RuneScape Discussion
Puzzles and comparisons with a theory or two thrown into RuneScape Discussion in this edition make another varied read for one and all.
Think you know your Wizards' Tower from your Witchaven and your Troll Stronghold from your Gnome Stronghold? If so, this month's Crossword by Jamster and Richman99 is a great way to test your knowledge. With all this RuneScape knowledge tucked away within your brain, do you know about the ways it compares to other similar games in the market? Also by Jamster this month is RuneScape Sweatshops and the Black Market which takes a look at the problem caused by Macroers, Gold Farmers and Real World Item Trading along with what Jagex is doing to try and prevent it, and what you can do to try and help get rid of the side effects that are caused. Hothead73 's article RuneScape vs. World of Warcraft is full of a number of fascinating facts and comparisons between two very similar, but very different games, and is certainly worth reading. Finally this month, The Future Of Communication? by Neo Avatars looks at how language is being vandalized daily, and what life may be like if nothing is done to stop it. Maybe the musical tastes of fictional 'leeters' are different to those who are commonly found down Catherby docks on a beautiful day when the Sun shines through a window in the skies, although life has it's mysterious ways if it desires.
-Neo Avatars
RuneScape Sweatshops and the Black Market - By: Jamster
The first of every month normally heralds the arrival of another Behind The Scenes , this month, however dawned with a shocking article about how RuneScape's black market was evolving.
In the past, RuneScape was never under much threat, a macro was hardly ever seen, and no-one thought of trying to buy millions of Gold pieces for a couple of Dollars. Now, however, RuneScape is an international success, causing JaGex's profits to soar. Of course, this rise in players has brought with it a hugely profitable black-market, whether the money is virtual or real; if you know where to go, it can be ever so easy to buy an Abyssal whip for $5 - Or maybe you want 99 Fletching? Why bother cutting down all those Willows when you can buy them from only 5 cents per log!
So why? Really, why? The RuneScape rules state very clearly that 'RuneScape items must only be exchanged for other items/services within the game,' and also that 'Exchanging RuneScape items for items or other benefits in other online games, real-life money or other real-life benefits is not allowed.' If you do buy from these sellers, you are incredibly likely to get banned.
The website selling these items is directly breaking Rule 12 , and if you buy from them, you are also breaking Rule 12.
'Instant Delivery' as publicized by so many of these websites is not possible. Many of them will ask for your account name and password, so they can 'transfer' the goods across to you. Not only is this violating Rule 6 but this middle-man who now has control of your account could just drop your armor, weapons, rares - anything and everything that s/he wanted.
An update to this came on the May 11th. Within the space of 10 days, 2,300 accounts had been banned for Real World Item Trading - an astonishing announcement. 230 accounts were banned every day, and many of these were high leveled member accounts. 2,300 accounts were banned for Real World Item Trading, but the ICU (Investigations in the Community Unit, not Intensive Care Unit 
) checked all the facts on many accounts, and then proceeded to ban 19,075 accounts for breaking Rule 7. JaGex are clamping down on this, be part of the solution, not the problem.
If you are rich enough to be able to throw your cash at these websites, think about where the items came from. It may have come from a macro, or from these 'Sweatshops', whether in Korea, China, the USA, England, Iceland, Norway - these sweatshops can be anywhere! So, not only are you breaking Rules 12 and 6, but are also directly funding the problem.
What can we do to stop it?
That's right, us - the normal players of RuneScape; Members; Freeplayers or even Retired players.
Sal's Realm Of RuneScape abides to all RuneScape rules, meaning that we are fully against Real World Item Trading or Macroing, and will never willingly advertise these illegal sites, on the forum or on the main website. To keep it running, Salmoneus has had to put some adverts on the main body of the website, if any of these are advertising illegal sites, do not click on them, or PM Sal about it, instead, use the new form to submit a report about the advert. When asked to fill in your name, fill in your Forum Name so that Sal knows who sent the report. If you are not registered on the forum, you can just put a nickname on there (or leave it blank, and "Anonymous" will be filled in automatically) if you want to. Everything on that form is optional except for the link so it doesn't really matter.
While on your RuneScape travels, if you see someone that could be a macro, (perhaps with the basic clothing, a bronze or iron axe, who doesn't respond to any of your comments and has a random or foreign name, such as; fgs3131, aassdd87 or xiaopwn123) then use the in-game 'report abuse', type their name and select Rule 7. (Using third party software, or macroing.) This will alert JaGex to the player, and they will investigate to discover whether or not that player is breaking the rules.
If you know of any of the 'fansites' that sell RuneScape gold, items or even accounts, then boycott them, stick well away from anything that could endanger your account's safety - you should also contact customer support to inform JaGex about the said website.
Finally, never-ever use these websites to buy RuneScape Gold or Items - most of these websites will either try to take your account, or scam you out of real money - not to mention the very high chance of being caught and banned by JaGex if you ever do.
With RuneScape having over a million subscribing members, not to mention over 5 million free accounts - this problem could get much, much worse - but only if people continue to cheat and break the Rules. Don't take the risk of being banned, keep to the straight and narrow path and follow all of RuneScape's Rules.
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RuneScape vs. World of Warcraft - By: Hothead
Special Thanks to Cxkslei , -Logan- , Gb236 , and Redmonke255
The Interviews.
To see the interview, please click on the name of the person interviewed below. Cxkslei and -Logan- both chose World of Warcraft over RuneScape, while Gb236 and Redmonke255 chose RuneScape to be better than World of Warcraft.
The Arguments.
The question has been around for ages, popularly debated by both sides: "Which MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) is better; RuneScape, or World of Warcraft?" I am not here to give you a straight-out answer or voice my opinion, but rather to write about each side, and the arguments that can be made for each.
Runescape (or RS, for short) has been often argued to have horrible graphics, and a boring combat system, while World of Warcraft (or WoW for short) has a more vast, colorful world filled with great graphics and a fun way of fighting. The opposite side, however, believes that WoW is expensive, it isn't enough skill-based, and the game is too "death-tolerant." They believe that RS, although having a lower graphic quality, makes up for it by having plenty of fun skills to train, can be played for $5 or even FREE, and there is more of a death risk.
Death.
Let's start off on such a bright, happy, and oft discussed topic: death. In WoW, death isn't something you look forward to, but it certainly isn't something that you would shed a tear about if your character died. (I'm not saying Runescapers do that, but if a 6-year-old lost an abby whip.) Death is a very common part of WoW, but does that mean that death should have no consequence? Some Runescape fans believe half the fun of video games is risk, which RS certainly has if you die. Dying in RS includes the potential to lose many rare and valuable items, but the worst that could happen in WoW is getting lost trying to find your corpse, or talking to the Sprit Healer and getting 25% damage to all items and Resurrection Sickness. The item damage and resurrection sickness can only do damage to you if you plan on going into combat without paying to repair your items and waiting 4 minutes until Resurrection Sickness goes away. And if you don't, all that happens is you die again. The WoW fans say this is good, so that you don't lose good items and have to go buy something new, but the RS fans say this is no good because it depletes the fun risk from the game.
Quests.
Another popular part of each game is the quests. Each side of the argument could take the win for quests, however; it all depends upon preference. In RS, the quests are often elaborate; full of plot twists, funny characters or puns, and a bit of adventure and risk in each one. There are needless to say some exceptions (such as Cook's Assistant and Sheep Shearer), but there are still hundreds more with great qualities to them.
On the other side, WoW is often put down for having simple and pointless quests such as going up to a guard and him saying, "Hello there, 'Hothead73.' Do you mind going and killing 10 Kobold Laborers for me?" Although this is true at first, as you proceed in WoW, the quests start to get more elaborate and difficult, with plots in them just like RS. One such example can be found in -Logan-'s interview.
Skills.
Skills are what make the world go 'round in Runescape. The same is not quite so for WoW, however. Another "rumor" about WoW is that you can only have two skills. Just like the quest rumor, this is only partially true. You may actually have up to five skills, but three of them must be fishing, cooking, and first aid. The other two can be chosen from a list of many skills including blacksmithing, mining, herblore, and skinning. The RS fans may believe this still isn't enough since they're used to being able to train many skills at once, but WoW's economy would just not hold if you could have more than two skills.
In RS, though, the economy and the game are more based on skills than combat (although it is not completely fight-free). If you were to ask somebody "What are you doing?", and the answer is "mining," then the person is most likely playing RS; not WoW. RS fans argue that the skills are pointless and just no fun in WoW, but leveling up skills in RS can be a blast.
Dungeons.
Ah yes, it's what no RPG can be without: a dungeon. Runescape has plenty of them, but face it: they aren't very fun, and can be completed by one person. The enemies go up in level the further you go through, but some monsters are not aggressive, providing no danger, and once you reach the end there's virtually no reward. Sure there might be a moss giant or lesser demon to fight, but no "boss" or treasure chest to gain anything from.
In WoW, though, dungeons (or better known as "instances") are a whole new experience. Unless you are a level 70 doing a level 13-20 recommended instance known as Deadmines, you will not be able to single your way through it (and even if you were to do Deadmines at level 70, it would take you a long time). Instances were made so that you could get into a group of around 4 or 5 people so that through teamwork and cooperation, you could tackle countless enemies, minibosses, and at long last the boss (who in the Deadmines is "VC" or "Van Cleef"). The minibosses and boss each provide a good loot, whether it be a lot of money, a rare weapon, or possibly a rare armor piece, but they are also elite, meaning that they are much harder than they appear; a level 20 elite is more like a level 30 normal enemy.
Social Interactions.
This is where most people turn away from RS and turn to WoW as a much friendlier community. It is hard to go around RS and never hear the word "noob" said, or see a macroer chopping an oak tree. Although there are occasional scammers and macroers in WoW, it is generally a much nicer community. No one ever says "noob" to lower levels (especially for no reason), and lower leveled people are actually appreciated at times. In Cxkslei's reply to the survey on Sals', he mentioned how that during a Horde attack on Alliance territory, even the low levels who helped fend off the invaders were appreciated, no matter how little the damage they inflicted, because every bit counts. Also, people in WoW are very friendly and will help show you around or bring you to a quest location when you're lost. If ever someone offers you that kind of help in RS, they are normally really trying to scam you or take you to the wilderness to kill you.
Combat.
Last but certainly not least, we have combat. First, the Runescape way:
PvE. The Player vs. Enemy system is similar to WoW's but more based on a combat triangle. When you fight in RS, you are normally a mage, ranger, or warrior; no combination of anything. You will then inflict damage based upon your strength, mage, or range level, and defend based on your defense level. Enemies are for the most part easier than they may seem. Some see it as a problem while others see it as a blessing, but the fact is, a level 64 can easily take a level 112 Khazard Warlord. All they need to do is bring some good armor, weapons, and food, and within a minute or two, they would have killed an enemy nearly twice their level.
PvP. The Player vs. Player system is only in one area of RS called the Wilderness (other than minigames, which are similar to how the Wilderness works, just when you die you lose nothing unless you staked an item in the Duel Arena). In the Wilderness, you fight the same way as you fight NPC's in the rest of RS, except for you can attack anyone within a certain range of levels depending on how deep you are north. Nothing really changes from PvE to PvP, despite that the risks get even greater.
WoW, on the other hand, has a different combat style.
PvE. Not just PvE, but fighting in general is based on a set of classes and races in WoW, rather than a combat triangle. Races are just dwarf, gnome, human, blood elf, undead, etc., and the race you are determines the possible classes you can be. Classes are paladins, shamans, warlocks, mages, hunters, etc. and each has a different fighting style. Paladins are like warriors, except they also have some spells based on Holy Light (which is kind of like god in WoW), Protection, and Retribution/Resurrection, Warlocks are basically weak mages with shadow/fire attacks that can summon imps and demons to help them out in battle, and hunters are similar to rangers except they mostly carry guns rather than bows. Different classes determine how you will attack your enemy and what strategies you will use (strategies are normally a combinations of spells, maneuvers, and melee attacks put together in a way that will kill your enemy easier). Also, NPC's are not so easy in WoW; even an enemy just one level above yours can be lethal, not to mention two or three on you at once.
PvP. Player vs. Player varies depending on the type of server that you're on, but I will describe a basic PvP server. The Wilderness from Runescape is replaced by a system where you can get attacked anywhere, but only under two conditions. One: you must have PvP turned on or be in enemy/contested territory. Two: you can only be attacked by someone of the opposite side. (For example, if you are on the Alliance, only a Horde member may attack you.) The only exception to this is duels, but they are just like minigames from RS in how there are no negative effects by losing one; you don't even die. The rest is pretty much the exact same thing as the PvE system in WoW.
World of Warcraft: Summary
All in all, WoW is seen to be the better game because of better graphics, a better combat system, better quests, and a more cooperate-based gameplay. The better graphics don't really make the gameplay any better, but just gives the game a better feel to it, making it look more realistic and aesthetic. Combat is more diverse than RS, with more than three combat styles, and PvP has more of a purpose to it. The quests, no matter how pointless they are at first, are just as elaborate as RS; in fact, RS has its own faulty quests that have no plot to them as well as WoW. Last but not least, the cooperate gameplay is based on doing dungeons in groups and having a community that is more accepting and kind.
RuneScape Summary
Runescape, on the other hand, has been called the better game of the two because of death, skills, and price. The death system is made so that there can be a risk at death, and the game isn't so easy. Skills are made to be more fun, and you can have a high level in many of them, instead of just five, which three of them are already picked out for you. Finally, you can experience almost everything discussed in this article about RS for FREE, while WoW costs $15/month. If you want all the bonuses of RS, it still only costs $5/month, which is another $10 you can keep in your wallet.
Which Game is Better? You Decide!
I have presented all the facts that were mentioned in the interviews and from my own experiences with each of the two games. I'm not going to make the decision for you; you have your information on each game. Maybe I persuaded you to the other side, but that's where I draw the line. Take the facts or play both games and make your final answer to the question Which is better: World of Warcraft or RuneScape?
You should always remember that before downloading any third party client you should make sure that you scan it. There is always the chance that there will be a keylogger included in the program and your password may be stolen. Jagex does not recommend downloading any third party clients..
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The Future of Communication? - By: Neo Avatars its da 21 centry now so we lik hav bin around 4 alot now. dis meens dat we hav got gud knwldg of our lnguage n can rek it lik we wnt sum pplz seem 2 not lik me speekin lik dis in my essays 4 skool but i like speekin lik dis so i wil cary on doin it.
Communication is something that happens on a daily basis between people. It would be just about impossible to live nowadays without communicating at all, whether you're talking with somebody or just pointing at something to show them it, it's all communication. Everybody has their own way of speaking, different areas will have their own words, spellings change, and so do accents. These are things that happen without anybody really noticing, but clear vandalism of your language is something that is noticeable, and doesn't help anybody.
i play rs b/c its fun + my m8s play it wid me + i lik mi m8s b/c we met wen we wer 3 + we stil no each udder. we no wot we say so dat guy nxt 2 us dun need 2 no wot we say b/c its privut. i cnt be bovvud 2 type prprly b/c i am da nub wid no knldg of stuf. wen im a big boy i wil get lot of doe wen im da footy guy hoo get lik millionz each day 4 playin footy lik wel gud yeh.
If a group of friends decides to vandalise their language, then fine, however if this blatant vandalism manages to escape their small group into the wider community chaos can be caused. When playing RuneScape there are people from all over the world, many of which don't have English as their first language. If you go into a bank wanting to buy something, using the vandalised version of English is not going to get you the item you are looking for.
hi i am me + i wnt 2 by lots of stuf wid mi cash + it has 2 be gud or i wil report u wid my gudhak banzorin skillz. i dnt care if u dnt brak de rulz but i wnt stuf + dnt wnt al u noobz wsting my time. yeh so lik i wnt sum gud stuf lik a dchain 4 stuf lik bunt fish + 7 gp + mayb sum tubby belz or u2 wil be mor nub dan me!
Is this vandalism something that arrives in people's devious minds, and sticks as if somebody has chosen to stop the clocks, or something that comes and goes like a bat out of hell? What caused this vandalism to start? If you are typing words out, it is quicker to type words out properly than do stupid misspellings that include numbers and never-before-seen symbols.
w00tz iz got mi noo toy + da r00morz abowt it r rong b/c it duz wot its ment 2 do. im off 2 kill da ebil jad monsta wid mi abysmal wip dat goes flash, flash, flash. i dont need ne1 2 sav3 m3 ne mor b/c it r 2 gud wid m3 s0 lik3 we r da chumpi0nz. Wen da big beesty cums 2 kil m3 I wil be unda pressyour and ill wont 2 brache fr33 but ill breakthru wen da miracul happunz and i go hedlong in2 da abyss. b/c im so uber i lik3 wont 2 liv 4eva + I r ñot goin slitely m@d wid dis speelin b/c I r da invisib00l man! I cood st0p her but I wont b/c da shoh mu5t go 0n + u dont f00l m3 even if im livin on mi own b/c u r da gr8 protenda.
Some might say one vision of the future is where everybody speaks in this alpha-numerical-gibberish, although it may be like a kind of magic, and verbal vandalism will suddenly slide away. Will you be the one that stops language collapsing in on itself, and falling into a dreadful state that cannot be understood by even those who speak it?
The mysterious ways of the 1337ers may be confusing nowadays, but try stop it now and you won't fall into the trap too, even if the trap you fall into isn't as bad as some may depict it.
Crossword Puzzle - By: Jamster and Richman99
This issue we have a new crossword puzzle but you will find the answers on RuneScape.
ACROSS
1 What are the Feldip Hills mainly used for?
6 The Port City of the kingdom of Asgarnia
7 Here, civilians will give you runes for your cats.
8 Where the White Knights Lurk...
11 Animated spades and pickaxes abundant here.
17 What are the initals for the terrifying beast that lurks in the Laza Maze?
18 Which vicious creature can be found in falador?
19 Chronozon's lair is in...
22 One on One, fight 'til the death. Where is this?
24 Where you would start one of the newest quests, The Great Brain Robbery
25 This island mixes zombies and monks.
26 City where you go after Tutorial Island...
27 Place where you would buy a Shantay Pass to go into the desert...
28 Start the Sea Slug quest here.
30 Mawnis Burrowgar rules over...
DOWN
2 Where does Eadgar live?
3 The altar to the evil chicken is here.
4 I want to start the Rune Essence Quest! Where should I go?
5 People call it the Financial City of Runescape ( Hint: You find flax and Maples Trees here!)...
9 Which Island has a volcano, a bananna plantation, and a bar?
10 The Wizard's Guild requires 66 magic to enter, but where is it?
12 There is a Spooky Mansion here...
13 Want a job picking bannanas? Then go to this island!
14 Village of the Goblins....
15 The rebel elves' home.
16 Aluft Gianne senior and junior reside here.
20 Avast, where be the priates of Karamja?
21 Which city is tucked into the corner of Asgarnia?
23 A FreePlayer City that is the home of a man that can Teleport you to the Rune Ess Mines...
29 Hiding away, in the dungeon below Lumbridge are the...
If you believe that you have found every single answer, PM Jamster on the Sal's Realm forums with your answers. The first person to get every answer correct will receive a prize, and every other person that solves it will be mentioned in the next issue of the Sal's Realm Newspaper! Good luck!
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