1 September 2008 - Behind the Scenes -
September
When you decide to train a skill, you may have one area in mind:
a favourite patch of trees, perhaps, or a specific altar to craft
your runes. Well, this month's first update, Distractions and
Diversions, will threaten to turn that way of thinking on its head.
You see, Distractions and Diversions will offer new ways of
training your skills, but you'll rarely know when (or where)
they'll turn up next...
Take Penguin Hide and Seek, for example. You may be walking
around RuneScape, summoning yaks and thieving paladins, when
something catches your eye. Is that a flash of beak in that nearby
bush? Does that toadstool have flippers? You won't be going loopy -
the penguins of the north are spying on us humans, and Larry will
want you to spot them first. He'll be willing to pay well for a
penguin sighting and will even cash in your Penguin Points for
experience in any skill.
It would be hard to get more bizarre than penguins in mushroom
costumes, but Distractions and Diversions has an ace up its sleeve.
That ace will be Balthazar Beauregard's Big Top Bonanza, a
travelling circus that encourages the audience to get up and join
the action. Wow the crowds with a magic trick, acrobatic feat and a
well-placed throwing knife and you'll gain experience or even an
outfit to clown about in.
The last Distraction and Diversion will come in the form of a
Shooting Star. Instead of making a wish, you'll need to rush to the
crash site and mine its thick outer layers. Break through them on
your own or with others and you'll uncover a curious-looking star
sprite, the magical inhabitant of shooting stars. As a reward, it
might even help you out with some gold, objects and the ability to
temporarily mine quicker.
Not all of our updates arrive and depart as unpredictably as
Distractions and Diversions; the following release, the Clan Wars
Update, is a far more predictable (but welcome) addition to this
Behind the Scenes. It'll bring a swathe of new options for creating
a clan war that suits you. What options will be available? Time for
a list!
The option we're most stoked about is free-for-all battles,
where anyone will be able to run in and start battling immediately.
It won't matter if you're in a clan or not; you'll be teleported to
a vast PvP area where you can have a large scrap with anyone else
you meet in there.
'A large scrap' is exactly what will be offered in Summer's End.
In this dramatic conclusion to Spirit of Summer, you'll be
confronted by the beast who has been sapping the family's souls.
Unfortunately, yours is particularly tasty, so you'll need swift
feet, hard skin and help from some spirited friends if you're going
to survive. The quest will be particularly taxing for those who are
not prepared, but you'd expect that from a skill-based battle with
one of RuneScape's hardest-hitting monsters, right? Don't worry:
the rewards and the family's heartwarming smiles will definitely be
worth it.
There will be few smiles in our last thriller update, Defender
of Varrock. Deep in the Wilderness, braindead hordes will form into
ranks, in a manner that the evil dead rarely do. Such an occurrence
will need to be investigated, of course, and the identities of
those behind it will have to be revealed. The question is, can you
turn the zombie tide before Varrock becomes a shambling land of the
dead? Reading the
Legend of Arrav lores and histories may well help you out in
this particular adventure...
It's not all war, zombies and soul-eating this month: there are
laughs to be had in the Postbag from the Hedge, with some pictures
that are far more handsome than a zombie's ugly mug in our Players'
Gallery and wallpaper release.