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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Runescape: 200 Million Celebrations- Party Demons and 200M Glasses


On 19 July 2012, Runescape logged it's 200 millionth account signup.  Jagex referred to it as 200 million players, but I'm not sure how accurate that is, since many players have a 'main', and then one or more alternate player accounts.  I myself had a different account when starting out; within days of starting, a scammer convinced me to allow him access to my account.  Since it was free to play, rather than tighten up security and re-claim the original account, I just made a new one.  At some point I gave the original account a crazy password just to keep people out, but have never played it since it was scammed.  That's about 8 years ago.  But the way I understand things, that account should still be there.  Never used, never played since then.

Then again, there's the serious concern regarding how many of those Runescape accounts are bots.  I've got no idea what numbers or percentages would apply, but have to wonder... how many actual players does Runescape have?  Is it truly legitimate to call 200 million accounts opened the same thing as 200 million real and unique players? 

I'm convinced Jagex is being deliberately blind to the reality, in order to stage a grand celebration.  A number of players take exception to this.  Myself, I call it wishful thinking.  Not going to get upset.  On a far smaller scale, I do the same thing.  When I want to buy something, and it's $97.82, I'll tell Monique it's "Well under $100.00!"  When she wants to buy the same thing, suddenly I perceive it as "nearly $100.00!" 

We all 'tilt' things to help our point look more valid.  We even make up facts and statistics to boost our viewpoint.  (Read the forums, you'll see what I mean.)  And I'm pretty sure we all know when other people are doing it.  So when Jagex does the same thing I myself do, it would be hypocritical to get all bent out of shape about it.  On the other hand, don't get me started about our government...  :^)

Anyway, all that to explain... Jagex isn't fooling anybody.  But we got a celebration, some Party Demons, and a cool new Boogie Bow.  So with a wink and a nod, I'm putting my dancing shoes on.  (Another perfect example -- I can't dance!)

The party was held at the Barbarian Village, Bandit Camp, and Varrock Sewers.  I chose the Barbarians, simply because they were convenient.  Party Demons, drawn to the celebration, must be taken down to make the world safe once again.  Not sure why, since all they want is to party.  The Party Demons don't attack, not even when you attack them.  Unless you're using the Boogie Bow. 
At all of the locations, Hey Presto is waiting for your help.  He'll give you the Boogie Bow to defeat the Party Demon with.  Nothing else can hurt the demon.  The bow has very low requirements to use.  It can be used to kill other NPC's, though it does almost no damage.  But the Boogie Bow looks truly awesome!

When done, it can be stored in the Player Owned Home toybox, but I just destroyed mine.  It said the bow can be reclaimed from Diango.  That's good enough for me.

After killing the demon (and you can kill him more than once) check back with Hey Presto, and he'll reward you with 200m Glasses to mark this huge celebration.  They're purely cosmetic, and serve no purpose other than marking the 200 million account event.  You can also store them in the Toybox, or destroy them for Diango to keep.  Diango's got mine.

When all is said and done, is the 200 million celebration all bluster and thunder, signifying nothing?  Maybe.  But I look really cool firing my Boogie Bow while wearing my 200m Glasses!

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