time. This will let you play at a resolution of your choice, and it also supports widescreen monitors. We think you’ll agree, the future of RuneScape is looking very good indeed….

A shame they didn’t run this when they first asked for specs!

Obviously the reluctance to give the specs was so great from most of the players that Jagex was forced to divulge more info. Reaver stated on one of my comments that Jagex could be gathering whatever they wanted without us even knowing it anyway and he is right. He said, “If they wanted to find out that kind of information behind your backs, why not program it into the game itself. It already leaves files on your computer.” Besides, if you pay with a legit credit card, they know even more about you than you think.

Perils Of Ice Mountain Quest

The Dwarves who live on Ice Mountain have devised a new automated machine to make pickaxes - since the demand was getting too high to keep up with manually. They have oked a new power station on the slopes of Ice Mountain but they’ve had a minor problem. A delivery dwarf has lost part of his delivery and he needs help. Beware, if you volunteer to help him, you are going to have even more problems to solve than merely a few parts to find.

This quest is easy and short.

Requirements:
10 Construction
10 Farming
10 Hunter
11 Thieving

Items Needed:
Saw, Hammer, 2 Nails, 2 Planks, Watering can with at least 1 sprinkling, Bucket of compost and something to up your energy will make this easier.

Talk to Lakki, the dwarf next to the broken cart on the south road on Ice Mountain to start this quest. He says he’ll lose his job if he doesn’t find the missing crate and you ask if you can help him.

Follow the west path leading to Falidor and search all the bushes for the crate. The lost crate is in different bushes for different players.

If you right click it to look inside, you will see that it has an egg inside!

Go past the entrance to the Dwarven Mine where you get your cannon replaced, and enter the next building which is the power station. Note dragons in the nests - no, those are cracked egg shells.

Talk to Drorkar and give him the crate.

You’ll see a cut scene of two baby dragons fueling the station.

Drorkar will give you a letter for Brother Bordiss in the monastery. He thinks you are a bleeding heart if you say it’s cruel to keep the dragons working like that. You can pickpocket him for a dwarvin key.

Brother Bordiss is to the east in the Monastery garden. Give him the letter and you’ll find out that he’s upset that Drorkar made the power station. Brother Bordiss and Brother Althric talk back and forth until Brother Althric suddenly sees that his roses are dying.

Offer to help Brother Althric. Use a bucket of compost on the roses and water them. You will see a cut scene of a gnome parachuting from the air and leaving for ice mountain and Brother Althric asks you to find out what’s going on.

Follow the Gnome to Ice Mountain and talk to Professor Arblenap.

You ask to help and he tells you to catch 4 baby icefiends with the net he gives you. Give him the babies once you catch them. Then you’ll see a cut scene of an avalanche.

Talk to the oracle on the northern side of the mountain. She’ll tell you her tent was taken by the avalanche and you volunteer to get it and fix it for her.

The tent lies near the eastern side of the Ice Mountain - you can see it from above. Go down and get it. Return to the oracle. Repair it by using tent with tent remains. You have to have the nails, planks, hammer and saw with you.

The oracle will then have a vision of the world changing from the heat. You again volunteer to help. She says she sees you did change the future somehow.

Talk to Drorkar about the oracle’s vision. He says the power station doesn’t need to be shut down but it’s Nurmof’s decision and only Nurmof can do it.

Go talk to Nurmof in the Dwarven mines. Ask him to shut down the power station. He’ll say he can’t shut down the station because his business would be ruined. He says that Brother Bordiss has an alternative power source but took a vow of silence before he told Nurmof.

Talk to Brother Bordiss again and ask about his power source alternative. He’ll say that he lost the key to the chest containing his plans - strangely it was after a night of drinking with Drorkar.

If you didn’t get the key, go back and pickpocket Drorkar. If you have the key, Brother Bordiss now knows he isn’t a failure. Go back to the dwarven mines. Go directly east and open the chest near the standard. You will find the plans.

Take these to Nurmof. You will see a cut scene of the new power station.

Quest complete!

Reward:
1 Quest Point
500 Farming XP
500 Hunter XP
500 Construction XP
500 Thieving XP
Can make pickaxes
Permission to use the Power Station ladder.

I posted today’s complete updated on For The Fun Of it so you can read about the new quest and the replacement reward over there.

You will now get two XP reward lamps that add 10,000XP to any skill of level 30 or higher if you have completed the quest. I personally only got 10k total xp using both lamps……… did I misunderstand what the reward was????????????????

I’ll go get those lamps first and then start working on the new quest guide for Perils Of Ice Mountain!

Here is where to get the lamps:

The anvil icon is the place to go. Use the games necklace to Burthorpe Games Room and go around to the east side, then north. BTW - the games necklace now has an option to tele to clan wars.

If you’ve already completed Troll Stronghold, talk to Dunstan, the blacksmith in Burthorpe, to claim the new reward.

Remember you need a skill to be over level 30 to be able to apply this reward to the skill (as you can see, a guy in this pic forgot). They aren’t going to let you ignore this either until you go get your lamps….

…. you get that message every time you log in until you go get them!

More news - the law talisman and law tiaras are tradeable. They will be dropped by a few creatures including abyssal creatures, battle tortoises, terror birds, ghouls, guards, and paladins.

We’ll be able to make pickaxes now - Rune pickaxe can be made if you have level 90 smithing - after you finish the quest. I can make those with a dwarvin stout but - I keep most of the picks I get as drops so I don’t need to make them now. Sure could have used this a year ago though! It was a real pain to go all the way to Nurmof to get another pickaxe!

Also about yesterday’s update about downloading - evidently someone picked it apart and could tell the download was exactly what Jagex said it was, so it is safe to run the download and let Jagex have a look at your computer system. Just a warning though, even Jagex has not always been entirely upfront about what they are doing with account info.

Also:
Our cats and kittens got a make over already! I sort of expected that to come later in the month! I might go look at them later……………………. remember you need to wear your ring of Charros to be able to chose your kitten type.

…………errrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……… no thanks!

I’ll be posting pics of the new Ice Mountain look on the quest guide since the quest is on Ice Mountain. I have liked the new looks all over Runescape so I am sure this will be interesting, too.

They have set up a log book for our Fairy Ring travels which should be nice. I have kept a frequently used list on SwiftKit note page for the five most traveled to co-ordinates. I don’t think I’ll get rid of my personal list but I am curious about Runescape’s log. I might just go to my fav spots to get them logged right away.

Before I start that new quest I will definitely have a look at the bone grinder. If the grinder is faster for bones, guess who will be getting a prayer level pretty soon! That Ectofuntus prayer will be even more useful over the house altar if it does grind bones! I will give it a go!

Those spirit shards and pouches and getting your gp back this way or that is a big pain. No matter how you look at it, Summoning is expensive and a waste in general. The familiars leave when their time is up and if you aren’t watching, it can leave you vulnerable or leave your items on the ground. I haven’t even been bothering when I go to the abyss to runecraft because we have to play beat the clock with those abyssal parasites - any dawdling means you waste time on your familiar’s clock! So even if Bogrog, the ogre in the north of Gu’Tanoth, is trading your Summoning pouches for spirit shards, is it really worth it? I have been high alking the higher pouches. I don’t really want to go all the way over to Bogrog to trade anything! I have heard that we do get more than high alking our pouches - 40% of the cost high alking and 70% trading it in so I suppose it would be worth while. I’ll have to try it out later.

Well - Jagex wants us to download our computer specs……… you know it sounds just like all the stuff the scammers say when they want to hack your computer. Jagex will know our complete set up and who we are if we give them that info.

6 May 2008 - Send us your Specs!

When planning future projects or attempting to really push the technology of the RuneScape game, we often come across the same problem: we have no information about everyone’s computer hardware. With this kind of information, we could release more RuneScape improvements that make the best use of your system’s capabilities.

We have come up with a solution that we’d like you to help us with. We have developed a program that, once downloaded, will tell us the following things about your computer:

* Your operating system
* Your graphics card
* Your CPU
* Your Java version
* Relevant graphical and audio drivers

Once we’ve gathered together all of this information, we can begin planning our future projects and RuneScape improvements to work within these specifications. This means that very few people will miss out on some awesome updates that we have planned!

To begin downloading the program, visit this link and log in. It will guide you through an agreement page to make sure that you understand what is required. The process does not take long, so you should be back to RuneScape in no time.

The applet is completely secure and official (you can verify this by checking that your address bar states www.runescape.com/). We can guarantee that your information will only be used by Jagex to develop future games and improve RuneScape. It will not be shared with any other organisations.

NOTE - Please only download the program from RuneScape.com. This is the only legitimate source.

I am sorry to say that I do not like this one little bit. If they let us fill out a form, fine! But they want us to download a program that will search the computer to find out whatever they want to know. Which - could include your street address, name and all personal info on your computer. Please, hold off on downloading this program.

They run a Java applet that gathers info in a few seconds - but…. they could be gathering more than they say they are! Will they later use the info to ban us if - say - we signed up on another computer or use someone else’s credit card to pay for our account? Or use someone else’s computer but our own card so it looks like it’s getting paid by someone else - which happens to be against the rules.

I also think Jagex wants to cater to whichever the most common setup is and let the older programs drop off their radar. What they should be doing is designing their game to work with all operating systems and graphics cards. Some of us are not getting new computers every year and some of us don’t have the best gaming gear available. Is Jagex trying to cut out the low end players? It should not matter what kind of computer we are using as long as it is actually running on the internet. My brother has an older slower comp and he can’t play Runescape on it at all without freezing up - so Jagex is already making it hard for a lot of people to play as it is!

Oh heck - maybe they are really gathering info to use with different projects like FunOrb or Mechscape………… and not really focusing on Runescape players at all. After all - didn’t they run a questionnaire about our operating systems about 6 months ago or so - wasn’t that enough?

Ok - Mod Mark said that Jagex is trying to set up a new level of high graphics for the players. He adds that Jagex will not be taking away low detail though. He also said that when they presented the poll concerning personal graphics, most of the players said they just didn’t know what they had or were using. So……. you have a decent base of info to make a decision with. I have presented many angles of this situation. Yeah or nae - up to you!

New update on the 8th of May:

8 May 2008 - An Image of the Future

Over the past year, we’ve been keeping a rather large secret. We have been working on a complete graphical rework of RuneScape, which is looking truly spectacular. There’s no need to take our word for it: look at the images below and see for yourself.

As you know, we currently offer ‘High Detail’ and ‘Low Detail’ modes. We plan on adding a new and optional detail mode, bringing you accelerated higher quality graphics. This will be in addition to the existing detail modes, as they will remain unchanged.

As if the improvements below weren’t enough, an optional fullscreen version of RuneScape is due at the same time. This will let you play at a resolution of your choice, and it also supports widescreen monitors. We think you’ll agree, the future of RuneScape is looking very good indeed….

A shame they didn’t run this when they first asked for specs!

On another note:
I have been doing so many things lately that I am just working on this and that on Runescape with no real focus. That is probably why I am close to a couple levels now. Mining and crafting. I also have enough oak planks saved up to do a construction level as well……………. sigh………… Even now I am about ready to leave the house to do personal errands. Prime and I have been working on our websites Rune Registry and Duelin’ Deals. I am also studying graphics/animation and marketing. So we put up a great little store on Rune Registry - called the RR Bazaar!

We’ve also put up a new blog on Rune Registry - For The Fun Of It! If you have a fav game or know of other great games, head over there and leave a comment about it. We want to find the best and most fun games on all the internet universe - no matter what kind it is! If you want to be anonymous, leave a comment here and tell me not to use your name - smiling - I just want to know what to go try out! I love games! BTW - we are still working on that blog’s theme…

I also started a survey service that my mother-in-law in Australia says is absolutely legit. We will see. I’ve checked out a few in the past that were nothing but scams. When I find out more I will let you all know.

Prime did recover those first two months of the posts on this blog for me so all that blabber for March and April of 2007 is back…….. including that first one that pretty much says I didn’t know what the heck to write here - still makes me laugh and cracks Prime up even more!

Two quests in May - more quest guides for me - sigh.

It’s not unusual for dwarves to be involved in a spot of industry. In this month’s first quest, however, they may take it a bit too far. Nurmof, the pickaxe sales-dwarf in the Dwarven Mines, will have need of an energy source to power his patented pickaxe machine. Unfortunately for RuneScape, it looks like his choice will have severe consequences. Will you be able to clean up Nurmof’s act in this month’s low-level quest, Perils of Ice Mountain?……

……Which leads us neatly to a RuneScape first: a TzHaar quest! It seems that the TzHaar will have need of a JalYt - a human - to help kill a fearsome beast that has been tunneling through their structures. Normally, this kind of problem would be dealt with in-house, but the only access to the creature will be through a very small, human-sized hole. Will you be successful where the TzHaar have failed, in TokTz-Ket-Dill?

Our cats are going to get an update. Unfortunately, I had to let my cat go for the achievement diary and I just haven’t cared to get another cat. I have cats in rl - so you might guess correctly that I used to take my cat around Runescape and I grew attached to him. I still don’t think it was fair that we had to sacrifice our creature to complete the diary! So NOW I am supposed to care about what is going on with cats that may or may not have to get killed or shooed away in some upcoming something or another - no thanks! I put hours into getting the stupid cat amulet for Sparks, too!

The law talisman will be available to everyone now after how many years? Hmmmmmmmmmm………… while I will enjoy the extra xp, earning the right to use that tally was kind of - justified really. I suppose - next they will just give the Death tally to everyone too - even though most of us had to wait years to get it and YES - the quest is extremely difficult! Use the Assist System to help others make them? Dang it - I never thought of that - sit inside the law altar and let people use my runecrafting all the way to 30k a day? Or death or…….. blood! Wowowow! Anyone want to meet at the blood altar? Anyway - Dunstan will give us the replacement for the law tally - two 10,000xp lamps if you have completed the quest. Dunstan is the blacksmith in Burthorpe, south of Taverly.

Party Pete and the Tzhaar are getting serious makeovers - that should be interesting. Street signs will tell us more but why can’t anything tell us what town we are actually in when we are in it - oh wait, are they hinting that they are actually going to put sign posts in that tell us where we are?

They will also be twiddling around with the chat system again - sigh…… why can’t they just let up call up one person we want to chat with for a bit? After their update, we’ll be able to shortcut send pre-written messages which will definitely cut down on all that misspelling I see all the time. But now even naughty muted players will be able to gabber away without actually saying a new thing. Raised eyebrow - kind of negates the mute-tation? The German/English translation sounds interesting - if we can see both sides, we all might learn another language!

Should I wait to get levels until after the new fireworks are updated? Grind - X will let us do a whole load of whatever - except the dreaded bone grinding!

Well, I love this game - I will just go with whatever they do and adapt! (And try to find the best ways to take advantage of those changes, too!)

At the moment, I am doing slayer and stocking up on charms. I will probably get a summoning level before the end of this day - the 2nd of May, 2008! There aren’t many familiars that really help but the spirit terror bird is good for run renewing and holds 12 things for you. The Macaw drops herbs - kind of helpful. The Abyssal Parasite holds 7 extra essense for you when you go runecrafting. I’ve read that the beginner wolf scrolls will scare off the revenants in wild so I’ll try that out - after I get a few wolf bones. Wowow! Now the werewolves drop gold charms and often - along with the bones, that helps the beginning summoning levels quite a bit. Too bad they weren’t dropping charms when I was fighting them for the bones at the start of summoning! I don’t know how useful any others are yet above 65……….. so I will have to wait to try those out.