Xelronia

I quit RS more than a month ago. It was over Christmas, and I realised that despite the time off school I had, I was only logging in for weekly events or when I was more or less forcing myself to train.

I mean, the bits I found fun - idling skills while having a chat, questing, the odd bit of slayer - were all either exhausted or I was struck with the feeling that I was a severely second rate player. Quests were the only time in game I really felt like a hero anymore, everything else has become so refined into the "right" way of doing things and everything else is discarded as XP waste. I'm almost out of quests.

I mean, this whole phenomena of skilling efficiently and unefficiently is not new - I've been calculating and scheming on how to get the most bang for my buck when training for years. But the problem is, nowadays the right way to do things all seems to rely on vast sums of gold being available, which it is assumed any competent player will acquire through the "right" ways of making money. The whole build of any modern character seems really defined whereas in the past you were more free to do what you wanted.

But I'm not a luddite. Too many players get to the point where I'm at and complain endlessly about how the game isn't as good as it used to be. And for the record, while I don't think the changes are positive as such, I also think some change is inevitable and am willing to accept it might just be nostalgia on my part. Fair enough, I've been left behind in the wake of the changing game, or I've just grown out of it, or whatever. I didn't bother emptying my bank or anything, I just logged out one day, and when I realised I hadn't logged in again cancelled my subscription.

The fact I felt some anxiety about my members loyalty bonuses vanishing when I cancelled reaffirmed that the fun was gone, really. You used to either be a member, or not be a member, but increasingly now there's this strange place which is above your three quid a month. Well now it's five quid a month. When the price went up and I didn't resubscribe, I knew that was it for me. It's hard to play a game and enjoy the game, and really immerse yourself when you're indirectly paying for ingame benefits. It brings an element of the outside world into it that cheapens the whole thing.

So anyway, an observation or two about what the modern game is now I've extracted myself from it... Pretty much, the core change in the game is that skills are no longer half as valued as they used to be. They used to be the main limiting factor on your progress through the game, and nobody was really expected to get high levels. Sure, you might get a 99 or two if you really enjoyed something, but 1600 total level was something to be proud of. Nowadays, it's much more commonplace for people to get 99 in one or more skills as a matter of course. There never used to be an endgame, you just kept on skilling as and when you wanted, slowly improving your character.

The endgame is the big change. To have a maxed character, in combat at least, is not seen as rare at all. It's something a lot more expected that you will get there, and you'll get there quickly. And once you're there, the game becomes about equipment and the rate at which you make money to pay for that equipment. Combat has a much, much greater emphasis. And of course, if you're maxed in some skills, it's seen as logical that you can max others as well. This is reflected in the arguments over Nomad, or the 91 FM requirement. It's a clash between the players who are like me and cling onto the older ways of thought, who haven't moved with the times, and the new generations of players.

The modern game is much more of a game. I played RS not for the gameyness but the freedom and the exploration. So pretty much, I'm out.

You may or may not have noticed an extreme lack of RS-related posts recently.

Sorry for that.

Pretty much, the reason is that my school and real life have been stepped up a lot recently. I know in the past I've been inactive, but this time I have the feeling it will be rather more permanent.

So yeah, I'm not closing up entirely, but I'll be going super-extremely inactive as far as RS posts go.

Shadow cabinet reshuffle

• Ed Milliband has added new members to his Shadow Cabinet after some stepped down to spend more time with their families
• The new members are generally younger members of the party, some only having been elected in the last general election
• 11 of the new members are women
• Notably Tom Watson has been promoted to the front bench with a role as deputy chair of the Labour Party, leading for calls for him to resign from the Commons culture committee as he is no longer independent from party policy to the same extent
• He has refused to leave, with Ed Miliband backing him, saying it would be "wrong" to take him away from "serving our country"

Protests in New York

• Over 700 people were arrested yesterday in New York for protesting the uneven distribution of wealth in the USA
• They complain because 1% of the people hold 40% of the wealth
• Wall St has been occupied by protesters for 2 weeks now
• However the Mayor Bloomberg of New York criticised the protests, saying that the protesters are disrupting the lives of average citizens, however he defends the protesters right to be there
• Critics have attacked the protest for having vague goals and no real leadership

...more detailed tools for the resource system.

Seriously, Jagex have made resources a key thing in working the citadel and keeping it ticking over, why can't they give us more insight and control over who does what. If they're going to be so absolutely necessary, and make the requirements quite tight in terms of organisation and dedication, they really should have more options for how clans can moderate themselves.

I'm saying this after the second week of one particular member getting 700 charcoal, no ores, and making no bars with the mound of charcoal they gather. This of course means that another member has to use their entire cap to clean up after them, or more or less the entire 700 charcoal will go to waste. It's a constant struggle to keep discipline within the clan and make sure that the more unruly members collect the right damned resources.

But, surely the data is there that some interface could be made so clan admins can check out how much each individual member has collected. That would be valuable information as far as deciding promotions goes, as some members contribute each week and go relatively unnoticed. Equally, it means that we can keep an eye on high ranking members and make sure they're not being lax in their duties.

Ideal would be to lock resource plots to members below a certain rank. This would mean that the footsoldiers of the clan would only be able to gather say, stone and timber, whereas the higher ranks (who are generally more reliable) could manage the more complicated task of ores... and also keep on track of stone and timber when the bars are done.

And another useful addition would be the ability to call up the resource stats without visiting the citadel, say through a web interface or an item in game.

Saudi women get the vote

• Women in Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country that relies heavily on strict Sharia law are getting to vote for the first time
• They will also be allowed onto the Shura Council as well as municipal councils, the only elected bodies in the country
• Saudi women have less rights than Saudi men in a lot of areas, notably in that women can't drive