21 Jump Street; A Review
Posted by Landerpurex on March 19th, 2012, 3:05 am. Category: Scribery Entry
9/10
I consider myself a comedy connoisseur. Whether it's the fine wine comedy of Monty Python, the outrageous antics of Will Ferrell in Step Brothers or Old School, or the recently over-the-top Wanderlust, and even further back to classics such as Caddyshack, National Lampoon, Animal House, and even further to the Stooges and Charlie Chaplin. I've seen it all. I have not, however, always enjoyed it all.
21 Jump Street was, simply put, a fantastic comedy. I wouldn't consider myself a huge Jonah Hill fan, but he does well in this movie. The star who really excels is Channing Tatum, however. As some other reviewers mention, seeing the actor exit his (boring, in my opinion) romantic role and enter into a comedic one is fantastic. His simple, yet sincere character is one we've seen time and again, but it's incredibly funny and somehow fresh in this film. Jonah Hill's character is similar to those in the past, the outcast bookworm, but again, it fits the movie.
The premise of the movie is that Tatum and Hill are newly graduated policemen, and aren't at all good at their job. After losing some perpetrators doing drugs in the park, they are reassigned to the run-down undercover unit at 21 Jump Street. Here, their captain (A hilarious Ice Cube) assigns them to pose as students to try and take down the supplier of a new hallucinogenic drug called HFS (Holy F'ing
). Simple enough premise. A large part of the comedy of this movie is currently edgy, and will hit home with our generation for years to come. Tatum and Hill return to school to find that studying, caring for the environment, and being tolerant is now 'cool'. This, of course, is openly satirizing the abrupt shift that is taking place with youth today, for good or ill and remains a very potent comedic strand throughout the movie. In a memorable scene, when the two first return to high school, they are bombarded by new cliques, such as asians dressed in cosplay and the now infamous hipsters. Again, it's humor that has a target audience and works incredibly well for us who are mired in these new cultural phenomena.
Interestingly enough, there are a few good action scenes to be had in this movie as well. It's no Jackie Chan movie, but the director manages some good action, explosions (and satirizing the convention of explosions), car chases and shootouts to change the pace when a change is warranted.
This isn't an art film, and will not wow you with presentation, cinematography, sound, or any other technical aspect. It is driven by its humor, strong acting, and script, which is always enough with a successful comedy. We are meant to pay attention to the jokes, not what the camera angles suggest. It is sufficient enough technically that we aren't distracted by *bad* decisions, there is just not anything that will wow you in that respect.
There are many laughs to be had in this movie, for people of all ages and backgrounds. The guys are forced to try the new drug right away to prove they're not police, and the insanity ensues. Tatum bursts into the band room and destroys and disrupts. Hill returns to drama class and somehow nails himself the lead part in the school's production of Peter Pan. In an attempt to get in with one of the dealers, the guys throw a party of wicked proportions, and kids from a rival school show up. This ends in Tatum punching almost anyone who steps in front of him and Hill getting stabbed with some kind of artifact. Then, their parents return and break up the party.
This movie toes the line between ridiculous and incredibly funny exactly the way a great comedy should. It's witty, edgy, and simply funny nearly all the time, with very strong acting and writing throughout all the while remaining grounded in a decent enough story. There are even a few great surprises to be had, including a fantastic cameo. The ONLY reasons this film garners a 9 instead of a 10 from me is because it falters in the final scenes, going too far with a shock device that seems totally unnecessary given the merit of the rest of the film. There are also some cliches to be had, but they serve their purpose in the plot.
In short, go and see this film as soon as possible.
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Guild Wars 2 (Pre-Purchase) April 10th
Posted by killa kiaba on March 15th, 2012, 6:52 pm. Category: Scribery Entry
https://buy.guildwars2.com/
All pre-purchase editions include these exclusive bonuses:
Access to all Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Events
Three days of headstart access
Hero’s Band (+2 to all stats)
DIGITAL EDITION $59.99
Guild Wars 2 game
DIGITAL DELUXE $79.99
Guild Wars 2 game
Summon Mistfire Wolf Elite Skill
Rytlock Miniature
Golem Banker
Chalice of Glory
Tome of Influence
COLLECTOR'S EDITION $149.99
Guild Wars 2 game
Summon Mistfire Wolf Elite Skill
Rytlock Miniature
Golem Banker
Chalice of Glory
Tome of Influence
10-inch figurine of Rytlock
112 page Making of Guild Wars 2 book
Custom Art Frame
Art Portfolio and Five Art Prints
Best of Guild Wars 2 Soundtrack CD
Minimum System Requirements*
* Due to potential changes, system requirements may change over time, and you may be required to upgrade your current system (or obtain a new system) to continue to play the game.
Windows® XP Service Pack 2 or better · 2 GB RAM
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, Core i3, AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 or better
NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800, ATI Radeon™ X1800, Intel HD 3000 or better (256MB of video RAM and shader model 3.0 or better)
25 GB available HDD space
Broadband Internet connection
Keyboard and mouse
All pre-purchase editions include these exclusive bonuses:
Access to all Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Events
Three days of headstart access
Hero’s Band (+2 to all stats)
DIGITAL EDITION $59.99
Guild Wars 2 game
DIGITAL DELUXE $79.99
Guild Wars 2 game
Summon Mistfire Wolf Elite Skill
Rytlock Miniature
Golem Banker
Chalice of Glory
Tome of Influence
COLLECTOR'S EDITION $149.99
Guild Wars 2 game
Summon Mistfire Wolf Elite Skill
Rytlock Miniature
Golem Banker
Chalice of Glory
Tome of Influence
10-inch figurine of Rytlock
112 page Making of Guild Wars 2 book
Custom Art Frame
Art Portfolio and Five Art Prints
Best of Guild Wars 2 Soundtrack CD
Minimum System Requirements*
* Due to potential changes, system requirements may change over time, and you may be required to upgrade your current system (or obtain a new system) to continue to play the game.
Windows® XP Service Pack 2 or better · 2 GB RAM
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, Core i3, AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 or better
NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800, ATI Radeon™ X1800, Intel HD 3000 or better (256MB of video RAM and shader model 3.0 or better)
25 GB available HDD space
Broadband Internet connection
Keyboard and mouse
The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet (3/27/2012): A Review
Posted by defeat on March 12th, 2012, 8:14 pm. Category: Scribery Entry
Rating: 9/10
There are few bands I expect to blow me away with every release, and The Mars Volta is one of them. In any form of art there is an indefinite number of artists trying to take their chosen medium to the next level of originality. This is especially true in music, but most tend to get hung up on the concept of genres. It’s an easy thing to do, as genres are the best reference points art has to describe it. A genre is sometimes necessary for description, but at other times putting a label on a work of art can hinder the art itself. Trying to describe The Mars Volta’s music is hard enough, but putting one specific genre or label on it is simply impossible. One thing that they have stuck by, however, is the pop format. Granted, their songs aren’t the verse/chorus/verse all-in-under-four-minutes that Top 40 radio stations have come to embrace (it’s more like intro/verse/chorus/verse/bridge/chorus/outro, all-in-sometimes-10-minutes-or more), but they do have choruses that fans of intensely poetic, non-linear lyrics can try and sing along with. I say try, because, come on…Who can sing that hauntingly beautiful falsetto like Cedric Bixler-Zavala?
Throughout their career The Mars Volta have incorporated everything from jazz to Latin into their music, but their latest release, entitled Noctourniquet, comes closer to being a pop/rock album than any of the others. There. I said it. It’s a pop album. This shouldn’t have come as such a surprise to me, as the last release, 2009’s Octahedron, only had a single song over eight minutes (a huge departure from the band’s early days that spawned songs like the 35+ minute epic “Cassandra Gemini”). It was a surprise, though. Maybe it’s surprising because this is the first album they’ve released that I’ve heard parts in songs that could have come from other bands. “Aegis” has a feel reminiscent of Muse in the verses. “Zed and Two Naughts”’ drums instantly brought A Perfect Circle’s song "Weak and Powerless" to mind. Even the lead single has a guitar riff that could have come from any of the songs on Queens of the Stone Age’s album, Era Vulgaris, or any of Jack White’s past and present projects. I’m not saying that they were trying for any similarities, but when you make a pop album, it’s impossible to completely avoid them, even for The Mars Volta…
…And a The Mars Volta album it is! Even with these few similarities, the above mentioned songs are undoubtedly and uniquely straight from TMV’s songwriter and producer, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. His guitar playing is as riff-tastic and sometimes nothing but effects per-usual. He’s always been an experimental little guy, and even with Noctourniquet’s pop sensibilities, he's still pushing the boundaries of music. Their usual use of keyboards has changed from jazzy piano and organ to synth (possibly due to the departure of keyboardist "Ikey" Owens), although their trademark sound manipulation can be heard throughout the album’s entirety. Fans of The Volta’s past efforts won’t be disappointed, especially with the songs “Dyslexicon”, “Molochwalker”, and “Trinkets Pale of Moon”, which range from in-your-face to soft and sweet, respectively. One thing some fans tend to complain about is the revolving door of drummers since Jon Theodore stopped playing with the band in 2006. I never jumped on that band wagon, and really enjoyed Thomas Pridgen’s drumming on the last two albums. However, the only complaint I have about Noctourniquet is just that, the drumming. New drummer, Deantoni Parks, just doesn’t do it for me. He seems to be trying way too hard to live up to the sonic pummeling that the previous albums have featured, and sometimes fails miserably (evident in “Lapochka”).
If you haven’t heard The Mars Volta before, disliked their previous efforts for being too artsy, or are one of the many who haven’t liked an album of theirs since the full length debut (2003’s De-Loused in the Comatorium), Noctourniquet is a great album to get acquainted with, as it’s their most accessible and listener friendly album to date. Fans of the entire discography beware…
It’s a pop album. There. I said it again...
Recommended if you enjoy: Radiohead, Muse, Queens of the Stone Age's Era Vulgaris and/or Jack White
The official lead single can be listened to here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh0stkLanx4&ob=av3e
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning; A Review
Posted by Landerpurex on February 15th, 2012, 12:33 am. Category: Scribery Entry
Overall rating: 8/10.
I've done my homework on this game, both before and after buying it. Everyone seems to be looking at it completely the wrong way. Other reviewers and consumers are comparing this game to Skyrim, Mass Effect, and many other juggernaut RPGs. This is a mistake. Reviews range from a 9/10 from IGN to a 5/10 from Adam Sessler at G4TV.
Kingdoms of Amalur is similar to other RPGs in some respects, and in others it is radically different. If we analyze and enjoy this by itself, it's a great game. If we stand it next to Skyrim, it falters badly in some respects, and excels in others.
The things this game does well are apparent from the moment you start playing. Environments are very vibrant, and are sufficiently unique. They're somewhat linear, but also allow for quite a bit of exploration and free roam. There are enough hidden treasures, places, and quests to keep you busy for many hours. Often I would venture off the path in search of a treasure that showed up on my map thanks to my 'detect hidden' skill, and would instead spend a few hours saving a town from some kind of spider woman. This had nothing to do with the main quest or any of the 'factions'.
The story for this game is very good, and has RA Salvatore's flair. Sometimes, however, this is its undoing. Every little quest has five minutes of backstory or lore, when you might simply be trying to complete a quest for a quick buck or exp gain. I sometimes found myself skipping dialog for meaningless side quests. On the other side of this issue, the main storyline and faction quests are well-done. I especially loved the storyline of the House of Ballads, a group of elf-like people who endlessly reenact battles and adventures long past. In short, the overarching story isn't anything unconventional, but there are many originalities and nuances to be enjoyed. It's easy to see the care that went into the story, and that a good novelist was the one who oversaw it.
I can't write a review about this game without mentioning it's greatest strength: the battle system. It's fast-paced and more than simple button mashing. I like the emphasis on combos and certain attacks, such as those that 'pop up' your enemy, making them vulnerable for further hits. The amount of attacks is satisfying, but the key is exploring which ones work best together.
The game's skill system is pretty basic but fulfilling at the same time. There are plenty of skills and styles to be explored, without there being *too* much. The destiny system is great, you can unlock bonuses for your character as you dump points into any of the three skill trees. You can also unlock destinies for hybrid classes, even ones for supporting all three trees. This allows for a fantastic amount of customization with ample reward for whichever tree/s you choose to support.
That being said, this game's mechanics allow for one of the best roleplaying opportunities I've seen. The destiny system and hybrid classes make for an experience that really hasn't been amply explored in other titles. If you couple this with the strong story and hundreds of quests, then you have a very enjoyable recipe.
The game, of course; is not without faults. Some consumers have complained about the voice acting, but I actually enjoyed it. I found it more inspiring than some, and dialog seemed to fit the character saying it. I will be the first to admit that character models and facial expressions are lacking. Though the voice acting is good, it is not paired with good facial modeling. The characters are expressionless and half the time, their mouths don't even follow what they're saying.
Other cons involve slight dips in framerate, but nothing that was at all gamebreaking. I also often found the shops lacking, I finished the game with over 5 million gold. Granted, I was a money-making machine with max mercantile and detect hidden skills, but there was literally nowhere for me to spend my money after about 2/3 of the way through the game.
I spent about 50 hours on this game, and I was thoroughly satisfied with my experience. There seems to be dozens more hours of content, as I finished with over 50 side quests unfinished, and who knows how many more I left not taken. The replayability of the game is high as well, with trophies/achievements awarded for each playstyle. Though it would be just as easy to totally re-allot your skill points than to start over, but what's the fun in that?
The game is pretty standard fantasy fare on almost every front, while excelling in a few respects; namely the battle system and the major storylines. As other reviewers have pointed out, this game seems to borrow the best features of a lot of other titles and implement them in game to the point where they work together to near perfection. Loot, story, battling, skills, environment, and more. Overall, this game was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a new, solid RPG to play from a new studio, but with some very hard-hitting names behind it.
The Woman in Black; A Movie Review
Posted by Landerpurex on February 6th, 2012, 1:05 am. Category: Scribery Entry
Rating: 7/10
This was a good movie, not a great one. It did its job, it scared me (badly) at times, and there were very great technical things happening with this movie. However, it was inconsistent and Radcliffe's acting was just awful.
This movie is pretty typical as far as horror stories go, it's set in early 1900s England. The main character Arthur Kipps (Radcliffe) plays a lawyer or paralegal, hard up for a break. He is sent by his firm to a sinister house near a small town, where the spirit of a woman terrorizes the town and the house. His son and their nanny are supposed to join him at the house after some time. Don't be fooled by the PG-13 rating, I learned with Insidious that underrated movies can be terrifying.
The opening scene of this movie was literally the most technically sound, and perhaps the best scene in the movie. While any opening scene should be great, it shouldn't be the best scene in the film. We're shown three young girls playing in an upstairs room, and nothing seems to be wrong. After a few moments, one of them drops their little teacup. It shatters. They then get up and advance towards the three windows, one of the trampling the teapot on the way. Here we have many good things in the cinematography and editing. Short takes. Shades of montage. Short jump cuts. This serves to confuse us, and it works very well. The three girls step up to the sill simultaneously, and jump out the windows. Then we're taken to Arthur's house, shocked by the previous scene and left with many questions.
The worst thing about this film, I felt, were its inconsistencies. It's easy to see that the aforementioned scene was meticulously cared for during production, whereas the rest of the film only shows glimmers of that care. As I said previously, Radcliffe's acting is terrible. He never shows any emotion, both when he realizes his wife has died in childbirth, nor at the end of the film when he is reunited with his son. This movie didn't call for him to strive for any awards, most of the time Arthur runs through the house chasing various noises. I was disappointed that when the script called for a little acting, he didn't deliver. And this took me away from the movie.
The movie delivers through jump-scares that we've come accustomed to with modern horror cinema. The cinematography is sound, with several first person shots that round corners, raising suspense. Of course, the scares don't come when we expect them. Moreover, there are several scenes in this film with these creepy, awkward, grimy toys that often act on their own. This was perhaps the most unsettling thing about the film. Picture a porcelain clown toy from that era, that contorts itself and ends with a close-up shot of his grinning face. Don't see this (or do) if you're afraid of clowns. *shudder*
Along those same lines, there is a scene where Arthur is (you guessed it) checking a noise he heard in the house. He's using a candle, and upon entering the room, there are closeups of the aforementioned toys, and the light of the candle is reflected in their eyes. It's moving with Arthur, and subsequently, moving in the eyes of the toys, making it seem as if they are following his movement. There are similar scenes to this, such as one where Arthur sees the reflection of the ghost in a mirror, but when he turns to check, she is gone. Subtle tricks like these make this movie a positive experience.
The house is a major star in the film, as it should be. It is sinister, old, foreboding, dusty, cobwebby, and simply everything a haunted house should be. There is a cemetery on the grounds that adds to the feeling. In addition to that, there is a lone wooden cross in the front yard where a little boy died when he sank into the swamp.
When we are first introduced to the house, Arthur goes downstairs, exploring. His job in the place is to make sure there are no more official papers in the home and to try and find the owner's last will and testament. When he enters the room, there is a newborn baby crow on the floor. He picks the baby up and puts it in the nest nearby. As soon as he does so, he is attacked by mama bird. I enjoyed this scene, it seemed an homage to the horror of yore, movies like The Omen and Hitchcock's The Birds, where birds figure heavily in the horror.
Additionally, this scene bears a stark parallel with the final moments of the movie. Clever foreshadowing, or heavy-handed symbolism? Go see the movie and find out!
In short, I really enjoyed this movie, both at the surface level of modern horror and as an amateur film student. Its inconsistencies are many, but the great scenes it offers do redeem it. It is scary in the same way that other modern horror films are, and is easily enjoyable by anyone that loves the horror genre. I recommend this film.
The Devil Inside: A Movie Review
Posted by Landerpurex on January 25th, 2012, 3:43 am. Category: Scribery Entry
Before we get started, let me state that there will be plot points discussed in the following text, but I will do my best to keep crucial points a secret. Let me also state that I am not a professional critic, but have more critical film expertise than most people; having taken several film courses in college.
Rating: 3/10
The premise that a woman named Maria Rossi kills three people in 1989. Her daughter, Isabella, goes to the hospital in Italy where her mother has since been committed. Isabelle then attends a class full of priests about exorcism. She befriends two of them, and sets out to find what has actually happened to her mother and document it on camera.
Let me first say that this movie was completely horrible. Awful. Terrible. The plotline was as jagged as a piece of broken glass, and not nearly as sharp. I don't even know where to begin with this one. The movie opens with a short black-screened scene that lets us listen in on the 911 call after Maria has killed three priests. This is, without a doubt, one of the scariest scenes in the movie, which isn't saying much. Then we are treated to some convoluted storyline and some basic 'travel' footage of Isabella and her cameraman in Italy. There's nothing of significance in the first portion of the film.
After a bit, we see Isabella visit her mother in the hospital. I was intrigued by the fact that the staff seemed to trust the woman, even though she had a violent past. I was surprised that her daughter was even allowed to see her. This was one of the numerous gaping plotholes in the movie, but I was willing to forgive if it could deliver in the scary department.
Maria Rossi's character is sufficiently creepy, especially on the first meeting. She's clearly insane, and looks the part. Her hair is frazzled, she looks completely gaunt and malnourished, and she has been cutting crosses into herself, into painful areas like the inside of her lip. She asks her daughter if she knows how to "connect the cuts..." which was creepy. But it wasn't nearly enough. Maria screams a scream that is certainly not human, and Isabella leaves the hospital.
Between 'exorcisms' we're treated to mundane storyline, and the ever present battle between the two priests. One wants to exorcise Maria and others like her to help them, the other is afraid of losing his priesthood as the two are doing these exorcisms without the church's consent. While the idea is nice, and shows another side to the politics of the catholic church, it is the same conflict between characters we've seen in thousands of other movies. It fails to deliver, and the bad acting doesn't help.
The film's only redeeming scene comes when the priests decide that Isabella should accompany them on a separate exorcism to learn more about the practice. In this scene, the victim does numerous disturbing things, such as popping her shoulder out of place and generally contorting her body. It's nothing more than what we've come to expect from this genre, but it is effective still.
After this, the film loses all its merit. The group returns to the hospital to exorcise Maria, only to have her multiple demons jump into one of the priests, the cameraman, and Isabella. There are generic scenes such as one when the lights go out with the possessed priest upstairs.
Lastly, I must comment on the ending of this movie. I warn you, I am about to spoil it. But then, a movie as poorly made as this doesn't deserve the decency of secrecy.
In the final moments of the film, with the possessed priest dead, the cameraman is rushing Isabella to an exorcism expert in Rome. He becomes 'possessed', takes off his seatbelt, and veers into oncoming traffic, causing a wreck and the presumed death of the people in the car. The movie then ends. Abruptly. We are told the case is unresolved, and that we can visit http://www.therossifiles.com/ to find out more. Is this a clever blending of modern technology to enhance your moviegoing experience, or is this cheap, pathetic advertisement? A good film shouldn't need some website to further explain itself, and the site doesn't even do that from what I could gather.
The way endings like this work in a positive way is if we have been on a satisfying journey throughout the movie. In this one, we have not. We don't care about the characters. We can barely process what's going on as we see multiple exorcisms and the demons jump into the characters. There are no technically sound aspects to speak of, this movie is low-budget and it shows. It takes from a really great genre, the 'documentary', 'found-film' horror. Such titles like the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity work because they utilize the cheap camerawork to make it look real. There are clear plot arcs. There are foundations in classic horror, and there are innovations as well that make up for unknown (but not always bad) actors. The Devil Inside has none of these, as I've mentioned.
The Exorcism horror sub genre never stood a chance. In it's premier, the original Exorcist movie got it right the first goddamn time. And no good exorcism movies have been made since, only cheap, floundering copies cashing in on the same idea.
There were some decent things about this film, but not enough to make it any good and certainly not enough to redeem the ridiculous ending. It was as if the movie itself were saying "Ha-ha for watching this garbage, now go yourself" and the ending was the exclamation point on that statement. Don't waste your money on this movie, hopefully it'll soon be out of theaters and we can move on.
Rating: 3/10
The premise that a woman named Maria Rossi kills three people in 1989. Her daughter, Isabella, goes to the hospital in Italy where her mother has since been committed. Isabelle then attends a class full of priests about exorcism. She befriends two of them, and sets out to find what has actually happened to her mother and document it on camera.
Let me first say that this movie was completely horrible. Awful. Terrible. The plotline was as jagged as a piece of broken glass, and not nearly as sharp. I don't even know where to begin with this one. The movie opens with a short black-screened scene that lets us listen in on the 911 call after Maria has killed three priests. This is, without a doubt, one of the scariest scenes in the movie, which isn't saying much. Then we are treated to some convoluted storyline and some basic 'travel' footage of Isabella and her cameraman in Italy. There's nothing of significance in the first portion of the film.
After a bit, we see Isabella visit her mother in the hospital. I was intrigued by the fact that the staff seemed to trust the woman, even though she had a violent past. I was surprised that her daughter was even allowed to see her. This was one of the numerous gaping plotholes in the movie, but I was willing to forgive if it could deliver in the scary department.
Maria Rossi's character is sufficiently creepy, especially on the first meeting. She's clearly insane, and looks the part. Her hair is frazzled, she looks completely gaunt and malnourished, and she has been cutting crosses into herself, into painful areas like the inside of her lip. She asks her daughter if she knows how to "connect the cuts..." which was creepy. But it wasn't nearly enough. Maria screams a scream that is certainly not human, and Isabella leaves the hospital.
Between 'exorcisms' we're treated to mundane storyline, and the ever present battle between the two priests. One wants to exorcise Maria and others like her to help them, the other is afraid of losing his priesthood as the two are doing these exorcisms without the church's consent. While the idea is nice, and shows another side to the politics of the catholic church, it is the same conflict between characters we've seen in thousands of other movies. It fails to deliver, and the bad acting doesn't help.
The film's only redeeming scene comes when the priests decide that Isabella should accompany them on a separate exorcism to learn more about the practice. In this scene, the victim does numerous disturbing things, such as popping her shoulder out of place and generally contorting her body. It's nothing more than what we've come to expect from this genre, but it is effective still.
After this, the film loses all its merit. The group returns to the hospital to exorcise Maria, only to have her multiple demons jump into one of the priests, the cameraman, and Isabella. There are generic scenes such as one when the lights go out with the possessed priest upstairs.
Lastly, I must comment on the ending of this movie. I warn you, I am about to spoil it. But then, a movie as poorly made as this doesn't deserve the decency of secrecy.
In the final moments of the film, with the possessed priest dead, the cameraman is rushing Isabella to an exorcism expert in Rome. He becomes 'possessed', takes off his seatbelt, and veers into oncoming traffic, causing a wreck and the presumed death of the people in the car. The movie then ends. Abruptly. We are told the case is unresolved, and that we can visit http://www.therossifiles.com/ to find out more. Is this a clever blending of modern technology to enhance your moviegoing experience, or is this cheap, pathetic advertisement? A good film shouldn't need some website to further explain itself, and the site doesn't even do that from what I could gather.
The way endings like this work in a positive way is if we have been on a satisfying journey throughout the movie. In this one, we have not. We don't care about the characters. We can barely process what's going on as we see multiple exorcisms and the demons jump into the characters. There are no technically sound aspects to speak of, this movie is low-budget and it shows. It takes from a really great genre, the 'documentary', 'found-film' horror. Such titles like the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity work because they utilize the cheap camerawork to make it look real. There are clear plot arcs. There are foundations in classic horror, and there are innovations as well that make up for unknown (but not always bad) actors. The Devil Inside has none of these, as I've mentioned.
The Exorcism horror sub genre never stood a chance. In it's premier, the original Exorcist movie got it right the first goddamn time. And no good exorcism movies have been made since, only cheap, floundering copies cashing in on the same idea.
There were some decent things about this film, but not enough to make it any good and certainly not enough to redeem the ridiculous ending. It was as if the movie itself were saying "Ha-ha for watching this garbage, now go
yourself" and the ending was the exclamation point on that statement. Don't waste your money on this movie, hopefully it'll soon be out of theaters and we can move on.
Lamb Of God - Resolution (01/24/12): A Review
Posted by defeat on January 23rd, 2012, 5:49 pm. Category: Scribery Entry
Rating: 7/10
I almost didn’t review this album after listening to the first half of it. I was thinking, “Oh….It’s (2009's) Wrath…again, and I’ll have nothing to say…” After giving it another chance, the second half of the album was indeed Lamb Of God’s saving grace.
Every member of Lamb Of God have seemingly evolved over the years, except for the second most talented member, drummer, Chris Adler. Don’t get it wrong. He’s a favorite drummer of many, as he’s a consistent, speed drumming machine with great fills and feet faster than light. Come with the dynamics already, though, Chris! Maybe, it’s the production that’s held you back with your sound. Maybe, it’s the way you tune your drums (Let them resonate a bit next time, eh? Every, single, solitary drum shouldn’t have the short thump of a bass drum…). Maybe, you just don’t care. Some don’t. Oh, well...so it goes. (I've been reading a lot of Vonnegut as of late.)
Resolution, contradictorily to the drumming, is LOG’s most dynamic release yet. Some thought the band had been lost to “The Graveyard of Previously Great Bands” with the bore that was their previous release, Wrath. It just seemed like a filler album without any originality. Resolution is an adventurous turn of events in LOG’s discography. Guitarists’ Mark Morton and Willie Adler have given us a new take on The New Wave of American Heavy Metal with some softer, more progressive, off-time riffs in the songs “Barbarosa”, “King Me”, and lead single “Ghost Walking”. In most metal, the bass guitar is just a copy of the lead riff, just lower. In this release, though, bassist John Campbell is pleasantly noticeable in parts throughout Resolution’s entirety.
It would be fantastic to have Machine back at the production helm instead of Josh Wilbur, as some minor kinks in the production are what took away some audio enjoyment points. The drums have been mentioned as a major issue. Other kinks were really just post-production snafus. “Barbarosa” and “Invictus” is clearly one song. With fourteen tracks, it’s not like LOG were scraping the barrel for material. Some of the songs on the second half of the album should have been mingled with the first half to break up the turn off of early monotony. This takes away from the listening experience the most. God, is that second half great, though…
In other news, vocalist, Randy Blythe is still alive.
Lead single: "Ghost Walking" Official Video
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows; a review
Posted by Landerpurex on January 7th, 2012, 7:28 am. Category: Scribery Entry
Before we get started, let me state that there will be plot points discussed in the following text, but I will do my best to keep crucial points a secret. Let me also state that I am not a professional critic, but have more critical film expertise than most people; having taken several film courses in college.
Rating: 8/10
Everyone knows the story of Sherlock Holmes, renowned detective. This movie is no different, with Holmes needing to solve a difficult case involving a sinister man named Professor Moriarty. The movie is deliciously mysterious, with Moriarty's motives in question until the final moments. Holmes of course enlists in the help of Dr. Watson, who is newly married; and the two go on an adventure that spans the European Continent to uncover Moriarty's plans and to try to save his intended victims that include Dr. Watson, his wife, a gypsy, and eventually all of Europe.
This movie was fantastic. Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, and Jared Harris can do no wrong. The acting is superb, though sometimes over the top. I have, however, come to expect this of Downey Jr in general as well as within this franchise, so it works. He and Law make a fantastic pair, and the charisma and camaraderie come across well. Jared Harris makes a great villain as well, it's that simple.
The film lives up to its predecessor. It leaves a trail of clues that you are expected to notice, but not expected to piece together as Holmes does in the end. Certain important items are centered in the shot from Holmes' point of view, labeling them as imperative. The cinematography is sound, using multiple angles and distances when necessary. Sound is coupled with this approach as well. For example, there is one scene where one of Moriarty's lackeys is shown smoking a hand rolled cigarette. The cherry burns extra bright, and the sound of it burning can be heard over the other things going on in the frame. I wondered to myself, 'how is this important?' And I had a great time racking my brain trying to figure it out. I felt accomplished when it was revealed that the cigarette was important to the plot. This movie's greatest quality is that it makes you think and guess along with Holmes.
The film's comedy is fantastic, though sometimes ridiculous, as with the killing and revival of the poor bulldog (again). Though, once again, Downey Jr has made Holmes his own and put a modern spin on the man. That is not to say that the movie doesn't take certain liberties with the classics, because it does. Which is one of the reasons it remains an 8 out of 10 instead of a 9 or perfect score.
The great fighting scenes narrated strategically by Holmes return, though they go awry by variants not considered by Holmes. In the final scenes, Moriarty himself interjects in Holmes monologue and engages in a match of wits with the detective that is both exciting and original.
Speaking of which, editing must be mentioned. The film uses jump-cuts when necessary, and very effectively as well. Just before the scene mentioned prior, parallelism is used to near perfection as Holmes and Moriarty are having a game of chess. The movie cuts between chess moves and the exploits of Watson and the gypsy as they attempt to reveal an assassin and ultimately, Moriarty's plot.
My biggest problem with this movie was the extreme slow-motion. It was only in one scene, but that makes it stand out and it went on for far too long. Ever since 300, movies have been abusing slow motion. It was over the top in that title as well, but at least it was consistent. In an otherwise great, sound, smart movie I felt this was the only thing that seemed uninspired and frankly, too stereotypical Hollywood.
In closing, this move was very enjoyable. It was a bit on the long side, but I was sad it was over. In some ways, it is very typical action, in others, it is original, fun, and smart in a lot of ways modern movies are not. It is technically sound, but not ambitious. The cast delivers and I hope they continue to do so. The plot keeps you guessing right until the final moments, and there are many twists and turns to be had.
Go and see this movie while it's still in theaters.
Rating: 8/10
Everyone knows the story of Sherlock Holmes, renowned detective. This movie is no different, with Holmes needing to solve a difficult case involving a sinister man named Professor Moriarty. The movie is deliciously mysterious, with Moriarty's motives in question until the final moments. Holmes of course enlists in the help of Dr. Watson, who is newly married; and the two go on an adventure that spans the European Continent to uncover Moriarty's plans and to try to save his intended victims that include Dr. Watson, his wife, a gypsy, and eventually all of Europe.
This movie was fantastic. Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, and Jared Harris can do no wrong. The acting is superb, though sometimes over the top. I have, however, come to expect this of Downey Jr in general as well as within this franchise, so it works. He and Law make a fantastic pair, and the charisma and camaraderie come across well. Jared Harris makes a great villain as well, it's that simple.
The film lives up to its predecessor. It leaves a trail of clues that you are expected to notice, but not expected to piece together as Holmes does in the end. Certain important items are centered in the shot from Holmes' point of view, labeling them as imperative. The cinematography is sound, using multiple angles and distances when necessary. Sound is coupled with this approach as well. For example, there is one scene where one of Moriarty's lackeys is shown smoking a hand rolled cigarette. The cherry burns extra bright, and the sound of it burning can be heard over the other things going on in the frame. I wondered to myself, 'how is this important?' And I had a great time racking my brain trying to figure it out. I felt accomplished when it was revealed that the cigarette was important to the plot. This movie's greatest quality is that it makes you think and guess along with Holmes.
The film's comedy is fantastic, though sometimes ridiculous, as with the killing and revival of the poor bulldog (again). Though, once again, Downey Jr has made Holmes his own and put a modern spin on the man. That is not to say that the movie doesn't take certain liberties with the classics, because it does. Which is one of the reasons it remains an 8 out of 10 instead of a 9 or perfect score.
The great fighting scenes narrated strategically by Holmes return, though they go awry by variants not considered by Holmes. In the final scenes, Moriarty himself interjects in Holmes monologue and engages in a match of wits with the detective that is both exciting and original.
Speaking of which, editing must be mentioned. The film uses jump-cuts when necessary, and very effectively as well. Just before the scene mentioned prior, parallelism is used to near perfection as Holmes and Moriarty are having a game of chess. The movie cuts between chess moves and the exploits of Watson and the gypsy as they attempt to reveal an assassin and ultimately, Moriarty's plot.
My biggest problem with this movie was the extreme slow-motion. It was only in one scene, but that makes it stand out and it went on for far too long. Ever since 300, movies have been abusing slow motion. It was over the top in that title as well, but at least it was consistent. In an otherwise great, sound, smart movie I felt this was the only thing that seemed uninspired and frankly, too stereotypical Hollywood.
In closing, this move was very enjoyable. It was a bit on the long side, but I was sad it was over. In some ways, it is very typical action, in others, it is original, fun, and smart in a lot of ways modern movies are not. It is technically sound, but not ambitious. The cast delivers and I hope they continue to do so. The plot keeps you guessing right until the final moments, and there are many twists and turns to be had.
Go and see this movie while it's still in theaters.
The Darkest Hour: A Movie Review
Posted by Landerpurex on January 7th, 2012, 6:49 am. Category: Scribery Entry
Before we get started, let me state that there will be plot points discussed in the following text, but I will do my best to keep crucial points a secret. Let me also state that I am not a professional critic, but have more critical film expertise than most people; having taken several film courses in college.
Overall rating: 5/10
This movie was nothing that the previews didn't show. In short, it's about a pair of software designers either fresh out of college or in the twilight of their college careers. They are in Moscow to pitch an idea for a user-based online comprehensive travel guide to some executives. They meet with a Swedish exec who has basically stolen their idea and screwed them out of a major (multi-million dollar?) deal. After this, the guys go to a club and meet a couple girls vacationing as well, and know of one of them due to her use of their program. Then come the invisible aliens. The creatures are made of electromagnetic energy and are somehow able to vaporize people. But their weakness is that they give themselves away and set off any and all lights and electronics when they approach. The rest of the movie is spent showing the characters trying to escape these creatures and get 'home', though they soon find similar landings and destruction have happened all across the world. Near the end, the group find out that there is a nuclear submarine waiting to help transport survivors back to their homes and/or to a safer facility.
First, it takes some time for the creatures to land. This is notwithstanding the fact the the premise of the guys' reason to be in Moscow is convoluted, not paramount to the plot, and completely forgettable. Though there were a few comic moments, there was nothing to be had in the first quarter of the film. Once the creatures land, I was intrigued. This movie's lone strength is the originality of the aliens and the plausibility of their form and powers. But the scripting failed to deliver more on the subject, with only a few lines from a Russian militant describing the nature of the aliens in no terms understandable by most people; myself included.
Speaking of the Russian militants, their characters are amusing, but completely stereotypical and over the top. They spout catch phrases like 'welcome to Russia' when fighting the creatures, they speak stereotypical nationalist dialog such as stuff about protecting their home, as well as typical, completely uninspired dialog about war and tactics. Couple this with forgettable characters all around and it makes for an equally forgettable experience.
The technical side of the movie was unimpressive as well. Nothing incredible in terms of cinematography, sound, or anything else.
The star of this film is the city of Moscow. It's exotic, beautiful, and foreboding. The architecture is fantastic, and there are some shots that are worth looking at.
In short, this was a movie that offered very little in terms of excitement, technical inventiveness, writing, and basically everything else that makes a film good. It had a tiny bit of originality with the creatures but this was not appropriately handled by anyone. The city was fantastic, but left one wanting. I did not see this movie in 3D, but I'm positive it would have been a debacle.
This movie was far from the worst I've seen, but falls very short. If you've seen the preview, you've seen everything cool there is about the movie.
Overall rating: 5/10
This movie was nothing that the previews didn't show. In short, it's about a pair of software designers either fresh out of college or in the twilight of their college careers. They are in Moscow to pitch an idea for a user-based online comprehensive travel guide to some executives. They meet with a Swedish exec who has basically stolen their idea and screwed them out of a major (multi-million dollar?) deal. After this, the guys go to a club and meet a couple girls vacationing as well, and know of one of them due to her use of their program. Then come the invisible aliens. The creatures are made of electromagnetic energy and are somehow able to vaporize people. But their weakness is that they give themselves away and set off any and all lights and electronics when they approach. The rest of the movie is spent showing the characters trying to escape these creatures and get 'home', though they soon find similar landings and destruction have happened all across the world. Near the end, the group find out that there is a nuclear submarine waiting to help transport survivors back to their homes and/or to a safer facility.
First, it takes some time for the creatures to land. This is notwithstanding the fact the the premise of the guys' reason to be in Moscow is convoluted, not paramount to the plot, and completely forgettable. Though there were a few comic moments, there was nothing to be had in the first quarter of the film. Once the creatures land, I was intrigued. This movie's lone strength is the originality of the aliens and the plausibility of their form and powers. But the scripting failed to deliver more on the subject, with only a few lines from a Russian militant describing the nature of the aliens in no terms understandable by most people; myself included.
Speaking of the Russian militants, their characters are amusing, but completely stereotypical and over the top. They spout catch phrases like 'welcome to Russia' when fighting the creatures, they speak stereotypical nationalist dialog such as stuff about protecting their home, as well as typical, completely uninspired dialog about war and tactics. Couple this with forgettable characters all around and it makes for an equally forgettable experience.
The technical side of the movie was unimpressive as well. Nothing incredible in terms of cinematography, sound, or anything else.
The star of this film is the city of Moscow. It's exotic, beautiful, and foreboding. The architecture is fantastic, and there are some shots that are worth looking at.
In short, this was a movie that offered very little in terms of excitement, technical inventiveness, writing, and basically everything else that makes a film good. It had a tiny bit of originality with the creatures but this was not appropriately handled by anyone. The city was fantastic, but left one wanting. I did not see this movie in 3D, but I'm positive it would have been a debacle.
This movie was far from the worst I've seen, but falls very short. If you've seen the preview, you've seen everything cool there is about the movie.
1-6-2012 Modern Warfare 3
Posted by Tanksandguns on January 6th, 2012, 4:43 pm. Category: Scribery Entry
As a man who has played every Call of Duty game since Call of Duty 3, and sporadically before that since Big Red 1 I like to consider myself one of Call of Duty's biggest fans. Call of Duty has taken it's place as THE First Person Shooter. It's the franchise that comes to mind first when one talks about FPS games, and until recently, has had little to no competition in the field.
Rating: 9/10
Campaign
Modern Warfare 3 builds itself off of the same story line that we saw in CoD4 and MW2. It follows multiple story lines as you play several different characters across each and also brings back the memorable duo of Captain Price and Soap MacTavish. Modern Warfare 3 starts right where Modern Warfare 2 left off. The world is in chaos, and Makarov is still at large. The game has the player visit several cities completely ransacked with war and destruction, including New York City and Paris, France.
The overall flow of the campaign is excellent. The transitions between missions and the pacing is wonderful. And the whole games had sitting on the edge of my seat, with a subtle anxious feeling the whole time. I was constantly wondering what would happen next, and where I was traveling to.
The game is also very challenging. Having completed the first two games on Veteran difficulty, this was my first choice on my first play through of the game. I quickly learned, that this game doesn't beat around the bush, and I couldn't even make it past the first checkpoint. I quickly dropped the difficulty to Hardened, and again to Normal. Even while playing Normal, I found myself dieing fairly frequently, and I loved it. I enjoy a real challenge while playing video games, and to get one in a FPS is no easy task. I also didn't find myself in the slow buildup of anger mode that usually comes with the frustrating deaths of FPS Campaigns. At one point, mid-combat, the game cycles between one the ground fighting, and in the sky fighting in an AC-130 gunship. This is one of the best moments that I can remember throughout all the games, second only to 'Ghillie in the Mist' from Call of Duty 4. The developers did a stunning job of transitioning immediately after an explosion from the AC-130 missile, to the ground troops in the smoke and debris of where the shell had just impacted.
The game itself is really beautiful (or as beautiful as a war-torn city can be). I played the entire campaign on a non-HD TV, and still found myself staring in amazement at the graphics. When I moved over to an HD TV for multiplayer, I found that they were spectacular.
The storyline does an excellent job of wrapping up the first two games. I had few questions left after I had finished, and even teared up at one point during the story. If you played the first two, I can assure you that you will not be disappointed in the final game.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer has been reworked again from Modern Warfare 2. They have new Kill Streaks, and introduced things called 'Strike Packages.' Strike Packages affect what kill streaks you are awarded, and how they are awarded. They offer three types you can choose from: Assault, Support, and Specialist. Assault focuses on killing enemies to gain enemy killing kill streak rewards. It includes, AC-130, Predator Missiles, and Attack Helicopters. Support focuses on objectives such as capturing a flag, planting a bomb, capturing a Domination point, etc. It doesn't require kills to advance through the rewards, but kills also help. Also, Support doesn't reset on death, so you can keep on dying and unlocking rewards. This was my personal favorite. This can give you UAV, Care Packages, Stealth Bomber, etc. The final Strike Package you can use is Specialist. Instead of giving you kill streak rewards, it unlocks perks every 2 kills the player makes. By 8 kills, the player then has all the perks in the game. These have really reworked how the multiplayer feels, and it feels a lot more balanced than the second game ever did.
My main problems with Modern Warfare 2, were that there were kill streaks in the air almost constantly, and there was little anyone could do about it. That feeling has really subsided with Modern Warfare 3. There doesn't seem to be helicopters, AC-130's, and Predator Missiles clogging up the sky nearly as much as it did in the second game, and there's more that can be done about it. More launchers, Sam Sites, and fewer overpowered kill streaks make for the multiplayer experience to be a lot more enjoyable.
Another complaint that I had with MW2, was the the Sniper Rifles seemed extremely underpowered. It took 2, sometimes 3 shots to kill someone in a Core match. In MW3, this has been fixed. One shot to the torso is more often than not, a kill shot. I find this to be my favorite change that was made. I'm finally not getting angry that my high velocity round isn't killing someone when it should.
With CoD: Black Ops came the addition that CoD had been missing for all of its games that Halo and the likes had picked up on. Split Screen multiplayer available online, either through multiple Xbox Live accounts or the use of Guest Accounts. Modern Warfare 3, thankfully, did not change this. You can now play with a buddy on the same TV, online.
Usually with First Person Shooters, I find myself hating a majority of the maps. For whatever reason, Modern Warfare 3 seems different. I only really dislike one or two maps. All the others I seem to have a blast on! They're all beautiful, fun and fairly small. The only complaint I have, is there's really no open area map that is good for Snipers.
All in all, I was extremely happy with the subtle tweaks they made to the multiplayer experience. Prestige Mode now goes to level 80 (ten times), and they added Prestige tokens which can unlock little bonuses such as Double XP, Double Weapon XP, and Emblems and Titles, among other things. Each player starts out with 3, and since I haven't prestiged yet, I'm unsure whether you get 1 ever prestige level or more than that.
Spec Ops
Modern Warfare 3 sees the return of the Spec Ops mode. This can be done either solo or with a friend. I tried doing several of these solo, and found that once I had a friend help me out, they became significantly easier.
Spec Ops mode is a series of missions and objectives, some from the campaign, some completely fresh that test your speed and accuracy. Also, they can be a major challenge. From capturing the Russian President aboard his airplane, to killing waves upon waves in a Firefight type game mode, Spec Ops is nothing short of fun. Infinity Ward added a new style that resembles Horde from Gears of War and Firefight from Halo, where you face wave after wave of enemies including foot soldiers, dogs, helicopters and the infamous Juggernaut soldiers. For those looking for something after the campaign and after you get bored with multiplayer, I would recommend Spec Ops with a friend. It's an absolute blast!
Conclusion
All in all, I would say that Modern Warfare 3 was definitely worth the money I spent on it. It provided me with hours of entertainment, and will continue to do so for months to come. It fixed a lot of the issues I had with the previous game, and added some awesome touches as well. It did not disappoint me, and so far has lead to a lot less frustration with the game than Modern Warfare 2 did. I would recommend this game to any First Person Shooter fan, any fan of the Call of Duty franchise, and anyone looking for one of the best multiplayer experiences in gaming. I won't beat around the bush though, some of the fan-boys and the some of the casual players of MW3 can ruin your multiplayer experience, but that's why there's a mute feature.
~Tanksandguns
Rating: 9/10
Campaign
Modern Warfare 3 builds itself off of the same story line that we saw in CoD4 and MW2. It follows multiple story lines as you play several different characters across each and also brings back the memorable duo of Captain Price and Soap MacTavish. Modern Warfare 3 starts right where Modern Warfare 2 left off. The world is in chaos, and Makarov is still at large. The game has the player visit several cities completely ransacked with war and destruction, including New York City and Paris, France.
The overall flow of the campaign is excellent. The transitions between missions and the pacing is wonderful. And the whole games had sitting on the edge of my seat, with a subtle anxious feeling the whole time. I was constantly wondering what would happen next, and where I was traveling to.
The game is also very challenging. Having completed the first two games on Veteran difficulty, this was my first choice on my first play through of the game. I quickly learned, that this game doesn't beat around the bush, and I couldn't even make it past the first checkpoint. I quickly dropped the difficulty to Hardened, and again to Normal. Even while playing Normal, I found myself dieing fairly frequently, and I loved it. I enjoy a real challenge while playing video games, and to get one in a FPS is no easy task. I also didn't find myself in the slow buildup of anger mode that usually comes with the frustrating deaths of FPS Campaigns. At one point, mid-combat, the game cycles between one the ground fighting, and in the sky fighting in an AC-130 gunship. This is one of the best moments that I can remember throughout all the games, second only to 'Ghillie in the Mist' from Call of Duty 4. The developers did a stunning job of transitioning immediately after an explosion from the AC-130 missile, to the ground troops in the smoke and debris of where the shell had just impacted.
The game itself is really beautiful (or as beautiful as a war-torn city can be). I played the entire campaign on a non-HD TV, and still found myself staring in amazement at the graphics. When I moved over to an HD TV for multiplayer, I found that they were spectacular.
The storyline does an excellent job of wrapping up the first two games. I had few questions left after I had finished, and even teared up at one point during the story. If you played the first two, I can assure you that you will not be disappointed in the final game.
Multiplayer
The multiplayer has been reworked again from Modern Warfare 2. They have new Kill Streaks, and introduced things called 'Strike Packages.' Strike Packages affect what kill streaks you are awarded, and how they are awarded. They offer three types you can choose from: Assault, Support, and Specialist. Assault focuses on killing enemies to gain enemy killing kill streak rewards. It includes, AC-130, Predator Missiles, and Attack Helicopters. Support focuses on objectives such as capturing a flag, planting a bomb, capturing a Domination point, etc. It doesn't require kills to advance through the rewards, but kills also help. Also, Support doesn't reset on death, so you can keep on dying and unlocking rewards. This was my personal favorite. This can give you UAV, Care Packages, Stealth Bomber, etc. The final Strike Package you can use is Specialist. Instead of giving you kill streak rewards, it unlocks perks every 2 kills the player makes. By 8 kills, the player then has all the perks in the game. These have really reworked how the multiplayer feels, and it feels a lot more balanced than the second game ever did.
My main problems with Modern Warfare 2, were that there were kill streaks in the air almost constantly, and there was little anyone could do about it. That feeling has really subsided with Modern Warfare 3. There doesn't seem to be helicopters, AC-130's, and Predator Missiles clogging up the sky nearly as much as it did in the second game, and there's more that can be done about it. More launchers, Sam Sites, and fewer overpowered kill streaks make for the multiplayer experience to be a lot more enjoyable.
Another complaint that I had with MW2, was the the Sniper Rifles seemed extremely underpowered. It took 2, sometimes 3 shots to kill someone in a Core match. In MW3, this has been fixed. One shot to the torso is more often than not, a kill shot. I find this to be my favorite change that was made. I'm finally not getting angry that my high velocity round isn't killing someone when it should.
With CoD: Black Ops came the addition that CoD had been missing for all of its games that Halo and the likes had picked up on. Split Screen multiplayer available online, either through multiple Xbox Live accounts or the use of Guest Accounts. Modern Warfare 3, thankfully, did not change this. You can now play with a buddy on the same TV, online.
Usually with First Person Shooters, I find myself hating a majority of the maps. For whatever reason, Modern Warfare 3 seems different. I only really dislike one or two maps. All the others I seem to have a blast on! They're all beautiful, fun and fairly small. The only complaint I have, is there's really no open area map that is good for Snipers.
All in all, I was extremely happy with the subtle tweaks they made to the multiplayer experience. Prestige Mode now goes to level 80 (ten times), and they added Prestige tokens which can unlock little bonuses such as Double XP, Double Weapon XP, and Emblems and Titles, among other things. Each player starts out with 3, and since I haven't prestiged yet, I'm unsure whether you get 1 ever prestige level or more than that.
Spec Ops
Modern Warfare 3 sees the return of the Spec Ops mode. This can be done either solo or with a friend. I tried doing several of these solo, and found that once I had a friend help me out, they became significantly easier.
Spec Ops mode is a series of missions and objectives, some from the campaign, some completely fresh that test your speed and accuracy. Also, they can be a major challenge. From capturing the Russian President aboard his airplane, to killing waves upon waves in a Firefight type game mode, Spec Ops is nothing short of fun. Infinity Ward added a new style that resembles Horde from Gears of War and Firefight from Halo, where you face wave after wave of enemies including foot soldiers, dogs, helicopters and the infamous Juggernaut soldiers. For those looking for something after the campaign and after you get bored with multiplayer, I would recommend Spec Ops with a friend. It's an absolute blast!
Conclusion
All in all, I would say that Modern Warfare 3 was definitely worth the money I spent on it. It provided me with hours of entertainment, and will continue to do so for months to come. It fixed a lot of the issues I had with the previous game, and added some awesome touches as well. It did not disappoint me, and so far has lead to a lot less frustration with the game than Modern Warfare 2 did. I would recommend this game to any First Person Shooter fan, any fan of the Call of Duty franchise, and anyone looking for one of the best multiplayer experiences in gaming. I won't beat around the bush though, some of the fan-boys and the some of the casual players of MW3 can ruin your multiplayer experience, but that's why there's a mute feature.
~Tanksandguns
Skrillex-Bangarang (12/23/11): A Review
Posted by defeat on December 23rd, 2011, 7:11 pm. Category: Scribery Entry
Rating 5/10
Listen. I’ll start off by saying I’m as on the fence with the newest Skrillex release, entitled Bangarang, as I have been with all the others. The guy is an exciting producer, and the voice samples/hooks he’s used are unforgettable. However, as with his other releases, the mid-register robotesque bass lines, four to the floor beats, and general feel are the same as they ever were and absolutely forgettable. You’ve got the electronic industry by the balls, Skrillex, and the time to fix your broken record is nigh.
When Skrillex became an instant success, and his songs could be heard everywhere, I was impressed with the mash up of genre’s with him and Korn in the Korn single “Get Up“, and really enjoyed "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" and “Kill Everybody” off of Skrillex’s EP with the same name Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites. It seemed like a fresh, American take on the dubstep scene. That fresh take quickly turned into endless copycats and the post dubstep sub-genre dubbed “brostep”. As the forerunner of this new trend, Skrillex didn’t impress me with his first release, mildly did with his second release, and fails to with his newest.
There are definitely moments of production clarity on Bangarang in the title track (a song referencing the movie Hook?! Awesome!) and the non-bass line heavy house song “Right On Time“, but he even uses a broke up, syncopated, unintelligible, Asian sounding voice on the track “Summit” juuuust like he did on the track “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites”. In a nutshell, Bangarang should be entitled Sonic the Househog On Crack. It’s got a Sonic the Hedgehog music + house + brostep sound on most of the songs on the seven song EP. If you are already a die-hard Skrillex fan (and I know you are out there as I just read the comment “Skrillex is life.“ from a fan on Skrillex’s Facebook page), you are going to absolutely love this album. If you haven’t ever heard Skrillex, and are into dubstep, you are probably going to like this album. The rest of us will either like it, dislike it, or think it’s OK (Mitch Hedberg anyone?). It does have bass drops and a couple buildups/breakdowns that make you smile with delight, so even after I write this review.....I’m still on the fence.
The title track:
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross-T.G.w.t.D.T.Soundtrack: A Review
Posted by defeat on December 12th, 2011, 11:14 pm. Category: Scribery Entry
Rating: 10/10
When Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor work together, they don't just make music. They mold sounds into layers of emotional synesthesia, and their newest masterpiece, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is no different. Your brain and body don't quite know what to do with themselves. You smile. You get the chills. You get creeped out. You contemplate, yet sometimes you stop thinking all together.
After the near three hour playtime ended, I took my headphones off and the first thing to come to mind was Homer's epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. If Homer were alive today, he'd be furiously writing a screenplay, day in and day out, so Reznor and Ross could give it the sonic pulse it (I'm sure) would deserve. They are just that good.
Reznor has always been one of my favorites as far as extremely layered music goes. I consider Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile to be the greatest double-album of my generation, and it's a perfect example of Mr. Reznor's musical depth. Atticus Ross, on the other hand is more of a minimalist, and I was first introduced to his music when he did some programming and/or produced Nine Inch Nails' last four albums. He also caught my attention whilst watching the movie The Book of Eli. The entire time I was thinking to myself, "This HAS to be either Trent, Atticus, or Saul Williams doing the soundtrack for this...." It was indeed Atticus, and I became a fan.
The soundtrack for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a drone type of electronica with some darker ambient soundscapes layered in, and when I write "layered in", I mean it as emphatically as is possible. It's the most complex minimalistic album ever created, if that's even possible. You'll always hear synth, and you'll sometimes hear keys, bells, guitars, strings, vibrations, xylophones etc., etc. One of the songs even has vocals, and oddly enough it's a cover of Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" (featuring Karen O on vocals) In a nutshell, it's epic in every way possible. Find three hours and treat yourself to what's bound to be a Grammy winner.
Recommended if you enjoy: Sigur Ros, Ghosts I-IV by Nine Inch Nails, The Book of Eli (soundtrack), The Social Network (soundtrack)
When Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor work together, they don't just make music. They mold sounds into layers of emotional synesthesia, and their newest masterpiece, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is no different. Your brain and body don't quite know what to do with themselves. You smile. You get the chills. You get creeped out. You contemplate, yet sometimes you stop thinking all together.
After the near three hour playtime ended, I took my headphones off and the first thing to come to mind was Homer's epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. If Homer were alive today, he'd be furiously writing a screenplay, day in and day out, so Reznor and Ross could give it the sonic pulse it (I'm sure) would deserve. They are just that good.
Reznor has always been one of my favorites as far as extremely layered music goes. I consider Nine Inch Nails' The Fragile to be the greatest double-album of my generation, and it's a perfect example of Mr. Reznor's musical depth. Atticus Ross, on the other hand is more of a minimalist, and I was first introduced to his music when he did some programming and/or produced Nine Inch Nails' last four albums. He also caught my attention whilst watching the movie The Book of Eli. The entire time I was thinking to myself, "This HAS to be either Trent, Atticus, or Saul Williams doing the soundtrack for this...." It was indeed Atticus, and I became a fan.
The soundtrack for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a drone type of electronica with some darker ambient soundscapes layered in, and when I write "layered in", I mean it as emphatically as is possible. It's the most complex minimalistic album ever created, if that's even possible. You'll always hear synth, and you'll sometimes hear keys, bells, guitars, strings, vibrations, xylophones etc., etc. One of the songs even has vocals, and oddly enough it's a cover of Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" (featuring Karen O on vocals) In a nutshell, it's epic in every way possible. Find three hours and treat yourself to what's bound to be a Grammy winner.
Recommended if you enjoy: Sigur Ros, Ghosts I-IV by Nine Inch Nails, The Book of Eli (soundtrack), The Social Network (soundtrack)
allbroke- Broke/Free EP (12/02/2011): A Review
Posted by defeat on December 6th, 2011, 11:23 pm. Category: Scribery Entry
Rating: 10/10
The dubstep scene is in two factions at the moment. You’ve got the UK kids who are all, “Yeah, Yeah dubstep…it’s played out and now the Americans are catching on late….yet again.” And we also have the US kids who are getting into dubstep because the US producers/programmers decided to 1-UP the UK’s scene. I personally don’t get into all that myself. If the track is good…..the track is good, wherever and whenever it came out.
Now on to the album you all need to know about. Allbroke has had a few songs independently released recently, and his Facebook was droppin’ hints about a present to us all (his fans). It’s here. His present is the absolutely free EP Broke/Free.
This you are going to enjoy. It’s a mix between UK and US dubstep in all the right ways. The music itself tells a subtle sci-fi story in it’s four song way. Makes me wish dubstep was around when The Matrix was being produced. I think It would have been very cool for Allbroke to have had a couple songs on there.
“The Device” is the opener, and from start to beginning it walks us through a device being used to make some nasty drops. It’s a very unique song. I have yet to hear of anyone doing what Allbroke is doing here. With this opener you know you’ve stumbled upon something unique.
“Nostromo” is second in line and well. It’s pretty chill at first until 55 seconds in when it drops and don’t stop….in a good way. Enter some sci fi dialogue. Great song.
“Orion” The third track I really, really, really , really enjoyed. Sweet, sweet tension and release I am a fan of. This one however has more of a UK sound to it. Not that I’m complaining .
“Field Medic” This closure is the epitome of what I was trying to get across up in hurr. It’s a UKUSA dubstep orgy.
Over all this albums broke down the boundaries between UK and US dubstep with one fell swoop. I was impressed with the dynamics of it all. Solid, Solid, EP.
Recommened if you enjoy: Ed Solo, Datsik, skrillex, Nero
Now how about a music video combining the songs for maximum epic? EH?
The link to the FREE EP is
http://www.facebook.com/spirographed?ref=tn_tnmn#!/Allbroke
Like the page, download the nasty.
The dubstep scene is in two factions at the moment. You’ve got the UK kids who are all, “Yeah, Yeah dubstep…it’s played out and now the Americans are catching on late….yet again.” And we also have the US kids who are getting into dubstep because the US producers/programmers decided to 1-UP the UK’s scene. I personally don’t get into all that myself. If the track is good…..the track is good, wherever and whenever it came out.
Now on to the album you all need to know about. Allbroke has had a few songs independently released recently, and his Facebook was droppin’ hints about a present to us all (his fans). It’s here. His present is the absolutely free EP Broke/Free.
This you are going to enjoy. It’s a mix between UK and US dubstep in all the right ways. The music itself tells a subtle sci-fi story in it’s four song way. Makes me wish dubstep was around when The Matrix was being produced. I think It would have been very cool for Allbroke to have had a couple songs on there.
“The Device” is the opener, and from start to beginning it walks us through a device being used to make some nasty drops. It’s a very unique song. I have yet to hear of anyone doing what Allbroke is doing here. With this opener you know you’ve stumbled upon something unique.
“Nostromo” is second in line and well. It’s pretty chill at first until 55 seconds in when it drops and don’t stop….in a good way. Enter some sci fi dialogue. Great song.
“Orion” The third track I really, really, really , really enjoyed. Sweet, sweet tension and release I am a fan of. This one however has more of a UK sound to it. Not that I’m complaining .
“Field Medic” This closure is the epitome of what I was trying to get across up in hurr. It’s a UKUSA dubstep orgy.
Over all this albums broke down the boundaries between UK and US dubstep with one fell swoop. I was impressed with the dynamics of it all. Solid, Solid, EP.
Recommened if you enjoy: Ed Solo, Datsik, skrillex, Nero
Now how about a music video combining the songs for maximum epic? EH?
The link to the FREE EP is
http://www.facebook.com/spirographed?ref=tn_tnmn#!/Allbroke
Like the page, download the nasty.
A battle of time on communities
Posted by Demon on December 5th, 2011, 6:42 pm. Category: Scribery Entry
Time moves on inevitably, as I’m sure anyone can tell. Childhood memories become just what they are – memories. Not much can stay the same in a world rapidly evolving with people snaking along just as quickly towards some mysterious, unknown goal of worth we, as a society and race, have decided is vitally necessary. This is also true for the internet, but at a much broader and faster rate because of instant gratification and the scope of available tools for developers to build. While driving down ‘memory lane’ after twenty-odd years may bring the shock of finding your childhood home destroyed and a new shopping plaza in its place, you can still find your breath taken away at the vast and expanding internet. Simply visit Google and type in a keyword relative to your life (anything) and you’ll find more information instantly available than you can possibly read in your lifetime… with more being released as you’re reading!
Thus, what happens to a memory of a place once you can no longer visit it or feel that connection you once felt? How often do you drive or walk down a new, but familiar street where memories seem to come alive and flood into your conscious? Where do you go when you begin to relive those days of happiness, the shared, raw energy of a community? The whole experience can be quite a downer once you start thinking about those childhood playmates or perhaps the teenage adventures while testing the world, knowing you had your parents as a safety net. Where, then do you go when that memory is an online community?
Too often I’ve found myself needing information and simply visiting search engines like Google and Bing to find a quick resolution to any situation which may arise. This includes anything from technological break-downs, news, or entertainment; basically anything which would be best served instantly. It seems, at least to me, that technical forums and online ‘gurus’ have become a thing of the past. Why? Most times, ‘Googling’ an issue will bring up a laundry list of posts in forums with the exact problem, usually followed with an answer. However, the post was made and answered anywhere from ten years to a more recent four years. In either case, unless it’s a new product, there is no real need for posting on a forum only to wait days (if you’re lucky) for an intelligent response and possibly longer to get a true answer.
So where do communities fit into this? It seems only natural that communities, though once warm and welcoming to the casual internet browser, has become a thing of the past. They’ve been replaced with blogs and social networking where, again, everything revolves on instant gratification for the end-user. What kind of communities have survived? Other than those directly linked with a brand (Dell Technical Support – Love them) or with a particular product (Tip.It – A fansite based on a MMO game), it would seem there is little opportunity for growth among other communities. Yet there are still communities with mixed interests (Runevillage – A fansite-turned-general interest) where a wisp of memory and the attachment of veterans keep the community together, even through difficult times.
Despite the fondness of memories in our compulsive visits to places we’ve known and grown to love, there is a sort of sweet sorrow in their parting. Just as we must one day say goodbye to our parents, it feels there is an inevitable end to all communities – online or not. In a more directed note, while the Village may be the dear home of a few dedicated users who have stayed around for nearly the entirety of its life, the difficulty lies not in reviving the dead, but re-angling the community to be both ageless and timeless where simple trends don’t direct the life of the site as a whole. I’d say this has been the bane of countless sites with a targeted audience, because there was never any room allowed or even acknowledged to open the door for a broader scope of inclusion for outsiders and thus lays the self-imprisonment of sites with too little a mind to approach a large audience.
Simply putting it, the only means by which to survive in the rapid change and growth of the internet is to build and evolve with it, rather than staying focused on a single niche. A stubborn, slow mind will only be left behind as the community gathered moves on to bigger and better things, though they may still visit every so often (like an old man in a retirement home, perhaps). There can only be success where success is actively perceived and rendered into a useable model; building a strong community is great while there is community to build, but there has to be some means of bringing new users in and getting them attached the same way everyone else has become attached.
Thus, what happens to a memory of a place once you can no longer visit it or feel that connection you once felt? How often do you drive or walk down a new, but familiar street where memories seem to come alive and flood into your conscious? Where do you go when you begin to relive those days of happiness, the shared, raw energy of a community? The whole experience can be quite a downer once you start thinking about those childhood playmates or perhaps the teenage adventures while testing the world, knowing you had your parents as a safety net. Where, then do you go when that memory is an online community?
Too often I’ve found myself needing information and simply visiting search engines like Google and Bing to find a quick resolution to any situation which may arise. This includes anything from technological break-downs, news, or entertainment; basically anything which would be best served instantly. It seems, at least to me, that technical forums and online ‘gurus’ have become a thing of the past. Why? Most times, ‘Googling’ an issue will bring up a laundry list of posts in forums with the exact problem, usually followed with an answer. However, the post was made and answered anywhere from ten years to a more recent four years. In either case, unless it’s a new product, there is no real need for posting on a forum only to wait days (if you’re lucky) for an intelligent response and possibly longer to get a true answer.
So where do communities fit into this? It seems only natural that communities, though once warm and welcoming to the casual internet browser, has become a thing of the past. They’ve been replaced with blogs and social networking where, again, everything revolves on instant gratification for the end-user. What kind of communities have survived? Other than those directly linked with a brand (Dell Technical Support – Love them) or with a particular product (Tip.It – A fansite based on a MMO game), it would seem there is little opportunity for growth among other communities. Yet there are still communities with mixed interests (Runevillage – A fansite-turned-general interest) where a wisp of memory and the attachment of veterans keep the community together, even through difficult times.
Despite the fondness of memories in our compulsive visits to places we’ve known and grown to love, there is a sort of sweet sorrow in their parting. Just as we must one day say goodbye to our parents, it feels there is an inevitable end to all communities – online or not. In a more directed note, while the Village may be the dear home of a few dedicated users who have stayed around for nearly the entirety of its life, the difficulty lies not in reviving the dead, but re-angling the community to be both ageless and timeless where simple trends don’t direct the life of the site as a whole. I’d say this has been the bane of countless sites with a targeted audience, because there was never any room allowed or even acknowledged to open the door for a broader scope of inclusion for outsiders and thus lays the self-imprisonment of sites with too little a mind to approach a large audience.
Simply putting it, the only means by which to survive in the rapid change and growth of the internet is to build and evolve with it, rather than staying focused on a single niche. A stubborn, slow mind will only be left behind as the community gathered moves on to bigger and better things, though they may still visit every so often (like an old man in a retirement home, perhaps). There can only be success where success is actively perceived and rendered into a useable model; building a strong community is great while there is community to build, but there has to be some means of bringing new users in and getting them attached the same way everyone else has become attached.
LLL: Updated 1/07; info on my future in the scribery
Posted by Landerpurex on December 1st, 2011, 2:55 am. Category: Scribery Entry
**EDIT**
Alright, so I daresay you editors and high ranking officials at RV are not interested in pure literature or creative works being put on the front page. Though I think that is ludicrous, I also see why that is. The bottom line is that I go to the movies, like, A LOT. Think on a weekly basis, pretty much. I hope to make some topics there on the front page through reviewing new movies. I have already written two and dedicated several hours to doing so in an effort to help this place. I know they are somewhat outdated, Darkest Hour being most so but I intend to review newer releases soon. I plan on seeing The Devil Inside tomorrow, so perhaps you can expect that review soon.
I also know that there are tons of other movie review sites, far more comprehensive and those that have professional critics (HA), but I tried to take a frank, fresh approach to the movies that will help anyone who is looking for such information. I also have to say that I am inspired by Defeat, but no longer will I allow him to take the brunt of the responsibility here, and the glory along with it.
Bottom line is, I am not going to write nor post creative works if they have no chance of being used, similarly how I am not going to write to no end for the Villager.
If someone wishes to refute or update me on Scribery and subsequently, front page quality policy, I would be much obliged.
Also it should be noted that I would like to buy the new RPG coming out in February called Kingdoms of Amalur, so dibs on that review assuming I actually get the game.
***
This is the thread I'm gonna reserve for the (hopefully) many contributions I make to RV in its new direction. For now, I'm only posting one poem but expect more in the future. This is perhaps my favorite piece that I've written, and I believe it shows. Later, expect more poetry, short stories, and snippets from my novel/s.
That said, I need to post a small disclaimer: I hope to make a living as a writer someday, and much of what I post will be some of my best work. I retain all rights to my work as the author. In the unlikely event that I sell the rights to some of my work, I may ask for it to be taken off the site but that does not seem to be something that is possible for me to accept.
This was something I wrote for a two week intensive poetry seminar. I wrote this in response to my classmates who often said that my work was too triumphant, that it wasn't sad, depressing, or void of conflict. I hope you appreciate the satire. It's a form called "letter poetry" which I had never tried before, but I seem to be at least somewhat good at.
Alright, so I daresay you editors and high ranking officials at RV are not interested in pure literature or creative works being put on the front page. Though I think that is ludicrous, I also see why that is. The bottom line is that I go to the movies, like, A LOT. Think on a weekly basis, pretty much. I hope to make some topics there on the front page through reviewing new movies. I have already written two and dedicated several hours to doing so in an effort to help this place. I know they are somewhat outdated, Darkest Hour being most so but I intend to review newer releases soon. I plan on seeing The Devil Inside tomorrow, so perhaps you can expect that review soon.
I also know that there are tons of other movie review sites, far more comprehensive and those that have professional critics (HA), but I tried to take a frank, fresh approach to the movies that will help anyone who is looking for such information. I also have to say that I am inspired by Defeat, but no longer will I allow him to take the brunt of the responsibility here, and the glory along with it.
Bottom line is, I am not going to write nor post creative works if they have no chance of being used, similarly how I am not going to write to no end for the Villager.
If someone wishes to refute or update me on Scribery and subsequently, front page quality policy, I would be much obliged. Also it should be noted that I would like to buy the new RPG coming out in February called Kingdoms of Amalur, so dibs on that review assuming I actually get the game.
***
This is the thread I'm gonna reserve for the (hopefully) many contributions I make to RV in its new direction. For now, I'm only posting one poem but expect more in the future. This is perhaps my favorite piece that I've written, and I believe it shows. Later, expect more poetry, short stories, and snippets from my novel/s.
That said, I need to post a small disclaimer: I hope to make a living as a writer someday, and much of what I post will be some of my best work. I retain all rights to my work as the author. In the unlikely event that I sell the rights to some of my work, I may ask for it to be taken off the site but that does not seem to be something that is possible for me to accept.
This was something I wrote for a two week intensive poetry seminar. I wrote this in response to my classmates who often said that my work was too triumphant, that it wasn't sad, depressing, or void of conflict. I hope you appreciate the satire. It's a form called "letter poetry" which I had never tried before, but I seem to be at least somewhat good at.
Lander wrote:
Dear self,
You will never triumph against anything.
To presume otherwise is nothing
short of maniacal nonsense.
Wallow in your self pity,
Fill a pool with it,
Drown in it,
Glub.
Write your farewell poem in blood,
Then hang yourself.
Um, don’t do any of that.
I’m being facetious.
It surely wouldn’t kill you,
To let your weakness through
Every now and again.
Death dances around you.
He dances a jig in Swedish clogs.
He trips over his own robe,
Wreaking hellish havoc.
Pontificate.
Your father, dead by simultaneous stroke and heart attack
Your Uncle, dead by spidery spider cancer
Your cousin, dead by asthma attack
Your cousin, dead by drowning
Your mother, dead by house fire
Let a tear chart a new course
Down your cheek.
Taste bitterness.
Become angry.
Shout for no reason,
Curse the people who get under your skin.
Do it to their faces.
Your car’s a piece of,
Drive it til the wheels fall off,
Then light it on fire.
Loosen up and stop hiding
Your past and your trials.
They happened.
Pretending they aren’t real will only
Cause a quarter-life crisis.
Affectionately,
Me
You will never triumph against anything.
To presume otherwise is nothing
short of maniacal nonsense.
Wallow in your self pity,
Fill a pool with it,
Drown in it,
Glub.
Write your farewell poem in blood,
Then hang yourself.
Um, don’t do any of that.
I’m being facetious.
It surely wouldn’t kill you,
To let your weakness through
Every now and again.
Death dances around you.
He dances a jig in Swedish clogs.
He trips over his own robe,
Wreaking hellish havoc.
Pontificate.
Your father, dead by simultaneous stroke and heart attack
Your Uncle, dead by spidery spider cancer
Your cousin, dead by asthma attack
Your cousin, dead by drowning
Your mother, dead by house fire
Let a tear chart a new course
Down your cheek.
Taste bitterness.
Become angry.
Shout for no reason,
Curse the people who get under your skin.
Do it to their faces.
Your car’s a piece of
,Drive it til the wheels fall off,
Then light it on fire.
Loosen up and stop hiding
Your past and your trials.
They happened.
Pretending they aren’t real will only
Cause a quarter-life crisis.
Affectionately,
Me
By far, the most exciting news in the last year was the announcement of the latest entry in the Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim. Along with this announcement was a vast amount of detail on what would be included in the final product, as it would be released in less than 12 months, on November 11. The game is now out, and the biggest question series fans have had is this: Is it going to live up to previous games in the series?
I have to say what excited me was the announcement that this game would attempt to walk the line between Morrowind and Oblivion; Morrowind being one of my favorite games from childhood, and Oblivion being a technically good follow up set in a fairly generic setting. This is a pretty tall order. The magic of Morrowind, anyone can tell you, was in the discovery. You never knew what powerful ring you would find in that tomb across the river, or what daedric relic you'd pull out of the abandoned dwemer tower just outside of town.
Oblivion did away with this system, simply rewarding you these one of a kind items through quests; sure, a dungeon might provide a bunch of loot, but none of it had "pizzazz". None of it belonged to some great, unnamed warlock, and it certainly didn't belong to a demigod. You had to go talk to those guys in person, and you had to make sacrifices, but only when you hit the right level. Not the right level? Go back to Rockmilk and wait for those bandits and marauders to kill each other! Maybe after about ten delves you'll have fired your bow enough to get a level or two. It kind of got... boring. Not that other games don't have ridiculous amounts of grinding, but in a game claiming to be bigger and better than Morrowind, I expect even more relics to be dug up, not to just be handed to me for running between vendors and grabbing a shovel.
Skyrim, I'm happy to say, walks the line and leans toward the Morrowind side of the series. There's no telling what you'll find in any given cave, be it a powerful enemy wielding a magic weapon or a dragon wall providing you with immense power. The quests to find powerful artefacts often trigger just from discovering the tomb or strange item, so you still get the thrill of finding the artefact without feeling like you're a means to an end.
The world is wonderfully alien, just as it was in the good old days of the series. Expansive plains have herds of mammoths and giants wandering through, with beautiful mountains always in view. Rivers and streams flow through the landscape and look wonderful, although they are as much a nuisance as they are a beauty to look at. Often, there is no good way to cross a river without walking for what seems like miles out of your way. Attempting to wade across often goes awry, as there typically isn't a good way to climb out of said river. At this point, the best you can hope to do is survive the waterfall inevitably waiting 200 feet downstream and hope that you'll come out somewhere close to an actual road on the other side.
That's not to say that Oblivion's additions to the series were completely cut from the game; if anything, its shortcomings were tweaked until they became strengths for the game. While it didn't provide much in the way of setting, the fourth game in the series did a few things right: It simplified everything, and it added randomness in items. Skyrim expands on this.
Previous entries in the series required you to build your character around your Attributes, which governed skills, of which several selected as Major and [sometimes] Minor. You could only level up by increasing one of these selected skills, and then you had to weigh the pros and cons of increasing an attribute. These dilemmas are no more. Attributes: Gone. Major Skills: Nope nope. Minor Skills: That's been out of fashion for like ten years! All skills start the same, save for racial bonuses. You don't pick a class. You don't make a class. Whatever you use increases, and when a certain number of skill increases has been achieved, you level. You choose to increase your Health, Magicka, or Stamina bars, and then you get a perk to use to specialize in something. That's it. While I DO miss the challenge of increasing my luck, it's even better that I don't have to worry about respecializing in things after I've made my character. That isn't even a concern until after level 15 or so.
Building on the simplification of "Blade, Blunt, and Marksman", the weapon distinction has now become "One handed, Two handed, and Archery", with different sub-specializations within each skill tree that are up to you. One handed weapons include daggers, maces, swords, and one handed axes, and are great for damage dealers who don't want to take any damage. It goes hand in hand with the stealth tree, which only serves to make assassin characters even more overpowered (a common complaint I've heard of the game). From here you have the option to dual wield, a new feature to the series. It dramatically decreases your ability to block an attack, but the idea here is that you aren't going to be hit before this happens. Two handed is for people who don't mind getting punched in the face a couple times while swinging there weapon. These include greatswords, axes, and warhammers. Where does archery fit into all this? Very neatly, since it's so much more powerful than it ever was before. Put enough points into it, and it’s just as effective as any other weapon you could use.
Delving dungeons simply for magic items is always beneficial, especially at lower levels. Don't wear heavy armor, but still REALLY want that archery bonus? With the return of the Enchantment skill, items can be destroyed to learn their properties for use in making new ones. This means that equipment gathering is no longer the endless cycle of finding and selling and paying your first born to the Mage's Guild to make stuff temporarily better.
Oh, and dragons. With how late this review/rant is coming out, you've probably heard a lot about them already. Not a whole lot I can say on that matter except that they are far more fun than any of the other boss fights I have been involved with in this game up to this point. Fight them. Relish them, but remember that they are common throughout this game. If I had a nickel for every time I came out of fast travel and had to save a town, I wouldn’t have much money, because I don't think I've killed more than 20 dragons, and only like half those attacked towns. But I still feel like a boss.
Last, the main quest. I'm not going to get too much into this, because I honestly haven't done much with it. This shouldn't be a problem for many fans of the series, as no one really plays through it. From what I've seen of other people playing it, it is greatly improved story wise from Oblivion. What I can tell you is that guilds are back, with the Fighter's Guild and Mage's Guild being replaced by awesome. Dark Brotherhood is more disturbing than ever, and the Thieves Guild is... changed...
While a great game in and of itself, it stacks up with the best of the Elder Scrolls series. If you enjoyed any of those, give it a shot. It's definitely the best entry in the series. If you didn't, check it out anyway. Enough has changed that you may find yourself a new fan.
I have to say what excited me was the announcement that this game would attempt to walk the line between Morrowind and Oblivion; Morrowind being one of my favorite games from childhood, and Oblivion being a technically good follow up set in a fairly generic setting. This is a pretty tall order. The magic of Morrowind, anyone can tell you, was in the discovery. You never knew what powerful ring you would find in that tomb across the river, or what daedric relic you'd pull out of the abandoned dwemer tower just outside of town.
Oblivion did away with this system, simply rewarding you these one of a kind items through quests; sure, a dungeon might provide a bunch of loot, but none of it had "pizzazz". None of it belonged to some great, unnamed warlock, and it certainly didn't belong to a demigod. You had to go talk to those guys in person, and you had to make sacrifices, but only when you hit the right level. Not the right level? Go back to Rockmilk and wait for those bandits and marauders to kill each other! Maybe after about ten delves you'll have fired your bow enough to get a level or two. It kind of got... boring. Not that other games don't have ridiculous amounts of grinding, but in a game claiming to be bigger and better than Morrowind, I expect even more relics to be dug up, not to just be handed to me for running between vendors and grabbing a shovel.
Skyrim, I'm happy to say, walks the line and leans toward the Morrowind side of the series. There's no telling what you'll find in any given cave, be it a powerful enemy wielding a magic weapon or a dragon wall providing you with immense power. The quests to find powerful artefacts often trigger just from discovering the tomb or strange item, so you still get the thrill of finding the artefact without feeling like you're a means to an end.
The world is wonderfully alien, just as it was in the good old days of the series. Expansive plains have herds of mammoths and giants wandering through, with beautiful mountains always in view. Rivers and streams flow through the landscape and look wonderful, although they are as much a nuisance as they are a beauty to look at. Often, there is no good way to cross a river without walking for what seems like miles out of your way. Attempting to wade across often goes awry, as there typically isn't a good way to climb out of said river. At this point, the best you can hope to do is survive the waterfall inevitably waiting 200 feet downstream and hope that you'll come out somewhere close to an actual road on the other side.
That's not to say that Oblivion's additions to the series were completely cut from the game; if anything, its shortcomings were tweaked until they became strengths for the game. While it didn't provide much in the way of setting, the fourth game in the series did a few things right: It simplified everything, and it added randomness in items. Skyrim expands on this.
Previous entries in the series required you to build your character around your Attributes, which governed skills, of which several selected as Major and [sometimes] Minor. You could only level up by increasing one of these selected skills, and then you had to weigh the pros and cons of increasing an attribute. These dilemmas are no more. Attributes: Gone. Major Skills: Nope nope. Minor Skills: That's been out of fashion for like ten years! All skills start the same, save for racial bonuses. You don't pick a class. You don't make a class. Whatever you use increases, and when a certain number of skill increases has been achieved, you level. You choose to increase your Health, Magicka, or Stamina bars, and then you get a perk to use to specialize in something. That's it. While I DO miss the challenge of increasing my luck, it's even better that I don't have to worry about respecializing in things after I've made my character. That isn't even a concern until after level 15 or so.
Building on the simplification of "Blade, Blunt, and Marksman", the weapon distinction has now become "One handed, Two handed, and Archery", with different sub-specializations within each skill tree that are up to you. One handed weapons include daggers, maces, swords, and one handed axes, and are great for damage dealers who don't want to take any damage. It goes hand in hand with the stealth tree, which only serves to make assassin characters even more overpowered (a common complaint I've heard of the game). From here you have the option to dual wield, a new feature to the series. It dramatically decreases your ability to block an attack, but the idea here is that you aren't going to be hit before this happens. Two handed is for people who don't mind getting punched in the face a couple times while swinging there weapon. These include greatswords, axes, and warhammers. Where does archery fit into all this? Very neatly, since it's so much more powerful than it ever was before. Put enough points into it, and it’s just as effective as any other weapon you could use.
Delving dungeons simply for magic items is always beneficial, especially at lower levels. Don't wear heavy armor, but still REALLY want that archery bonus? With the return of the Enchantment skill, items can be destroyed to learn their properties for use in making new ones. This means that equipment gathering is no longer the endless cycle of finding and selling and paying your first born to the Mage's Guild to make stuff temporarily better.
Oh, and dragons. With how late this review/rant is coming out, you've probably heard a lot about them already. Not a whole lot I can say on that matter except that they are far more fun than any of the other boss fights I have been involved with in this game up to this point. Fight them. Relish them, but remember that they are common throughout this game. If I had a nickel for every time I came out of fast travel and had to save a town, I wouldn’t have much money, because I don't think I've killed more than 20 dragons, and only like half those attacked towns. But I still feel like a boss.
Last, the main quest. I'm not going to get too much into this, because I honestly haven't done much with it. This shouldn't be a problem for many fans of the series, as no one really plays through it. From what I've seen of other people playing it, it is greatly improved story wise from Oblivion. What I can tell you is that guilds are back, with the Fighter's Guild and Mage's Guild being replaced by awesome. Dark Brotherhood is more disturbing than ever, and the Thieves Guild is... changed...
While a great game in and of itself, it stacks up with the best of the Elder Scrolls series. If you enjoyed any of those, give it a shot. It's definitely the best entry in the series. If you didn't, check it out anyway. Enough has changed that you may find yourself a new fan.
28 August 2008 - Postbag from the Hedge
Posted by Jackstick on August 28th, 2008, 10:51 am. Category: RuneScape News
www.runescape.com wrote:
In this month's postbag we've got some wise words from the Poll Orks, Mr Mordaut explaining planar theory and the latest edition of Evil Dave's Conspiracy Theories. So, if you want to know some harsh truths about RuneScape, head over to the latest installment of the POSTBAG FROM THE HEDGE OF EVIL.
Quote:
Increasingly concerned by Morytania mischief makers and invaders from the Wilderness, King Roald has a burning desire to increase homeland security. This has taken the form of a beacon network that will warn Varrock of invasion. The beacons have been built and firetenders have been assigned to look after them; the only problem is that they are yet to be tested – and that's where King Roald could use your pyromania...
After you learn the basics of lighting and maintaining the beacons in a sizzlingly short quest, you are free to use the beacons as you please. Why not challenge yourself and see how many beacons you can keep simultaneously alight? Rewards are in store for those who succeed, not to mention some Firemaking experience for flashy firetenders.
Summary
Where to start the All Fired Up quest:
Talk to King Roald in the Varrock Palace throne room.
Requirements to complete the All Fired Up quest:
Level 43 Firemaking
Access to:
A new way to train Firemaking
Some flaming-brilliant Firemaking rewards
In other news...
The level 84 Plank Make spell now has the option to skip the warning message when converting logs to planks. At this level, we feel that most players are aware that it costs money; so, after one cast, you can opt to turn the message off.
Various dyes have had their Grand Exchange price ranges adjusted to allow for a built-in 'delivery' cost. This compensates those players who have taken the time to gather dyes in larger quantities.
A new option has been added to allow the collection of Grand Exchange purchases in note form. Don't worry: you can still choose to take the objects directly, but for larger quantities this option should be cert-ifiably handy!
After you learn the basics of lighting and maintaining the beacons in a sizzlingly short quest, you are free to use the beacons as you please. Why not challenge yourself and see how many beacons you can keep simultaneously alight? Rewards are in store for those who succeed, not to mention some Firemaking experience for flashy firetenders.
Summary
Where to start the All Fired Up quest:
Talk to King Roald in the Varrock Palace throne room.
Requirements to complete the All Fired Up quest:
Level 43 Firemaking
Access to:
A new way to train Firemaking
Some flaming-brilliant Firemaking rewards
In other news...
The level 84 Plank Make spell now has the option to skip the warning message when converting logs to planks. At this level, we feel that most players are aware that it costs money; so, after one cast, you can opt to turn the message off.
Various dyes have had their Grand Exchange price ranges adjusted to allow for a built-in 'delivery' cost. This compensates those players who have taken the time to gather dyes in larger quantities.
A new option has been added to allow the collection of Grand Exchange purchases in note form. Don't worry: you can still choose to take the objects directly, but for larger quantities this option should be cert-ifiably handy!
RVET #12: Who's that Villager? - OVER - Jackstick wins!!
Posted by Sayaka on August 24th, 2008, 9:58 pm. Category: Global announcement
The contest has ended, and I'm here to announce the winner! And that person is...
Jackstick!
Congratulations, Jack! Besides having a rather large lead over the runners-up, he was the only person to correctly get all 25 pictures right! Jackstick's name will appear in the Recent Winners section in future RVET globals.
(And you can totally boast now.)
At this point in time, I'd like to also announce the three runners-up, who unfortunately win nothing but all tied for second place. With 22 points each, congratulations to Tanksandguns, G@mer/Jem, and Reggie!
If you'll view the pictures again, I've added the correct answer to every photo, along with a little description of why it's that, and comments about what people guessed. Take a look!
Finally, as promised, here are the scores of everyone that entered. Check it out and see how well you did compared to everyone else!
Scores: 25, 22, 22, 22, 21, 20, 20, 19, 18, 17, 17, 16, 16, 16, 15, 14, 13, 13, 12, 7, 7, 6
Thanks again to everyone that played, and congratulations once more to Jackstick!
~~~
RVET Event #12: July 2008
"Who's that Villager?" Contest
The woman logged off of RuneScape and closed the tab in her browser. She had been playing the game for a long time and wanted to take a break for the time being. Over on her beloved forums, she noticed an intriguing topic and clicked on it. As it opened, she was surprised to see a RuneVillage Events Team post, but...this was no RuneScape event! Was her mind playing tricks on her? Are your eyes misreading this as she thought hers were?
The answer is no.
Welcome to the first RVET Forum Event - open to everyone - Who's that Villager?
General Information
What: "Who's that Villager?", a forum-based event!
DEADLINE: 11:59 PM CST, Saturday, August 30
Send your PMs to: Jaron
Contest Information
Hey, everyone! We're trying something a little bit different this month: a forum-based event that everyone can play, regardless of whether you play RuneScape or not! "Who's that Villager?" plays out exactly like you might think. Inside one of the spoiler tags below are 25 pictures, each picture depicting a different RuneVillager. It may be a well-known Villager, or it may be some obscure person you've never heard of--the only rule is that they have to be in the memberlist. As such, some of the pictures will be easy, and you'll know them right off the bat. On the other hand, others (particularly near the end, if we did things right) will be tougher to determine. Here's what you should do:
1) Open the spoiler tag below with an entry form, and copy it into Notepad or something.
2) Open the spoiler tag with the pictures, and see how many Villagers you can identify! Mark them on your entry form as you go. DON'T worry if you can't get them all--some are meant to be hard, and you'll never know if you're still getting more right than someone else until the very end. (If for some reason a picture doesn't show up for you, even after refreshing, PM me and I will get the picture to you somehow.)
3) After you've done as much as you think you can, send the entry form in a PM to me, Jaron. I will only accept your FIRST PM. If you come up with more answers days later, you're out of luck! You can send the PM anytime during the week, but the deadline for sending your PMs is 11:59 PM CST on Saturday, August 30th.
4) I'll tally up the correct answers, and the winner will be posted within 24 hours of the deadline. The person who identifies the most Villagers will, of course, get their name in the Recent Winners section below for all posterity!
That's all there is to it! Remember to keep your answers to yourself (so don't post any guesses in this topic), and to send me your PM before Saturday ends. Good luck to you all!
Entry form:
The 25 pictures! (56k warning, heh)
Recent RVET Event Winners
This section proclaims the winners of past RVET events. Want to have your name up here on a Global for all to see? Come on down to our events and give it your all!
May '08 Castle Wars Winners: Team Saradomin
April '08 Trouble Brewing Team: Caedo, Goten, Jaron, Justin, Shadow7, Simons Pure
March '08 Egg Hunt Winners: Simons Pure (2 eggs), Shadowsmage, Zinyx, Devil Fly
February '08 Snowball Fight Victors: Justin's Wind Faction
January '08 Fight Pits Champions: Simons Pure, Paidea, Ges2
December '07 Games Room Champions: Dark Paladin, Jaron, The123king, The Slayer
About The RuneVillage Events Team
The RuneVillage Events Team is a team lead by Dustin, Dr Henry, and Jaron, with strong support from Avian Maid, Dark Paladin, Jimmybe, Justin, Mackerel, stimpy, and Tyler. Together, we plan one event every month for all of RuneVillage to participate in. Hopefully, you will enjoy this event as well as every other event we host, as a lot of thought and time goes into each and every one we do. Also note that if you have an idea for an event and want our help, please do not hesitate to contact us and we shall see if we can help out.
- The RuneVillage Events Team -
Jackstick!
Congratulations, Jack! Besides having a rather large lead over the runners-up, he was the only person to correctly get all 25 pictures right! Jackstick's name will appear in the Recent Winners section in future RVET globals.
(And you can totally boast now.)At this point in time, I'd like to also announce the three runners-up, who unfortunately win nothing but all tied for second place. With 22 points each, congratulations to Tanksandguns, G@mer/Jem, and Reggie!
If you'll view the pictures again, I've added the correct answer to every photo, along with a little description of why it's that, and comments about what people guessed. Take a look!
Finally, as promised, here are the scores of everyone that entered. Check it out and see how well you did compared to everyone else!
Scores: 25, 22, 22, 22, 21, 20, 20, 19, 18, 17, 17, 16, 16, 16, 15, 14, 13, 13, 12, 7, 7, 6
Thanks again to everyone that played, and congratulations once more to Jackstick!
~~~
RVET Event #12: July 2008
"Who's that Villager?" Contest
The woman logged off of RuneScape and closed the tab in her browser. She had been playing the game for a long time and wanted to take a break for the time being. Over on her beloved forums, she noticed an intriguing topic and clicked on it. As it opened, she was surprised to see a RuneVillage Events Team post, but...this was no RuneScape event! Was her mind playing tricks on her? Are your eyes misreading this as she thought hers were?
The answer is no.
Welcome to the first RVET Forum Event - open to everyone - Who's that Villager?
General Information
What: "Who's that Villager?", a forum-based event!
DEADLINE: 11:59 PM CST, Saturday, August 30
Send your PMs to: Jaron
Contest Information
Hey, everyone! We're trying something a little bit different this month: a forum-based event that everyone can play, regardless of whether you play RuneScape or not! "Who's that Villager?" plays out exactly like you might think. Inside one of the spoiler tags below are 25 pictures, each picture depicting a different RuneVillager. It may be a well-known Villager, or it may be some obscure person you've never heard of--the only rule is that they have to be in the memberlist. As such, some of the pictures will be easy, and you'll know them right off the bat. On the other hand, others (particularly near the end, if we did things right) will be tougher to determine. Here's what you should do:
1) Open the spoiler tag below with an entry form, and copy it into Notepad or something.
2) Open the spoiler tag with the pictures, and see how many Villagers you can identify! Mark them on your entry form as you go. DON'T worry if you can't get them all--some are meant to be hard, and you'll never know if you're still getting more right than someone else until the very end. (If for some reason a picture doesn't show up for you, even after refreshing, PM me and I will get the picture to you somehow.)
3) After you've done as much as you think you can, send the entry form in a PM to me, Jaron. I will only accept your FIRST PM. If you come up with more answers days later, you're out of luck! You can send the PM anytime during the week, but the deadline for sending your PMs is 11:59 PM CST on Saturday, August 30th.
4) I'll tally up the correct answers, and the winner will be posted within 24 hours of the deadline. The person who identifies the most Villagers will, of course, get their name in the Recent Winners section below for all posterity!
That's all there is to it! Remember to keep your answers to yourself (so don't post any guesses in this topic), and to send me your PM before Saturday ends. Good luck to you all!
Entry form:
Hidden:
The 25 pictures! (56k warning, heh)
Hidden:
Recent RVET Event Winners
This section proclaims the winners of past RVET events. Want to have your name up here on a Global for all to see? Come on down to our events and give it your all!
May '08 Castle Wars Winners: Team Saradomin
April '08 Trouble Brewing Team: Caedo, Goten, Jaron, Justin, Shadow7, Simons Pure
March '08 Egg Hunt Winners: Simons Pure (2 eggs), Shadowsmage, Zinyx, Devil Fly
February '08 Snowball Fight Victors: Justin's Wind Faction
January '08 Fight Pits Champions: Simons Pure, Paidea, Ges2
December '07 Games Room Champions: Dark Paladin, Jaron, The123king, The Slayer
About The RuneVillage Events Team
The RuneVillage Events Team is a team lead by Dustin, Dr Henry, and Jaron, with strong support from Avian Maid, Dark Paladin, Jimmybe, Justin, Mackerel, stimpy, and Tyler. Together, we plan one event every month for all of RuneVillage to participate in. Hopefully, you will enjoy this event as well as every other event we host, as a lot of thought and time goes into each and every one we do. Also note that if you have an idea for an event and want our help, please do not hesitate to contact us and we shall see if we can help out.
- The RuneVillage Events Team -
22 August - RuneScape in Guinness World Records!
Posted by Boa on August 22nd, 2008, 12:20 pm. Category: RuneScape News
Runescape.com wrote:
RuneScape has entered the record books this week. The game has been recognised as the most popular free MMORPG in the world for the second year in a row, with a certificate awarded by Guinness World Records. That's one record that Usain Bolt didn't manage to get!
The presentation took place at the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany, where RuneScape has been showcasing RuneScape HD.
The presentation took place at the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany, where RuneScape has been showcasing RuneScape HD.
22 August 2008 - Jagex Store - Official Launch!
Posted by John on August 22nd, 2008, 8:40 am. Category: RuneScape News
Quote:
The Jagex Store has expanded to include a range of official RuneScape merchandise. If you visit it today, you'll find that it includes the following items:
T-shirts
Hoodies
Mousemats
A wireless optical mouse
Mugs
None of these items are available anywhere else - they are exclusives to the Jagex Store. The official RuneScape novel, Betrayal at Falador, is also available from the store.
We have more merchandise planned for the near future, so keep an eye on the RuneScape front page for more announcements. We've even got some items in the pipeline that are based on your feedback!
Anyway, enough from us - get to the Jagex Store and check out the official accessories and apparel for yourself!
T-shirts
Hoodies
Mousemats
A wireless optical mouse
Mugs
None of these items are available anywhere else - they are exclusives to the Jagex Store. The official RuneScape novel, Betrayal at Falador, is also available from the store.
We have more merchandise planned for the near future, so keep an eye on the RuneScape front page for more announcements. We've even got some items in the pipeline that are based on your feedback!
Anyway, enough from us - get to the Jagex Store and check out the official accessories and apparel for yourself!
Quote:
[From Runescape forums]Today, we have made a few changes to the Great Orb Project minigame:
-You are now able to sign up for the minigame with any of the wizard apprentices
-You can now sign up to whichever team currently has the least players
-If a game lacks enough players it will instantly finish
-Reward tokens will be given whether you win, lose or draw, based upon how well you've done
-A number of useful phrases have been added to Quick Chat for this minigame
Elriss will now also accept tiaras and staves as proof that you own the relevant Runecrafting talismans.
We have also added some functionality to the run energy icon located next to the minimap. Clicking on this icon will now toggle your run energy on or off in the same way as the 'Run' button in the Options panel of the interface does. The button in the Options panel is still there, should you prefer, as is the ability to press CTRL + mouse-click to run.
In other news:
-The look of the dwarf multicannon in RuneScape High Detail has been improved
-The Skillcape of Hitpoints and some other capes and items have been fixed
-You are now able to sign up for the minigame with any of the wizard apprentices
-You can now sign up to whichever team currently has the least players
-If a game lacks enough players it will instantly finish
-Reward tokens will be given whether you win, lose or draw, based upon how well you've done
-A number of useful phrases have been added to Quick Chat for this minigame
Elriss will now also accept tiaras and staves as proof that you own the relevant Runecrafting talismans.
We have also added some functionality to the run energy icon located next to the minimap. Clicking on this icon will now toggle your run energy on or off in the same way as the 'Run' button in the Options panel of the interface does. The button in the Options panel is still there, should you prefer, as is the ability to press CTRL + mouse-click to run.
In other news:
-The look of the dwarf multicannon in RuneScape High Detail has been improved
-The Skillcape of Hitpoints and some other capes and items have been fixed
http://forum.runescape.com/forums.ws?13,14,547,57457930
August 18th - Price Change - Starting Today
Posted by Donut Juice on August 19th, 2008, 7:30 am. Category: RuneScape News
RuneScape.com wrote:
For players who create a new subscription, the monthly cost of RuneScape membership has increased 30p in the UK, $0.95 in the US and by similar amounts in other currencies. These are examples of credit card prices - all other payment types have been increased by a similar margin.
For a list of the new prices, please view the Billing Options page.
If you have an existing subscription, set up before the 18th August, then this price change will not affect you. You will continue to pay the lower price for as long as you keep your membership valid. As long as you do not allow your membership to lapse for more than two weeks (after the 18th of August), you will continue to pay at this lower RuneScape price.
We are also offering a 'loyalty' rate, for those of you who have paid at the slightly increased price for a long period. If you pay at the higher rate for 12 months (without a gap of more than 14 days) you will be offered the lower, $5 (£3.20) rate at the end of the year.
For those of you who pay by Surfpin or PaybyCash, there are some points to note due to the way your payments are made:
For a list of the new prices, please view the Billing Options page.
If you have an existing subscription, set up before the 18th August, then this price change will not affect you. You will continue to pay the lower price for as long as you keep your membership valid. As long as you do not allow your membership to lapse for more than two weeks (after the 18th of August), you will continue to pay at this lower RuneScape price.
We are also offering a 'loyalty' rate, for those of you who have paid at the slightly increased price for a long period. If you pay at the higher rate for 12 months (without a gap of more than 14 days) you will be offered the lower, $5 (£3.20) rate at the end of the year.
For those of you who pay by Surfpin or PaybyCash, there are some points to note due to the way your payments are made:
- If you make a payment at the lower price, but have an account that is charged at the higher price, then you will receive fewer days of credit.
- If you make a payment at the higher price, but have an account that is charged at the lower price, then you will receive more days of credit.
18th August - Wallie Card Update
Posted by Donut Juice on August 19th, 2008, 7:28 am. Category: RuneScape News
RuneScape.com wrote:
We recently introduced a method of making direct payments using Wallie Cards for RuneScape. With the recent price increase, existing Wallie Card subscribers will be pleased to find out that they are able to keep paying a lower price. Wallie cards are available in lots of stores in the EU and Switzerland, and can be used for longer, multiple-month subscriptions.
Just to fill you in on what's happened in the past week or so....
we originally were supposed to move to the new server about a week ago-- if you recall, we shut down then, but the move was not made. apparently the tech support folks had some trouble moving the database.
now.... on the 13th, they again did a full backup of they system in preparation for moving... and this included the main site plus the forum.... however, they were not going to be able to schedule the actual move until the 15th.
I told them if that was the case, they would have to make a new backup of at least the forum database to account for new posts.
on the evening of the 15th, around 10pm, we closed the forum after having been told by tech support that it would take two hours to make the new backup and move everything....
so i waited.. and waited .. and waited... and finally around 4am, having not heard much from them, i pointed out that we were six hours into a two hour project-- they said they were having a problem with the database due to it's size.... finally around 6am, i called it a night....
i'm not sure exactly *what* the problem was, or how they tried to resolve it-- but it looks as if they only restored certain tables from the database.... for instance, i noticed that on a post of mine from the 14th, that the post was there, but it had lost links to the pictures that were uploaded with it.... PM's from early august no longer showed as having been read.... although later PM's were present and marked as 'read'....
so we're just guessing exactly what happened, and just making the best recovery we can...
at this point, if you're missing posts, but are only worried about your post count, just contact an admin to have your post count adjusted.
if you're missing a major post, you can still access the old forum here: http://72.36.192.235/ThePub/
you can go there, copy your post, and then come back here and paste it as a new topic....
i realize some will be out of sequence, but at least they'll be recovered....
do not worry about trying to recover every little post--- it's not worth the effort to recover "lol"....
if you're an uploader of guides, etc. you may have to go there and recover any recent updates you have made. you can still access the old site via FTP by using the ip# instead of the domain name.
Thanks to Glodenox for trying to keep things as straight as possible under the circumstances. Please do not overload him with trying to recover small topics/posts... if it's important and you can't just copy/paste as above, then contact him... just be sure it's something important.
sorry for all the confusion with everyone-- it's just one of those things that sometimes happen in the wonderful world of computers.... but hopefully, we'll get it all straightened out, and enjoy the newer, faster server (with more memory!).
we originally were supposed to move to the new server about a week ago-- if you recall, we shut down then, but the move was not made. apparently the tech support folks had some trouble moving the database.
now.... on the 13th, they again did a full backup of they system in preparation for moving... and this included the main site plus the forum.... however, they were not going to be able to schedule the actual move until the 15th.
I told them if that was the case, they would have to make a new backup of at least the forum database to account for new posts.
on the evening of the 15th, around 10pm, we closed the forum after having been told by tech support that it would take two hours to make the new backup and move everything....
so i waited.. and waited .. and waited... and finally around 4am, having not heard much from them, i pointed out that we were six hours into a two hour project-- they said they were having a problem with the database due to it's size.... finally around 6am, i called it a night....
i'm not sure exactly *what* the problem was, or how they tried to resolve it-- but it looks as if they only restored certain tables from the database.... for instance, i noticed that on a post of mine from the 14th, that the post was there, but it had lost links to the pictures that were uploaded with it.... PM's from early august no longer showed as having been read.... although later PM's were present and marked as 'read'....
so we're just guessing exactly what happened, and just making the best recovery we can...
at this point, if you're missing posts, but are only worried about your post count, just contact an admin to have your post count adjusted.
if you're missing a major post, you can still access the old forum here: http://72.36.192.235/ThePub/
you can go there, copy your post, and then come back here and paste it as a new topic....
i realize some will be out of sequence, but at least they'll be recovered....
do not worry about trying to recover every little post--- it's not worth the effort to recover "lol"....
if you're an uploader of guides, etc. you may have to go there and recover any recent updates you have made. you can still access the old site via FTP by using the ip# instead of the domain name.
Thanks to Glodenox for trying to keep things as straight as possible under the circumstances. Please do not overload him with trying to recover small topics/posts... if it's important and you can't just copy/paste as above, then contact him... just be sure it's something important.
sorry for all the confusion with everyone-- it's just one of those things that sometimes happen in the wonderful world of computers.... but hopefully, we'll get it all straightened out, and enjoy the newer, faster server (with more memory!).
ThePub will be down tonight for maintenance.....
Posted by hiker on August 15th, 2008, 6:05 pm. Category: RuneVillage News
Related to our move to a new server, ThePub will go offline at approx. 10pm EDT..... TONIGHT, Friday Aug. 15....
We should not be offline for long, barring any problems, but are shutting down so that no posts are lost due to database being moved....
We should not be offline for long, barring any problems, but are shutting down so that no posts are lost due to database being moved....
15th August 2008 - Future PvP Updates
Posted by stimpy on August 15th, 2008, 11:41 am. Category: RuneScape News
Quote:
The most frequent request we have received over the last few months has been to put more PvP back into the game. We want to let you know that this request hasn't gone unheard, and that we've put a lot of research into how we can introduce new PvP mechanisms. The aim is for PvP content that better replaces the old Wilderness, but without reintroducing RWT.
Hopefully, you’re already aware of the imminent Clan Wars release (see the September Behind the Scenes in a couple of weeks for more information), but there are also plans afoot for the most exciting and "old school" PvP update we have ever considered – unique PvP worlds.
As many of our long term players know, in the old RuneScape Classic days you could actually fight players just outside the gates of Lumbridge, before the days of duelling and even before the days of the old Wilderness itself. Players could hunt each other down, chasing them away from favourite resource points and generally "owning" large areas of the map.
So, in 2008, we will be bringing you special 'PvP worlds', where you can fight other players almost anywhere! In addition to all the usual content you might expect to find in RuneScape, they will also include:
* Optional sign-up – choose between PvP danger or stick to ordinary play by simply switching worlds.
* High danger with items dropped on death.
* High rewards for kills. To avoid any RWT issues the reward for a successful PK will be generated by the game, similar to when you kill a monster at the moment. We're creating generous drop tables based on factors like your levels and the impressiveness of the kill.
* These drop tables will include "PvP world specific" items like XP-modifying gear, lvl 70+ equipment and new, glorious, short-term but hard hitting gear. These will once again make PKing a viable source of income.
* PvP across 99% of the world, including the old Wilderness.
* Attack any player within a certain level of your own. Level range depends on the area, similar to the old Wilderness levels.
* ...And all sorts of other twists on interesting content... Just think of the possibilities when you can PK anywhere!
Naturally, we also have other PvP-orientated content, like Stealing Creation (a resource control game where skillers and PKers work together, creating equipment and beating up the opposition) and Mobilising Armies (a real-time strategy game where you use your hard made bows, swords, etc. to equip your own armies in 4-player battles).
Add all this to a healthy schedule of quests (featuring Arrav and the sequel to Spirit of Summer), holiday events and some unique puzzle content... and the rest of '08 has something for almost everyone.
Finally, we'd like to let you in on a little secret – we're currently working on our highest level, longest, most exciting quest ever. Not necessarily for launch in '08 (it's not something we want to rush, after all), it’s already had more development time than the entirety of "Recipe for Disaster"... but you’ll have to wait to find out more. We're adding secret hints and references all the time about this one, so if you need to know more, just look around! Leave no stone unturned....
Hopefully, you’re already aware of the imminent Clan Wars release (see the September Behind the Scenes in a couple of weeks for more information), but there are also plans afoot for the most exciting and "old school" PvP update we have ever considered – unique PvP worlds.
As many of our long term players know, in the old RuneScape Classic days you could actually fight players just outside the gates of Lumbridge, before the days of duelling and even before the days of the old Wilderness itself. Players could hunt each other down, chasing them away from favourite resource points and generally "owning" large areas of the map.
So, in 2008, we will be bringing you special 'PvP worlds', where you can fight other players almost anywhere! In addition to all the usual content you might expect to find in RuneScape, they will also include:
* Optional sign-up – choose between PvP danger or stick to ordinary play by simply switching worlds.
* High danger with items dropped on death.
* High rewards for kills. To avoid any RWT issues the reward for a successful PK will be generated by the game, similar to when you kill a monster at the moment. We're creating generous drop tables based on factors like your levels and the impressiveness of the kill.
* These drop tables will include "PvP world specific" items like XP-modifying gear, lvl 70+ equipment and new, glorious, short-term but hard hitting gear. These will once again make PKing a viable source of income.
* PvP across 99% of the world, including the old Wilderness.
* Attack any player within a certain level of your own. Level range depends on the area, similar to the old Wilderness levels.
* ...And all sorts of other twists on interesting content... Just think of the possibilities when you can PK anywhere!
Naturally, we also have other PvP-orientated content, like Stealing Creation (a resource control game where skillers and PKers work together, creating equipment and beating up the opposition) and Mobilising Armies (a real-time strategy game where you use your hard made bows, swords, etc. to equip your own armies in 4-player battles).
Add all this to a healthy schedule of quests (featuring Arrav and the sequel to Spirit of Summer), holiday events and some unique puzzle content... and the rest of '08 has something for almost everyone.
Finally, we'd like to let you in on a little secret – we're currently working on our highest level, longest, most exciting quest ever. Not necessarily for launch in '08 (it's not something we want to rush, after all), it’s already had more development time than the entirety of "Recipe for Disaster"... but you’ll have to wait to find out more. We're adding secret hints and references all the time about this one, so if you need to know more, just look around! Leave no stone unturned....
Looks like a fun update all in all but my favourite upcoming things are the new super quest and the Naturally, we also have other PvP-orientated content, like Stealing Creation (a resource control game where skillers and PKers work together, creating equipment and beating up the opposition) and Mobilising Armies (a real-time strategy game where you use your hard made bows, swords, etc. to equip your own armies in 4-player battles). - That mini game will be all i shall do in R/S till i have everything it has to offer i believe =P
As many of you know, one of the benefits of retirement from RuneVillage as a Village Elder is that you can always get your old job back.
Avian Maid has decided that she will once again be active in the Village and has asked to be re-instated in her position.
Avian was our first female mod, and our first female admin. She was the 27th person to join RuneVillage.
For the past couple of years, she has been exploring some things in the "real world" with just occasional visits to the Village. But now she is back home to stay.
So please join me in welcoming Avian Maid home, and back to her previous position of Forum Admin.
Avian Maid has decided that she will once again be active in the Village and has asked to be re-instated in her position.
Avian was our first female mod, and our first female admin. She was the 27th person to join RuneVillage.
For the past couple of years, she has been exploring some things in the "real world" with just occasional visits to the Village. But now she is back home to stay.
So please join me in welcoming Avian Maid home, and back to her previous position of Forum Admin.
14 August 2008 - Players' Gallery - Barrows Brothers
Posted by ZinyX on August 14th, 2008, 9:42 am. Category: RuneScape News
Runescape.com wrote:
There's been a bit of a Barrows Brothers theme recently, with our wallpaper being followed by a Players' Gallery. If you like your warriors purple and ghostly, go here to see some ghoulish pictures.
12 August 2008 - Runecrafting Guild and Game - For All Playe
Posted by H K on August 12th, 2008, 5:18 am. Category: RuneScape News
Runescape.com wrote:
Ever since a brave adventurer rediscovered Runecrafting, mages from the Wizards' Tower have been working hard to figure out its intricacies. In fact, so many have been drawn to Runecrafting's secrets that a guild has formed.
Not everything is rosy and happy in the guild. An argument has raged over the magical reaction that creates rune stones: are green or yellow orbs more important in the process? Agree to resolve their conflict and you'll find yourself in our newest minigame, The Great Orb Project!
The purpose of this team-based minigame is very simple: collect more coloured orbs than the opposing team. Watch out, though, as they will be pushing your orbs out of the way to stop you winning. This frenetic minigame offers few rules and a great alternative to conventional Runecrafting - all with a range of rewards, of course. Expect rune essence, Runecrafting XP and new magical equipment if you wipe the floor with your opponents.
The Runecrafting Guild also offers a number of features that are not tied to the minigame. The rune altar map helpfully shows the location of all altars; one mad wizard has learned how to repair abyssal pouches; and the head of the guild is working on a marvellous omni-talisman that combines the powers of all existing talismans into one.
Note that the guild is available to both free players and members - the Runecrafters want all the help they can get!
Summary
In other news...
Beyond the Runecrafting Guild, this update brings you a few small things that should make your lives easier...
Kazgar, Mistag and Dartog have been given right-click options so you can quickly ask them to guide you through the Lumbridge Swamp Caves. Elkoy, the guide from the Tree Gnome Village maze, has been given a similar option.
When you previously right-clicked on a chat message from another player, you were always offered the option to 'Add friend' and 'Add ignore'. If that player was already on your Friends list, those options weren't very useful, so we've replaced them with a new 'Message' option. This is identical to what would happen if you clicked on your friend in your Friends List. (This is not available on Quick Chat-only worlds.)
Tai Bwo Wannai village welcomes its newest arrival, Imiago. If you've completed Jungle Potion, he'll be willing to protect your calquat trees from disease in exchange for eight poison ivy berries.
The gardeners who protect bush patches have always demanded payment to look after poison ivy bushes. It's been pointed out on the Forums that poison ivy bushes never get diseased anyway, so the gardeners no longer offer to look after them.
We've also fixed the following bugs:
* Treasure Trail sliding puzzle boxes were getting stuck, making them impossible to complete.
* The roof of the Grand Exchange was failing to disappear correctly when you stood underneath it. Similar bugs were affecting the front of Varrock Palace and bits of the Warriors Guild.
* The Amulet of Catspeak was incorrectly positioned on female characters.
* The Amulet of Fury was not rendering correctly with the Bandos chestplate on male characters.
* If you wore a blue snelm, your chathead was appearing yellow.
* The 3D models for skillcapes were using too many polygons, resulting in bizarre graphical glitches. They have now been remodelled to resolve this problem; their appearance is largely unchanged, but you may notice some slight changes.
* Mud pies were positioned incorrectly when you wielded them.
* Flared trousers were rendering incorrectly with most boots.
* The 'fine shirt' base kit had a glitch affecting the neck area on male characters.
* The mind tiara was missing part of its model.
* Baba Yaga's hair was clipping through her hat.
* The progress hats from the Mage Training Arena were not rendering correctly with players' hair.
* Radimus Erkle, master of the Legends' Guild, had a rendering problem with his cape.
* The obsidian cape was rendering incorrectly with certain tops.
* Bogrog was checking for the wrong Summoning level when players tried to exchange praying mantis pouches for shards.
* Trimmed chaps and Wilderness capes were rendering incorrectly on female characters.
* The mime mask and zombie mask items were displaying incorrectly during dialogue.
* Players could walk through a rope barrier in the Varrock Museum.
Not everything is rosy and happy in the guild. An argument has raged over the magical reaction that creates rune stones: are green or yellow orbs more important in the process? Agree to resolve their conflict and you'll find yourself in our newest minigame, The Great Orb Project!
The purpose of this team-based minigame is very simple: collect more coloured orbs than the opposing team. Watch out, though, as they will be pushing your orbs out of the way to stop you winning. This frenetic minigame offers few rules and a great alternative to conventional Runecrafting - all with a range of rewards, of course. Expect rune essence, Runecrafting XP and new magical equipment if you wipe the floor with your opponents.
The Runecrafting Guild also offers a number of features that are not tied to the minigame. The rune altar map helpfully shows the location of all altars; one mad wizard has learned how to repair abyssal pouches; and the head of the guild is working on a marvellous omni-talisman that combines the powers of all existing talismans into one.
Note that the guild is available to both free players and members - the Runecrafters want all the help they can get!
Summary
Quote:
Where to find the Runecrafting Guild:
The guild can be accessed through a portal, upstairs in the Wizards' Tower.
Requirements to access the Runecrafting Guild and minigame:
Level 50 Runecrafting
Rune Mysteries
The guild is available on F2P, but some individual features are for members only
Access to:
A new guild
A fast-paced, team-vs-team Runecrafting minigame - The Great Orb Project
Various new items for runecrafters, including a new outfit
The guild can be accessed through a portal, upstairs in the Wizards' Tower.
Requirements to access the Runecrafting Guild and minigame:
Level 50 Runecrafting
Rune Mysteries
The guild is available on F2P, but some individual features are for members only
Access to:
A new guild
A fast-paced, team-vs-team Runecrafting minigame - The Great Orb Project
Various new items for runecrafters, including a new outfit
In other news...
Beyond the Runecrafting Guild, this update brings you a few small things that should make your lives easier...
Kazgar, Mistag and Dartog have been given right-click options so you can quickly ask them to guide you through the Lumbridge Swamp Caves. Elkoy, the guide from the Tree Gnome Village maze, has been given a similar option.
When you previously right-clicked on a chat message from another player, you were always offered the option to 'Add friend' and 'Add ignore'. If that player was already on your Friends list, those options weren't very useful, so we've replaced them with a new 'Message' option. This is identical to what would happen if you clicked on your friend in your Friends List. (This is not available on Quick Chat-only worlds.)
Tai Bwo Wannai village welcomes its newest arrival, Imiago. If you've completed Jungle Potion, he'll be willing to protect your calquat trees from disease in exchange for eight poison ivy berries.
The gardeners who protect bush patches have always demanded payment to look after poison ivy bushes. It's been pointed out on the Forums that poison ivy bushes never get diseased anyway, so the gardeners no longer offer to look after them.
We've also fixed the following bugs:
* Treasure Trail sliding puzzle boxes were getting stuck, making them impossible to complete.
* The roof of the Grand Exchange was failing to disappear correctly when you stood underneath it. Similar bugs were affecting the front of Varrock Palace and bits of the Warriors Guild.
* The Amulet of Catspeak was incorrectly positioned on female characters.
* The Amulet of Fury was not rendering correctly with the Bandos chestplate on male characters.
* If you wore a blue snelm, your chathead was appearing yellow.
* The 3D models for skillcapes were using too many polygons, resulting in bizarre graphical glitches. They have now been remodelled to resolve this problem; their appearance is largely unchanged, but you may notice some slight changes.
* Mud pies were positioned incorrectly when you wielded them.
* Flared trousers were rendering incorrectly with most boots.
* The 'fine shirt' base kit had a glitch affecting the neck area on male characters.
* The mind tiara was missing part of its model.
* Baba Yaga's hair was clipping through her hat.
* The progress hats from the Mage Training Arena were not rendering correctly with players' hair.
* Radimus Erkle, master of the Legends' Guild, had a rendering problem with his cape.
* The obsidian cape was rendering incorrectly with certain tops.
* Bogrog was checking for the wrong Summoning level when players tried to exchange praying mantis pouches for shards.
* Trimmed chaps and Wilderness capes were rendering incorrectly on female characters.
* The mime mask and zombie mask items were displaying incorrectly during dialogue.
* Players could walk through a rope barrier in the Varrock Museum.
August 8th 2008 - Wallie Subscriptions
Posted by stimpy on August 8th, 2008, 10:17 am. Category: RuneScape News
Quote:
This week, we have released a new method of making Wallie payments. You can now make payments directly to Wallie instead of using PayByCash. This means that we can offer a faster and easier payment process when paying for RuneScape using Wallie.
You can still make Wallie payments using the PayByCash payment option; however, you may find that your subscription works out cheaper if you pay directly to Wallie, especially on longer subscriptions. In the future, we hope to offer an even lower price with Wallie Card.
Wallie direct payments are available in the EU, Switzerland and the USA.
Wallie cards can be purchased from local stores or from the Wallie website. They can then be redeemed on http://www.runescape.com by selecting 'Upgrade Your Account' on the RuneScape front page (under the 'Account' drop-down menu) and following the prompts for using the Wallie Card payment method.
You can still make Wallie payments using the PayByCash payment option; however, you may find that your subscription works out cheaper if you pay directly to Wallie, especially on longer subscriptions. In the future, we hope to offer an even lower price with Wallie Card.
Wallie direct payments are available in the EU, Switzerland and the USA.
Wallie cards can be purchased from local stores or from the Wallie website. They can then be redeemed on http://www.runescape.com by selecting 'Upgrade Your Account' on the RuneScape front page (under the 'Account' drop-down menu) and following the prompts for using the Wallie Card payment method.
August 8th 2008 - 22 New RuneScape Worlds
Posted by stimpy on August 8th, 2008, 10:16 am. Category: RuneScape News
Quote:
Recently, we launched 22 new worlds to cater for player growth in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands and New Zealand. The 22 new worlds also host many of our popular activities, such as Barbarian Assault, Castle Wars, Clan Wars, Fist of Guthix, LootShare, Pest Control, F2P trade, TzHaar Fight Pits and Vinesweeper.
More worlds will be added as we expand into more countries. Please visit the Themed World page for information on themes of these new worlds.
More worlds will be added as we expand into more countries. Please visit the Themed World page for information on themes of these new worlds.
The RV Army Olympics - Canceled
Posted by Judge on August 5th, 2008, 1:25 pm. Category: Global announcement
Quote:
A scouting group of the Staff Squad uncovered strange ruins near Olympia. Quakes seem to have gotten the best of whatever was here. They wander about, only to find sand and bricks. Suddenly, lightning cracks as they approach the remnants of a large prestigious building. They fall under a spell and envision glorious games being held in honour of the Gods. The temple rebuilds, the buildings place themselves, a giant stadium is swept clean by the wind. The Olympics were born again.
.:The RuneVillage Army Olympics:.
First bi-annual games presented to you by the RuneVillage Army Staff
.:Table of contents:.
.:Calendar:.
.:The Events:.
We will hold several events, but leave more than plenty of room for others to make theirs, the events include:
.:In-Depth Explanation:.
.:The Scorecard:.
.:The Judges:.
DrHenry
Jimmybe
Joe
Mackerel
Tanksandguns
Head event coordinator: Judge
Co-Head: Stimpy
.:The RuneVillage Army Olympics:.
First bi-annual games presented to you by the RuneVillage Army Staff
.:Table of contents:.
*The Calendar
*The Events
*In-Depth Explanation of the Events
*The Scorecard
*The Judges
.:Calendar:.
- Ongoing events:
Upcoming events:
Passed events:
.:The Events:.
We will hold several events, but leave more than plenty of room for others to make theirs, the events include:
- *Mystery Item - Pick your inventory full of items and if the mystery item is in there, you win!
*Relay Race - Run like crazy in your team, passing on your team specific item!
*Rock Paper Scissors - A classic, but in RuneScape!
*A poetry contest - For the creative minds amongst us!
*A signature/banner/image contest - Design an item to promote the RVA or the RVAO
*Assassins - An RVA Classic by now, invented by Shadow7
*Classical events - such as Clan wars - teams opposing each other, Dual Arena 1 on 1, Fist of Guthix, Hide and Seek
*CyberAirlines - An outside of RS game that is peaceful, the goal is to be the highest ranked by a given date
.:In-Depth Explanation:.
- Mystery item - You are given a hint, a small one, because 28 items to put forward is too much to give specific hints. You PM a picture of your inventory to the Judge at that time. You may NOT PM a second inventory or ask for corrections, so think carefully before submitting! Once the event ends, everyone that has the item in their inventory receives points, everyone that has a secondary, secret item, receives a smaller amount of points.
Relay Race - You all start simultaneously at a given location, your team must consist out of a number equal to the number of checkpoints, they will be announced. One of your team members resides at each checkpoint, you must find your team member in the Death Dot, trade them the item and then it's up to them. First team to trade the Judge their item wins, there will be second, third etc place.
Rock, Paper, Scissors, a RuneScape version - You each carry three items, representing Rock, Papers and Scissors. You trade the Judge your item of choice, and the Judge declares the winner or a tie.
Poetry contest - Write something, about anything, the judges will decide which submission is best!
Design contest - Whether it's a banner, a signature, an avatar or heck, even medals for the competition, you can create something beautiful and win! Signature and Avatar forum rules apply, medals must come in medal form, not some goofy creation, ribbons must be 147*40 in dimensions, other things are at your choice.
Assassins, the hunt game - Everyone wears the same uniform, and is given a person to hunt, in a crowded city. Once you locate your target, trade him or her as a sign of defeat. The target then tells you his or her target, which you now must hunt. Last two standing win.
Classical events - No need to explain here, just your good old events!
CyberAirlines - You are CEO of a new Airline, you can pick your city and destinations of choice, and are given a small budget to start off with. After numerous days, the person positioned highest wins. Everyone must submit their scores on the same day, if not, it is declared invalid. This is a game I trust noone is playing yet, you are asked to give your name at sign-up.
RVA Event Attendance - A subsection for the RVA, this is an RVA score card and can't be won by outsiders. You must simply attend events.
.:The Scorecard:.
.:The Judges:.
DrHenry
Jimmybe
Joe
Mackerel
Tanksandguns
Head event coordinator: Judge
Co-Head: Stimpy
I am aware of the quote format, it looks nicer that way, trust me. I am still looking for Judges, tournament will start August 8th, along with the Bejing Olympics.
August 05 2008 - Resizable Game Window
Posted by stimpy on August 5th, 2008, 7:06 am. Category: RuneScape News
Runescape.com wrote:
Resizable Game Window
We have introduced a new and optional way of viewing RuneScape HD: a resizable game window. This feature is available to both free players and members.
The new feature will adjust your RuneScape HD game window to fit the size of your browser. So, if you expand or maximise your browser, your game window will expand too, filling all of the available space. If you reduce the size of your browser, your game window will reduce with it.
This feature is completely optional. You may activate or deactivate it via the Graphics Options, either on the login screen or in-game (accessed via the spanner icon).
The resizable game window is only available for RuneScape HD. It is not available for the RuneScape version of the game.
How does this differ from fullscreen?
The main difference is that fullscreen will completely fill your screen. It will do so if your browser is minimised, maximised or anywhere inbetween. The resizable feature allows you to view the RuneScape game at whatever size you want - just reduce or increase the size of your browser and the game window will follow.
When playing RuneScape HD using the resizable game window, your interfaces will be arranged in the manner as fullscreen mode. This means that your tabs will be arranged across the bottom of the game screen.
Unlike fullscreen, the resizable game window is available to both free players and members.
Note: If you have a slow computer and you make the resizable window very large, you may find the game slows down a bit. If this happens, just make the window a bit smaller or, if you prefer, turn it off using the Graphics Options menu.
We have introduced a new and optional way of viewing RuneScape HD: a resizable game window. This feature is available to both free players and members.
The new feature will adjust your RuneScape HD game window to fit the size of your browser. So, if you expand or maximise your browser, your game window will expand too, filling all of the available space. If you reduce the size of your browser, your game window will reduce with it.
This feature is completely optional. You may activate or deactivate it via the Graphics Options, either on the login screen or in-game (accessed via the spanner icon).
The resizable game window is only available for RuneScape HD. It is not available for the RuneScape version of the game.
How does this differ from fullscreen?
The main difference is that fullscreen will completely fill your screen. It will do so if your browser is minimised, maximised or anywhere inbetween. The resizable feature allows you to view the RuneScape game at whatever size you want - just reduce or increase the size of your browser and the game window will follow.
When playing RuneScape HD using the resizable game window, your interfaces will be arranged in the manner as fullscreen mode. This means that your tabs will be arranged across the bottom of the game screen.
Unlike fullscreen, the resizable game window is available to both free players and members.
Note: If you have a slow computer and you make the resizable window very large, you may find the game slows down a bit. If this happens, just make the window a bit smaller or, if you prefer, turn it off using the Graphics Options menu.
August 05 2008 - Meeting History
Posted by stimpy on August 5th, 2008, 7:06 am. Category: RuneScape News
Runescape.com wrote:
Having helped Jorral in Making History, it's time to pay him another visit in Meeting History. He's been busy digging around old and dusty manuscripts and has come across a set of interesting notes about the Enchanted Key; so, with the 'hot and cold' key in hand, get ready to discover another of its bizarre abilities! You can guarantee that it'll give you a greater insight into the past of RuneScape.
Many questions will be answered as part of this sequel to Making History.
Summary
In other news...
Our Graphics team has been busily fixing bugs again, including the following:
We've also adjusted Commander Zilyana's behaviour in the God Wars Dungeon, so she's less inclined to wander aimlessly in the middle of the room while people shoot her from the edges.
Many questions will be answered as part of this sequel to Making History.
Summary
Quote:
Where to start Meeting History:
Speak to Jorral in the Outpost, north-west of West Ardougne.
Requirements to complete Meeting History:
Making History
Druidic Ritual
Access to:
A new area to explore
The chance to understand more of RuneScape's early history
Speak to Jorral in the Outpost, north-west of West Ardougne.
Requirements to complete Meeting History:
Making History
Druidic Ritual
Access to:
A new area to explore
The chance to understand more of RuneScape's early history
In other news...
Our Graphics team has been busily fixing bugs again, including the following:
- The Grim Reaper hood from 2007's Hallowe'en event was causing your head to disconnect from your neck
- The Amulet of Fury was looking different depending on whether you were male or female
- Armoured skirts were stretching if you used the bone crossbow
- The Wilderness Agility Course stepping stones weren't very well aligned with their lava pit.
- The roof in the Burgh de Rott shop wasn't disappearing, even if your Graphics Options said it should.
We've also adjusted Commander Zilyana's behaviour in the God Wars Dungeon, so she's less inclined to wander aimlessly in the middle of the room while people shoot her from the edges.
Okay, so we were supposed to have the official announcement about two days ago. But a lot of people probably noticed a few signatures and avatars go pink, or someone's posts suddenly turn very bright... That and Tal has been acting like a nutcase since the first of August.
So, yes. PINK MONTH'S STARTED!
And there is a significance to those three colors. Last year the controversy was that so much of the pink was an eyesore, and horribly illegible against the post box's background. This year the staff tried and experimented with some colors, and we have decided upon THREE that are widely accepted, recommended, and basically your guidelines to go by for choosing fonts. You're not limited to these, but try to keep it close to keep from becomming an eyesore.
This is font #FADADD with bold
This is font #56002F with bold
This is font #AF005F with bold
If any of these hurt anyone's eyes, please post so for them to be altered or removed, but for anyone who has a grudge against the pink-ness, PLEASE DO NOT GRIPE AND SAY ALL THE PINK IS BAD! You can disable bbcode, but it's not worth ruining the fun of the pink-ness due to an old memory. We're trying to make it right this year!
Oh, and P.S. I'm not gonna go past the avatar and signature, myself, I only made this topic to make sure everyone knew it was official and started. Go wi... erm, have fun, everyone, just don't take it too far.
So, yes. PINK MONTH'S STARTED!
And there is a significance to those three colors. Last year the controversy was that so much of the pink was an eyesore, and horribly illegible against the post box's background. This year the staff tried and experimented with some colors, and we have decided upon THREE that are widely accepted, recommended, and basically your guidelines to go by for choosing fonts. You're not limited to these, but try to keep it close to keep from becomming an eyesore.
This is font #FADADD with bold
This is font #56002F with bold
This is font #AF005F with bold
If any of these hurt anyone's eyes, please post so for them to be altered or removed, but for anyone who has a grudge against the pink-ness, PLEASE DO NOT GRIPE AND SAY ALL THE PINK IS BAD! You can disable bbcode, but it's not worth ruining the fun of the pink-ness due to an old memory. We're trying to make it right this year!
Oh, and P.S. I'm not gonna go past the avatar and signature, myself, I only made this topic to make sure everyone knew it was official and started. Go wi... erm, have fun, everyone, just don't take it too far.
1 August 2008 - Behind the Scenes - August
Posted by Willowguy on August 1st, 2008, 11:17 am. Category: RuneScape News
Runescape.com wrote:
It's pretty hard to imagine the first days of RuneScape. For a start, there were no monsters, no Zamorak and no god wars, which would imply that RuneScape was a breeze. Surely you could just wake up, have a cup of tea with Guthix and settle down for some farming. Easy peasy, right?
Erm, no. The first quest of this month, Meeting History, will reveal the struggles that the first settlers faced on RuneScape. This sequel to Making History will encourage you to get more hands-on in your research of the past, giving you insights into the world's quiet beginnings and its harsh realities. It will even divulge the beginnings of magic and strange objects called 'runes'.
Man's knowledge of magic and runes has come on leaps and bounds from the time of Meeting History. Just take a peek at the next release: the Runecrafting Guild!
In the guild, wizards will be bent over books, trying desperately to unlock the secrets of Runecrafting. How is a rune made? Why are yellow and green orbs released when the reaction occurs? For Runecrafting scholars, these questions pale in comparison with the following: which is more significant - green orbs or yellow orbs? For years arguments have raged on, and two wizards will be creating something that'll end the debate once and for all: the Great Orb Project!
The Great Orb Project will be a fun minigame for two opposing teams who have been given one simple task: collect more orbs than the other team. Only problem is, your opponents will do all they can to stop you winning - including pushing your orbs away before you can get to them! This fast-paced and manic minigame will offer you a great alternative for training your Runecrafting, with minimal fuss, tutorials or complex rules.
Not content with updating one skill this month, we've decided to reignite Firemaking too. In Varrock, King Roald has become increasingly wary of the evil eyes casting greedy looks at his city, so he'll be taking precautions: fourteen warning beacons, running from the River Salve to the western end of the Wilderness. The problem is, no one will be available to test them out, so - surprise, surprise - you'll become the most suitable candidate.
So begins All Fired Up, a sizzling new quest that acts as a simple and very short tutorial for beacon lighting. What can you do with large cauldrons full of sticks, you may ask? Well, your task, if you should choose to accept it, will be to light as many as possible at one time, offering you an entertaining and alternative method for training your Firemaking - oh, and the rewards will make you the toast of firemakers everywhere...
Behind the Scenes of the Behind the Scenes:
In the coming months, we'll be making some changes to the Behind the Scenes, offering you a more attractive look and a better idea of upcoming content. So, if you'd like a tour of what we've got in store, please read on...
The first change is screenshots. Instead of just telling you about our updates, we'll be bringing you images of them in glorious technicolour - and in RuneScape HD, of course.
We've also got plans to hint about future content, outside of the month's releases. The 'glimpse of the future' section will include handpicked updates that excite us, and that you'll be excited about too. So, what better way of getting you used to this new feature than producing one for this Behind the Scenes?
Glimpse of the Future:
One update that just missed this month's Behind the Scenes was the Clan Wars update. This is a priority for us, and we'll be releasing it as soon as we feel it is ready, featuring bucketloads of new arenas and game options, plus two 'free-for-all' PVP battlegrounds where you can fight in any way you please. Check out the preview of the Clan Wars setup screen below...
The minigame additions don't just end with Clan Wars: PvP fans will be pleased to know that there are three PvP minigames planned, all coming in the last few months of the year! If you're more interested in single-player content, however, you can expect a range of updates to keep you busy. One we can mention now: the concluding part of the Spirit of Summer series will be released at the end of the Summer, and it'll be throwing some pretty daunting obstacles in your way.
There's room in the Behind the Scenes for your ideas too, so please feel free to suggest features, articles and additions on the Forums. If your ideas are good enough, you may see them in the larger and improved Behind the Scenes, coming soon!
Erm, no. The first quest of this month, Meeting History, will reveal the struggles that the first settlers faced on RuneScape. This sequel to Making History will encourage you to get more hands-on in your research of the past, giving you insights into the world's quiet beginnings and its harsh realities. It will even divulge the beginnings of magic and strange objects called 'runes'.
Man's knowledge of magic and runes has come on leaps and bounds from the time of Meeting History. Just take a peek at the next release: the Runecrafting Guild!
In the guild, wizards will be bent over books, trying desperately to unlock the secrets of Runecrafting. How is a rune made? Why are yellow and green orbs released when the reaction occurs? For Runecrafting scholars, these questions pale in comparison with the following: which is more significant - green orbs or yellow orbs? For years arguments have raged on, and two wizards will be creating something that'll end the debate once and for all: the Great Orb Project!
The Great Orb Project will be a fun minigame for two opposing teams who have been given one simple task: collect more orbs than the other team. Only problem is, your opponents will do all they can to stop you winning - including pushing your orbs away before you can get to them! This fast-paced and manic minigame will offer you a great alternative for training your Runecrafting, with minimal fuss, tutorials or complex rules.
Not content with updating one skill this month, we've decided to reignite Firemaking too. In Varrock, King Roald has become increasingly wary of the evil eyes casting greedy looks at his city, so he'll be taking precautions: fourteen warning beacons, running from the River Salve to the western end of the Wilderness. The problem is, no one will be available to test them out, so - surprise, surprise - you'll become the most suitable candidate.
So begins All Fired Up, a sizzling new quest that acts as a simple and very short tutorial for beacon lighting. What can you do with large cauldrons full of sticks, you may ask? Well, your task, if you should choose to accept it, will be to light as many as possible at one time, offering you an entertaining and alternative method for training your Firemaking - oh, and the rewards will make you the toast of firemakers everywhere...
Behind the Scenes of the Behind the Scenes:
In the coming months, we'll be making some changes to the Behind the Scenes, offering you a more attractive look and a better idea of upcoming content. So, if you'd like a tour of what we've got in store, please read on...
The first change is screenshots. Instead of just telling you about our updates, we'll be bringing you images of them in glorious technicolour - and in RuneScape HD, of course.
We've also got plans to hint about future content, outside of the month's releases. The 'glimpse of the future' section will include handpicked updates that excite us, and that you'll be excited about too. So, what better way of getting you used to this new feature than producing one for this Behind the Scenes?
Glimpse of the Future:
One update that just missed this month's Behind the Scenes was the Clan Wars update. This is a priority for us, and we'll be releasing it as soon as we feel it is ready, featuring bucketloads of new arenas and game options, plus two 'free-for-all' PVP battlegrounds where you can fight in any way you please. Check out the preview of the Clan Wars setup screen below...
The minigame additions don't just end with Clan Wars: PvP fans will be pleased to know that there are three PvP minigames planned, all coming in the last few months of the year! If you're more interested in single-player content, however, you can expect a range of updates to keep you busy. One we can mention now: the concluding part of the Spirit of Summer series will be released at the end of the Summer, and it'll be throwing some pretty daunting obstacles in your way.
There's room in the Behind the Scenes for your ideas too, so please feel free to suggest features, articles and additions on the Forums. If your ideas are good enough, you may see them in the larger and improved Behind the Scenes, coming soon!
