Mod Craddock posted on the War of Legends forum that the Stellar Dawn Official Forums would be shut down until a time closer to the Beta.
Shitstorm ensued.
A backup forum was launched to house the community, hundreds of threads were backed up, The Combine included. Took a good 12 hours, but Mod Markg finally showed up and clarified it.
The first official Jagex moderator post on the SDOF since last year is a clarification that basically comes down to, "We fucked up and caused a shitstorm. Sorry, guys."
If you want an example of what the main section on a pre-release video game's forum is not supposed to look like, here's one:
Got pulled into the SDC Skype the other day. I don't usually talk to the guy who pulled me in and left the other chats he dragged me into.
I was welcomed. Then I left. Was gonna leave anyway, I get pissed by people who pull me into chats I don't care about.
Maybe they're just naturally dicks. With some minor flamewars about how the SDC have egos that rival Dubai's building projects in size and incredible shittyness. Thing is, they're a close community who don't always have a penchant for welcoming the new guys. They post their obligatory welcome and then maybe, when your post count is high enough, you'll see some respect.
Thing is, I ain't part of that close community and after this, I don't want to be. Ren and PoultryChamp are good people. If this is anything to go by, the rest are just dicks who insult each other (which is fine), because they're close and insult new people (which is not fine), because they're dumbasses who can't tell the difference between familiar and unfamiliar.
Here's a protip, motherfucker: If you're gonna open with a 'fun, joking' insult to a newcomer, you either address it as just fucking that really, really soon or don't bother until they've gotten used to your demeanor to each other. I don't care if you poo-poo each other because you're close, but dickishness to the new people ain't right.
SDCombine now has a blog. SDComBlog. Original, huh? It's posted upon by Combine members, launched by me.
Time to retire from RuneScape.
Not like it's a massive surprise. I've been off for a long time. A week or two of heavy playing and a month on break. That sums up the last half a year or so. I just had to make it official. Tie up some loose ends.
I've been around RuneScape in late 2006 and saw half of it. Through a good bit of playing and at least a year and a half of total inactivity, I've passed the 1900 total. More than 90% of my Quest list and Music list is green. I said I'd finish Eagle's Peak and Observatory, the quests I started on the first day but never finished now, but I'll only do one: Eagle's Peak.
I'll leave Observatory. Eagle's Peak signals the end of my story on RuneScape, but RuneScape carries on. Observatory can be left to the end of RuneScape.
Eagle's Peak is actually the perfect way to end RuneScape for me. Hunter was made my new lowest skill recently, but before I got membership, I was fascinated by Hunter. It was the only skill that, to someone who hadn't attempted it before, had real depth. Slayer was killing things. Agility was running in circles, Herblore was making potions I'd never use, Farming was boring, Thieving was boring etc. Hunter had depth. You'd travel across RuneScape, using camouflage and tools, advanced and primitive to trap an enormous variety of exotic wildlife for resources.
Hunter was the first thing I tried on a member's server. Feldip coast, catching birds. It was the reason I started Eagle's Peak. I found more interesting things to do and it happened to be left to now. Eagle's Peak is perfect for closing the book.
I started RuneScape when I was in the late sixth grade and was clueless about things like efficiency, guides and so on. My first business venture in RuneScape was selling bronze armour sets I smithed in Lumbridge court. I just did what came to mind and never asked for help. The opposite happened when I played EVE recently. I knew about the playerbase, player factions, backstory, ship classes and progressions and dove right in and shot to the top (and fell right back done). Information is valuable to a new player's experience.
My only regret is not Googling 'RuneScape' guides when I was in the sixth grade. That's another reason The Combine switched gears to teaching. I don't want people to waste time like I did.
My last work in RuneScape was materialistic. I got my 3rd-Age Helm and kitted myself out in Armadyl (it was a success, owing to hard work and great friends). Money has always been a focal point in RuneScape. It's to show off, it's for practicality, show but quite like having something nice to strut around in during my retirement.
Killing goblins behind Lumbridge castle before I did the Flap emote for the first time taught me that constant effort leads to constant reward.
Mining ore and smithing iron weapons to sell to NPC merchants in Varrock before I complained about the Grim Reaper's Hood not being black taught me that there are other ways to make money.
Air rune running before I entered a clan chat for the first time taught me to look beyond skills for money making.
Merchanting unidentified herbs when the Obsidian set was still valuable taught me about big money.
Cutting yew logs the first time whips were 1.3 million per taught me that not all money is fast, but it can be simple sometimes and I just have to wait.
Cutting magic logs during an uproar over free trade taught me that things escalate and it really does get better eventually.
Catching sharks whilst internally replacing the words 'High Definition' with 'High Detail' in a whole new world taught me that sometimes, money can be easy and reasonably fast.
Catching Rocktail whilst wielding a Dragonfire Shield and Amulet of Fury just to look good taught me that I can do it.
Selling my valuables as my journey ends and putting together one last outfit for retirement has taught me that effort will be rewarded.
I am the richest, most highly skilled and most fulfilled player in the history of RuneScape and nobody can take that away from me.
One thing I was surprised by was that people on my Friends list I rarely talked to were coming back with wishes for me to stay. I thought there'd be more of a "Okay, good luck out there." than a, "Why? Stay!" thing going on with people I don't speak to.
One that I paid more attention to was a response after I told them I'd achieved all of my dreams, "Just make new ones!"
That's mistaking a goal and a dream. Most of it is up to interpretation, but here's my gist:
Goals dominate.
Goals take up your time and effort. Making that last million to the stupidly overpriced Amulet of Fury. Making the last 12 million to the stupidly overpriced Amulet of Fury. 99 Cooking. 99 Runecrafing. Get it done, cheer, enjoy your reward and move onto the next. That's what goals are all about. If I want a new whip. Or a minigame reward because I need to make myself better, or look cooler. It's a goal. We set them every day. I remember when there was a Goals system in RuneScape just for that. Set a goal to complete a quest, or attain a level and it counted up progress in a percentage. We still have Set Exp Target and Set Level Target for that.
That's a goal. There's nothing wrong with goals. They keep us active.
Now, despite all of that jabber about working hard for your dreams and your dreams taking endless toil, I don't think it's true. I think dreams are a polar opposite of goals.
Dreams annoy.
That's the word. They piss you off about not getting something done. Dreams are always down the line and you inch closer every single day of your life. When you push it front and centre and turn it into your Next Big Thing, it becomes a goal.
Dreams are the things that sit there and slowly crawl toward an end. These happen most often in the beginning. I'd dreamed of a Godsword at one point. I dreamed of 10 million coins. I dreamed of a Third-age armour piece. My goal at the time was money and I fished for it. Then I turned 99 Fishing into a goal and made money on the side, but whenever someone passed me wielding my dreams, I'd do a mental tally of how much longer it would take to get me there and I'd realised it'd be a while and put it aside.
I achieved them all eventually and I was damned happy about it, too. Dreams have more sentimental value that way. Thinking of getting a nice house is not a dream. Sitting down and realising you have a nice house one day and remembering the moments leading up to it is achieving the dream. You'll see your achieved dreams in reflection when it's over. If you cheer in the moments leading up to it and the moment without looking back.
"Shit, that was a lot of work." is a goal.
"Wasn't I thinking of doing that thing 2 years ago? I finally got it down yesterday." is a dream fulfilled.
What I'm trying to say is, all of this is a load of sentimental, subjective bullshit. Goals can become dreams. When I was working my ass off for a whip, it was a goal. When I got that whip and looked back on how envious I was of people with whips back when I when I was a freeplayer, it became dream. The last couple of days have been extra dreamy!
Sure, I sold a lot of them, just to fulfill more. I got my Opulent table, Marble burners and altar in the chapel, full portal room, 7 or so pets. Owned Godswords, God Wars armour, whips, have fought with melee, range and mage at some point. Got ancients. At some point, I was always envious of people who had those things and I've passed them. I'm at Third-age (it's once piece, sure, but how many are there?), Armadyl armour. I strut around in 85 million gear and at one point, I was worth 110.
I earned it all.
That's why I'm retiring. I'm not quitting. When people quit, they do it because they're pissed. Tired of losing, tired of difficulties, challenges, gameplay. That's quitting. I'm retiring. I'm gonna leave this game happy and fulfilled.
The differences between goals and dreams are very, very few and those that exist are clear as South Africa's rivers.
The difference between quitting and retiring is much, much simpler.
Playing RuneScape extremely hard for the last few days has shown me something that reading blogs or popping in once a week can never show me;
RuneScape is slightly better than when I left it.
Ambient sounds are my favourite effect. I always play with sound on. Some of the updates have been great. I see a bright future ahead of RuneScape, a tarnished one, but still bright.
I've gained far more levels than I expected. Originally, I would have thought it good to get a 1900 total.
I am now at 1912.
70 Crafting and 70 Herblore were done in half the time I thought they'd take. 70 Smithing took 2 days out of an expected 4. I took to Soul Wars and dominated the matches to obtain 4 levels of Magic in, incredibly, a single evening.
The beginning of this post mentions a bright, but tarnished future for RuneScape. Here's why:
In my previous post, I mentioned I sold my Godsword. Nothing special there. I found a way to spend that money I got, too. I split it between 3 of my best friends I've ever met on RuneScape. 2 million per person.
It was meaningful to me, because a Godsword was for a long time, a distant dream of mine. I have nothing against the fact that I paid 20 million for it and only got 6 million in return. That's fine. It was a dream, not an investment. And when I gave my friends the money, I didn't give money to them. One had 70+ in every skill. The other was a level 130 something on the way to 99 Herblore. The other marched around every day in Armadyl armour.
It wasn't charity, it was a sentiment. In essence, I had given them each a small part of my dreams and they were grateful. All of them asked if I was sure I wanted to do this. I hit 'Accept Trade' first every time and they waited to make sure it was okay. They're far better people than me, all of them, in that regard. 2 of them promised to, "never spend your dreams". I nudged them on. Told them to buy something in case of an emergency, or blow it off on a friend.
That's a pretty nice story, if you ask me.
Thing is, I'm typing this post in between waiting for my Fruit Bat's Special Move bar to recharge so I can use Fruitfall. Papayas = money.
Why would I need money anymore? I have a Third-age full helmet. I have Armadyl clothing. I got my Staff of Light and still have over 8 million to spare. It's like parking a Bugatti in front of a soup kitchen and telling the worker there you haven't eaten for 2 days.
It's because I have a dream. I have one last dream to fulfill before I can retire happily.
I don't have enough time.
I bought a Third-age helm, an Armadyl Chestplate. I have everything except one item to complete my final outfit. I need an Armadyl Chainskirt. Not cheap at 14 million, but considering the numbers I've been dropping in the last couple of days, it's pocket change. Problem is, after I gave my Godsword returns away, I only had 6 million left. I sold as much as possible and it's now up to 5.5 million. I have a week left before I consider RuneScape over. I doubt I can pull it off.
And that's why today, I feel like the worst person in the world when I asked the first of those friends to return 2 million. The other 2 aren't online. It's a sick metaphor. They've helped reach my dreams and I gave them a share of those dreams. Now I have to ask for it back, to achieve one final dream.
I'm up to 7.5 million, now. I can ask one more for 9.5, another for 11.5. The rest I'll do myself. I'm closing in, now. The papayas help.
Worst part is, if the damage to RuneScape's future had been stopped, I wouldn't be in this mess. I'd be well on my way to a happy retirement by now. Normally, I'd catch Rocktails for money. Fishing got me where I am today. Before sudden deflation, I was worth over 110 million at a certain point. It's dropped to little above 75, but it's a lot and fishing got me there. The problem is, 25 Rocktails into my planned 3500, I did a price check out of curiosity. Just to see if I would be pulling in 50k or 45k per 25 fish.
It turns out, it was closer to 35k.
I pay attention. Since playing more, I've seen the complaints about the Botstorm (I'm coining that phrase, bitch) that's overtaken RuneScape after free trade returns. I've seen them, too. Most of the time, I see players going, "Anyone who's not a botter wanna chat?" at resource areas. The bots are just water in a lake, now. They're part of life. In the strictest terms, they're not a problem for us. We don't starve. Sure, prices drop a bit, but we can just take the extra week or two to get our next partyhat.
I don't have an extra week or two.
Rocktails managed to drop over %25 in the time since Free Trade returned. There are so many bots out there, that they managed to push the price of a vital commodity down by 25% when it was once stable. Imagine if your fuel prices dropped %25 in the span of 5 months and continued dropping from there because of oversupply. Imagine how much more supply it must take.
And that's why I'm taking my chances with papayas, rather than go back to the caves for Rocktail. It might not be worth it. One of the best foods in RuneScape, that takes over 95 in a skill to catch, catches at less than 200 per hour and is situated in a cave of level 120 monsters isn't even worth catching anymore.
Fruit bat's gone. 180k in 45 minutes. Very, very slightly ahead of 170k in an hour at Rocktails.
One final dream.
I've been wearing my helmet non-stop. I deserve the ego-boost; the break. I'm effectively retired. I can walk around and show off. I've been drawing a lot of beggars, too. They can't be bothered to make money, but they can identify valuable equipment in a large crowd. One even came up to me and asked me for 100k in a Soul Wars match.
My response is the same, "Go work your ass off like I did. Maybe you'll get money that way."
I'm going to work my ass off, like I used to. Maybe I'll get money that way.
I've got my last month of membership lined up. I'll last just long enough to test out Clan Citadels, maybe. The plan is to get the 1900 total (more), 70 Herblore and 70 Crafting. Both are already at 67 and I've brought the materials for the rest. Sold the Dragon Claws and Godsword. Will use the money somehow, eventually.
The only thing I really have to do before membership ends is Eagle's Peak and Observatory. Both were quests I started on the first day of my RuneScape membership and despite their ease, I've completed neither. It's a strange feeling, that I'll be doing the same thing on my last day as I did on my first day years ago.
It's been a good run, but there's just nothing left on RuneScape for me.
Saw the behind the scenes for July. Saw the Clan Citadel. I'm going to get one last month of membership on RuneScape. It died for a bit, but I'll come back to change my name back, check out the Citadels, build our own, get that 1900 Total and leave RuneScape. Forever. The 'About Me' column in my blog says I'm a bitter RuneScape veteran, and that implies I'm also retired, so I need to retire.
Also fun, I got some screenshots of a very, very productive strategy meeting between myself and another Combine member, we were planning out the Reform and rank structure, mostly.
