Runescape: Bonfires, 99's, and Why I Like Quickchat worlds

Camping world 100 at Castle Arena

Still lighting fires.  Might not be exciting, but since the release of Bonfires, it's a whole lot better than it used to be.  I really appreciate all the updates Runescape has been doing recently.  The Runespan was fabulous.  Enjoyed it thoroughly.  Now Bonfires.  Instead of constant clicking over and over, making lines of fires, you can easily burn an inventory with one or two clicks.

One thing that surprised me was the size of the bonfires.  Given the name and the way it functions, I expected larger fires.  Maybe a 4-square flame, with a growing stack of wood.  Just a small quibble.  The function is great, and it makes firemaking far more practical.  When it came out, my firemaking was stalled at 92.  The last thing I remember doing with it was either an elite task, or getting the Fire Adze.

Lucky for me, there was a small pile of Magic and Yew logs in the bank.  After burning through those, there was this pile of Maples.  Nearly 20,000.  Thought it would be easy to just use them up.  Turns out, after doing Magics, and even Yews, I really didn't want to spend all that time on Maples.  Sold my Maples, and plunked down most of my bank on Magics.  Spent about 21 million buying 11.5k of Magic logs.  Now I'm good to go.  Good progress, already on 97, about halfway through the logpile.  If nothing all goes as planned, that 99 will be under the belt by tonight.

In one respect though, I'm very disappointed.  I tend to be an isolationist.  Play alone, or with Monique. Our communications are great, because we're sitting side by side on the computers.  Most of the time, we play in world 96, the only remaining quickchat world.  Keep the beggars, whiners, and annoyances to a manageable level.  I know there are many many legitimate players, but you know how it is.  That small annoying percentage can be very distracting.

 In the course of 'bonfire-ing', I went to the unofficial world (100).  You get more experience in groups (and the fire ring and fire gloves stack, so using them too).  Wanted to maximize the exp so it would be over sooner and cost less.  Going to a talking world really reminded me why I usually go solo.  Tons of gambling at the GE.  People being cheated, or claiming they are.  Compulsive gamblers throwing everything to the wind, then crying because they lost it all. Spamming the chat window with it all.

Then there's the language and behaviour.  I'm guessing many of the players are children without supervision.  Because all their talk is an effort to impress each other with how crude they can get.  I'm in my 50's, and the last time I heard that kind of talk was in a machine shop in the military.  This, though, was all fake.  If you've heard the difference, you know what I mean.  You can always tell when children or young adults are trying to impress with tough talk.

I started adding to my ignore list, but it became pointless after a while.  Just too much.  Then there were the ones planting flowers across the room, in an effort to block the bonfires.  Just being obnoxious.

I'm far more impressed when someone speaks calmly and rationally, and is willing to make the game a positive experience.  It's not really about age, but maturity.  Some 6-year olds can maintain an intelligent conversation.  Some 50-year olds never learned how.

Close, but still a long way to go!

Enough ranting.  Once I've achieved my goal, it's back to the quick-chat world. I'm just too delicate for all that wild language...   :^D

It's not all bad.  Maybe not even mostly.  Thank goodness I've witnessed some good players too.  Last night, there was a decent lot discussing game changes, things they enjoyed, and just getting to know each other.  It was a comfortable place to be.  Whoever you were, whatever your age, thanks...  You were a refreshing change.  And you reminded me what I DO like about Runescape!