This isn’t because we run out of ideas – far from it! – it’s so you get a chance to genuinely contribute to the content in the game. Of course, we read as many suggestions as we can every day, but running forum threads, discussing your suggestions and knowing that there would be a definite result at the end of the work is a great way to add content to the game.

So, this month, we’re delighted to add the Poison Arrow pub to Ardougne and the aquanite Slayer creature. The pub is just south of Ardougne’s east bank and is filled with a host of suggestions that all came from you! The aquanite is a level 78 Slayer creature that deals magic damage, so do take care if you’re going to visit. You’ll find them at the end of the Fremennik Slayer Dungeon, past the kurasks – you can’t miss them.

Mod Mark
Lead Designer

Recent additions to the RuneScape engine have allowed us to make some improvements to the game’s animations.

As you can see by the heading, this release is called Animation Pack 1, as this will be an ongoing project. These improvements will take time, however, so we have grouped the animations that we’re improving into packs, so we can release them as we complete them, rather than keeping you waiting.

This pack focuses on some of the most popular melee weapons and their animations (abyssal whip, the godswords, Zamorakian spear, Saradomin sword, Dharok’s axe, and dragon and rune longswords and scimitars), tweening (animation smoothing), and updates to the Agility animations.

We hope you enjoy these updates as much as we’ve enjoyed creating them; make sure to keep an eye out for future animation updates.

For a more in-depth look at these improvements, check out this recent dev blog. It takes you through the process in more detail.

Mod Paul B
RuneScape Lead Animator
]]> http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/animation-pack-1/feed/ 0 Drew http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/curse-of-arrav/ http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/curse-of-arrav/#comments Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:23:48 +0000 Drew http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/curse-of-arrav/ ]]>

In your adventures you may have heard of an unusual gathering in the north – a gathering of powerful and dangerous creatures called the Mahjarrat. Ali the Wise has received news from one of his contacts of a tunnel underneath the area where the Mahjarrat are supposedly gathering. It’s not a natural cave, either: someone deliberately made it. But who? What connection did they have to the Mahjarrat now gathering above? Have they left any clues behind? Some exploring may be in order!

This quest is a continuation of the Mysteries of the Mahjarrat quest series. It’s also a sequel to a previous quest I wrote – Defender of Varrock. I’m glad that I got to expand on some of the themes I started in the previous Arrav-based quest. There is more to come, though…

Paul
RuneScape Content Developer

Summary:

We’ve improved the behaviour in the Mobilising Armies waiting rooms to start more games with the required 20 players, rather than just one at a time.

Knowing that many of RuneScape’s adventurers sometimes like to kick back and enjoy time with their friends and clan-mates, Al Kharid’s newest resident, the mysterious entrepreneur Faruq, has brought to market a selection of curiosities to help pass the time between grand escapades.

If your clan needs fair ways of making decisions, then Faruq has something for you. If you want to have a race without any cheating or need something to mark the route, he can help. Whether you’re planning a scavenger hunt, a race, a seeking game or any kind of adventure within the adventure, Faruq asks only that you look at his wares, because he might have just what you need.

To peruse Faruq’s Tools for Games, check out the stall he has set up next to Ali Morrisane in Al Kharid market.

This is an unusual update for us, because, unlike just about everything else in RuneScape, we haven’t planned out what you should do with it. During development, we thought of things you could do, of course, but I’m eager to see what else you can come up with yourselves.

To make the tools, we sought suggestions from the forums, fan sites and various corners of Jagex. It all helped shape the project, and some of the players who made suggestions when the developer blog went out should find certain objects very familiar: congratulations on making your mark on the game!

Mod Hew
RuneScape Content Developer

You can once again walk out of Edgeville’s bank using the minimap when heading north-east!

We’ve removed a small selection of items from the Grand Exchange to improve offer matching. For example, all but the fully charged and lowest charged versions of enchanted rings have been removed. The removed items can still be traded; they just no longer show up on the Grand Exchange.

Players who enter a PvP or Bounty World will now automatically become skulled and unable to use the Protect Item prayer. The skull will not disappear over time or when a player dies, unless they go to a non-PvP world, in which case the skull behaves like normal. Note that this means you will always lose everything you are carrying if you get killed by another player, and that there is no way for you to keep any items on death while in a PvP or Bounty World.

Additionally, on members’ worlds, your victims must now lose at least 75,000 coins’ worth of items (increased from 25,000) for your earning potential to be applied to the drop. On free-to-play worlds, the amount the victim must lose remains at 25,000 coins.

Please note that you will have to be in a safe area before you can next log into a PvP or Bounty World. You will need to log into a non-PvP/Bounty World in order to move to a safe area. This is to ensure nobody logs in risking more than they are aware of. A message will explain this on login if you try to enter these worlds. This only applies to your next PvP/Bounty World login; from then on, you will be able to log in as normal.

Mod Benny
RuneScape Content Developer
]]> http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/pvp-world-changes/feed/ 0 Drew http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/lores-and-histories-mobilising-armies/ http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/lores-and-histories-mobilising-armies/#comments Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:24:40 +0000 Drew http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/?p=355 ]]> When Brogan first built Mobilising Armies, his squads were entirely human; yet, as anyone who’s played our latest minigame will know, only elves, goblins and dwarves are available to a budding commander.

The latest entry in the Lores and Histories brings together three entries from Brogan’s journal, each looking at how humans were edged out of the command centre, and why Brogan embraced the use of elvish, goblin and dwarven troops

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been working hard to make our subscription cards easier to purchase. As a result, you can now find our 30- and 90-day membership cards in Rite-Aid and Wal-Mart stores.

Once you have purchased your card, you can use the PIN number on the back to subscribe to RuneScape. You can do this by:

1. Click “Account” on the home page;
2. Choose “Start/Extend Subscription”;
3. Log in;
4. Select “Subscribe by RuneScape Card” as your payment method;
5. Accept the terms and conditions.

While Jagex is a clear industry leader in making our games and infrastructure secure, some of our players’ personal computers have proved vulnerable to account hijacking in the form of viruses, key loggers, phishing websites or players simply revealing their Jagex password. Given these challenges, we are determined that your account remains secure at all times, even if your personal computer has been compromised or somebody else knows your password. We think we have found a solution to these problems: the Jagex security key.

This key looks a bit like a USB dongle, which you will be able to put on your key ring or store in a secure location. The key will reveal a six to eight-digit code that changes every few seconds and is completely unique to you. Type this code into a Jagex login page and you will be able to guarantee that you are secure from any hijacking attempt.

For the techies out there, the key is an ‘Enterprise two-factor authentication solution’. We’re really enthusiastic about its potential to stop hijackers and phishing sites in their tracks, but since this will require significant investment and resources, we aren’t going to make any final decisions without talking to you first. We would like you to head over to the poll system, on the left-hand side of the RuneScape front page, and answer two questions: would you be interested in buying one of these security keys, and what is the most you would be willing to pay?

With the Jagex security key, we would be so confident that your account is secure that we could consider adding expanded bank space to those accounts that are protected by the Jagex security key.

NOTES – it would not be compulsory to buy the security key. It would be an optional means for you to keep your account genuinely secure. The Jagex security key would be available to all countries for a single one-off price. The security key would be available to both free players and members.

While we are enthusiastic about the Jagex security key, there are still a number of variables that could determine whether we can roll this out, ranging from technical challenges and, naturally, players’ interest in the device.

Please give us your feedback in the Jagex Store Feedback forum.

Thanks,
Mark Gerhard
]]> http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/the-jagex-anti-hijack-system/feed/ 0 Drew http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/paybysms-available-in-singapore/ http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/2009/07/10/paybysms-available-in-singapore/#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:36:11 +0000 Drew http://sailorscoutx.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/paybysms-available-in-singapore/ ]]>

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

The following networks in Singapore support PayBySMS:

• SingTel
• Mobile One
• StarHub

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.

Mobilising Armies is a new multiplayer combat minigame, but instead of controlling your avatar you’ll be controlling a whole battalion, deploying your squads with tactical precision and trying to second-guess the intentions of your opponents. There are four different scenarios to play in: Conflict, Siege, Hoard and Rescue. Each presents its own set of challenges, such as building catapults, collecting resources and stealing from your opponents, to name just a few. Don’t worry about finding three other players, though: when you turn up at the command centre the officers will arrange your match for you.

As we all know, war isn’t cheap, so with Mobilising Armies we are introducing a commodity-exchange system. If, after training a skill, you’re left with a lot of commodities that you don’t need yourself (e.g. a surplus of jewellery after training Crafting), you’ll be able to trade them in at the command centre for investment credits, which can then be exchanged for squads and special units, such as cannons, barricades or exploding chinchompas. You can also choose to stake investment credits in an impending battle for a larger payout of reward credits, which can in turn be spent on additional items.

There are a variety of rewards for victorious commanders, including quest kits that let you hold much-needed questing tools in one inventory slot, resource locators that’ll teleport you directly to resources such as mining spots and trees, and “spoils of war”, which are a selection of resources, gold and items that will allow you to train your skills further

Good luck, and enjoy!

Mod Tim, Lead Content Developer, and Mod Maz, Content Developer and Queen of the Squirrels

(For a look at some of the technical challenges we’ve faced in developing this minigame, take a look at this recent blog post from Andrew, titled Mobilising Armies.)

Summary:

We’ve added the ability for you to make notes. To access this new feature, click on the Notes icon at the bottom-right of the screen. This remarkably simple system enables you to leave up to 30 notes for yourself, each of which can be up to 50 characters long.

On a related note, any invalid player names saved in your Friends/Ignore lists have been marked with a *. From now on, you will only be able to add valid player names to your Friends/Ignore lists.

We’ve also moved the Summoning interface’s functionality to the Summoning icon next to the minimap – simply right-click on this icon for all your pet/familiar needs. We’re aware this leaves a blank ‘stone’ on the interface; there is another new feature planned to go in that space.

We’ve added an alternative sitting position when you rest. You can toggle how you sit by clicking rest again to choose your preferred pose.

Zanik’s crossbow can now be used with many more varieties of bolts. It seems that it only used a small selection beforehand.

The filter for the quest list will no longer remove quests you’ve already started.

Summoning scrolls should no longer interfere with special attack energy replenishing.

You can no longer use fairy rings while you are tele-blocked. This seemed a bit inconsistent with other areas of the game.

You can now take familiars over the bridge towards Zamorak in the God Wars Dungeon, so you don’t have to dismiss them and then summon them again after crossing.