Runescape Followup

At the weekend, I decided to give Runescape a try for myself, to see just how great it was, and to hopefully be a fount of all knowledge when Duncan asks me questions.

I never know what to call my character in games like this. Rather than pick a name based on an inanimate object and a number such as birdseed101 or cannonfodder4, I decided to use a generator. Here's a good starting point, if you're ever stuck. I stupidly started with the Fantasy Character Generator, and got back wonderful examples like:

Krife is a quirky beekeeper with strawberry blond hair and bluish gray eyes, who is terrified of dogs.

Raby is a dimwitted recluse with red hair and grayish green eyes, who is extremely large.

Gioru is a attractive shipwright with gray hair and golden eyes, who wears a distinctive amulet.

then wised up and used the Fantasy Name Generator

Picking how your avatar looks I'm sure tells others a lot about you. I'm just not a "rainbow socks" kind of person. I went for basic black with a minimum amount of facial hair. I was looking for the option to beef up my muscles (like in a recent Myst demo), but they don't seem to have that.

The tutorial is excellent, but so much to learn (and remember). Duncan seems to have grasped it all. I should have taken notes.

Into the real game.

I love the way they've handled avatar collision by just ignoring it. It's a little disconcerting to have others walk right through you or to magically appear as you move away from the same spot they were occupying, but you get used to it after a while and it certainly makes the code easier.

After two or three hours of this, I'd completed a quest (getting flour, milk and eggs for the cook) and was half way through another. Duncan and I have added each other to our Friends list, and can now easily see when we are online. We've even visited a few places together. It's incredibly easy to move from one server to another and join up with your friends avatar.

Some observations:

• There are a lot of people out there spoiling for a fight. Everywhere I went. Luckily nobody wanted to fight with me. I'm not sure I'm strong enough yet. I admit I'm not wandering around with my weapons drawn. Maybe it's as simple as that.

• The inane chat! Just like some chat forums or IRC groups I've hung around in. Probably the same people.

• It's a little surreal to see several fires blazing away in grid patterns at certain locations. I guess that a required action as part of a quest, and several people are doing it. Still, it's weird.

All great fun though. And you can't beat the price. I'll be back next weekend.

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( Dec 11 2006, 11:58:53 AM PST ) [Listen] Permalink Comments [12]