For The Fun Of It

1 September 2008 – Behind the Scenes – September
When you decide to train a skill, you may have one area in mind: a favourite patch of trees, perhaps, or a specific altar to craft your runes. Well, this month’s first update, Distractions and Diversions, will threaten to turn that way of thinking on its head. You see, Distractions and Diversions will offer new ways of training your skills, but you’ll rarely know when (or where) they’ll turn up next…Take Penguin Hide and Seek, for example. You may be walking around RuneScape, summoning yaks and thieving paladins, when something catches your eye. Is that a flash of beak in that nearby bush? Does that toadstool have flippers? You won’t be going loopy – the penguins of the north are spying on us humans, and Larry will want you to spot them first. He’ll be willing to pay well for a penguin sighting and will even cash in your Penguin Points for experience in any skill.It would be hard to get more bizarre than penguins in mushroom costumes, but Distractions and Diversions has an ace up its sleeve. That ace will be Balthazar Beauregard’s Big Top Bonanza, a travelling circus that encourages the audience to get up and join the action. Wow the crowds with a magic trick, acrobatic feat and a well-placed throwing knife and you’ll gain experience or even an outfit to clown about in.

The last Distraction and Diversion will come in the form of a Shooting Star. Instead of making a wish, you’ll need to rush to the crash site and mine its thick outer layers. Break through them on your own or with others and you’ll uncover a curious-looking star sprite, the magical inhabitant of shooting stars. As a reward, it might even help you out with some gold, objects and the ability to temporarily mine quicker.

Not all of our updates arrive and depart as unpredictably as Distractions and Diversions; the following release, the Clan Wars Update, is a far more predictable (but welcome) addition to this Behind the Scenes. It’ll bring a swathe of new options for creating a clan war that suits you. What options will be available? Time for a list!

* Free-for-all battles
* The optional ability to run back into battle after death
* Combat style
* New obstacle choices
* Single-way areas
* Time limits
* Kills required for a victory
* Keep/Lose items on death (without the ability for other players to pick them up)
* New arenas

The option we’re most stoked about is free-for-all battles, where anyone will be able to run in and start battling immediately. It won’t matter if you’re in a clan or not; you’ll be teleported to a vast PvP area where you can have a large scrap with anyone else you meet in there.

‘A large scrap’ is exactly what will be offered in Summer’s End. In this dramatic conclusion to Spirit of Summer, you’ll be confronted by the beast who has been sapping the family’s souls. Unfortunately, yours is particularly tasty, so you’ll need swift feet, hard skin and help from some spirited friends if you’re going to survive. The quest will be particularly taxing for those who are not prepared, but you’d expect that from a skill-based battle with one of RuneScape’s hardest-hitting monsters, right? Don’t worry: the rewards and the family’s heartwarming smiles will definitely be worth it.

There will be few smiles in our last thriller update, Defender of Varrock. Deep in the Wilderness, braindead hordes will form into ranks, in a manner that the evil dead rarely do. Such an occurrence will need to be investigated, of course, and the identities of those behind it will have to be revealed. The question is, can you turn the zombie tide before Varrock becomes a shambling land of the dead? Reading the Legend of Arrav lores and histories may well help you out in this particular quest…

It’s not all war, zombies and soul-eating this month: there are laughs to be had in the Postbag from the Hedge, with some pictures that are far more handsome than a zombie’s ugly mug in our Players’ Gallery and wallpaper release.

Looks like we have another couple of wilderness quests this month, seems like nearly every quest of late is being added into the wilderness. Jagex seem to think that since it’s no longer pvp that its fair play to run us all over the wilderness

~Primefalcon

Runescape Update – Runecrafting Guild! Here is the direct quote from Runescape:

12 August 2008 – Runecrafting Guild and Game – For All Players!

Ever since a brave adventurer rediscovered Runecrafting, mages from the Wizards’ Tower have been working hard to figure out its intricacies. In fact, so many have been drawn to Runecrafting’s secrets that a guild has formed.

Not everything is rosy and happy in the guild. An argument has raged over the magical reaction that creates rune stones: are green or yellow orbs more important in the process? Agree to resolve their conflict and you’ll find yourself in our newest minigame, The Great Orb Project!

The purpose of this team-based minigame is very simple: collect more coloured orbs than the opposing team. Watch out, though, as they will be pushing your orbs out of the way to stop you winning. This frenetic minigame offers few rules and a great alternative to conventional Runecrafting – all with a range of rewards, of course. Expect rune essence, Runecrafting XP and new magical equipment if you wipe the floor with your opponents.

The Runecrafting Guild also offers a number of features that are not tied to the minigame. The rune altar map helpfully shows the location of all altars; one mad wizard has learned how to repair abyssal pouches; and the head of the guild is working on a marvellous omni-talisman that combines the powers of all existing talismans into one.

Note that the guild is available to both free players and members – the Runecrafters want all the help they can get!

Summary
Where to find the Runecrafting Guild:

The guild can be accessed through a portal, upstairs in the Wizards’ Tower.
Requirements to access the Runecrafting Guild and minigame:

Level 50 Runecrafting
Rune Mysteries
The guild is available on F2P, but some individual features are for members only
Access to:

A new guild
A fast-paced, team-vs-team Runecrafting minigame – The Great Orb Project
Various new items for runecrafters, including a new outfit

In other news…

Beyond the Runecrafting Guild, this update brings you a few small things that should make your lives easier…

Kazgar, Mistag and Dartog have been given right-click options so you can quickly ask them to guide you through the Lumbridge Swamp Caves. Elkoy, the guide from the Tree Gnome Village maze, has been given a similar option.

When you previously right-clicked on a chat message from another player, you were always offered the option to ‘Add friend’ and ‘Add ignore’. If that player was already on your Friends list, those options weren’t very useful, so we’ve replaced them with a new ‘Message’ option. This is identical to what would happen if you clicked on your friend in your Friends List. (This is not available on Quick Chat-only worlds.)

Tai Bwo Wannai village welcomes its newest arrival, Imiago. If you’ve completed Jungle Potion, he’ll be willing to protect your calquat trees from disease in exchange for eight poison ivy berries.

The gardeners who protect bush patches have always demanded payment to look after poison ivy bushes. It’s been pointed out on the Forums that poison ivy bushes never get diseased anyway, so the gardeners no longer offer to look after them.

We’ve also fixed the following bugs:

* Treasure Trail sliding puzzle boxes were getting stuck, making them impossible to complete.
* The roof of the Grand Exchange was failing to disappear correctly when you stood underneath it. Similar bugs were affecting the front of Varrock Palace and bits of the Warriors Guild.
* The Amulet of Catspeak was incorrectly positioned on female characters.
* The Amulet of Fury was not rendering correctly with the Bandos chestplate on male characters.
* If you wore a blue snelm, your chathead was appearing yellow.
* The 3D models for skillcapes were using too many polygons, resulting in bizarre graphical glitches. They have now been remodelled to resolve this problem; their appearance is largely unchanged, but you may notice some slight changes.
* Mud pies were positioned incorrectly when you wielded them.
* Flared trousers were rendering incorrectly with most boots.
* The ‘fine shirt’ base kit had a glitch affecting the neck area on male characters.
* The mind tiara was missing part of its model.
* Baba Yaga’s hair was clipping through her hat.
* The progress hats from the Mage Training Arena were not rendering correctly with players’ hair.
* Radimus Erkle, master of the Legends’ Guild, had a rendering problem with his cape.
* The obsidian cape was rendering incorrectly with certain tops.
* Bogrog was checking for the wrong Summoning level when players tried to exchange praying mantis pouches for shards.
* Trimmed chaps and Wilderness capes were rendering incorrectly on female characters.
* The mime mask and zombie mask items were displaying incorrectly during dialogue.
* Players could walk through a rope barrier in the Varrock Museum.

There is a new mini-game called The Great Orb Project.
Here is a direct quote from Runescape:

The Great Orb Project is available to all players, both free and Members, although non-members only have access to a limited version of the game.
Please note this is a ‘Safe’ minigame. There is nothing to kill you here, unless you are poisoned.

Introduction

Whose theory is most probable?
The scientific world is, as anyone of good education and a quick wit can tell, a melting pot of new ideas and the spirit of cooperation. Unfortunately, when science is handed to wizards, things are rarely so convenient. The adepts of the Wizards’ Tower in southern Misthalin have recently embarked on a great deal of research, and in their quest to be published in the eminent Runecrafting Journal have established two research units, one yellow and the other green.

Move through pocket universes and play with arcane energies beyond mortal comprehension (well, beyond comprehension until the research is published), discover the essence of magic and win fabulous prizes.

Location

Location of the Runecrafting Guild
The Runecrafting Guild can be found through a portal on the first floor of the Wizards’ Tower. Rather conveniently for those unfamiliar with the Guild, the wizards’ love of the colour purple makes this a simple portal to find.

The Wizards’ Tower can be found quite quickly by teleporting to Lumbridge followed by a quick walk west to Draynor Village, and a gentle meander south. Alternatively, if you have finished the Lumbridge/Draynor Achievement Diary, you will be able to make use of the cabbage-port granted by the Explorer Ring to arrive at the Port Sarim cabbage patch.

Requirements

You must have completed Rune Mysteries and have a Runecrafting level of 50 or greater.

Recommended Items

You do not need any specific equipment to play The Great Orb Project other than the wands given to you by the wizards running the experiments. Because you need space for these wands and the essence that may appear in your inventory, it’s probably a good idea to carry no items into the game with you. You must also keep your head clear to wear a hat indicating your team.

Taking part in the Project

To begin playing The Great Orb Project, you will need to speak to one of the two lead researchers. Acantha believes that the green energy that manifests around the altars is pure magical energy and the yellow energy is a by-product, while Vief believes the opposite. The two wizards will explain how to help out with their research, but you can simply right-click them and select ‘Join’ if you have already had the process explained.

When you have joined Acantha’s or Vief’s team, you will find that you are now wearing a suitably coloured hat and carrying a few fancy bits of arcane equipment. The hat not only allows you to identify members of your team, but also helps to remind you which energy orbs you should be trying to get back to the altars.

Equipment Use

Repeller wand The repeller wand can be used to push the orbs of magical energy around. To use it, simply click on the orb you wish to move. Remember, of course, that you will need to position yourself to make sure it goes in the right direction.

Attractor wand Attractor wands, as you might expect, pull the energy orbs towards you. Like the repeller wand, you can pull an orb towards yourself simply by clicking on it..

Barrier generator To help you hold back the wicked energies that your opponents are attempting to draw into the altars, you can click on the barrier generator in your inventory. This will raise a temporary field where you stand through which no energy orbs can pass unless it is already being pulled or pushed.

You can swap which of the two wands you are holding by clicking on the wand in your inventory or by right-clicking on one of the orbs and selecting ‘Change-wand’.

Once the teams have been decided and there are enough players to help each team, a portal will open in the Runecrafting Guild to take you to the Air Altar, the first of the areas in which you will be working. The portal will only remain open for twenty seconds, so don’t loiter too long in the Guild! If you are playing on a free world, you will only take part in The Great Orb Project at six altars; if you are playing on a members’ world, you will go to eight. The altars you go to are as follows:

* Air
* Mind
* Water
* Earth
* Fire
* Body
* Chaos (Members Only)
* Nature (Members Only)

At each altar it is your duty to bring the orbs of your team’s colour to the altar, while keeping the other orbs at bay. The only way to do this is through using the wands and the barrier generator, and fine-tuned teamwork will almost always win the day.

The distance you can push or pull an orb depends on your Runecrafting level, so those with the highest levels will be able to move them about the fastest. Because the wands are tied to a specific colour, though, this is not true if you are trying to move your opponents’ orbs: in this case, the orb will only ever move one square.

You can use your wands to move any orb until the last thirty seconds, when you will only be able to move your own orbs about. Barriers will continue to block the magical energy as normal.

Each round lasts for two minutes, and whichever team has brought the largest number of their orbs to the altar will win. Everyone taking part will then receive a few rune or pure essence, and be given a few moments to craft some runes at the altar if they wish, before a new portal opens and the teams travel to the next destination.

At the end of the six or eight altars (depending whether you are on a free or members’ world), the team that won the most altars will be declared the winner and everyone will receive a number of tokens depending on how many altars their team won and whether they won overall.

Rewards

Each altar will generate some rune or pure essence in your inventory. You will have a short period of time to convert any essence you like into runes using the altar before you have to move on to the next altar. You will receive double the normal experience for crafting runes at this time

In addition, Wizards Vief and Acantha have managed to secure enough funding to pay their research assistants for their help. At the end of each game, you will be awarded a number of tokens based on how well your team performed.

These tokens can be traded in for a variety of rewards for the magically-inclined adventurer. These range from rune/pure essence and talismans, up to runecrafter robes and Runecrafting staves.

Runecrafter Robes
Aside from looking the part and indicating your allegiance to one scientific theory or another (or a more scientifically-appropriate neutral stance), runecrafter robes provide a bonus to your Runecrafting level for moving orbs about while you are playing The Great Orb Project. Because you cannot wear it during the minigame, the hat has no such bonus.

* Runecrafter gloves provide a +2 bonus.
* Runecrafter robes provide a +3 bonus.
* Runecrafter skirts provide a +3 bonus.

Runecrafting Staves
Runecrafting staves are much more than just a pretty ornamentation: you can use them exactly as you use a Runecrafting tiara, as well as distracting the eyes in the Abyss to help you sneak past. To bind a talisman to a staff, simply take the talisman and the staff to the talisman’s altar and use either of them on it.

Note that the law staff (created by attaching a law talisman to a Runecrafting staff) has no combat bonuses, so it can be taken onto Entrana. A staff that does not have a talisman attached cannot be wielded.

Runecrafting Teleport Tablets
Runecrafting teleport tablets are identical to the teleport tablets you can build in your player-owned house and can be used to teleport you to any altar you have the requirements to craft runes at.

Extra Features

The Runecrafting Guild, being a place of research and filled with the wonders of magical experimentations, holds more than just the two recruiting scientists. Within its walls you will also find that the mages have been very busy indeed…

The Omni-Talisman (Members Only)
The omni-talisman is a remarkable object created by Elriss to enable the devoted runecrafter to access almost every altar freely. If you are able to show her a talisman for each of the Runecrafting altars that require them (so there’s no need to find a talisman for the Ourania Altar, for instance), she will grant you a hefty chunk of Runecrafting experience for each, as well as the omni-talisman.

To craft an omni-talisman into a tiara or staff, take it to Wizard Korvak, who can be found staggering about in the Runecrafting Guild, jumping at shadows and being generally terrified of everything.

Wizard Korvak (Members Only)
In addition to helping you convert the omni-talisman into tiaras and staves, Korvak will also replace a lost medium abyssal pouch and repair any other pouches you have – of course, his experiences have cost him his sanity, so expect to have to pay for his services.

The Rune Altar Map
Dominating the Runecrafting Guild you will doubtless notice a massive map of RuneScape. This is no ordinary map, of course – mages would never leave something so impressive alone – and can be used to locate the mysterious ruins that hide Runecrafting altars. To locate an altar, simply use a talisman on it and it will highlight it for you, along with a short description to help you find your way.

I will go have a whirl at it after I read everything over – Check in on Musings for additional comments. It may take an hour before I post what I find in the Runescrafting Guild but it should be interesting!

Here is the synopsis of the new quest and a bit about fixes – a direct quote from Jagex:

5 August 2008 – Meeting History

Having helped Jorral in Making History, it’s time to pay him another visit in Meeting History. He’s been busy digging around old and dusty manuscripts and has come across a set of interesting notes about the Enchanted Key; so, with the ‘hot and cold’ key in hand, get ready to discover another of its bizarre abilities! You can guarantee that it’ll give you a greater insight into the past of RuneScape.

Many questions will be answered as part of this sequel to Making History.

Summary
Where to start Meeting History:

Speak to Jorral in the Outpost, north-west of West Ardougne.
Requirements to complete Meeting History:

Making History
Druidic Ritual
Access to:

A new area to explore
The chance to understand more of RuneScape’s early history

In other news…

Our Graphics team has been busily fixing bugs again, including the following:

* The Grim Reaper hood from 2007’s Hallowe’en event was causing your head to disconnect from your neck
* The Amulet of Fury was looking different depending on whether you were male or female
* Armoured skirts were stretching if you used the bone crossbow
* The Wilderness Agility Course stepping stones weren’t very well aligned with their lava pit.
* The roof in the Burgh de Rott shop wasn’t disappearing, even if your Graphics Options said it should.

We’ve also adjusted Commander Zilyana’s behaviour in the God Wars Dungeon, so she’s less inclined to wander aimlessly in the middle of the room while people shoot her from the edges.

So Meeting History is the next part of Making History………. And I see they are trying to fix the disconnecting heads so many of us have had fun with. Smiling…… a bit of harmless fun – (Just because I tell Prime I can prove he loses his head too easily with the pics I took of it…………… snicker….)

The resizable window will be very helpful for me….. Especially when doing the quest today!

Direct Quote from Jagex:

Resizable Game Window

We have introduced a new and optional way of viewing RuneScape HD: a resizable game window. This feature is available to both free players and members.

The new feature will adjust your RuneScape HD game window to fit the size of your browser. So, if you expand or maximise your browser, your game window will expand too, filling all of the available space. If you reduce the size of your browser, your game window will reduce with it.

This feature is completely optional. You may activate or deactivate it via the Graphics Options, either on the login screen or in-game (accessed via the spanner icon).

The resizable game window is only available for RuneScape HD. It is not available for the RuneScape version of the game.

How does this differ from fullscreen?

The main difference is that fullscreen will completely fill your screen. It will do so if your browser is minimised, maximised or anywhere inbetween. The resizable feature allows you to view the RuneScape game at whatever size you want – just reduce or increase the size of your browser and the game window will follow.

When playing RuneScape HD using the resizable game window, your interfaces will be arranged in the manner as fullscreen mode. This means that your tabs will be arranged across the bottom of the game screen.

Unlike fullscreen, the resizable game window is available to both free players and members.

Note: If you have a slow computer and you make the resizable window very large, you may find the game slows down a bit. If this happens, just make the window a bit smaller or, if you prefer, turn it off using the Graphics Options menu.

Ok – going off to do the new quest! We’ll upload it as soon as we know we’ve found as many tips and extras as possible!

Here is the behind the scenes for August:

This is a direct quote from Runescape

1 August 2008 – Behind the Scenes – August

Upcoming updates (planned for August)

It’s pretty hard to imagine the first days of RuneScape. For a start, there were no monsters, no Zamorak and no god wars, which would imply that RuneScape was a breeze. Surely you could just wake up, have a cup of tea with Guthix and settle down for some farming. Easy peasy, right?

Erm, no. The first quest of this month, Meeting History, will reveal the struggles that the first settlers faced on RuneScape. This sequel to Making History will encourage you to get more hands-on in your research of the past, giving you insights into the world’s quiet beginnings and its harsh realities. It will even divulge the beginnings of magic and strange objects called ‘runes’.

Man’s knowledge of magic and runes has come on leaps and bounds from the time of Meeting History. Just take a peek at the next release: the Runecrafting Guild!

In the guild, wizards will be bent over books, trying desperately to unlock the secrets of Runecrafting. How is a rune made? Why are yellow and green orbs released when the reaction occurs? For Runecrafting scholars, these questions pale in comparison with the following: which is more significant – green orbs or yellow orbs? For years arguments have raged on, and two wizards will be creating something that’ll end the debate once and for all: the Great Orb Project!

The Great Orb Project will be a fun minigame for two opposing teams who have been given one simple task: collect more orbs than the other team. Only problem is, your opponents will do all they can to stop you winning – including pushing your orbs away before you can get to them! This fast-paced and manic minigame will offer you a great alternative for training your Runecrafting, with minimal fuss, tutorials or complex rules.

Not content with updating one skill this month, we’ve decided to reignite Firemaking too. In Varrock, King Roald has become increasingly wary of the evil eyes casting greedy looks at his city, so he’ll be taking precautions: fourteen warning beacons, running from the River Salve to the western end of the Wilderness. The problem is, no one will be available to test them out, so – surprise, surprise – you’ll become the most suitable candidate.

So begins All Fired Up, a sizzling new quest that acts as a simple and very short tutorial for beacon lighting. What can you do with large cauldrons full of sticks, you may ask? Well, your task, if you should choose to accept it, will be to light as many as possible at one time, offering you an entertaining and alternative method for training your Firemaking – oh, and the rewards will make you the toast of firemakers everywhere…

Behind the Scenes of the Behind the Scenes:

In the coming months, we’ll be making some changes to the Behind the Scenes, offering you a more attractive look and a better idea of upcoming content. So, if you’d like a tour of what we’ve got in store, please read on…

The first change is screenshots. Instead of just telling you about our updates, we’ll be bringing you images of them in glorious technicolour – and in RuneScape HD, of course.

We’ve also got plans to hint about future content, outside of the month’s releases. The ‘glimpse of the future’ section will include handpicked updates that excite us, and that you’ll be excited about too. So, what better way of getting you used to this new feature than producing one for this Behind the Scenes?

Glimpse of the Future (Updates in development and planned for later than August)

One update that just missed this month’s Behind the Scenes was the Clan Wars update. This is a priority for us, and we’ll be releasing it as soon as we feel it is ready, featuring bucketloads of new arenas and game options, plus two ‘free-for-all’ PVP battlegrounds where you can fight in any way you please. Check out the preview of the Clan Wars setup screen below…

The minigame additions don’t just end with Clan Wars: PvP fans will be pleased to know that there are three PvP minigames planned, all coming in the last few months of the year! If you’re more interested in single-player content, however, you can expect a range of updates to keep you busy. One we can mention now: the concluding part of the Spirit of Summer series will be released at the end of the Summer, and it’ll be throwing some pretty daunting obstacles in your way.

There’s room in the Behind the Scenes for your ideas too, so please feel free to suggest features, articles and additions on the Forums. If your ideas are good enough, you may see them in the larger and improved Behind the Scenes, coming soon!

2 quests and 2 skill updates ………. So we will probably have a quest this next week.

Spirit Of Summer Quest

Seek out a lost and lonely girl out in wildy to start this quest. You can find her at the farm ruins east of Bounty Hunter and north The Graveyard of Shadows. She’s lost her family and she needs your help! Wear good dragon hide armour to get past revenants.

Requirements:
Level 40 Construction
Level 26 Farming
Level 35 Prayer
Level 19 Summoning
The Restless Ghost Quest
Ability to survive in the Wilderness

Items Needed:
A Ghostspeak amulet, 10 Spirit wolf pouches, 10 Desert wyrm pouches, and 10 Spirit scorpion pouches. Good dragonhide armour for protection against revenants, a one click tele to zip out of wildy if needed, forinthry bracelet, run energy of some kind, and good food.

Items that you can pick up during the quest:
A Bucket, Button mushrooms, Hammer, 4 Steel nails, 2 Planks, Limpwurt seed, Rake, Seed dibber, 5 Normal Bones, and a Skull.

Look for a little Spirit walking around the ruins north of the Graveyard of the Shadows. Go through the gate. Follow her into the building. Then you’ll see a cut scene. You’ll end up in a spirit world.

The girl and her father speak to each other in emotes and he puts rings around her that seem to prevent you from talking to her.

Her father will do random emotes to try to speak to you. Watch the other two spirits learn what the emotes mean. When the father does an emote watch the other two to see what you should emote back. If you aren’t sure what the father did, use the think emote to get him to repeat it.

When all the rings are gone, you can haltingly talk to her and find out what is going on. She wants to talk to you in the village west of the farm close to some mountains. Go to the ruins west of the Bandit Camp and near the mountains after you leave the spirit world.

Speak with the Spirit that is east of the farming patch. You will be transported to the spirit world. She’ll tell you about a beast, something that needs washing and the barrel. Ask her to take you back. Use a bucket on the barrel that the girl is standing next to. A bucket can be found in the ruins, along with everything you will need.

Go back to her and after a cut scene of her cleaning up, she’ll tell you that she needs a snack. Ask to go back again and pick the mushrooms off the hollow log in the center of the village. (You can’t pick these ahead of time – only after you talk to her in the spirit world.)

Return to the spirit world and you’ll see a cut scene of her eating.

The spirit girl will be next to the wardrobe that she needs fixed so she can get clean clothes after cleaning up.

Go back to the real world to fix her wardrobe. Use a Hammer, 4 Steel nails and 2 Planks (All these items can be found in the southeastern area of the ruin).

Go back to the spirit world and talk to her again. Her doll is underneath the dead Limpwurt plant and she wants it. Search the crates south of the farming patch for a Limpwurt seed. Plant it in the farming patch using a Rake and Seed dibber (You can find them in the northeastern ruin). It will be about 20 minutes until you can do anything else in this quest.

When the Limpwurt is fully grown, go back to the girl in the Spirit World. You’ll see another cut scene of the girl getting her doll back. Now she can speak to you normally.

You will be teleported to the farm. Talk to her again. She says there’s a beast that’s been harassing them for centuries.

Follow her down the ladder and speak to her at the altar. You will have to wake the discs for them to work. Head back up the ladder and leave the spirit world.

Pick up a Skull east of the farm and 5 Bones scattered around the farm. Don’t use the skull and bones on the real world altar or they will crumble and you’ll have to replace them. Enter the spirit world and use them all on the center of the altar. You then will see a cut scene of a disc rising.

The disc has risen and is located north of the Ruins. The beast is level 717 and is guarding the altar. It does not want you to come close to the altar and shoves you away.

To kill the beast, you need to summon a matching familiar to the disc you are working on, and then dismiss it while your familiar and the beast are touching the discs. When you have successfully dismissed a familiar on one disc the next disc will appear. The beast doesn’t hit you very much but eats your familiars if you don’t hurry! Try to lure the beast into stepping on the disc before you summon the familiar – then dismiss it quick! The beast will eat the familiar even if you are between the beast and the familiar. It’s pretty tricky so plan on having maybe 6 – 10 of each.

Use a Spirit Wolf Pouch on the first disc.
A Desert Wyrm Pouch on the second.
A Spirit Scorpion Pouch on the third.
Once all three familiars have been dismissed while the beast is touching the altar, 3 Elders of the village come to cage it in ectoplasmic bonds.

Speak to one of the Elders to receive your reward and be sent back to the real world.

But…………. it might get loose again! And they do not want you to go back in there again!

Quest Completed!

Jennica’s ring allows you access to different portals all around wildy. To access a portal, you stand on it with the ring equipped and then just operate it. It will make the Revenants give you better drops.

The portal at the Forgotten Cemetery will grant you 10,000 Prayer XP when you enter that portal. You have to accept it though.

You cannot receive any of the teleport XP rewards unless you have a level of 50 or higher in the skill the xp is intended for.

When you are teleblocked by Revenant you can still use the ring to go to the spirit world. Once you are out of wildy, you can tele since you are not considered in wild any more.

Cursed magic tree:
When you chop down the Cursed magic tree you receive a Cursed magic log, and 275 Woodcutting xp. The logs turn into normal Magic logs when you leave the spirit world. Cut the tree down in the real world and it will respawn in the spirit world, use the ring while standing in the portal and go to the spirit world…….. cut it down in the spirit world and it will respawn in the real world. There is a bank to the east – it’s a short run to the bank.

Rewards:
Access to a new realm
New areas for Combat and Woodcutting (Cursed magic tree)
Quest Points Reward: 1
7,500 Construction XP
5,000 Prayer XP
2,000 Farming XP
1,000 Summoning XP,
Jennica’s ring

Just as Primefalcon and I finished this quest, there was a system update. After the update, we checked out the teles with the ring and found a vast open area under wildy when we entered a cave just northeast of Bounty Hunter in level 33……

It is huggggggggggggggggge! Three areas and the last area has an altar and five burial plots of the spirits we saw in this quest! The first one drops water and has fire spots that you can’t use and the second area has soft soil that you can’t plant in when you examine certain spots.

and

…..and then the very surprising 3rd area! Only the mother’s grave marker was completely legible. But if this is the new combat area, there is nothing to fight!

I suspect there is even more to learn and I’ll add whatever I find out.

Here is the lastest quest…….. We will be working on the quest and getting the guide uploaded ASAP……………

Direct quote from Runescape:

29 July 2008 – Spirit of Summer Next

Stuck on a different plane, parallel to the Wilderness, itself a long walk from any RuneScape city or town, one family has gone a long time without even seeing a human being. That doesn’t mean they don’t need your help, however, as the time has come to leave the homestead and move to pastures new.

This magical story calls for you to befriend a loving family, find some essentials for their journey and reunite the daughter with some misplaced possessions. You’ll be able to explore a previously unexplored realm and even take a glimpse into the imagination of a little girl.

Needless to say, some hurdles will need overcoming if you and the family are to reach the destination and claim your reward. Some family members are less than communicative with outsiders and their only neighbour is understandably unhappy about them leaving. It shouldn’t be a problem for an adventurer with your experience…right?

Summary
Where to start Spirit of Summer:

Seek out the young girl outside of the ruins, east of Bounty Hunter and north of Varrock.
Requirements to complete Spirit of Summer:

Level 40 Construction
Level 26 Farming
Level 35 Prayer
Level 19 Summoning
The Restless Ghost
Ability to survive in the Wilderness
Access to:

A new realm for you to explore
New areas for Combat and Woodcutting

AND…………….

29 July 2008 – Item Lending Update

Over the last couple of weeks, many players have been using the Item Lending system to lend out items for profit. That’s not really what we designed the system to achieve; it was intended to be a simple way for players to once again share objects with their friends. Since some players seem so keen to rent out their valuable items, though, we’ve adjusted the system to let them do it safely.

Instead of ‘using’ your items on the borrowing player, you should send them a trade request. This will open the trade screen, where you can right-click on an item and choose to ‘Lend’ it.

Once you’ve offered the item for loan, it will be visible to both players in the trade offer screen, within the ‘Loan’ box. A button will appear underneath the item, allowing you to choose the duration of the loan. Your trade-partner can then offer to pay you or lend you another item in return. Of course, you can still offer to lend an item without receiving anything in return.

Item Lending does not affect your trade limits if you are lending or receiving an item for nothing in return. Your trade limits will be affected, however, if something is offered in return for the lent item.

Do remember: If you borrow an item ‘until logout’, its owner might log out or take it back at ANY time, so you should be cautious about paying for this kind of service.

In other news…

We’ve been busy again, fixing a number of graphical or minor bugs that you may have spotted. Read on for a few of the more noticeable changes included in this update.

There have been a few additions and modifications to the bank this week; most notably, we have added the ‘Withdraw All-But-1′ option, so you can leave placeholder items with ease. The bank’s scrollbar speed has also been increased, so you can get to your items faster.

On a slightly different note, you can now retrieve your lent items from the wandering bankers that are typically found outside minigames like Fist of Guthix or Bounty Hunter.

Players can now take the Summoning skillcape into Bounty Hunter. It seems this latest skillcape wasn’t permitted, so Bounty Hunter has been adjusted to bring it in line.

When playing in HD fullscreen mode, you now have the option to hide the chatbox. The tabs below it will still flash when you’ve been sent a message by a friend or someone requests to trade with you etc, so you shouldn’t miss anything!

First Update for July 14th, 2008:

Runescape Quote

14 July 2008 – RuneScape HD Full Release – Now for Free Players!

If you’re a free player, we’ve got some great news for you – RuneScape HD is available to everyone! The Beta period is over, so both free players and members can access the new-look RuneScape. Not only that, but free players and members can get their hands on some new releases – the bank update, Item Lending and a number of Lumbridge changes – that are mentioned at the bottom of this newspost.

Please be aware that the fullscreen mode of RuneScape HD is NOT currently available to free players – it continues to be a members-only benefit. We are looking at the possibility of a fullscreen mode for free players, with adverts displaying in the fullscreen window; for now, however, RuneScape HD’s range of graphical improvements are ready to be explored by everyone.

To find out how to play RuneScape in high detail, please visit the release news post.

If you are having issues with running RuneScape HD or would like more technical information about the update, visit the RuneScape HD FAQs here. You can also visit the Technical Support Forum for various threads that may help you.

We would also like to thank you for the wealth of comments, compliments and feedback we have received over the past couple of weeks. It is down to you that many small graphical issues have been resolved, with a number of changes being introduced in the update today.

This does not mean that we will ignore any feedback from now on – far from it, in fact. We welcome any constructive comments, to help us to continually improve RuneScape HD and make it as good as it can be.

This Week’s Releases:

On top of the full release of RuneScape HD, we have a bumper lot of updates that will benefit both free players and members:

First up is our bank update, which brings you tabs and a search function, among other changes, to help you organise your bank. Up to eight separate tabs can be created to help clear your banking mess.

Item Lending is next, bringing you a new way to help your friends! You can lend out a wide range of handy items, including many of RuneScape’s best weapons and armour.

We’ve gone back to the drawing board and completely reworked the tutorial: from the creation of your character right through to your first explorations of RuneScape.

In return for completing some tasks, you can receive a modest, but prompt, payment from various people in our Lumbridge Moneymaking update. So, if you’re feeling poor, the people of Lumbridge will help you to recover your finances – in return for a little hard work.

Finally, this week brings the free game’s first Achievement Diary. Travel to Explorer Jack to start your Lumbridge and Draynor Achievement Diary.

Just a tiny warning – because so many people are playing HD, there have been many many complaints about the game being buggy and glitchy, often causing your browser to crumple and close. Firefox closed countless times for me yesterday and Swiftkit also closed twice. Since I was working on the achievement diary, I kept Firefox open only to my blog so I could be sure I wouldn’t lose it. I played on Swiftkit so it wouldn’t matter if the game crashed the browser because I wasn’t doing anything dangerous while working on the diary.

Runescape Quote
Bank Update:

To help you with some belated Spring cleaning, we have introduced a few changes to your bank. Tabs and search functions are here to help clear the mess!

Up to eight separate tabs can be created to organise your bank. To create a new tab, simply drag and drop an item from the main bank tab (marked with an infinity symbol) to the tab marked with a ‘+’. Once a new one is created, you can move items into and out of it. For easy identification, each tab has its own icon, which it takes from the item that sits in the first slot of that tab. Of course, the use of tabs is entirely optional; you can choose not to use any and simply leave your items stored in the main bank inventory as normal.

No matter how immaculately organised your bank is, everyone has difficulties finding items from time to time; thankfully, the bank rework has a solution in the form of a search function. Clicking the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the interface, you can type in a word or part of it (’shield’ for example) and the bank will list all of those items that include it (for example ‘Round shield’ or ‘Black kiteshield’). This feature will make organising your items into tabs a breeze, since you can drag items into existing or new tabs from the search results view.

We have added a counter in the top-right hand corner of the interface, which allows you to keep track of how much bank space you are currently using. We have also given you the ability to repeatedly withdraw/deposit the number of items you last entered using Deposit-x/Withdraw-x.

Finally, thanks should go to everyone who suggested bank ideas on the Forums – you came up with so many of the ideas that went into this update.

Item Lending:

This week’s update also brings you a new way to help your friends. With the Item Lending system, you can lend out a wide range of handy items, including many of RuneScape’s best weapons and armour. Once the loan is over, you can retrieve your stuff by speaking to a banker.

How do I lend out an item?

Use the item on a friend who has Accept Aid turned on. You’ll be asked how long you’re willing to let them keep the item (any number of hours from 1 to 24). Make your choice, and wait while they consider your kind offer.

What can I lend?

Visit the Knowledge Base article for the full list.

Where does the item go when my friend’s finished with it?

Speak to a banker. When you’ve lent out an item, they’ll have a chat option for seeing your Returned Items box. This is where your item will be.

Suppose I borrow armour from my friend, and it goes back to them while I’m wearing it in combat! I might die!

When you borrow an item, you’ll be told how long you can keep it. You should make sure you’re not depending on the item at the time when the loan is due to expire. Remember, if you agreed that the item would be returned to its owner when one of you logs out, they might log out or claim it back at any time, so be careful.

What happens if I lend someone an item and they drop it, trade it, alch it or die with it?

They won’t be allowed to trade it or alch it. If they drop it, you’ll still be able to get it back at the end of the loan period by speaking to a banker and asking to see your Returned Items box.

If your friend does die while they’ve got your stuff, the borrowed item will be protected over anything else they’ve got, so it’ll be one of the three (or four) items they keep on death.

If they do end up losing the item on death, such as because they’re skulled, you’ll still be able to get it back from a banker in the usual way. They won’t be allowed to take the item into Bounty Hunter.

I’ve borrowed an item for a fixed period, but I want to give it back early. Can I?

Sorry, technical limitations prevent us from returning items early if they’ve been lent out for a fixed period. You’re welcome to discard the item, though. Its owner will get it back at the end of the loan period.

Are there plans to add any more items to Item Lending?

We intend to add more objects to the list of lendable items in the future. Our plan is to read your feedback and highlight those items that you would like to lend to each other.

The item lending is an odd sort of new pain in the rear! Everyone is asking anyone if they can borrow something. They seem to think, now that you can lend it, they can borrow it. I’ve had people following me asking if I have a this or a that – usually something very expensive and/or rare. This will, no doubt, die down but it is irritating!

Nevertheless, here is a list of the only things you can lend at this time:

Runescape Quote
Other items will be added to this list in the future.

Weapons
Abyssal whip
Ancient Staff
Composite bows – maple, yew and magic
Dark bow
Dragon axe, battleaxe, dagger (including poisoned versions), halberd, longsword, mace, scimitar and two-handed sword
Godsword (all types)
Granite maul
Longbows – maple, yew and magic
Rune axe, battleaxe, longsword, pickaxe, scimitar and warhammer
Runite crossbow
Saradomin sword
Seercull
Shortbows – maple, yew and magic
Zamorak spear

Armour
Amulet of fury
Archer helm
Archer ring
Armadyl helmet, chestplate and plateskirt
Bandos chestplate, boots and tasset
Berserker helm
Berserker ring
Dragon boots, chainbody, full helm, medium helm, platelegs, plateskirt and square shield
Dragonhide – green, blue, red and black dragonhide body, chaps or vambraces
Farseer helm
Mage boots
Mystic boots, gloves, hat, robe bottom, robe top (including dark and light variants)
Obsidian cape
Ranger boots
Robin Hood hat
Rockshell helm, platebody, legs, gloves and boots
Rune full helm, kiteshield, longsword, platebody, platelegs and plateskirt,
Seers’ ring
Skeletal boots, bottom, gloves, helm and top
Spined body, boots, chaps, gloves and helm
Splitbark body, boots, gauntlets, helm and legs
Third Age helmet, kiteshield, platebody and platelegs
Third Age mage hat, amulet, robe top and robe
Third Age ranger coif, top, legs and vambraces
Warrior helm
Warrior ring

Other
Santa hat
Party hat (all colours)
Halloween mask (all colours)

Primefalcon and I did set up new characters yesterday and tried out the new tutorial. It is mostly different, all based around the skill guides in Lumbridge. There is no longer a tutorial island and it makes me wonder what they intend to do with that area. They over explain too much though. If you were new to the game, you’d be seeing yadayadayada after a couple of minutes. The tutorial is no longer easy to follow or simple to understand.

You can ask almost any guide for a job to do to earn gp on the game. This will be a great help to new people. There is the banana crate job in Karamja that’s been there almost forever, I suppose, and I did that for a little while to save up gp. I suspect none of the jobs actually pays a lot and you might be better off fishing and cooking so you can fight things for a drop until you can make decent gp.

Here is a list of those you can ask for a job in Lumbridge:

Runescape Quote

Employers

The following people in and around Lumbridge are all in perpetual need of employees. You can obtain a task by talking to them about any jobs they have.

* Mikasi, the Magic Tutor
* Harlan, the Melee Tutor
* Nemarti, the Ranged Tutor
* Cordero, the Cooking Tutor
* Cadmus, the Crafting Tutor
* Finlay, the Fishing Tutor
* Monlum, the Mining Tutor
* Feoras, the Smelting Tutor
* Yauchomi, the Prayer Tutor
* Hans
* Donie & Gee
* Victoria
* Iain
* Samuel
* Julian
* Fred the Farmer (you must have completed the Sheep Shearer quest)
* Aggie (in Draynor Village)
* Ned (in Draynor Village)

Just for info:
RuneScape: The Official Handbook
By Tracey West
This book is way out of date but available on RR Bazaar Store – Wild Books page for approximately $7. A nice memento of Runescape as it used to be – maybe. Even the pictures in the book weren’t what we saw on the game even when it came out!

Runescape’s coming book, Betrayal At Falador by T. S. Church can be pre-ordered from the Jagex store. The price that Jagex quotes is in British pounds and will cost Americans over $55.

Well – this is it for now – have a great game!

Lumbridge/Draynor Achievement Diary

The following are the various quests needed to complete all tasks in The Lumbridge/Draynor Diary:

The Restless Ghost
Rune Mysteries
Dragon Slayer

Each level of the tasks require increasingly higher levels of skills and strength.
The highest needed to complete all tasks are as follows:

Level 30 Mining
Level 30 Fishing
Level 36 Smithing
Level 5 Runecrafting
Level 31 Magic
Level 30 Woodcut
Level 30 Firemaking
Level 40 Cooking
Level 16 Crafting

To start this Achievement Diary, visit Explorer Jack in the house north of Lumbridge Castle.

The Basic Beginner Tasks
-Climb to the highest point in Lumbridge
-Raise the flag on the roof of the Lumbridge Bank
-Speak to the Duke of Lumbridge
-Speak with the Doomsayer about the Warning System
-Find out about the Stronghold of Security from the Lumbridge Guide
-Browse the Lumbridge General Store
-Visit Fred the Farmer’s chicken and sheep farm
-Mine some clay in the Mining patch north of the Champions’ Guild
-Make some soft clay in the Barbarian Village
-Make a pot on the potter’s wheel in the Barbarian Village
-Fire a pot in the kiln in the Barbarian Village potter’s house
-Enter the courtyard of the spooky mansion in Draynor Village
-Grind some flour in the windmill north of Lumbridge
-Visit the Draynor Village market
-Find out about the Rules of Conduct from the Draynor Town Crier
-Climb to the top of the Wizards’ Tower
-Mine some copper in the Mining spot to the south-east of Lumbridge Swamp
-Catch some shrimp in the Fishing spot to the east of Lumbridge Swamp
-Have the Fishing Tutor send you on an errand
-Look through Father Aereck’s selection of gravestones
-Play the organ in the Lumbridge Church
-Ring the bell in the Lumbridge Church
-Pass through the Al Kharid gate

Once complete, you can do an Explorer emote, the ring enhances prayer and magic a bit and you get an xp lamp worth…. 500 xp. One charge of restore energy that can be used once a day with this ring.

The Easy Tasks
-Obtain a cow-hide from a cow in the field north-east of Lumbridge
-Have Ellis tan your cow-hide to make soft leather at his shop in Al Kharid
-Craft a pair of soft leather gloves
-Mine some iron ore from the Al Kharid Mining spot
-Catch a pike in the river to the east of Lumbridge Castle
-Smelt a steel bar in the Lumbridge furnace
-Search the shed in Lumbridge Swamp
-Kill a giant rat in Lumbridge Swamp
-Cut down a dead tree in Lumbridge Swamp
-Light a campfire from normal logs in Lumbridge Swamp
-Cook some rat meat on a campfire in Lumbridge Swamp
-Craft a water rune at the Water Altar
-Get a replacement Ghostspeak Amulet from Father Urhney
-Taunt the demon at the top of the Wizards’ Tower
-Have Sedridor teleport you to the Essence Mine
-Access the bank in Draynor Village
-Have the Wise Old Man check your bank for unnecessary quest-related items
-Discover what the Wise Old Man is watching through his telescope
-Defeat a zombie in the sewers under the jail

Once the Easy level is complete, the 2nd level ring gives you 30 free low alchemy spells, the chance to get extra elemental runes when runecrafting, a second charge of energy a day and another xp lamp worth 1k xp. The ring is now silver or white.

The Medium Tasks
-Smith a steel longsword on the anvil in the jail sewers
-Use the Teleport to Lumbridge spell
-Mine some coal in the Mining spot to the south-west of Lumbridge Swamp
-Cut down a willow tree to the east of Lumbridge Castle
-Light a willow log fire in the Lumbridge Castle courtyard
-Cook a lobster on the range in the Lumbridge Castle kitchen
-Obtain an anti-dragonbreath shield from Duke Horacio
-Mine some silver from the Mining patch north of Al Kharid
-Catch a salmon in the river to the east of Lumbridge Castle
-Smelt a silver bar in the Lumbridge furnace
-Craft a holy symbol in the Lumbridge furnace
-Take a ride on a gnomecopter

When the medium level of this diary is completed, you will be able to use the ring to tele infinitely to the cabbage patch north west of Draynor. You also earn the 3rd charge of energy run per day on the ring. Of course, you also get an xp lamp worth 1500xp to use as you wish on any skill.

Extra Note:
You will have to mine clay, copper, iron, coal, silver, smelt steel, smith steel long, smelt a silver bar, & make a holy symbol in different areas.

You will have to fish for shrimp, pike, a lobby to cook, and salmon in different areas.

Here is a direct quote from Jagex about the upcoming changes to the game in July:

7 July 2008 – Behind the Scenes – July

It really is the most impossible of impossible missions: how do you follow the graphical improvement of an entire game? Have a nap for a month or two? Boogie with Party Pete? Go on holiday to Brimhaven? Well, we’ve taken a different approach, following RuneScape High Detail with some updates that have been anticipated for a very long time…

Take your bank, for example. Many players have called for a better way of managing it, to help sort and organise the mess of herbs, long forgotten quest objects and holiday items. So, this month we will be adding a few features, the most prominent of which will be a new tabbing structure. This will allow you to order your bank according to categories that you define: you could gather your runes together on one tab, for example, and food on another. There will also be a search button and extra options for banking and removal that will aid you when moving quantities of items about.

‘Moving items about’ leads us neatly to our second anticipated feature: Item Lending. This superb service will allow free players and members to use their own wealth for the benefit of their companions by lending them handy items, powerful weapons, valuable armour and a few fancy hats too. Only one item will be lendable at any time, for a number of hours up to and including 24 hours, or until either of you log out. More information on release!

It’s at this point in the month that we look back with rose-tinted glasses and get a little nostalgic. Do you remember your first days in RuneScape: leisurely wandering round Tutorial Island, making bread, catching fish and firing arrows at rats from behind a fence? Good times! A wind of change has been blowing about Tutorial Island, however, and it’s brought a whiff of danger with it…

The next update will move the Tutorial from Tutorial Island to a quarantined Lumbridge, where a three-headed dragon will be terrorising people and generally being a nuisance. Luckily for the citizens, a passing White Knight, Sir Vant, will be on hand to hold back the beast. Far from being able to handle the situation on his own, he’ll be after a willing adventurer to keep him supplied and do a spot of fighting.

The new Tutorial will be more quest-like and exciting, giving players a reason to create a new character and give it a go. If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, any player will be able to collect the new Tutorial’s reward – two experience lamps – whether they have completed it or not.

The Tutorial is not the only planned improvement to Lumbridge. There will be the Lumbridge Achievement Diary, packed with Beginner, Easy and Medium tasks. High-level players will have no trouble completing these assignments, but there are certainly some interesting rewards to be had. Be prepared to craft, mine, explore and tan your way to success!

You thought Lumbridge was only for learning the ropes, respawning and chefs with cake issues? Well, you’ll find that there’s more to the running of Lumbridge than meets the eye, as a number of NPCs will be looking to employ hard-working and diligent low/mid-level players with their day-to-day tasks. Deliveries need to be made, goblins killed and resources gathered, all in the name of a decent wage.

Our final update this month will be a first for RuneScape: a Wilderness quest. You’d be forgiven for thinking that means relentless combat, stark landscapes and the odd revenant sending you back to Lumbridge (to complete some Achievement Diary tasks, perhaps?); rather unusually, it centres on a small girl, who will have other ideas.

Beginning in the Wilderness but then moving to a parallel realm, Spirit of Summer will require you to meet the young girl’s family and prepare them for their first holiday in decades. There’s the small issue of a neighbour who’s reluctant to let the family leave, but you’ve dealt with larger problems before, right? A charming adventure awaits, with a few surprises thrown in.

Less of a surprise will be the website updates. The traditional Players’ Gallery and Postbag from the Hedge will be on hand, with a wallpaper that shows some RuneScape favourites in a different light.

So, you thought July was only about the graphical updates? It would seem that RuneScape has other ideas…

Wowowowow! A tab system for the bank! That will be absolutely great! I keep my stuff pretty well organized but not always! In a hurry to equip for a quest or a slayer assignment, the phone rings, the cat upchucks, and the doorbells rings all at once – then a month later – you see an object and think, how the heck did that get there? They will also be adding a search ——- oh sigh – what a relief that will be. We are all getting used to what things are officially called in Runescape by using the Grand Exchange and that will definitely make it all easier to know what to call things.

Also coming – the dreaded Item Lending! I say dreaded because I log out too often involuntarily to be borrowing something that might go back to the owner if I log out. If I am in the middle of a big fight or something, I don’t think I would want to be without whatever it was I thought I couldn’t fight the thing without in the first place – would you? There is way too much lag and loading going on. Oh no – it’s up to 24 hours or if EITHER of you log out……….. potty break and you get broken I guess.

They are also changing Tutorial Island which means I will have to redo the intro guide for Runescape Beginners – well I signed up a new character when the new graphics came out, just to see what it was like. “Marlaine’s” will be able to go wander the new tutorial and take screenies for the existing guide. Sigh…….. it took a long time for me to break down and start those beginner guides – good thing I haven’t done a whole lot of them! But we will all be able to collect two experience lamps from the updated Tutorial Island guide – which will be more like a quest. (Obviously Jagex doesn’t mind at all if you have a ton of characters – just as long as you play on only one at a time and don’t let anyone else play on them either! As stated in the agreed rules when you sign up!)

Finally another Achievement Diary. This one will be for Lumbridge. I can hear people griping already about it being for beginners but – you guys – it has to be done some time and Jagex has been giving us some really challenging quests that require higher skills. If you started from the very first xp right now – you might not even want to try Runescape. When I started, it was almost too complicated for the amount of time I was willing to devote to it. I remember thinking I would never get all those free quests done – let alone the members! Yes things changed as I got used to things and hit the highest levels in magic on free that I could get and use. This is a wonderfully interesting game now but befuddling to new comers. If you feel too much time is being devoted to beginners now, use the time to up the more difficult skills!

The dreaded Wilderness Quest is coming! Well don’t forget to wear dragonhide armour and have plenty of run, either with your super energy pots, strange fruits, or spirit Terror Birds………. Remember that you can use protect from mage out in wildy too, if you haven’t been crafting in the abyss. The revenants don’t do much damage when you wear dragonhide armour though but take food! Evidently there will be a task on the new Achievement Diary that calls for letting a revenant kill you and send you back to Lumby so most of us will have to change where we go when we die – sigh.

So July will be a month of change change change…. with every season……………. so be it!

First of all,,,,,,,,, on a page way way deep, this is a part of the new Runescape….

Direct from Runescape’s News:

1 July 2008 – Price changes for new subscribers

For new subscribers becoming members on or after the 4th August, the monthly cost for a RuneScape subscription will increase 30p in the UK, $0.95 in the US and by similar amounts in other currencies. These are examples of the credit card prices – all other payment types will be increasing by a similar margin. If you are an existing member, or you subscribe before the 4th August, this price change will not affect you, as long as you keep your membership valid.

If you are an existing member and you allow your membership to lapse for more than two weeks (after the 4th of August), you will be charged the new rate when you re-subscribe.

RuneScape subscription costs have not changed since RuneScape memberships started in 2002, over 6 years ago! Inflation and exchange rates mean we are having to adjust our prices slightly.

So, if you want to become a member do it this month or pay $1 a month extra. Don’t let your subscription lapse for more than two weeks or the membership fee will increase. They say they haven’t upped the price for 6 years but they have also gone from 10,000? paying members to how many millions?

Also here is a direct quote about Runescape’s graphics update:

1 July 2008 – RuneScape HD – Members-Only Beta Launch

RuneScape has been reworked and now looks better than ever! If you are a member, you will be able to access this update by following the directions below. If you are a free player, you can expect to be playing RuneScape HD as soon as the Beta period is over. Free players who select RuneScape HD will receive a preview of the new graphics, meaning they can see how it runs on their machines, but will be unable to play in it.

NOTE – this is a live Beta. This means that if you lose or win an item, die or gain experience, it is for real – the effects will remain on your account even after the Beta period is over. Please do not throw away items thinking that you will get them back after the Beta period.

Playing RuneScape HD:

You will notice that the website has been given a fresh lick of paint, but your path to the game remains as simple as before. Click ‘Play RuneScape’ on the new RuneScape front page to get to the Detail Select page. Then click the right-hand button, ‘RuneScape High Detail’, to select the new version. Finally, choose your world, and then start playing.

To play RuneScape HD, your computer will need the following system specifications:

* 1.5 GHz processor or higher
* 256MB of RAM or more
* 64MB 3D Graphics card, such as Nvidia(R) GeForce(TM) 3 or above
* Sun Java 1.4 or higher

Once the game has loaded, you can use the in-game Graphics Options menu, within your Options tab (the one with the spanner), to further increase or decrease your level of detail. You can also change them on the log in screen. So, if you are experiencing slowdown, try reducing the number of graphical features.

The new fullscreen mode can also be toggled on or off in the in-game Options tab or the log in screen.

When you have set your preferred graphics options, your settings will be remembered as the default every time you log in on that machine. You may change these graphics options at any point.

If you have further questions, or are having trouble playing RuneScape HD, please visit the FAQS, found here.

Playing in the old detail modes:

To access the old High or Low Detail modes, click the left-hand ‘RuneScape’ button on the Detail Select page. This option manages to be both the old detail modes, rolled into one! You will be able to use the in-game Graphics Options menu to choose the exact level of detail you wish to play in. If you turn everything to minimum you get the old Low Detail mode, and if you turn everything to maximum you get the old High Detail mode.

Many of the graphics on the regular high and low detail have been upgraded or changed. Some are really great – some are not.

Here is just one of the screens you see while logging into the Runescape HD………..

Check it out for yourself and have fun!

This is a direct quote from Runescape’s Development Diary posted on June 16th……

In the first Development Diary on our graphical improvements, we showed you the results of textures, texture blending, shadows and fog. In this, the second and final Development Diary on the release, we shine a light on the other effects we have been using.

Minimum specifications:

To play RuneScape’s new detail level you will need:

* 1.5 GHz processor or higher
* 256MB of RAM or more
* 64MB 3D Graphics card, such as Nvidia(R) GeForce(TM) 3 or above

Additionally, your graphics card should have the latest drivers installed, to ensure the new detail level plays with no problems.

If you need more information on your computer’s specifications or how to update your graphical drivers, visit our Tech Support Forum in the RuneScape Forums.

When the graphical improvement is released, you will be able to increase or decrease the number of graphical features that are activated. This will be done in your in-game ‘Options’ menu (the one with the spanner icon). So, any problems playing the new detail mode may be lessened by reducing the number of graphical features that are activated.

We would advise that your computer exceeds the above requirements, so you will be able to play the new detail mode without any issues.

REMINDER – The existing Low and High Detail will still be available, as the graphical update is completely optional.

Hey is that message just for my computer or does everyone see that?…………… “We would advise that your computer exceeds the above requirements, so you will be able to play the new detail mode without any issues.”

If that is a coded function to use info from the info we sent to Jagex, it was well worth it and you will be able to see now if you can use the new graphic pack they will be uploading in the beginning of July! Just when I was wishing I knew for sure or not, I noticed that information!

Go to Runescape’s Update page for more info and great graphic pics…. wowowow!