Jackpot!

Yesterday, the newly elected Event Team member of our clan, Kicky organised a God Wars Dungeon event in an attempt to raid General Graador. Due to the well planned timing, it was relatively easy for us to find an empty server. Things started out pretty decent, with us getting quite a number of rune and cash drops from the General and his minions. On our 6th kill however, we were surprised with a Bandos Chestplate drop. Each of us got 2.1 million each, making it a great event already.



Not entirely satisfied with our loot yet, and with abundant resources left ( hardly any was used in my case) , we decided to stay on for a few more kills. As with most of our events that start with a bang, we didn't get any more spectacular drops. Still, we should have killed the General close to, if not over 20 times, and this was just with 5 of our clan members. Blessings did pretty well on this trip, and thanks to Kicky for the wonderful event and also everyone who came :)



I also did the Chrismas event today, was quite happy that it was another short event, and it didn't take me more than 30 mins to complete it. It was pretty well done, although my favourite holiday event of all time remains to be the Halloween event in 2007, where we had to try out a series of obstacle courses for the Grim Reaper. Still, I enjoyed the twist of the event this year, trust JaGex to come up with the idea that Jack Frost is the son of the Snow Queen and Santa Claus ( Named Nick in the event itself ). That was a good concept for a twist, this I give to the development team of the event! :) The Santa costume was a good reward, and it would have made a really good holiday outfit, if only i had a Santa Hat to don. Nevertheless, the holiday event was well done and I look forward to completing the holiday quest as well.










On another note, farming had been going pretty well, although after I did some massive farming training a few days back, I experienced a sudden wane of interest for the game itself. That kinda took me by surprise, seeing how i was extremely enthusiastic about farming just the day before. I am still rising rapidly amongst the ranks and I see myself once again in the top 15K ranked farmers by tomorrow, I might even get a farming level up on Sunday if i work a little harder tomorrow.

Stuff achieved today: Completed 2008 Chrismas holiday event; Obtained Santa Suit

Missing in action

Away for a few overseas trips, i had been rather inactive in Runescape recently. Well, fun's over and I'm back to Runescape. Soon I'll be starting to get some part-time jobs, but for now, I'm taking a rest and spending some quality time with my little pixel friends.

Today Blessings made a trip to the Chaos Elemental, we enjoyed initial success, ending our 3rd kill with a triumphant D2H drop, and everyone got 179k from the coinshare split of the loot. After the sweet beginning however, things started going downhill, revs annoying us constantly, getting virtually no drops of any use, so we ended the trip after about 20 kills. The reaspawning time of the Elemental was another cause for worry, it took significantly longer than our previous trip, and the long waiting time wasn't such a pleasant thing.

Besides the events, i've also been training combat, finally beefing my character up to 111 combat, this morning. I've also decided to continue with my former farming regime in order to get myself back into the top 15k farmers, seeing that i was on the verge of getting kicked into the top 17k.

As a side note, congrats to Spamicken, who achieved 99 fishing a while ago. Grats Spam! ^^

Also, i got a new dragon chainbody before i left for Hong Kong since i saw its price dropping. Woots!

Stuff achieved today: 85 hitpoints, 111 combat.

A different experience

Hi all! As I am typing this post, I am currently enjoying a game of cards with Kat and Tim. Being on an overseas vacation trip with two of my closest irl friends is indeed an exhilarating experience. Life’s been ok, except for the annoying fact that the ridiculously expensive internet service is not as good as it sounds. Connection is so bad that I find difficulty in completing a farming round after almost two hours of futile attempt, which would have usually taken me a little over half an hour. Ask Spamicken and you’ll have an idea how bad the connection was. Within the hour I was on chatting with him, I have disconnected more than 5 times, in fact, I would estimate about 8 times. Even a simple action such as making willow long bows using the ‘make x’ option could set off a disconnection problem, and the same goes with entering my bank pin. It wasn’t long before I lost all patience to carry on playing Runescape. It seems that the connection was kind to Tim though, he managed to complete many of his stuff without much problem arising from the pathetic connection.

All’s not well with Tim though. While in the hotel room one day, I heard the news that he was muted under rule 1, for Offensive Language. That came as a major shock. Tim has had a ‘clean’ account for over 4 years now, and having a record/ black mark wasn’t such an appealing idea after he has kept it ‘clean’ for so long. I guess its now up to JaGex to decide if they want to leave the black mark as it is or give Tim his ‘clean’ record back, on the account that he has been a rule-obeying player till now, and this being his first offense. Well, all we can do is hope for a positive response from JeGex and pray for the best.

Also, I would like to congratulate the Blessings mod, and a close friend of mine, Demonmage386 on achieving 99 defense a few days ago. I’m terribly sorry that I wasn’t able to be present due to the internet situation and all, but it was nice to see you reach another one of those incredibly tough goals you set for yourself. You would officially be able to hold the position as a tank for the clan! In my opinion, the combination of maxed range and defense could prove to be deadly to the many unfortunate victims we encounter during our pvp trips in the future.

In addition, I would like to wish the best for two other members of the clan that have been working on a skillcape, Spamicken on Fishing and Forminable on Firemaking respectively. I can definitely say that Blessings is getting stronger, with a tougher member base in terms of both skills and combat. Soon, Blessings would be two years old, and I personally see that as a rather impressive achievement. It has been a long journey, with many hiccups on the way, but the vision of Blessings making her mark in the Runescape community is getting clearer and more within grasp. As Blessings enter a new year of establishment, I hope to bring the clan to greater heights and (hopefully) gain some recognition as a clan of not merely fierce fighters but also elite skillers.

With that, I guess it’s time for me to end this rather dry post. It’s getting late (wait, it is late, already 3am) and I want to rest my eyes and relax a little, maybe another game of cards or two before I get some well deserved rest. So, ta-ta!

Achievement today: None.

Nubs.

Throughout the ages of MMORPGs, the word noob has experienced many changes, even got itself developed for the use on specific groups of people. Nub and fr00b are just some of the many variations. In Runescape, it is not uncommon to see people with 99 def, or relatively higher defence being called a def nub in pvp based activities such as pking or clan/castle wars. I myself, despite only having 80 defence, had been greeted with that warm remark for a few times. As long as they are unable to break through your defences, you are a def nub. Or sometimes even, its just Nub! You're a nub. Plain and simple. I often find this word so overused that it no longer served as much impact that when i had just started the game. Of course, that could be a problem of me getting used to the insult, but it could also imply that the meaning of the word noob/nub had been confused, or "diluted" in the sense of intensity or effect.

I remember that early last year, i made a blogpost entitled "Noobs, The Pollutants of the Runescape Society". In that particular post, i defined the term noob as a player that is generally considered to be experienced, yet often makes mistakes that would more likely be attributed to a "newb." The term "noob" can also be applied to someone who is experienced, but blatantly disregards rules and etiquette through personal choice. Now it seems to me that the usage of noob/nub is no longer within the confines of noob-ish behaviour. The player who k0-ed you is a nub, the person next to you who doesn't want to help you with price checking is also a nub, even the person who refused to sell you the only pair of dragon legs he owns is a sad nub. As the usage of the word is diversified, the meaning of the word is inevitably changed. Nub can now mean a lot of things, so many that i'm not sure if the general meaning behind his word atill stands anymore.

Indeed, how do you define noob?

Almost over...

Finally, the month-long examinations are coming to an end. How i fared, I'd rather skip that. I definitely underperformed. Still, I'm looking forward to the packed schedule after the end of the exams. I'll be away for 3 overseas trips. Woots. I get all excited just thinking about them.

Back to Runescape, training have been rather hard to do since my computer had not been functioning properly. Sometimes i can switch it on, sometimes i can't. So yeah, i already lost the fishing race i ha with Zelda. The boy's doing great though, and i see a 99 from him pretty soon. Anyway, yeah I've been doing things i enjoy doing today. Ranarr rounds, clue scrolls, spending some time training with my irl friends, i am rather surprised at how Runescape can be a simple, fun game when what we are not just obsessed with money-making,exp-gaining, and skilling. This seem to be all i had been concerned with lately. The need for speed in skilling, the need for profit, the need for levels even. I guess we all need to take a break occasionally and do the things we like, the things that puts a smile on our face as we go about doing them.

Anyway, Halloween event was great. We got 2 Halloween tasks, a quest and the usual event. For the quest, we had to enchant a broom for Maggie by taking it to 3 other witches located in Rimmington, Port Sarim and Draynor respectively. We also had to complete a series of tasks and puzzles in order to receive their help. For the event, we had to trick-or-treat in the areas of Draynor, Rimmington and Port Sarim. We had to don a Halloween outfit, and i decided to go with an impressive-looking one rather than a scary one. After some contemplation, i decided to go with my outfit for 99 cooking. Chef's Hat, Desert Robes, Holy Symbol, a Tambourine and completed the look with a dashing cooking cape. I even got a compliment on my look! :D Trick-or-treating took slightly longer since the residents simply refused to give me the wrapped candies i wanted but barraged me with popcorn balls instead. Still, after some convincing, i managed to gather enough sweet treats to complete the event. I was rewarded with a new set of costume (which i dumped right after because i thought it looked disastrous). The quest reward was so much better though, i got 10 gulps of Maggie's goulash which got me 8k exp for farming. Overall, i would rate the Halloween event this time a decent 7/10. I definitely preferred last year's event and would definitely like to see more events of that standard. Still, the areas had a really 'Halloween' feel to them and i would applaud Jagex for that.


Peering into the cauldron in order to get the emote

First puzzle, easy as pie.

I told you someone said my costume was l33t!





Thanks Kat! ps. You could have checked my highscores, ya know



Even the penguins were being festive!

Kat, Tim and Me. A picture of the leaders of Blessings ^^

Stuff achieved today : 65 slayer.

Fish and Fights.

Following the release of the new pvp system, Blessings swiftly engaged ourselves in a series of conquests in the wilderness. Being a lot stronger than we are before the removal of the pking, we are now finding killing our opponents much easier and a lot faster. I haven't got the time to really go into pking yet, only enjoying the planned events and maybe sudden urges to 2H some people in Lumby for cheap thrill.


our first ever trip to the new pvp wilderness. nostalgia :)


Us, a lot stronger than we used to be.

Last night, Blessings made yet another trip to the wilderness. With our old friend, Form back with us, it was a little like the old times before pking was removed. The trip went off slow, we met 2 rangers at the ruins after some world hopping, and quickly started to reduce their hitpoints. Both got away and we ended up having to regroup since Form and Dg came face to face with a massive 100+ clan. Lucky Form, he made it out with 3hp after being binded when he entered a multi-zone. We met in the bounty hunter arena shortly and got attacked by a 125 and 117. Succumbing to their fierce attacks while wearing robes, Tim's food supply depleted rapidly. Soon, Tim had to teleport, and it was just Dg and me left to deal with those 2 players. Dg and me successfully took down the 117 and made off with the loot, leaving the 125 to fume. Soon, we went back to the bounty hunter bank, and after a while of attacking random people, we met the duo again. We got entangled in a bloody match, with the 117 and 125 both on Timmy. Luckily, we could attack the 117, eventually forcing him to teleport away so Tim could deal with the 125 with yet more ease. Soon, the 125 too was left with no choice but to teleport away under Tim's l33tness. Wanting to mess with Blessings, their attack was destined for failure before it even started. The trip soon came to an end when i had to go for dinner.


One of the two players we met at the ruins


Me finishing off the 117, Dg did more damage though.^^


The duo back for round 2, only to end in an inevitable defeat.

Besides,while the frenzy to prepare for my examinations are going on, i had been fishing dutifully. Propelling myself to 86, i could potentially be a contestant for 99 fishing in the clan too. Monks are coming at a steady rate, but the same could not be said for trying to sell them on the G.E. Those poor fishes have definitely seen better days. A few days ago, their prices started plummeting, and in all panic to get the fishes off their hands, it seems that some fishermen have fallen prey to their own panic attacks and sold the fishes at low prices, causing the prices to *oh no* nosedive. I'll be holding on to my fishes now and look for an opportunity to get them off my hands anytime in the near future.


*throws confetti*

Stuff achieved today : None at the moment. Its 9.30 am, mind you!

Life after the cape.

Now that the cape is resting snugly upon my shoulders, i can finally concentrate on studying. Life had been hectic, so much to the point that i can't really spend as much time as i used on runescape anymore.

So, now when im on RS, im usually fishing, since it allows a great deal of afking while the monks come in as a decent profit. To reward myself every now and then, i also take an occasional break, going for mini-games and the such.

We had our very frist trip to the Chaos Elemental a few weeks ago, it was fun, and very fruitful too. Towards the end of the trip, we even got a D2H drop, split between me, Tim, Dg and Spam. Indeed a l33t trip it is.

Recently, Blessings made a trip to the Castlewars Arena, where our impregnable defense caused the opposing team to end with a score of 0 points on their side. It was fun, ancienting those poor GS-wielders, seeing them not able to do anything despite the oh-so-powerful swords they are holding.











stuff achieved today : nothing much. mindless fishing.

Tiz - The Master Chef

I'm sorry that i haven't been posting regularly recently, but i have quite a number of pressing irl matters to settle. Playing extended hours of Runescape is already making me feel guilty of not utilising the time to study, much less take the time off to write a blog post. Fret not, i shall be free in about 2 months.

Anyway, from the previous post, i have managed to narrow down the exp gap to just 7 exp. A blunder of mine, that kept me jittery about accidentally cooking something, which would potentially screw up my first 99 screenshot. Thank god i was careful enough not to spoil anything.

The screenshot was scheduled to be on Friday this week, but my cooking buddy Evolution got a little impatient and decided to request for it to be push forward, and so it was changed to yesterday,September 29 2008,Wednesday. Many friends and clan mates showed up for the screenshot including my clanmates, Kicky, Frit, Tim, Kat, Atrey and Air Dragon. Evolution's friends turned up too, and made it look all the more spectacular and special. Indeed, thank you too Evo, for keeping me company whilst we journeyed our way towards 99 Cooking together. This is one cape well earned for the 2 of us. Now, its official! We are true Cooking (and Cape) Buddies! Grats on the cape too Evo! A big thank you to those who turned up for the screenshot, your effort is well appreciated. ^-^

For those that couldn't make it due to the last minute changes, I'm terribly sorry for the sudden change of plans and yeah Ill be sure to invite you for my next 99! :D


Cooking Buddies for the win!


Le screenie. L33t!


Evo got a random while i levelled up :\




Fooling around. The other cape holder is Air Dragon, a friend who was kind enough to accpet the invitation.

I also went on a Clan wars trip with my clan, feeling the thrill of letting the Cooking cape rest upon my shoulders, we had a good time aye, and Transformers are not as good as they sound (Clan mates who went will get my reference).


Us performing our cape emotes. And yes, Atreyu's emote counts too.


Random pic from previous clan war trip. Not amazing, but hey! Its not like you get to kill a player mod every other day.

Stuff achieved today : Does 99 Cooking yesterday count? :\

Almost there...

I can finally see it coming... after reaching 98 cooking today, im so excited to think that my cooking cape won't be far from me. Anyway, i tried out the travelling circus yesterday, was quite intersting i must say. And yeah thats about it. Thanks Evo for turning up at my lv up today :D I'll post more another day, got a busy night tonight. >.<







stuff achieved today : 98 cooking