RuneScape News

Wallie Cards available in Sweden

Aliensvortex — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:08:36 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

2nd July 2009 - Wallie Cards available in Sweden

Our users in Sweden can now purchase RuneScape membership without a credit card, thanks to Wallie!

Pre-paid game cards offering RuneScape membership in a variety of durations are available to buy in Pressbyran and 7-Eleven stores throughout Sweden.

To find your nearest store, check out the Wallie card website.

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Patch Notes 22/06/09

Aliensvortex — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 06:04:15 -0500

The patch notes were taken from RuneScape's official forums. All patch notes can be found in the patch notes archive (quick find code 13-14-604-58266335).

Patch Notes 22/06/09

The following small fixes and adjustments have now been made to the game. If you spot any further bugs in-game, please use the Bug Report feature ('Submit a Bug Report' under the 'Help' drop-down menu of the website).

Graphical

Resolved an issue with what appeared to be two hunting pit traps on the same bit of map.
Updated the Rum Deal quest interfaces to better handle different game modes.
Some of the Guardians of Armadyl that had the wrong symbol on their chests.
Fixed some render issues with the lighting in the God Wars Dungeon, and on the scenery found there.
Female dreadlocks while wearing bunny ears should no longer cause a labelling issue.
Fixed a render issue with the Dwarf Cannon watchtower.
The bow emote should look better while walking.
The charged and uncharged version of the splitbark helm should better match each other.
Fixed an issue with the spiked helmets and certain chatheads and animations.
Resolved some lighting issues next to some standing torches.
Updated a bucket animation and fixed the looks of some stagnant water.
A bridge near Prifddinas has been updated, as its railings and shadows were a little broken.
The Stealing Creation lobby interface can correctly display larger skill totals.
Iban now correctly sits on his throne rather than standing in it.
Changed the order of the Thieving code – now it doesn't start the animation until the rest of the checks have been run and you can actually pickpocket the target.
Graphically improved a small section of the TzHaar city area to fix its appearance in high and low detail modes.
Updated some player animations used in Animal Magnetism.
Rectified a graphical issue in a cutscene in Death to the Dorgeshuun.
Fixed an issue with transparency and fire!
Two male characters from Royal Trouble had female chatheads.
Updated a quest-related diary interface to allow space for slightly more text.

Audio

Slightly tweaked the Venture 2 song at the very end.
Added locked door sound effects to various parts of King's Ransom.
Added sound effects to the Killerwatt Plane.
Added a menagerie of sound effects to Cabin Fever.
Added a few sound effects to One Small Favour.

Quests

Fixed typos in Eadgar's Ruse, Monkey Madness and Missing My Mummy.
The elemental helm listed the wrong Elemental Workshop quest as a requirement.
Vanstrom Klause now refers to shortswords as swords.

Miscellaneous

Fixed an issue with the last charge with the Summoning headgear.
Fixed some grammatical errors in the music unlock hints, Evil Tree chat, Ali the Dyer and the Candle-maker in Catherby.
Updated the message when you fail an attempt to light a fire with the crystal bow using barbarian training methods.
Corrected the level-up message for Hitpoints regarding the cape of accomplishment and the name of the character to speak to.
Ensured the training dummies in Varrock can only be attacked from the correct side.
Changed various phrases when casting Magic spells for consistency.
The description for the location of ghouls wasn’t very useful if you were getting advice via the Slayer gem.
Prevented familiars from interrupting certain actions.
A boat journey was missing the “You are travelling from/to” message.
Changed the wording to reflect your actual activity when opening the doors between East and West Ardougne
Ali Morrisane has been taught to recognise differences in gender.
Removed a few redundant quick chat phrases.
Updated the climb messages for a shortcut in Mort Myre Swamp.
Resolved an issue where the items kept upon death would randomly swap two items with the same price around.
Removed an extraneous bracket from a Construction level-up message.
Corrected the purchase advice regarding normal and oak shortbows and the arrows they can use.

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Extended Agility courses

Aliensvortex — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 06:01:14 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

22nd June 2009 - Extended Agility courses

If you are serious about Agility, it’s likely you've not been to the Gnome Stronghold or Gunnjorn's barbarian course for some time. This week, that could change, as these Agility trainers have spent long hours constructing new routes around the courses that only the most agile players should attempt.

These extended courses will not only give you a chance to show off your most agile moves, but will also reward you with weight-reducing clothing, should you complete enough laps.

With the addition of these extended courses, the cave goblins of Dorgesh-Kaan have made some changes to their Agility course, too. They’ve decided to make the course a little less unforgiving, so you should find that you fail less often. The other main change is that the entry requirement for the existing course has been increased from 70 Agility to 80 Agility, while the two extended courses have entry requirements of 85 and 90 Agility, respectively.

Mod Chris L
RuneScape Content Developer

In other news...

We've added a right-click option that will let you quick-start your circus performances, as long as you've been to the circus at least once in the past.

We've now added a new song to the Wilderness Volcano area called Eruption. Check it out when you have a chance!

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Membership cards in 7-Eleven

Aliensvortex — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:27:54 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

18th June 2009 - Membership cards in 7-Eleven

Good news! You can now buy pre-paid RuneScape membership cards in even more stores across the United States. Our 30-day and 90-day membership cards have just arrived in 7-Eleven stores and are available right now!

Once you have purchased your card, you can use the PIN number on the back to subscribe to RuneScape. You can do this by clicking on “Account” on the home page, choosing “Start/Extend Subscription”, logging in, selecting “Subscribe by RuneScape Card”’ as your payment method and then accepting the terms and conditions.

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Patch Notes 16/06/09

Aliensvortex — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:13:40 -0500

The patch notes were taken from RuneScape's official forums. All patch notes can be found in the patch notes archive (quick find code 13-14-604-58266335).

Patch Notes 16/06/09

Players should no longer float slightly when resting while wearing a dragon plateskirt.
Resized the pizza and tomato base image in the pizza interface as it didn't fit properly. Yum!
Added a missing resting spot icon for the musician in Rellekka.
Updated the resting animation slightly to fix render issues with capes and a few other things.
Resolved a render issue when players were holding various banners and flags.
A man in Lumbridge had the wrong chathead compared to his actual features.
Adjusted the render order for certain animations in the rest update.
Corrected some colour issues with the male and female Construction cape of accomplishment.
Fixed a render issue with one of the resting spectators.

Audio

Overhauled some of the Monkey Madness sound effects and added some where they were missing.
Updated various sound effects in the Gnome Ball field.
Added sound effects to the Garden of Tranquillity trolley.
Added a new song, "Kharidian Nights", to part of the desert area.
Added sound effects when mixing the plant cure in the Garden of Tranquillity quest.

Minigames

Improved the code handling Soul Wars bandages and their usage.
Modified a small amount of code used in the board games because it was unnecessarily duplicated.
Rebalanced the Blast Furnace pedals due to the recent run energy changes.

Miscellaneous

Ensured that NPCs in the Fight Arena don’t disappear if you’re struggling to kill them quickly.
Modified the code dealing with thrown weaponry to better handle all situations.
Updated some of the code dealing with dismissing followers.
Sharing restore potions via Lunar Magic now matches the recent run energy increases you’ll have seen from drinking the potions normally.
Fixed an issue involving poison and certain NPCs behaving oddly.
Better checks added to ensure players will get Slayer experience from various creatures in the God Wars Dungeon.
A rest NPC was confused about its gender in their examine info.
Fixed the bank booths in Oo'glog if you weren't stood directly in front of them.
Fixed a typo in the Lumbridge musician's chat.
Prevented certain bubbles in the Feldip Hills from blocking Ranged attacks when hunting chompies and jubbly chompies.
Added further checks to make sure the Guthan's set bonus is working correctly with regard to the amount healed.
Made it really clear what to do if you lost connection in the Pillory random event.

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Changes to PvP and Bounty Worlds, and gravestones

Aliensvortex — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:07:50 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

16th June 2009 - Changes to PvP and Bounty Worlds, and gravestones

Drop changes

This week we have removed the majority of boss- and minigame-only drops from the PvP and Bounty Worlds. Reading the forums, we noted that several people felt that dropping items like dragonfire shields, dragon full helms, Slayer-only items (like the abyssal whip) and barrows equipment was a bad move. The general feeling was that these drops not only made the original source less exciting, but also effectively increased the rate at which these objects came into the game, which had an adverse effect on the economy. We agreed! As such, we have made the following changes:

We have replaced many objects on the PvP drop tables with more generic items.
We have added “loot drops”, which are objects worth large sums of cash. These objects can be sold to Mandrith in Edgeville or his brother Nastroth in Lumbridge (who only appear in PvP worlds).
Due to forum feedback, we have removed all poisoned items from the drop tables.

Please note that we have not tried to change the average value of PvP drops – they are intended to be exactly the same as before. Also, it is still possible to get the items we’ve removed from the drop tables if your opponent is carrying them, and the chances of getting these items from your opponent’s inventory are the same as before.

Old monsters find new home in old Bounty Hunter crater

We’ve been made aware of a few existing monsters in the game that are too few in number, especially in areas busy with eager slayers. We made a list of these critters from the forums, and have added a menagerie of appropriate beasts to the Bounty Hunter crater. The area will now contain hellhounds, lesser demons, greater demons and a range of skeletons.

Teleports and switches

All teleport spells cast in Bounty Worlds will now take you to Edgeville, and there is a new switch leading to the high-level Wilderness from the ruined building south of the bank in Edgeville.

Gravestone changes

If you die in a special area (what we call an “instanced” event), you will now be given a gravestone, which will appear in the nearest non-instanced place to the one where you died. For example, if you died while fighting Bork in the Chaos Tunnels, your gravestone would appear outside the portal to Bork’s cave, giving you a chance to return and collect your items. The gravestone will be marked on the world map, and a timer will tell you how much time you have left before it disappears. Logging out will not make the gravestone disappear, although the timer will continue to count down while you are offline. Also, all gravestones will now remain in place for one minute more than they used to.

Finally, we just want to let you know that we have added an earning-potential display to PvP and Bounty Worlds interfaces. For more information on this update, visit the Recent Updates thread in the forums.

Mod Mark
RuneScape Lead Designer

In Other News…

The abyssal whip’s special attack now drains 25% of your target’s run energy, rather than 10%.

An activity bar, similar to the one recently added to Soul Wars, has been added to the Fishing Trawler minigame.

The recently added seaweed nets should now break less often.

We've fixed an issue in the Fist of Guthix minigame so that your run energy will now recharge at the rate it is supposed to when standing near the centre.

Summoning scrolls have been added to the pre-purchase advice system detailing what you'll need in order to summon the various creatures.

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Macro-detection systems update

Aliensvortex — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:06:53 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

11th June 2009 - Macro-detection systems update

It’s been a while since we updated you on what we are doing to prevent cheating in RuneScape, and particularly to catch and ban macroers, so here’s what’s currently going on:

You’ve probably already noticed while playing the game that there has been a lot less macroing going on over the last year, as we’ve been getting more effective at preventing it. Gone are the days where every tree has an accompanying crowd of bots. However, we’re not resting on our laurels, and in fact we have just strengthened our macro-detection systems yet again. We are about to ban several thousand more accounts for macroing. We have reviewed all the macro programs available, and there are none we cannot detect.

These days we are taking a zero-tolerance approach to macroing. Players caught for macroing don’t receive a warning, or a chance to appeal, or even a last-chance appeal - they are just permanently banned. Don’t make the mistake of believing that we’ll be soft, and that you can get away with it until you are warned. You can’t. Don’t risk your account. By the time you realize you’ve been caught it will be far too late.

Also, high-level and members’ accounts are NOT immune, or given an extra chance. One of the reasons for our RWT changes was precisely so players couldn’t effectively macro on low–level, throwaway accounts to gain wealth. This means they were tempted to macro on their high–level, main accounts instead, which plays straight into our hands as our existing anti-macro systems catch and ban them! This has proven very effective; so far this month we have already banned over 500 high-level accounts with skills in the 80s and 90s. Don’t make your account one of them.

This is a warning to players that would have otherwise been sucked in by the misinformation spread by cheating communities; don’t do it, or you will lose your hard-earned account.

For further information, please refer to the honour section of the Rules of RuneScape.

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Patch Notes 09/06/09

Aliensvortex — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:25:33 -0500

The patch notes were taken from RuneScape's official forums. All patch notes can be found in the patch notes archive (quick find code 13-14-604-58266335).

Patch Notes 09/06/09

Prevented shields clipping with the walls in Lumbridge.
Changed the corner of a carpet in the Bandits' Camp that looked a bit odd.
Removed an odd-looking area of floor in the Tree Gnome Stronghold.
Fixed some flooring that was appearing black instead of its actual colour.
Improved the animations for Geoffrey the farmer, as he looked a bit odd.
Graphics on the Cabin Fever ships have been changed and we have fixed the look of the water.
The light from torches outside Lumbridge Castle no longer render through the walls.
Having consulted our experts on parrots, we've correctly remodelled their feet according to their true anatomical design.
Raised a few boulders that had sunk into the ground near Falador.
Improved forced-camera changes when travelling towards the Chasm of Tears, beneath Lumbridge.
Improved the animations in the Brimhaven Agility Arena, which appeared quite jerky due to a previous game engine change.
Fixed the Strength skillcape emote when wearing Verac’s armour.
Changed the God Wars lake area to match other water areas in high detail.

Quests

Corrected the quest category for Hunt for Red Raktuber when sorting by difficulty in the Quest Journal.
Fixed an odd issue with familiars during Recipe for Disaster.
Tweaked a small part of logic during Fremennik Isles.
Synchronised the sound effects when attacking skeletons in Missing my Mummy.
The Lunar Contact spell will point you toward Chuck if Larry is unavailable.
Added some chat to a couple of guards in The Tourist Trap who were previously unresponsive.
You'll find it's now easier to reclaim your diving gear during Recipe for Disaster.
Rat Catchers guards have had their field of view reduced to 100 degrees.
Fixed a handful of in-game links to the QuestHelp system.
Corrected the striking of a few requirements in the Horror from the Deep quest.
Improved the logic involved with the Quest Cape when logging in.

Minigames

Fixed a remaining reference to axes instead of hatchets in Stealing Creation.
Clarified the chat in the Fist of Guthix tutorial regarding the timer's onscreen location.
Removed some redundant code from the Rogues' Den puzzle.
You can now use the price checker feature while in the Vinesweeper minigame.
In Pyramid Plunder, you'll now get the message regarding the sceptre after leaving the area.
While on PvP worlds, you will now be shown a percentage of your maximum possible drop potential and, also, a line it can't pass if you're not in a hot zone.
Fixed the stairs you couldn't reach in the Dorgesh-Kaan Agility Arena.
Converted Barbarian Assault to use elemental and catalytic runes, similiar to the Fist of Guthix minigame.
Removed a couple of safe spots from PvP worlds.
On free worlds, sacred clay items should no longer deteriorate or give any benefits.
Commander Zilyana’s area in the God Wars Dungeon has had a bit of a cave-in, and is now slightly smaller as a result.

Miscellaneous

Typos have been fixed in various places, including Agility messages, the Town Crier and the Missing my Mummy quest.
The unlock information for the Spooky Jungle song has been corrected.
The Gnome Village song has been updated.
Ensured the select/deselect text options are correct for the quick prayer interface.
Stopped players receiving a duplicate message upon success in the Surprise Exam random event.
We have added sound effects to Baxtorian Waterfall!
Changed the code dealing with monkeys in backpacks on a free world.
Level-up messages now show the correct Combat Level on free worlds if the player has gained some Summoning levels previously as a member.
The Falador teletab icon 'f' has been improved to look less like an 'r'.
Resolved an issue where your Fremennik name was coming out as '!', when it clearly wasn't.
Updated the code to better handle your POH servant trying to withdraw items that you'd already withdrawn.
Removed a duplicate message when making energy potions.
Changed the colour of the glow effect from the furnace in Al Kharid.
Fixed the examine on the bones of moss giants.
The macaw familiar and the Herbcall special ability will run at the correct time if you log out and in again.
Improved the combat code for familiars, due to a timing issue.
The Squire will no longer talk about the Falador Achievement Diary on a free world.
Clarified the location of the shades when talked about by the Slayer Masters.
Updated the code to better handle feats of Agility in Balthazar Beauregard’s Big Top Bonanza.
Added a few more phrases to the spam filter feature.
Clarified the requirements to wield a leaf-bladed sword in the Attack skill guide.
Prevent players leaving the spa pools and ending up in blocked locations in Oo'glog.
Moved a chicken slightly!
Improved the checks run by the Makeover Mage when changing your hairstyle.
Adjusted some text when speaking to the Melee Tutor.
The code dealing with familiars that produce items has changed, so they do not interrupt the new rest feature.

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Run energy upgrade

Aliensvortex — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:18:09 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

9th June 2009 - Run energy upgrade

The run energy upgrade consists of five changes.

1) We have adjusted both the rate at which your energy drains when running AND the rate at which it returns. Overall, these changes mean you will be able to spend a greater proportion of time running than before.

2) You can now sit down and rest anywhere by right-clicking on the run button, which will recharge your run energy (and Hitpoints) much faster (the musicians located at various places around Gielinor provide even faster recharge rates).

3) We have adjusted all energy-restoring potions and food so that they restore more run energy, to make sure they are still useful in light of the above changes.

4) Agility has been made more effective for improving running, as it now reduces your recharge time AND increases the distance you can run per run energy point. Agility levels 50-99 in particular have been made more useful, as previously they offered very little extra running advantage.

5) Agility no longer gives a boost on free worlds, as it was giving members an unfair advantage against free users when PKing or resource gathering on free worlds. Members’ features were always supposed to be turned off on free worlds to avoid spoiling the game for the free players, and indeed most of them were (which is why you can’t use members’ weapons on free worlds, for example), but for some reason we missed the Agility one. Of course, members are welcome to also play on free worlds if they want to, but they shouldn’t expect to have an unfair advantage against free users when playing on a free users’ world.

Last but not least, some more player ideas have made their way into the game. You can now weave seaweed nets, and carry much more seaweed than before. There is also a new herb called wergali. Wergali seeds can be obtained from Vinesweeper, your compost mound familiar, or from various monsters’ drops. Perhaps you’d like to use the herb to gain advantages in Fletching and Crafting? Well, now you can, as herbalists have discovered a couple of wergali potions that temporarily boost these skills. Other small changes concern the Strongholds of Security and of Player Safety, where only those in need of information will be quizzed, and the magic spell icons, which have had a graphical update.

Mod Fetzki
Head of RuneScape

In other news...

Your drop potential in PvP worlds is now more accurately calculated if you've been running in and out of hot and cold zones.

We have graphically improved the Bounty Hunter potential bar to represent your earning potential in relation to your target.

You can now watch other players in the Games Room.

The set effect from Guthan’s armour will no longer heal you if you fail to do any damage, for whatever reason, to the creature you are fighting, for example if you are fighting mutated terrorbirds or tortoises without having first weakened them with a crystal chime.

A check has been added to prevent you getting the same Slayer task twice in a row.

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Patch Notes 02/06/09

Aliensvortex — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:16:20 -0500

The patch notes were taken from RuneScape's official forums. All patch notes can be found in the patch notes archive (quick find code 13-14-604-58266335).

Patch Notes 02/06/09

The water, lighting and fog effects have been updated in the daeyalt mine.
Fixed a tile where you couldn't collect drops.
Fixed some graphical issues with some walls in Dorgesh-Kaan.
Updated the glassblowing animation when crafting molten glass.
Fixed some of the recent mapping issues in Tarn's Lair.
Adjusted the hairdresser’s interface to cope with slightly longer text.
Made slight adjustments to the script that deals with the Castle Wars waiting room timer interface.

Quests

Removed safe spots from the Great Brain Robbery.
Resolved an issue with attempting to defeat the king rat in Rat Catchers.

Minigames

A Treasure Trails clue scroll was giving slightly odd directions.
Very slightly increased the activity in Soul Wars for magic users.
Slightly modified the safe area in Lumbridge on PvP worlds.
Checked the code for the champions’ challenges on existing npcs, and added it to several creatures’ drop tables.

Miscellaneous

You should now be able to remove wardrobes from your house if they're empty.
Properly fixed Zaff's options on free worlds.
Improved the Town Crier's calls.
Melee combat dummies in Lumbridge should no longer be killable.
Fixed a typo with goblin armour.
Hay bales near Draynor can now be used to make scarecrows.
The quick option to change your shoes when speaking to Yrsa will now also complete the relevant Fremennik Achievement Diary entry.
Fixed a bug with the Enchanted Lyre where it consumed charges without teleporting you.
The Kalphite Lair is now the Kalphite Hive on the surface world map to match the dungeon version.
Improved the directions to make a Drunk Dragon cocktail, which was missing an ingredient in the recipe.

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The Hunt for Red Raktuber

Aliensvortex — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:12:17 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

2nd June 2009 - The Hunt for Red Raktuber

Larry the zookeeper has made the mistake of going on vacation, and now he’s in a bit of a pickle…well, more like a straitjacket than a pickle! Apparently, he spotted a giant penguin near Witchaven, and now he suspects that the other penguins may be up to something. The problem is that his superiors at the zoo don’t believe him. Speak to Larry to find out what the penguins have been up to, and help him stop them before they take over the world!

It won’t be easy to discover what the penguins are plotting, however. You’ll have to travel back to the iceberg from the Cold War quest, and don your penguin suit, to begin your espionage. Creative thinking will be needed if you’re going to get any information from the penguins, but you will find friends on the iceberg to help you: Ping and Pong will be glad to see you, and you can help them finish their new song.

After you've finished the Hunt for Red Raktuber, you'll still be able to put your keen Hunting skills to the test. A new area will be available near the Iceberg, where you‘ll be able to track down new penguin recruits. You may also find an unusual kind of spy moving around RuneScape, so keep your eyes 'well' peeled!

I’ve had a great time developing The Hunt for Red Raktuber, and I hope all you penguin fans out there enjoy it as much as I have.

Mod Nancy
RuneScape Content Developer

Summary:

Where to start The Hunt for Red Raktuber:
Speak to Larry at the Ardougne Zoo, near the penguin enclosure.

Requirements to start The Hunt for Red Raktuber:
Thieving 38
Construction 45
Hunter 45
Must have completed Sea Slug and Cold War

In Other News…

We've been collating your feedback on the spam filter, and have added several of the messages you suggested to this recent feature.

You may also have noticed that we’ve added a “Developers’ Blogs” links to the bottom of our homepage. These Developers’ Blogs are the new home for the Developer Diaries that we’ve been releasing every week over the last few months. We’re going to continue with these regular updates, and are also looking to add some extra features to the blogs in the future.

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PayBySMS available in Estonia and Lithuania

Aliensvortex — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:10:27 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

1st June 2009 - PayBySMS available in Estonia and Lithuania

We’re pleased to announce that our Estonian and Lithuanian players can now pay for membership of RuneScape or FunOrb by SMS. This means that you can purchase or renew membership using your mobile telephone. We know this is something that many Estonian and Lithuanian players have been waiting for, so we're happy to be able to offer this service. If you’re an Estonian or Lithuanian free player, and want to know more about the benefits of membership, click here.

The following networks in Estonia support PayBySMS:

Elisa
EMT
Tele2

The following networks in Lithuania support PayBySMS:

Bite
Omnitel
Tele2

We’re continuing to look into ways of making alternative payment methods available in other countries, and as soon as we’re able to offer these services, we’ll let you know.

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The Jagex Clan Cup 2009

Aliensvortex — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:09:42 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

29th May 2009 - The Jagex Clan Cup 2009

Over the last three months, RuneScape’s clan community has been battling it out to determine which clans truly are the best. Blood was spilt, tools were shattered and the ancient war cry of “Lol, pwned u nub” could be heard across all of Gielinor. After the dust settled, three clans stood head and shoulders above the rest as Jagex Clan Cup 2009 champions.

There were three cups up for grabs: The Combat Cup, The Skilling Cup and the all-rounder’s favourite, The Combined Cup. Around 25,000 hardened players signed up for the competition, and during eight weeks of knock-out battles we saw over 100 clans dispatched, meaning that, come the final stages, the pressure was definitely on!

The Combat Cup final saw “The Titans” facing off against the mighty “Damage Incorporated”. As expected, it was a really exciting fight, and well-matched, with fantastic organisation from both clans. Ultimately, the Combat Cup final saw The Titans take the spoils, winning with 53 members standing from a 100 vs. 100 start, and the kudos for being the clan you’d least like to meet on a dark night. Congratulations, Titans - you really deserve it!

Next up was the Combined Cup, with “God Hunters” and “Wicked Fury” battling to the death. Both teams clearly meant business, but it was Wicked Fury who had the upper hand in the end, winning the Stealing Creation game 28,215 to God Hunters’ 16,845, and being duly crowned the Combined Clan Cup Champions of 2009. Wicked Fury, we salute you!

If that wasn’t enough, we then witnessed a hard-fought battle between 84 clans in total to decide the winners of the Skilling Clan Cup. All of the clans that took part skilled their arms off, but it was “Divination” who took the crown, with an impressive average of 71,146 XP an hour in a combination of Fishing and Woodcutting. “The Experts” came in second with 67,551 XP an hour, and “Malkavian Scourge” finished third with 66,694 XP an hour. Well done, Divination - you really earned it!

So, those results in brief:

Jagex Cup 2009 Combat Cup Champions: The Titans
Jagex Cup 2009 Combined Cup Champions: Wicked Fury
Jagex Cup 2009 Skilling Cup Champions: Divination

We’d like to thank every one of you that took part in the Jagex Clan Cup 2009. Together, you made the competition a great success, and have left us here at Jagex all fired up and ready for the next Jagex Clan Cup!

If you’d like to take part in the next Jagex Clan Cup, all you need to do is get onto the forums and sign up to a clan (or create your own, of course!), register it with the Community Management team and then get practising, as we seem to be developing an insatiable appetite for battle, skills, and watching helpless players getting owned

Mod Timbo
RuneScape Community Management

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New Dwarf Quest: Diary 4

Aliensvortex — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:03:15 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

28th May 2009 - New Dwarf Quest: Diary 4

Today we've released the fourth entry in the development diary for the new dwarf quest. This one describes what goes on in the implementation phase of the project.

To read the diary click here.

Mod John A
RuneScape Developer

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Postbag from the Hedge

Aliensvortex — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:01:47 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

28th May 2009 - Postbag from the Hedge

The Postbag from the Hedge brings news from Zanik, last seen in The Chosen Commander. Her determination to experience the surface world has led to interesting sights, one of which she shares with you in this edition.

Elsewhere, the dwarves explain why scorpions can be found at mining sites around the world, while Mother Mallum and Vanstrom Klause break their silences.

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Patch Notes 27/05/09

Aliensvortex — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:03:57 -0500

The patch notes were taken from RuneScape's official forums. All patch notes can be found in the patch notes archive (quick find code 13-14-604-58266335).

Patch Notes 27/05/09

Due to the amount of actual game upgrades and their nature, there are only a few extra bug fixes this week. We've fixed many other issues and hopefully there'll be more along with the next update. If you spot any further bugs in-game, please use the Bug Report feature ('Submit a Bug Report' under the 'Help' drop-down menu of the website).

Some of the creatures in the God Wars Dungeon will no longer allow 'AFK' training.
If you die to a monster on a PvP or Bounty World and the ‘hero’ and other attackers are further than 15 squares away, you'll drop your items and be able to pick them up again similar to a normal death.
Fixed an issue with the super fishing explosive from Kennith's Concerns that wouldn't let you make it if your Herblore level was higher than required.
The Fight Arena quest has been significantly improved.
Resolved an issue in the Summoning skill in which the code didn't correctly handle situations where you may not have had a follower.

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Dungeon maps and spam filter

Aliensvortex — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:02:06 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

27th May 2009 - Dungeon maps and spam filter

Ever since we launched the world map there have been suggestions that dungeons should be incorporated into it. As Mod Ash pointed out in his world map update Development Diary, this was not as easy as it sounds, but we think it was worth the effort, and will make navigation underground easier. Also, you can now toggle the You Are Here button on and off, in case it obscures information on the world map you want to read, and the search feature on the world map has been improved so you can find the places you search for more easily.

Our next update is a spam filter, which will relieve your chat window from repeated messages such as “you swing your pick at the rock”. We trawled through the principal skill-training activities and flagged over 2,700 messages that will now be filtered out as spam. To activate this function, just right-click on the game tab under the chat window and select “filter game”. Don’t worry about missing out on important feedback from the game; messages like “you are horribly burnt by the dragon’s fire” (in case you are fighting dragons without the proper equipment) will still get through.

We have made graphical improvements to the leprechauns, hitsplats, and the Hitpoint bar - just a few of the graphical improvements that we continue to do alongside updates to the game. You might also notice that the Hitpoint bars of monsters with more than 200 Hitpoints have been extended, but don’t worry - they haven’t been given any more Hitpoints! This is just to help you see more clearly how many Hitpoints a monster you’re fighting has. The leprechauns have also been moved closer to their Farming patches.

Last but not least we have made a change to the free world by removing most of the options that lead to members-only content, such as pickpocketing, agility shortcuts, members’ quests and more, in order to make the free game what it should be: a great game in its own right, and not a demo for the members’ game. None of these features will be removed from the members’ game, however.

Enjoy, whether as a free player or a member.

Mod Fetzki
Head of RuneScape

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Guaranteed-Content Poll: Name a Pub Results

Aliensvortex — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:42:29 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

21st May 2009 - Guaranteed-Content Poll: Name a Pub Results

The deserted pub in East Ardougne needed your suggestions to bring it to life. Several weeks ago, many of you submitted your ideas for a name for the pub, the NPCs who will populate it, and the food and drink the pub will serve. The best ideas were whittled down and organised into five themes. Then, two weeks ago, we launched the Guaranteed Content: Name a Pub poll. More than 70,000 of you voted for the ideas you wanted us to add to the game, and we were very pleased with the response from the RuneScape community.

The poll is now closed, and we can announce that the winning option is ‘The Poison Arrow’. Further details can be found below:

Suggested name: The Poison Arrow
Suggested NPCs:
- Marion the barmaid used to lead a group of merry bandits, but now she is content to stand behind the bar and polish her numerous archery trophies, in between serving drinks to thirsty travellers.
- Geoff sits by the dartboard fletching arrows, which he tests by flinging them at the board. He once tried to join the Ranging Guild, but failed his entry test after accidentally shooting a squirrel out of a tree, injuring it.
- Sparky the squirrel’s injured leg hasn’t been the same since, but Geoff promised to look after him, and gave him one of his arrows to use as a crutch.
Suggested beverage: ranger’s ade – golden in colour and flavoured with local honey for a sweeter taste, it really hits the target.
Suggested snack: skewered kebab – grilled meat and vegetables skewered on an arrow.

Expect to see The Poison Arrow winging its way into the game during the next few months!

We really enjoyed getting you involved with the game, so we will be running another Guaranteed-Content Poll two weeks from now. The aim of the poll will be to name a new Slayer creature, so the first thing we need to do is get your ideas. Head to the “Suggestions – Monster and NPC” forum to find out more. The “Name a Slayer Creature” thread (Quick find code 79-80-957-58851629) contains more information about the creature, and even some concept art to inspire you. We hope to see lots of imaginative ideas soon!

Mod Kat
Web Content

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Development Diary: Run Energy

Aliensvortex — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:39:06 -0500

This news was taken directly from runescape.com.

21st May 2009 - Development Diary: Run Energy

With useful changes to run energy on the horizon, here's an insight into how the QA team are dealing with the bug catching side of the project.

In this diary, we talk about the challenge we faced and the ongoing battle with the dreaded balancing.

There's even a dancing chicken...

To read this diary, click here.

Mod Frantic
RuneScape QA Tester

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Patch Notes 19/05/09

Aliensvortex — Tue, 19 May 2009 11:17:51 -0500

The patch notes were taken from RuneScape's official forums. All patch notes can be found in the patch notes archive (quick find code 13-14-604-58266335).

Patch Notes 19/05/09

Updated a few chat interfaces so they look better.
Slightly adjusted the layout of the Stealing Creation tutorial interface.
Fixed an issue with the Around the World... emote and fishing.
Tweaked the text layout very slightly on the login screen.
Scarabs’ defend animation should no longer stretch.
The female and male version of the dragon med helm now more closely match.
The wine rack in the Games Room should no longer render through the wall.
Players should now properly hold the fixed device from Mourning’s Ends Part I.
Karamja Volcano should no longer be see-through from certain camera angles.
Wearing a scarf and wielding a crossbow shouldn't cause any stretching issues.
You can now turn off flickering effects in the graphics options without leaving and re-entering the area, like the killerwatt plane, for example.
A flower growing in an oak tree has been relocated.
Aprons should better fit male and female characters.
Fixed a graphical issue with the Dagon'hai robes and an item from Animal Magnetism.
Wearing a feather headdress and having a ponytail should look a bit better.
Improved female animations when wearing the crab claw and hook.
Fixed the graphic for the noted version of the studded body.
Fixed an issue with the spiked helmet when worn.
Resolved a problem with a wall and a bookcase near the Exam Centre.
Azzanadra's chathead was broken, this has been sorted.
Yet more flames going through the roof or floor above have been updated in the Slayer Tower.
Improved the look of the grapple rock on a hilltop.
Flaygian Screwte was missing a few animations and Kael Forshaw had his mysteriously shaven chathead restored to beardy magnificence.
Improved the looks of the log balance in the Gnome Agility Course.
Smoothed out some height mapping to the west of Edgeville.
Removed an invisible character who didn't do anything.
Improved the lighting effects around Silverlight in its case during Demon Slayer.
Removed an odd polygon from the beach on Crandor Isle.
Added a few doors to buildings on Tutorial Island.

Audio

Improved the sound effects for dropping the Ring of Charos down the well and later retrieving it.
Added sounds to the higher areas in Ape Atoll.
Added sound effects to scenery near Varrock church.
Added sounds for the Ice Queen when defending herself.
Added various sound effects to the Meeting History quest.
Added sounds to the Entrana firebird when burning and flapping.
Updated the Stronghold of Security music tracks to fit into the theme system and are now classed as dungeon tracks.
Flooding sounds in the Cabin Fever quest are now a bit more audible.
The song Deep Down has changed category from Dungeon to Morytania.
Various improvements to the audio in the Underground Pass quest.

Quests

You can no longer take weapons into the tomb in the Waterfall quest.
Improved consistency in the examine message for items in Horror from the Deep.
Improved part of the Garden of Tranquillity so that the Fishing animation continues to play while you whistle along until you catch the Ring of Charos.
Improved a Rat Catcher interface that was leading to some confusion.

Minigames

You should now be returned to your last position near Pyramid Plunder after a Random Event.
Clarified the log-in message for Bounty Worlds.
The necklace of minigames now matches the changes made to the 'Wilderness Volcano'.
Corrected the message given in the Fist of Guthix when wearing an afro.
Run energy should now be restored when dying in the Tzhaar Fight Cave.

Miscellaneous

Fixed a tooltip on the player creation interface.
Removed Bounty Locate from the magic skill guide.
Fixed a few typos and issues with the report abuse interface.
Zaff should no longer hang around for a while if you've wandered off or teleported away.
Stealing Creation pickaxes have been clarified as members-only in the skill guide.
Corrected a typo with the level requirements for red dragonhide items.
The website links in skill guides have been updated to be more future-proof.
Verac’s body references have been changed to Verac’s brassards.
A few minor Herblore items have been removed from the Assist System as they were specialised items and not particularly suitable candidates in the overall scheme of things.
Improved some grammar in some fishing text.
The rock shell armour set now matches the naming convention of components.
Sped up the picking of calquat fruit.
Keyboard support has been added to the account create menus to speed up the whole process.
Fixed a few issues with banking items when full or nearly full depending on how and which items you were trying to bank.
Fixed some chat that was failing if it couldn't find the character you were talking to.
Woodcutting and Mining now try to use the hatchet/pickaxe you're currently wielding. If you don't have one in your hands, it'll try to select the best one in your inventory.
Fixed an issue with the Home Teleport and the Varrock Achievement Diary.

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