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Latest News
Happy Holidays + Runeweb Official Drop Party
RuneScape Updates and Plans
*Official* Cat and Fish Day
E-World War II: RWT vs Jagex vs Players
Behind the Scenes - December
Happy Holidays + Runeweb Official Drop Party Posted by Data
Posted at 22nd December 2007, 5 hours, 50 minutes before sunrise
Runeweb would like to wish you a Merry Christmas, and/or a Happy Chanukah (I do love a good Sandler Chanukah Song), or maybe a Happy Kwanza, and an overall Happy Holiday.
It is my own personal hobby to take a blank RW page and try to make something ridiculous out of it. Usually I succeed (see some of our guides), but here's a holiday edition which must be viewed in Internet Explorer for full effect (I also recommend shrinking it until the page fully loads): Click. And the answer to your question is, there are over 1,000 of them on that page.
Now onto the real reason you're reading this: the drop party. That's right, that's right, that's right! We're going to be having a drop party for the New Year! If you want to help, participate or donate, please make a forum post here. If you are an administrator/Events Staff member of another fansite and wish to participate, the way to do so is to contact Makoto via his PM box on the RuneWeb Forums.
Because there's nothing like a pixelated drop party to ring in the New Year two days early.
It is my own personal hobby to take a blank RW page and try to make something ridiculous out of it. Usually I succeed (see some of our guides), but here's a holiday edition which must be viewed in Internet Explorer for full effect (I also recommend shrinking it until the page fully loads): Click. And the answer to your question is, there are over 1,000 of them on that page.
Now onto the real reason you're reading this: the drop party. That's right, that's right, that's right! We're going to be having a drop party for the New Year! If you want to help, participate or donate, please make a forum post here. If you are an administrator/Events Staff member of another fansite and wish to participate, the way to do so is to contact Makoto via his PM box on the RuneWeb Forums.
Because there's nothing like a pixelated drop party to ring in the New Year two days early.
RuneScape Updates and Plans Posted by Makoto
Posted at 19th December 2007, 7:32PM GMT
Playing catchup with the news is horrible. But here we go; this covers the 18th and 17th news updates of this month.
------
As taken from RuneScape.com:
Christmas Event - For ALL Players!
A white Christmas has come to RuneScape this year! It is a gift from the Queen of Snow, who has enlisted her cheeky snow imps for a festive task: to bring snow to some of RuneScape's major settlements. As far as the imps are concerned, you can do what you like with it: there's plenty more where it came from!
So, what can you do with snow? For a start you can make snowballs and, unlike last Christmas's snowballs, you can throw them at other players. If you ever get tired of pelting each other with snowballs, you can use the same snow to build snowmen. The snow imps will even provide a selection of hats to add a finishing touch. The hats are infused with Christmas magic, so they might do more to the snowmen than just make them look good.
Once you've built a snowman, the snow imps will give you a chance to visit the Land of Snow itself and contribute to the great Snow Tournament. The Queen of Snow herself presides over the tournament and, this being Christmas, she might even have a present for you.
The Christmas event is open for two weeks and can be accessed by both free-to-play and members.
Summary
Where to start the 2007 Christmas Event
Talk to the snow imps in Draynor, Falador, Ardougne, Burthorpe or Rellekka.
Note: The snowman hats and accessories will disappear once the Christmas event ends.
Access to
* A snowman area the size of Draynor Village
* Snowballs that can be thrown at other players
* A total of eight different snowmen that can be built
* New item and emote!
In other news...
Players using LootShare in the God Wars Dungeon will now be able to increase their killcount. If a LootSharing group gets a kill, the player with the lowest killcount receives an increase to their relevant tally.
Dwarf cannon sets and light and dark mystic sets have been added to the Grand Exchange. We've also changed the descriptions on existing sets to be a little more helpful.
The minimum score required to get onto the Hiscores has been reduced from 500 to 250 for Bounty Hunter and Bounty Hunter Rogues. As usual, you will need to login before you appear on the Hiscore tables.
------
Future Changes to Recent Updates
As promised in last week's newspost, here are some of the initial ideas we have to further improve the player interaction in the game.
1. Expect the first new single-way player-vs-player combat area to hit the game in the first half of next year, along with a number of other PvP updates in the future.
2. As many people have suggested, we're planning to raise the 3,000gp staking/trading limit for certain players. This will be proportional to the number of Quest Points you have, with the top-end being ten-times what it is now! This should still offer protection from cheats, while also giving you more flexibility in your staking and trading activities.
3. We're looking at a way of giving LootSharers the ability to receive their drops as coins straight away, so that large items can be split between the party immediately. To avoid unbalancing the economy, we’re investigating ways that this could be tied in with the Grand Exchange (i.e, with the item in question being sold on the Exchange and the resulting proceeds being split between the team).
4. We are planning on adding an 'item lending' feature to the game. To prevent indefinite loans, you will be able to lend an item for the duration of your session (once either the lender or receiver logs out, the item will go back again). Obviously, we need to design this VERY carefully to cover all eventualities, but we reckon we can work something out.
These are just a taster of the many ideas we have gathered from you or from our developers. They should really improve your enjoyment of RuneScape, without opening the door for real-world traders. This doesn’t even mention the Grand Exchange, which we can go into more detail about…
The Grand Exchange
We have to hold our hands up and admit that a handful of starting prices were a little off. It was a huge task to get 15,000+ items valued correctly and some slipped through the net. We’re on the case, though, as we have already formed a team to manage the Grand Exchange!
As well as getting the starting price right, this team will regularly check prices on an ongoing basis, making sure that they naturally and accurately represent the current state of the player economy. Of course, they won’t be alone, as YOU will be there to help them! A new sticky thread, centred on the Grand Exchange, will be available to highlight any concerns you have about prices and marketplace matters, while a new web page is already in the works which will allow you to track item prices over a long period of time.
Some smaller changes to the Grand Exchange:
* Purchased items of a large quantity will be automatically noted
* There will be less unnecessary clicks when buying or selling items
* A ‘1,000’ quantity button will be introduced
* Access to single-click increases to your item quantity
------
As taken from RuneScape.com:
Christmas Event - For ALL Players!
A white Christmas has come to RuneScape this year! It is a gift from the Queen of Snow, who has enlisted her cheeky snow imps for a festive task: to bring snow to some of RuneScape's major settlements. As far as the imps are concerned, you can do what you like with it: there's plenty more where it came from!
So, what can you do with snow? For a start you can make snowballs and, unlike last Christmas's snowballs, you can throw them at other players. If you ever get tired of pelting each other with snowballs, you can use the same snow to build snowmen. The snow imps will even provide a selection of hats to add a finishing touch. The hats are infused with Christmas magic, so they might do more to the snowmen than just make them look good.
Once you've built a snowman, the snow imps will give you a chance to visit the Land of Snow itself and contribute to the great Snow Tournament. The Queen of Snow herself presides over the tournament and, this being Christmas, she might even have a present for you.
The Christmas event is open for two weeks and can be accessed by both free-to-play and members.
Summary
Where to start the 2007 Christmas Event
Talk to the snow imps in Draynor, Falador, Ardougne, Burthorpe or Rellekka.
Note: The snowman hats and accessories will disappear once the Christmas event ends.
Access to
* A snowman area the size of Draynor Village
* Snowballs that can be thrown at other players
* A total of eight different snowmen that can be built
* New item and emote!
In other news...
Players using LootShare in the God Wars Dungeon will now be able to increase their killcount. If a LootSharing group gets a kill, the player with the lowest killcount receives an increase to their relevant tally.
Dwarf cannon sets and light and dark mystic sets have been added to the Grand Exchange. We've also changed the descriptions on existing sets to be a little more helpful.
The minimum score required to get onto the Hiscores has been reduced from 500 to 250 for Bounty Hunter and Bounty Hunter Rogues. As usual, you will need to login before you appear on the Hiscore tables.
------
Future Changes to Recent Updates
As promised in last week's newspost, here are some of the initial ideas we have to further improve the player interaction in the game.
1. Expect the first new single-way player-vs-player combat area to hit the game in the first half of next year, along with a number of other PvP updates in the future.
2. As many people have suggested, we're planning to raise the 3,000gp staking/trading limit for certain players. This will be proportional to the number of Quest Points you have, with the top-end being ten-times what it is now! This should still offer protection from cheats, while also giving you more flexibility in your staking and trading activities.
3. We're looking at a way of giving LootSharers the ability to receive their drops as coins straight away, so that large items can be split between the party immediately. To avoid unbalancing the economy, we’re investigating ways that this could be tied in with the Grand Exchange (i.e, with the item in question being sold on the Exchange and the resulting proceeds being split between the team).
4. We are planning on adding an 'item lending' feature to the game. To prevent indefinite loans, you will be able to lend an item for the duration of your session (once either the lender or receiver logs out, the item will go back again). Obviously, we need to design this VERY carefully to cover all eventualities, but we reckon we can work something out.
These are just a taster of the many ideas we have gathered from you or from our developers. They should really improve your enjoyment of RuneScape, without opening the door for real-world traders. This doesn’t even mention the Grand Exchange, which we can go into more detail about…
The Grand Exchange
We have to hold our hands up and admit that a handful of starting prices were a little off. It was a huge task to get 15,000+ items valued correctly and some slipped through the net. We’re on the case, though, as we have already formed a team to manage the Grand Exchange!
As well as getting the starting price right, this team will regularly check prices on an ongoing basis, making sure that they naturally and accurately represent the current state of the player economy. Of course, they won’t be alone, as YOU will be there to help them! A new sticky thread, centred on the Grand Exchange, will be available to highlight any concerns you have about prices and marketplace matters, while a new web page is already in the works which will allow you to track item prices over a long period of time.
Some smaller changes to the Grand Exchange:
* Purchased items of a large quantity will be automatically noted
* There will be less unnecessary clicks when buying or selling items
* A ‘1,000’ quantity button will be introduced
* Access to single-click increases to your item quantity
*Official* Cat and Fish Day Posted by Makoto
Posted at 12th December 2007, 1 hours, 51 minutes after sunset
Well, if you may or may not know it, Catatifish (our resident Head of Development) finally turned 19 today. So if you haven't wished him a happy one in IRC or by PMing him, do so now.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATATIFISH!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATATIFISH!
E-World War II: RWT vs Jagex vs Players Posted by Makoto
Posted at 10th December 2007, 6:20PM GMT
Remember when I said that this month was going to be quiet? I lied. This month is anything but quiet, with major changes to take effect today (and the biggest taking effect in January). But at any rate, let me get on with the post. You may also discuss it here, on the forums. It's a long post but you'll want to read it all. The table at the bottom of this news post sums up a lot of it.
As Taken From RuneScape.com:
Duel Arena
We have opened the doors of the Duel Arena to free players, so that they can get a taste of intense one-on-one duelling. Staked and friendly duels will be available, with a number of options to choose from. The stake restrictions that apply to members' duels also apply to free-to-play duels. The Duel Tournament area is still members' only, however. The F2P Duel Arena is available on all worlds. Visit the Knowledge Base page for more information.
Additional Bank Space
We have decided to increase the number of bank spaces that everyone has! Members will now find that they have 32 extra slots to fill with items bought from the Grand Exchange, future Summoning trinkets or any other use that can be found for them. Free players have not been left out, either. Eight more slots have been made available, so enjoy filling your newly-expanded bank!
In Other News...
Due to recent 'player stock' price changes in shops, we've introduced a feature to some 'notable' NPCs. Jiminua just north-west of Tai Bwo Wannai and Ordan at the Blast Furnace will un-note certain items for a small price. Jiminua will un-note pure essence and Ordan will un-note any ore that is sold in his shop.
The level 85 'Teleblock' spell has been replaced with the new 'Bounty Locate' spell as there is no longer a use for the old spell within Bounty Hunter. The new spell 'Bounty Locate' will teleport you close to your allocated target within the new Bounty Hunter area.
A bank pin has been added to the Grand Exchange to protect any expensive items you have for sale, or items you've successfully bought but not yet collected.
Free players can now purchase Wilderness capes, for all their Clan Wars needs. Visit the Knowledge Base for more information about how.
Wilderness Changes, Bounty Hunter and Clan Wars!
We strongly advise you to read this week's Development Diary and the 'Trade and Drop Changes' article before this newspost, so that you can fully understand why we have made these changes. In this newspost, we look at how these changes have affected the Wilderness.
The thinking behind the Wilderness changes:
As discussed in the 'Trade and Drop Changes' newspost (which you have hopefully just read), we have changed what happens to your items when you die with the introduction of the gravestone update. If we had just done that on it's own, and not adjusted the Wilderness accordingly, it would have meant that PKers could not get loot from their player kills. That would have solved the real-world trading problem, but it wouldn't have been much fun for PKers! So, we also began working out what changes were needed to the Wilderness.
The brief for this project was as follows: we wanted to make the minimal number of changes to the Wilderness so that it was still fun, had a similar feel, PKers COULD still get drops from their kills and real-world traders COULD NOT use it to transfer items reliably. This was not an easy thing to achieve by any means but, after MUCH thought, we have adjusted it as follows:
1) Fairly early on, we hit upon the idea of letting the players themselves disrupt attempts to real-world trade in the Wilderness. After all, you can attack other players in the Wilderness anyway so, if a trader goes into the Wilderness with the intention of transfering some items to a cheat, all we need is a nearby PKer to kill them both and it solves the problem nicely (as well as being good fun/reward for the PKer who gets the stuff!). The Wilderness is rather big, however, and it was possible for real-world traders to find a remote corner to commit their crimes.
We've actually been thinking for quite some time that the Wilderness was a bit on the big side, and it can get quite hard to find other players to fight. So, this added reason gave us the incentive to finally shrink it. Reducing the area makes it easier for the real PKers to find and fight each other, and simultaneously makes it a nightmare for the real-world traders. We've gone with three arenas which, combined, have a total area of about 40% of the original size. That's small enough to deny real-world traders a safe corner to exchange items, but big enough to have a decent area to run around in.
2) No legitimate PKer would have any reason to take unnecessary non-combat items into the PKing area. After all, who in their right mind would take millions of gold into the Wilderness? It doesn't help win a fight and there is a large chance that you might lose it! Therefore, we've changed it so that you can only take in items that you would have a good reason to take in. Again, this makes things considerably more difficult for the cheats who took these items into the Wilderness, purely with the intention of losing them, but this should not affect normal PKers at all.
3) To mix things up a bit, we've added a new mechanic which gives you a random 'bounty' target when you enter the PKing area. Unless you are a person’s specific ‘bounty’ (there's more on this later in the newspost) people can no longer randomly kill you, take your goodies and run away. Anyone doing so will find themselves labeled as a Bounty Hunter Rogue and get a three minute penalty. This achieves a few things: firstly, it means that sometimes you will be assigned a target stronger than you, and sometimes a target who is weaker, which means that you won't just get picked on by stronger players all the time. Secondly, it makes things harder for the real-world trading cheats because there will be players assigned to kill them - muwhahah! Thirdly, since this stops players simply collaborating to get a good score, it means we can finally do something else we've wanted to do for a while - adding two new PKing Hiscore tables.
4) Since the PKing area is now dedicated exclusively to PKing and isn't mixed up with other content - again, something players have been asking us to sort out for some time - players immediately get a skull upon entering the PKing area; after all, that is why they are there. Of course, we don't want to suddenly make other things in the Wilderness, such as the Abyss, ridiculously easy - they were in the Wilderness originally to balance their higher rewards. So, we have introduced the 'revenant' ghosts (more on that below).
5) Finally, we renamed the PKing area to 'Bounty Hunter', since it's now only one of many things in the Wilderness area. This also paves the way for PKing areas in the Wilderness. The plan is to move from one PKing area in the wilderness to a variety of different ones, all with different rules and tactics. In fact, we've already added the first new player-vs-player game, with the introduction of 'Clan Wars' (see below). Next year, we have planned a chase-based PKing game where some players are trying to survive/escape while others try to hunt them down.
So, that's the reasoning behind the changes and what we are trying to achieve. The rest of this newspost goes into more details about the adjusted PKing area (now called Bounty Hunter), the first new PKing game (Clan Wars), and the Wilderness 'revenant' ghosts.
Wilderness 'Revenant' Ghosts
If you are thinking that crossing the Wilderness, outside of the PKing zone, will be too easy then think again! 'Revenant' ghosts of creatures - as diverse as dark beasts, vampires, werewolves and cyclopes - will be harrying you as you trek across the Wilderness. They will do anything in their power to kill you, and their powers are impressive.
They are far more dangerous than their Combat level suggests, as they can attack from all three points of the combat triangle, freeze you, teleblock you, travel in packs and even 'steal' you from combat that you have initiated with another creature! Beyond that they can heal themselves, cure themselves of poison and are very aggressive. It's time to beware the Wilderness, because the revenants are here and looking to wreak terror on the living... To read more about this Wilderness update, visit the Knowledge Base page.
Bounty Hunter
In the centre of the Wilderness lies Bounty Hunter. This is a dangerous activity, in which you will also be skulled, meaning that you will lose all your items if you die. As described above, this is essentially the original PKing game that has always been in the wilderness, but is now in its own dedicated area, along with a few twists and changes.
The Bounty Hunter volcano is split into three craters, separated by Combat level, in which you will be given the name of a random player. This player is in the arena with you, and you have been tasked with killing them! They are unaware that you are hunting them, but no doubt they soon will be! Track them down, surprise them and then kill them to nab their items and prove yourself to be the bounty hunter of all bounty hunters. What is so dangerous about this, you ask? Well, someone else in the arena is after you, too! Your name will have been given to another bounty hunter, and you will be firmly in their sights. Can you kill your target before you get killed yourself?
When players enter the Bounty Hunter area, a skull will appear above their heads, variously-coloured to represent the market value of their carried items. It may be tempting to attack any wealthy players who are not your bounty and pick up their items. This kind of non-bounty killing will give you a three minute penalty, during which you CANNOT leave the Bounty Hunter area - making you a tempting target for other players!
A good, clean kill - taking down a player who has been set as your bounty - will gain you Bounty Hunter points, which you can look up on the Bounty Hunter table in the Hiscores section of our website. Killing anyone else will give you Bounty Hunter Rogue points, which can be checked on their own Bounty Hunter Rogue Hiscores table.
Bounty Hunter is only available on certain worlds. To see a full list of themed worlds, visit the Knowledge Base page. To read more about this update, visit the Knowledge Base page.
Clan Wars
A short distance east of the Bounty Hunter volcano lies Clan Wars, a battleground for the many clans of RuneScape. Starting a clan war is easy; anyone in a Clan Chat channel who has a 'Captain' rank or higher can right-click another clan's captain (or higher) and 'Challenge' them while in the Clan Wars challenge hall. That opposing clan member can then choose to accept the challenge or slope off to fight another day.
Once accepted - after all, saying "no" would not be the mark of a true warrior - the two players are taken to the Clan Wars arena, where they await their clan-mates. A red message will appear in the chatbox of these clan members, telling them that they have two minutes to join by entering a portal in the challenge hall. Once those two minutes are up, the battle is on!
The combat is 'safe', which means that you will not lose any items when dying in a clan war. Instead, those defeated will find themselves in a viewing area, where they can choose to watch or leave the war. Battle continues until one side loses all of its players and none remain to fight. Will you be a member of the winning clan? Or will you be watching from the viewing area, observing the battle through viewing orbs and chatting to your team mates about what went wrong?
Unlike Bounty Hunter, Clan Wars is available on every world. To see a full list of themed worlds, visit the Knowledge Base page. To read more about this update, visit the Knowledge Base page.
Trade and Drop Changes
You will be aware, from newsposts and this week's Development Diary, of real-world trading and the danger it poses to RuneScape. To solve this once and for all, we are tweaking what happens when you drop items, updating the trade system to warn you about unbalanced trades and planning a final adjustment to the trading system, in the first week of January. We strongly advise you to read this week's Development Diary before this newspost, so that you can fully understand why we have made these vitally important changes.
Unbalanced Trade
To remove real-world trading from RuneScape, we must stop the gold sellers' ability to function. We believe that the best and only way to do this will be to stop unbalanced trade. We consider an unbalanced trade to be one that is not equivalent, with a trader receiving items that are much more valuable than those they are giving away. For example, a party hat traded for a bucket is quite obviously an unbalanced trade.
For a trade to be 'balanced', the total value of the items being given must be within 3,000gp of the items being received. For example you WOULD be allowed to trade an item worth 15,000gp for an item worth 17,000gp (because the DIFFERENCE is less than 3,000gp). You will be limited to a 3,000gp gain or loss every 15 minutes. We are aware that many of you will want to prepare for this change. So, initially, we are just going to make the trade system WARN about unbalanced trades, but it will still allow the trade to go through. This seriously reduces any opportunities for scamming, but still gives you a chance to get used to how it works, organise your items, hand back borrowed stuff, and give Christmas presents. Then, in the first week of January, we will change it to simply not allow unbalanced trades outside of the 3,000gp limit. We will be reminding you when the January date approaches, so that you can be best prepared.
For certain categories of account (mostly new accounts) we are actually implementing the trade restriction immediately. This allows us to stop a large chunk of the cheating immediately, since most of the real-world traders are using new accounts due to their previous ones being banned. For the vast majority of players, the trade restriction will come into effect in the first week of January.
We'd like to reassure you that we plan to keep a thriving player-trading economy. We are certainly NOT planning to remove trading from the game! It's only very unbalanced trades which will be affected. You won't be forced to use the Grand Exchange to trade either, although that will remain a superb means of buying or selling any of your items.
The 3,000gp rule means that you can still help each other out by offering cheaper items for free. We are certainly not going to stop you giving a Fishing rod or an antipoison potion to those who need it or, indeed, offering inflated amounts for items you want in a hurry, within the 3,000gp limit. This shouldn't overly affect legitimate players, as the aim is to make sure there is no reason to NEED to do an unbalanced trade (more on how we have tried to ensure this below). It stops the real-world traders dead, as there is no way they can make delivery of purchased gold/items any more. Our aim is to make gold-selling so difficult that gold sellers and farmers are forced to leave RuneScape forever. For more information on unbalanced trade, please read the Knowledge Base article.
Covert Trades
Any real-world trader will respond to the removal of unbalanced trade by investigating ways round it. They will be looking for alternative ways to transfer gold other than trading. We are one step ahead, however, and have already researched every possible means for them to do so and amended them over the past few months.
We have previously adjusted the Duel Arena, Party Room, shops, etc. to prevent them being used to covertly transfer purchased gold. One way of covertly transferring gold has not been mentioned yet, and we have addressed it this month. By dropping an item - through death or just discarding it - a real-world trader was able to make an unbalanced trade. For the removal of unbalanced trade to be successful we must, therefore, change the way that player-dropped items work.
Discarded Item Changes
One way to fix it would be to make all discarded items invisible to other players. After all, a real-world trader would find it difficult to offer another player a stack of gold if their customer could not see it, let alone pick it up!
We've not gone quite that far. Instead, we have decided to just limit the visible amount. When you discard items by dropping them on the floor, they will only become visible to other players if their market value is less than 3,000 coins. Items with a market value less than this will become visible to other players after a delay (like before) - unless you've already reached your limit of 3,000 coins worth of items on the floor in a 15 minute period. This doesn't prevent you from discarding unwanted items or picking them up again; the change only restricts the ability of other players to see your discarded stuff.
There are no restrictions to how many items you can drop and how many of them are visible to you - this is only a change to the way your discarded items appear to other players.
Items Dropped On Death Changes
For the same reasons as mentioned above, we have made changes to how items are dropped on death. When you die, (unless in the Bounty Hunter area - more on this later), you will leave a temporary gravestone behind. While the gravestone remains, your dropped items will not despawn, giving you a bit of time to run back and collect them. Other players will not be able to see or take items from your gravestone.
Your friends can make your gravestone remain for longer, either by repairing it when it starts to crumble or by expending Prayer points to bless it. Your stone can be maintained this way for up to a maximum of an hour. This will give you more time to return and pick up from where you left off. Please read the Knowledge Base article to find out more about gravestones and how to purchase a variety of gravestone types.
Previous Updates
As mentioned before, we have already released several updates that have paved the way for this change. We've tried really, really hard to make sure that for everything affected by this week's changes, we have provided a replacement means of doing the same thing, which is at least as good.
On the left-hand side of the table below, you can see those activities that have been affected by this week's updates. On the right, we show those recent updates that allow you to continue performing that activity.
If there's anything you think that we've missed then please let us know on the Suggestions forum. We are confident we can stop the cheaters AND still create all of the types of gameplay you enjoy. It just requires a bit of creative thinking!
As Taken From RuneScape.com:
Duel Arena
We have opened the doors of the Duel Arena to free players, so that they can get a taste of intense one-on-one duelling. Staked and friendly duels will be available, with a number of options to choose from. The stake restrictions that apply to members' duels also apply to free-to-play duels. The Duel Tournament area is still members' only, however. The F2P Duel Arena is available on all worlds. Visit the Knowledge Base page for more information.
Additional Bank Space
We have decided to increase the number of bank spaces that everyone has! Members will now find that they have 32 extra slots to fill with items bought from the Grand Exchange, future Summoning trinkets or any other use that can be found for them. Free players have not been left out, either. Eight more slots have been made available, so enjoy filling your newly-expanded bank!
In Other News...
Due to recent 'player stock' price changes in shops, we've introduced a feature to some 'notable' NPCs. Jiminua just north-west of Tai Bwo Wannai and Ordan at the Blast Furnace will un-note certain items for a small price. Jiminua will un-note pure essence and Ordan will un-note any ore that is sold in his shop.
The level 85 'Teleblock' spell has been replaced with the new 'Bounty Locate' spell as there is no longer a use for the old spell within Bounty Hunter. The new spell 'Bounty Locate' will teleport you close to your allocated target within the new Bounty Hunter area.
A bank pin has been added to the Grand Exchange to protect any expensive items you have for sale, or items you've successfully bought but not yet collected.
Free players can now purchase Wilderness capes, for all their Clan Wars needs. Visit the Knowledge Base for more information about how.
Wilderness Changes, Bounty Hunter and Clan Wars!
We strongly advise you to read this week's Development Diary and the 'Trade and Drop Changes' article before this newspost, so that you can fully understand why we have made these changes. In this newspost, we look at how these changes have affected the Wilderness.
The thinking behind the Wilderness changes:
As discussed in the 'Trade and Drop Changes' newspost (which you have hopefully just read), we have changed what happens to your items when you die with the introduction of the gravestone update. If we had just done that on it's own, and not adjusted the Wilderness accordingly, it would have meant that PKers could not get loot from their player kills. That would have solved the real-world trading problem, but it wouldn't have been much fun for PKers! So, we also began working out what changes were needed to the Wilderness.
The brief for this project was as follows: we wanted to make the minimal number of changes to the Wilderness so that it was still fun, had a similar feel, PKers COULD still get drops from their kills and real-world traders COULD NOT use it to transfer items reliably. This was not an easy thing to achieve by any means but, after MUCH thought, we have adjusted it as follows:
1) Fairly early on, we hit upon the idea of letting the players themselves disrupt attempts to real-world trade in the Wilderness. After all, you can attack other players in the Wilderness anyway so, if a trader goes into the Wilderness with the intention of transfering some items to a cheat, all we need is a nearby PKer to kill them both and it solves the problem nicely (as well as being good fun/reward for the PKer who gets the stuff!). The Wilderness is rather big, however, and it was possible for real-world traders to find a remote corner to commit their crimes.
We've actually been thinking for quite some time that the Wilderness was a bit on the big side, and it can get quite hard to find other players to fight. So, this added reason gave us the incentive to finally shrink it. Reducing the area makes it easier for the real PKers to find and fight each other, and simultaneously makes it a nightmare for the real-world traders. We've gone with three arenas which, combined, have a total area of about 40% of the original size. That's small enough to deny real-world traders a safe corner to exchange items, but big enough to have a decent area to run around in.
2) No legitimate PKer would have any reason to take unnecessary non-combat items into the PKing area. After all, who in their right mind would take millions of gold into the Wilderness? It doesn't help win a fight and there is a large chance that you might lose it! Therefore, we've changed it so that you can only take in items that you would have a good reason to take in. Again, this makes things considerably more difficult for the cheats who took these items into the Wilderness, purely with the intention of losing them, but this should not affect normal PKers at all.
3) To mix things up a bit, we've added a new mechanic which gives you a random 'bounty' target when you enter the PKing area. Unless you are a person’s specific ‘bounty’ (there's more on this later in the newspost) people can no longer randomly kill you, take your goodies and run away. Anyone doing so will find themselves labeled as a Bounty Hunter Rogue and get a three minute penalty. This achieves a few things: firstly, it means that sometimes you will be assigned a target stronger than you, and sometimes a target who is weaker, which means that you won't just get picked on by stronger players all the time. Secondly, it makes things harder for the real-world trading cheats because there will be players assigned to kill them - muwhahah! Thirdly, since this stops players simply collaborating to get a good score, it means we can finally do something else we've wanted to do for a while - adding two new PKing Hiscore tables.
4) Since the PKing area is now dedicated exclusively to PKing and isn't mixed up with other content - again, something players have been asking us to sort out for some time - players immediately get a skull upon entering the PKing area; after all, that is why they are there. Of course, we don't want to suddenly make other things in the Wilderness, such as the Abyss, ridiculously easy - they were in the Wilderness originally to balance their higher rewards. So, we have introduced the 'revenant' ghosts (more on that below).
5) Finally, we renamed the PKing area to 'Bounty Hunter', since it's now only one of many things in the Wilderness area. This also paves the way for PKing areas in the Wilderness. The plan is to move from one PKing area in the wilderness to a variety of different ones, all with different rules and tactics. In fact, we've already added the first new player-vs-player game, with the introduction of 'Clan Wars' (see below). Next year, we have planned a chase-based PKing game where some players are trying to survive/escape while others try to hunt them down.
So, that's the reasoning behind the changes and what we are trying to achieve. The rest of this newspost goes into more details about the adjusted PKing area (now called Bounty Hunter), the first new PKing game (Clan Wars), and the Wilderness 'revenant' ghosts.
Wilderness 'Revenant' Ghosts
If you are thinking that crossing the Wilderness, outside of the PKing zone, will be too easy then think again! 'Revenant' ghosts of creatures - as diverse as dark beasts, vampires, werewolves and cyclopes - will be harrying you as you trek across the Wilderness. They will do anything in their power to kill you, and their powers are impressive.
They are far more dangerous than their Combat level suggests, as they can attack from all three points of the combat triangle, freeze you, teleblock you, travel in packs and even 'steal' you from combat that you have initiated with another creature! Beyond that they can heal themselves, cure themselves of poison and are very aggressive. It's time to beware the Wilderness, because the revenants are here and looking to wreak terror on the living... To read more about this Wilderness update, visit the Knowledge Base page.
Bounty Hunter
In the centre of the Wilderness lies Bounty Hunter. This is a dangerous activity, in which you will also be skulled, meaning that you will lose all your items if you die. As described above, this is essentially the original PKing game that has always been in the wilderness, but is now in its own dedicated area, along with a few twists and changes.
The Bounty Hunter volcano is split into three craters, separated by Combat level, in which you will be given the name of a random player. This player is in the arena with you, and you have been tasked with killing them! They are unaware that you are hunting them, but no doubt they soon will be! Track them down, surprise them and then kill them to nab their items and prove yourself to be the bounty hunter of all bounty hunters. What is so dangerous about this, you ask? Well, someone else in the arena is after you, too! Your name will have been given to another bounty hunter, and you will be firmly in their sights. Can you kill your target before you get killed yourself?
When players enter the Bounty Hunter area, a skull will appear above their heads, variously-coloured to represent the market value of their carried items. It may be tempting to attack any wealthy players who are not your bounty and pick up their items. This kind of non-bounty killing will give you a three minute penalty, during which you CANNOT leave the Bounty Hunter area - making you a tempting target for other players!
A good, clean kill - taking down a player who has been set as your bounty - will gain you Bounty Hunter points, which you can look up on the Bounty Hunter table in the Hiscores section of our website. Killing anyone else will give you Bounty Hunter Rogue points, which can be checked on their own Bounty Hunter Rogue Hiscores table.
Bounty Hunter is only available on certain worlds. To see a full list of themed worlds, visit the Knowledge Base page. To read more about this update, visit the Knowledge Base page.
Clan Wars
A short distance east of the Bounty Hunter volcano lies Clan Wars, a battleground for the many clans of RuneScape. Starting a clan war is easy; anyone in a Clan Chat channel who has a 'Captain' rank or higher can right-click another clan's captain (or higher) and 'Challenge' them while in the Clan Wars challenge hall. That opposing clan member can then choose to accept the challenge or slope off to fight another day.
Once accepted - after all, saying "no" would not be the mark of a true warrior - the two players are taken to the Clan Wars arena, where they await their clan-mates. A red message will appear in the chatbox of these clan members, telling them that they have two minutes to join by entering a portal in the challenge hall. Once those two minutes are up, the battle is on!
The combat is 'safe', which means that you will not lose any items when dying in a clan war. Instead, those defeated will find themselves in a viewing area, where they can choose to watch or leave the war. Battle continues until one side loses all of its players and none remain to fight. Will you be a member of the winning clan? Or will you be watching from the viewing area, observing the battle through viewing orbs and chatting to your team mates about what went wrong?
Unlike Bounty Hunter, Clan Wars is available on every world. To see a full list of themed worlds, visit the Knowledge Base page. To read more about this update, visit the Knowledge Base page.
Trade and Drop Changes
You will be aware, from newsposts and this week's Development Diary, of real-world trading and the danger it poses to RuneScape. To solve this once and for all, we are tweaking what happens when you drop items, updating the trade system to warn you about unbalanced trades and planning a final adjustment to the trading system, in the first week of January. We strongly advise you to read this week's Development Diary before this newspost, so that you can fully understand why we have made these vitally important changes.
Unbalanced Trade
To remove real-world trading from RuneScape, we must stop the gold sellers' ability to function. We believe that the best and only way to do this will be to stop unbalanced trade. We consider an unbalanced trade to be one that is not equivalent, with a trader receiving items that are much more valuable than those they are giving away. For example, a party hat traded for a bucket is quite obviously an unbalanced trade.
For a trade to be 'balanced', the total value of the items being given must be within 3,000gp of the items being received. For example you WOULD be allowed to trade an item worth 15,000gp for an item worth 17,000gp (because the DIFFERENCE is less than 3,000gp). You will be limited to a 3,000gp gain or loss every 15 minutes. We are aware that many of you will want to prepare for this change. So, initially, we are just going to make the trade system WARN about unbalanced trades, but it will still allow the trade to go through. This seriously reduces any opportunities for scamming, but still gives you a chance to get used to how it works, organise your items, hand back borrowed stuff, and give Christmas presents. Then, in the first week of January, we will change it to simply not allow unbalanced trades outside of the 3,000gp limit. We will be reminding you when the January date approaches, so that you can be best prepared.
For certain categories of account (mostly new accounts) we are actually implementing the trade restriction immediately. This allows us to stop a large chunk of the cheating immediately, since most of the real-world traders are using new accounts due to their previous ones being banned. For the vast majority of players, the trade restriction will come into effect in the first week of January.
We'd like to reassure you that we plan to keep a thriving player-trading economy. We are certainly NOT planning to remove trading from the game! It's only very unbalanced trades which will be affected. You won't be forced to use the Grand Exchange to trade either, although that will remain a superb means of buying or selling any of your items.
The 3,000gp rule means that you can still help each other out by offering cheaper items for free. We are certainly not going to stop you giving a Fishing rod or an antipoison potion to those who need it or, indeed, offering inflated amounts for items you want in a hurry, within the 3,000gp limit. This shouldn't overly affect legitimate players, as the aim is to make sure there is no reason to NEED to do an unbalanced trade (more on how we have tried to ensure this below). It stops the real-world traders dead, as there is no way they can make delivery of purchased gold/items any more. Our aim is to make gold-selling so difficult that gold sellers and farmers are forced to leave RuneScape forever. For more information on unbalanced trade, please read the Knowledge Base article.
Covert Trades
Any real-world trader will respond to the removal of unbalanced trade by investigating ways round it. They will be looking for alternative ways to transfer gold other than trading. We are one step ahead, however, and have already researched every possible means for them to do so and amended them over the past few months.
We have previously adjusted the Duel Arena, Party Room, shops, etc. to prevent them being used to covertly transfer purchased gold. One way of covertly transferring gold has not been mentioned yet, and we have addressed it this month. By dropping an item - through death or just discarding it - a real-world trader was able to make an unbalanced trade. For the removal of unbalanced trade to be successful we must, therefore, change the way that player-dropped items work.
Discarded Item Changes
One way to fix it would be to make all discarded items invisible to other players. After all, a real-world trader would find it difficult to offer another player a stack of gold if their customer could not see it, let alone pick it up!
We've not gone quite that far. Instead, we have decided to just limit the visible amount. When you discard items by dropping them on the floor, they will only become visible to other players if their market value is less than 3,000 coins. Items with a market value less than this will become visible to other players after a delay (like before) - unless you've already reached your limit of 3,000 coins worth of items on the floor in a 15 minute period. This doesn't prevent you from discarding unwanted items or picking them up again; the change only restricts the ability of other players to see your discarded stuff.
There are no restrictions to how many items you can drop and how many of them are visible to you - this is only a change to the way your discarded items appear to other players.
Items Dropped On Death Changes
For the same reasons as mentioned above, we have made changes to how items are dropped on death. When you die, (unless in the Bounty Hunter area - more on this later), you will leave a temporary gravestone behind. While the gravestone remains, your dropped items will not despawn, giving you a bit of time to run back and collect them. Other players will not be able to see or take items from your gravestone.
Your friends can make your gravestone remain for longer, either by repairing it when it starts to crumble or by expending Prayer points to bless it. Your stone can be maintained this way for up to a maximum of an hour. This will give you more time to return and pick up from where you left off. Please read the Knowledge Base article to find out more about gravestones and how to purchase a variety of gravestone types.
Previous Updates
As mentioned before, we have already released several updates that have paved the way for this change. We've tried really, really hard to make sure that for everything affected by this week's changes, we have provided a replacement means of doing the same thing, which is at least as good.
On the left-hand side of the table below, you can see those activities that have been affected by this week's updates. On the right, we show those recent updates that allow you to continue performing that activity.
Activity | Way To Perform Activity |
Helping other players train their skills | Assist System |
Fighting other players to win their drops | Bounty Hunter |
Fighting other players to win money | Duel Tournaments |
Fighting other players for fun and glory | Duel Arena & Clan Wars |
Trading items with other players | Balanced Trades & Grand Exchange |
Keeping an economy where the player determines the prices (based on supply and demand) | Grand Exchange |
Looking after the items of a friend who has died | Gravestones |
Sharing monster drops when fighting together | LootShare |
Having enough room to store stuff, instead of getting your friend to hold it for you | Bank Space |
Hosting drop parties | Party Room |
If there's anything you think that we've missed then please let us know on the Suggestions forum. We are confident we can stop the cheaters AND still create all of the types of gameplay you enjoy. It just requires a bit of creative thinking!
Behind the Scenes - December Posted by Makoto
Posted at 3rd December 2007, 10:49PM GMT
This looks like a quiet month, to me. No new quests, no new skills, and several minigame updates. Best to rush in what goals you have while there's time. Discuss this news post here.
Post as taken from RuneScape.com:
Kicking things off this month will be Bounty Hunter. This dangerous minigame will take place in a dormant volcano, with three separate arenas for different Combat levels. Each of them will put you in the role of a Bounty Hunter with a simple task: to kill one randomly-assigned player in the same arena.
So, where is the danger in that, we hear you ask? Well, there will be others in the Bounty Hunter area who also have a simple task: to kill you! Will you have what it takes to reach your target and gain their loot before your nemeses find you?
The danger will not end there: far from it, in fact! Some players may choose to lurk in the shadows and attack other players, regardless of their target. These players will be 'rogue' bounty hunters, and will make your attempts to be the best hunter even more difficult.
Hand-in-hand with this update, we will be releasing two new Hiscores tables. Will you have the guts and glory to rise to the top of the Bounty Hunters table? Or will you ambush and backstab your way to the summit of our Bounty Hunter Rogues leaderboard?
Not far from the Bounty Hunter volcano will lie our other new minigame. Prepare for Clan Wars!
Here, a clan will be able to war with another clan in a large arena, without the worry of interruptions. Organise matches through your Clan Chat system and prepare to face-off in huge all-out battles that only end when one team has wiped out the other! View the battle from your opponents' prison if you die, and hope that your clan can win the battle without you...
With no limits to the number of clan wars running simultaneously, there will always be an opportunity for a scrap in this exciting multiplayer minigame.
On the tails of these two updates will come an addition to the Wilderness. The spirits of creatures slain during the God Wars are returning to haunt the living, attacking anyone bold enough to stray near. Will you be able to hold back a spectral dark beast? Wander into the Wilderness later this month to find out.
If you die while holding any items, you will reveal the fourth of our updates this month. A gravestone will temporarily appear on the spot where you perished, which can be read and admired by passers-by. It will even be possible to purchase increasingly impressive gravestones, all the way up to the ominous 'Angel of Death'.
On a more serious note, many of you will be aware of our efforts to stop real-world trading and how some of our recent updates have been part of that. You may have questions about it: What does it mean? How does it affect the game? How big a problem is it? What are the ways of dealing with it? To answer these questions and more, we'll be releasing a very important Development Diary on the subject.
What would December be without Christmas? This year's event will see a more traditional approach, with the building and making of snowballs and snowmen! Don't worry, it will still be a very RuneScape Christmas, as there are surprises hidden up the snowmen's snowsleeves...
The website will, of course, have its annual festive feel, in keeping with the Christmas event, as well as some Christmas cards coming out the week before. As a gift to you, we will also be presenting you with another Summoning wallpaper and two more Summoning Development Diaries, alongside the customary Players' Gallery and Postbag from the Hedge.
All that is left to say, from us here at Jagex HQ, is have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It's been a fantastic 2007, and with Summoning just weeks away, it is going to be an even more awesome 2008.
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Spectral Dark Beasts, hmm. Wonder what our level 90+ Slayers will have to say about that.
Post as taken from RuneScape.com:
Kicking things off this month will be Bounty Hunter. This dangerous minigame will take place in a dormant volcano, with three separate arenas for different Combat levels. Each of them will put you in the role of a Bounty Hunter with a simple task: to kill one randomly-assigned player in the same arena.
So, where is the danger in that, we hear you ask? Well, there will be others in the Bounty Hunter area who also have a simple task: to kill you! Will you have what it takes to reach your target and gain their loot before your nemeses find you?
The danger will not end there: far from it, in fact! Some players may choose to lurk in the shadows and attack other players, regardless of their target. These players will be 'rogue' bounty hunters, and will make your attempts to be the best hunter even more difficult.
Hand-in-hand with this update, we will be releasing two new Hiscores tables. Will you have the guts and glory to rise to the top of the Bounty Hunters table? Or will you ambush and backstab your way to the summit of our Bounty Hunter Rogues leaderboard?
Not far from the Bounty Hunter volcano will lie our other new minigame. Prepare for Clan Wars!
Here, a clan will be able to war with another clan in a large arena, without the worry of interruptions. Organise matches through your Clan Chat system and prepare to face-off in huge all-out battles that only end when one team has wiped out the other! View the battle from your opponents' prison if you die, and hope that your clan can win the battle without you...
With no limits to the number of clan wars running simultaneously, there will always be an opportunity for a scrap in this exciting multiplayer minigame.
On the tails of these two updates will come an addition to the Wilderness. The spirits of creatures slain during the God Wars are returning to haunt the living, attacking anyone bold enough to stray near. Will you be able to hold back a spectral dark beast? Wander into the Wilderness later this month to find out.
If you die while holding any items, you will reveal the fourth of our updates this month. A gravestone will temporarily appear on the spot where you perished, which can be read and admired by passers-by. It will even be possible to purchase increasingly impressive gravestones, all the way up to the ominous 'Angel of Death'.
On a more serious note, many of you will be aware of our efforts to stop real-world trading and how some of our recent updates have been part of that. You may have questions about it: What does it mean? How does it affect the game? How big a problem is it? What are the ways of dealing with it? To answer these questions and more, we'll be releasing a very important Development Diary on the subject.
What would December be without Christmas? This year's event will see a more traditional approach, with the building and making of snowballs and snowmen! Don't worry, it will still be a very RuneScape Christmas, as there are surprises hidden up the snowmen's snowsleeves...
The website will, of course, have its annual festive feel, in keeping with the Christmas event, as well as some Christmas cards coming out the week before. As a gift to you, we will also be presenting you with another Summoning wallpaper and two more Summoning Development Diaries, alongside the customary Players' Gallery and Postbag from the Hedge.
All that is left to say, from us here at Jagex HQ, is have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It's been a fantastic 2007, and with Summoning just weeks away, it is going to be an even more awesome 2008.
------
Spectral Dark Beasts, hmm. Wonder what our level 90+ Slayers will have to say about that.
