For the past few weeks our members and Site Editors have been working hard on writing new guides. Below you will find a list of our newly published guides.

New Guides:

Diaries

Having problems completing the tasks set by the citizens of Falador and the Fremennik Province? Are you curious about what both Achievement diaries have in store for those explorer brave enough to undertake the tasks. More information and tips can be found in our...

• 
  Achievement Diary - Falador: This guide was written by Greendonkey. Thanks to all the others who helped with this guide.
  
  
  
  



• 
  Achievement Diary - Fremennik Province: This guide was submitted by diamondi3ack, Jacob99, and
  XxAdamxX. We would also like to thank everyone else who helped with corrections.
  

Diversions and Distractions

In the Diversions and Distractions series we are proud to finally present you with 3 guides on the frequently occurring events in the world of RuneScape. Have you spotted the circus, meteorites and penguins? Haven't got any clue what they are for? The 3 guides below will tell you all about the meaning of these events, including the various rewards.

• 
  Balthazar Beauregard's Big Top Bonanza (Circus): Ever wanted to perform in a circus? This guide will tell you all the information and tips you need to know to become the best clown in town. We would like to thanks Maonzhi for writing the guide and everyone else who helped with it.
  
  
  
  



• 
  Shooting Star: Are the meteorites and strange creatures appearing beside them a reference to ET? Do they wanna phone home? Our guides will tell you all about the new mining event. The guide was written by Realruth. We would also like to thank everyone else for with corrections.
  
  
  
  



• 
  Penguin Hide And Seek: The penguins are planning on taking over the world of RuneScape. Will you help Larry the zookeeper in this weekly hide and seek game. This guide was submitted by Realruth. Also thanks to everyone else who helped with this guide.
  
  
  
  

Vyrewatch Corpse Burning

Experienced Shade burners will have noticed that strange vampire-like creatures are flying around the city of Meiyerditch. Their remains can be sacrificed in a similar way to the burning of Shades. For more information check out our Vyrewatch Corpse Burning mini-game guide. We could like to thank Clamball for submitting this guide, along with everyone else who helped.

Submitting Information and Site Editor:

If you would like to help with writing new guides or updating existing guides/items/person/monsters, then hop over to the Submissions Area on our Community Forums.



We are also looking for new Site Editors. If you would like to edit RuneHQ yourself and help us in updating our databases and guides then join our forums and send in a staff application. However you must be an established forum member before you can apply.



If you are not registered on our Community Forums, just click here to go to the registrations page. If you have problems validating your email, make sure to check your junk/bulk email box or you can send an email to forum_admin@runehq.net.

~ The Site Managers ~

Quotations taken directly from RuneScape.com

12th December 2008 - Christmas Cards

'Tis the season to be jolly, so why not put a smile on the faces of your friends and family by sending them a RuneScape Christmas card?



This year we have four festive Christmas card designs for you to send to your favourite people. Two of these designs were chosen by you in our recent Guaranteed Content Poll, so we hope that you enjoy seeing your ideas made into Christmas cards. The two most popular designs from the poll were 'Sweet Dreams', featuring Bob the Cat asleep by the fireside, and 'Christmas in Falador'.



You can either print out the cards, ready to send, or save your favourite designs onto your own computer.



To view the designs for yourself, head to the Downloads and Wallpapers section.

Discuss this update on the forums.

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

11th December 2008 - RuneScape France

Bonjour! We’re pleased to announce that we have just released the RuneScape game and website in its third language: French.



Whether you’re fluent in the language or just learning, you can give it a try by clicking on the French flag at the top-left of the website.



More languages are planned for RuneScape in the future, so keep an eye out for further updates.

Discuss this update on the forums.

RuneHQ December Events

Okay folks, It is almost Christmas. Although, not everyone celebrates this time of year, we have put together a nice chilling and carefree month of events for you. There will be something for everyone.



We have decided that we are going to have a month with no combat related events as, after all, Christmas is a time for peace and harmony. Therefore, all events for this month will be geared towards relaxing, chilling, skilling and basically getting to meet your friends in the Events Team and the RuneHQ Staff.



All the events will have the alternative to either relax and chat or to get your skill levels up. We are even throwing in a party at a very grand player owned house for the P2P event, after they went for their sauna. As we do not want people coming into the house all smelly now do we, only kidding.



Please note that: All skills listed below within the events require different levels for different items so make sure you have the required level and/or items before commencing or nothing will happen. Remember though that some skills can be "assisted with" from other members to allow you to do activities that are above your current level. We will be based near a bank so if you forget something then you can pop out and get it.

Event 1 - Skill and Chill (F2P):

• Date: Saturday, December 13th


• Time: 1pm CST (7pm GMT) (Time Converter)


• World World 57

We will all meet up at Falador Park, where participants can just chill and chat to the Events Team members and the RuneHQ staff, or, go and get their skills up in activities such as Woodcutting, Mining, Runecrafting, Firemaking, Alching, Smithing, etc. Participants can also use the nearby crafting guild if they want. ET Clan Chats will also be set up on the day. All those participating should decide what skill they want to work on and then go with the designated ET member that will be working on that particular skill. To take part in the

Event 2 - Sauna, Skill and Chill (P2P):

• Date: Sunday, December 14th


• Time: 1pm CST (7pm GMT) (Time Converter)


• World World 60

We will all meet up at Oo'glog, where we can either spend time chilling and chatting in the various saunas, or take time out to get up some skills or both. Skills can include, Alchemy, Woodcutting, Hunter, Firemaking, Cooking, etc. For those that do not have the pre-required quest to get into Oo'glog but have already done the Zogre Flesh Eaters and Big Chompy Bird Hunting quests, there will be ET members on hand to help them with the quest As a First Resort.... This quest will enable you to use the saunas. ET members may also help those that are doing the 2 required pre-requisite quests as well. To get into Oo'glog you only need to start the first resort quest but to use the bank you need to complete it. Afterwards, there will be a party in a grand player owned house in. Please do not ask to go to this house earlier than the event time or before the event as you will be denied. You will be told the name of the player who's house it is in at the event. Those who cannot get into Oo'glog or who do not want to train their skills can go to the house instead and await the attendees from the days event.

Event 3 - Big Parade (F2P and P2P):

• Date: Tuesday, December 23th


• Time: 1pm CST (7pm GMT) (Time Converter)


• World Wold 57 (F2P), and World 60 (P2P)

We will all meet up in the center of Rimmington, From there, we will have a parade through the various local towns and villages ending up at Falador. The Jagex Guaranteed poll says that we will get santa suits this Christmas, therefore all those attending are asked to turn up in their santa suits. So please make sure that you complete this years Christmas event before this date. We also want to try and have the most people in santa suits ever seen on runescape at the one time. So make sure you get all your friends to attend as well.



Snowballs! who said snowballs? Do you still have your snow globe from last year? If you do, then bring it along for some added fun. If you don't have a Santa hat like most of us, you can bring along a Reindeer hat. In case we do not get the promised suits, then wear something festive but we ask that no-one, and that means no-one, wears any armor or combat related items. This includes any kind of magical staffs.

We hope that you will enjoy these events and have a great time at all of them. Remember to get your friends to sign up on our Community Forums, so that they too can get advance notice of all upcoming events. The whole Events Team and the RuneHQ Staff would like to wish all our members a brilliant time for the coming holiday season ahead and an even better New Year. We are looking forward to working with you all in the month of December at our events and hope that you will stay with us for what promises to be a fun packed list of events for 2009. Yep, we are working on those already.

For more information and discussion, see the official Forum topic.

~ RuneHQ Events Team ~

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

9th December 2008 - PvP Worlds Improvements

This week, we have made some improvements to the amount of loot you can gain while fighting other players on PvP worlds.



We have noticed that many players on PvP worlds choose to leave some of their drops on the ground, rather than pick them up or bank them. This is because the drops are often too low in value to justify picking them up. We have, therefore, implemented two changes to the way drops work on PvP worlds:

1. 
   Drops are now slightly more weighted towards a few, higher-value drops, rather than lots of low- or medium-value ones.
   
   
   
   



2. 
   Overall, we have made the drops a bit more generous.
   
   
   
   

Note: there is no change in the frequency of 'useful' drops (e.g. food and potions).



We also wanted to take this opportunity to more clearly explain how drops are determined, to help you get better rewards. Broadly speaking, the drop system works as follows:

1. 
   For each player, we store a 'drop potential'. Your drop potential gradually increases, the more time you spend risking items on a PvP world.
   
   
   
   



2. 
   When you get a successful kill, a portion of the drop potential you have accumulated is used up to generate your drop. How much of your accumulated drop potential is used depends on the kill. Any unused drop potential is saved up and carried over to any future kills.
   
   
   
   



3. 
   Finally, the portion of drop potential used determines which drop table is used to generate your drop. Generally, the higher your drop potential, the higher the AVERAGE value of the drop table your drop will be chosen from.
   
   
   
   

HOW TO MAXIMISE THE VALUE OF YOUR DROPS



In order to get a good drop on a PvP world, there are a few simple things that you must do to both build up a high drop potential and to claim that potential.



BUILDING UP YOUR DROP POTENTIAL



If you find that you continually only get drops of a lower value than you would like, it's almost certainly because you aren't building up enough drop potential. In this case, you need to spend more time building up your drop potential BEFORE making a PvP kill. To do this you must:

1. 
   Spend time outside of safe zones.
   
   
   
   For every 30 minutes you spend on a PvP world outside of a safe zone, your drop potential will increase. Those 30 minutes do NOT have to be all in one go - you can log out or visit safe zones - but the system only counts full minutes, so it will likely take longer to build up your drop potential if you do not spend 30 consecutive minutes outside of safe zones.
   
   
   
   Note that your drop potential will increase by more if you spend time in hot zones (Ardougne, Varrock, Falador and the Wilderness).
   
   
   
   



2. 
   Risk at least 75k coins' worth of items.
   
   
   
   Your drop potential will ONLY increase if you are risking at least 75k coins' worth of items on a members' world, or 25k coins' worth of items on a free world. An item is considered to be at risk if it is something you would have lost if you were to die - i.e. it is not covered by the Protect Item prayer or the 'keep three items on death' rule. If you are not risking enough, then however long you spend outside of safe zones, your drop potential will not increase.
   
   
   
   As an example, one way of doing this is to take 75k coins' worth of items, not protected by death or prayers, then go outside of a safe zone and train as normal (by training a skill of fighting NPCs), and avoid PvP combat. All the time you are doing this, not only are you earning XP from whatever activity you are doing, you are also increasing your drop potential. Once you have built up some drop potential in this way, you can get your PKing gear on and try to get a kill to claim your drop.
   
   
   
   

CLAIMING YOUR DROP POTENTIAL

Once you have built up some drop potential, you will need to find and defeat another player to get a drop. Don't forget that the player you defeat must be risking at least 25k coins' worth of items (on either a free or members' world) for you to receive a good drop. If the player you defeated was not risking that much, you will only receive a token drop, but, in this case, NONE of your drop potential will be used up to determine your drop.



There are some other, less important, rules to PvP worlds, but you should read about them on the Knowledge Base to learn more.



We're really interested in hearing your feedback on these changes, so please feel free to visit the Forums after trying them out.



Enjoy!



Mod Benny
RuneScape Developer

Discuss this update on the forums.

9th December 2008 - Falador Achievement Diary

As the dazzling capital of Asgarnia, the city of Falador is ripe with adventure. From the White Knights’ Castle to the harbour of Port Sarim, even as far south as the coastal settlement of Rimmington; the Falador Achievement Diary will soon have you climbing castles, healing elemental wizards and battling skeletal wyverns.



Tasks range from the delightfully simple to the infuriatingly challenging. Feed the Hairdresser’s pet chinchompa, Ridgeley, pickpocket one of the city’s helpless guards, and craft a hoard of air runes, all on your way to the rewards.



With enough tasks complete, Wyson might share a few green-fingered secrets with you. You may even receive some new kit to protect you in your travels further afield.



Mod Trick
RuneScape Developer



Summary:

Discuss this update on the forums.

9th December 2008 - Fremennik Province Achievement Diary

Venture into the cold north-west for a new round of challenges as the Fremennik lands and islands show what they have to offer. Whether you want to explore, hone your skills or just kill a few local beasties, there is plenty on offer.



It’s true to say that the Fremennik enjoy a challenge, and those who take on their Achievement Diary will get to see just the sort of trials the Fremennik enjoy. You’ll find yourself in the midst of dagannoths, kyatts, Lunar mages and mithril dragons, not to mention using the raw tools the barbarians have perfected over the centuries.



Prove yourself under the watchful eyes of Chieftain Brundt and his peers and you'll get more out of Rellekka. Impress Advisor Ghrim and your approval in Miscellania can soar, and don't forget the lure of antique lamps to bring you illumination.



Mod Hew
RuneScape Developer



Summary:

Discuss this update on the forums.

9th December 2008 - New Hairstyles

Is your hair falling a bit flat? Tired of the same old wild spikes? Well, why don’t you try our new hairstyles?



That’s right: we have 24 new hairstyles to spice up your character with. Head on over to the Hairdresser in Falador and try out some new styles – a few of them are inspired by Ak-Haranu, the strange warrior on the docks of Port Phasmatys.



Because the Hairdresser wants to make sure you get the best deal, all haircuts are free. Nothing is holding you back from trying something new! You can find the Hairdresser north-west of the White Knights’ Castle.



Mod Nancy
RuneScape Developer



Summary:

• 12 new female hairstyles


• 8 new male hairstyles


• 4 new male facial styles


• Free haircuts from the Hairdresser in Falador
  
  

Discuss this update on the forums.

5th December 2008 - Christmas Packages in the Jagex Store

With Christmas just around the corner, we now have RuneScape-themed gift packages available in the Jagex Store, with the option to include a 12-month subscription card. The Christmas gift packs come with a variety of RuneScape goodies, and some even include a brand new, limited edition ‘dragon armour T-shirt’! There are only 2,000 of these T-shirts available worldwide, and are sure to run out quick.



For the truly devoted player, some gift packs come with a 12-month subscription card, which can be redeemed at any time to guarantee you a year of adventures in the lands of RuneScape. The subscription card is run through the Wallie card payment method, and is available to players everywhere.



Finally, as an extra Christmas bonus, we’ve reduced the price of Betrayal at Falador, the first RuneScape novel! The book can now be purchased for £9.99/$16.99 (reduced from £12.99/$22.99).

Discuss this update on the forums.

5th December 2008 - PayPal Recurring Subscriptions

You are now able to set-up recurring subscriptions through PayPal. This means that if you subscribe by PayPal you have the option to have your RuneScape account automatically topped-up each month, so you will no longer need to regularly go back and renew your membership.



To set this method up, begin by clicking on ‘Account’ in the top navigation of the website. Then choose ‘Start/Extend Subscription’, log-in and follow the onscreen prompts to start a monthly recurring payment through PayPal.



This payment method is available to anyone who has a verified PayPal account. If you wish to set an account up, please visit Paypal's website.

Discuss this update on the forums.

Featured UbNub Videos

Hey everyone! We are pleased to bring you the latest feature to come from our partnership with UbNub, the official RuneScape video site of legendary video creator Tehnoobshow: a Featured Video page. Here you will find the latest and greatest videos from Tehnoobshow, the box noob, and more of Ubnub's best video makers. Enjoy!

~ [Im4eversmart] ~

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

1st December 2008 - Behind the Scenes – December

Achievement diary antics, elegant accents, delving into dungeons, and dashing hairdos are due during December. But what’s all that mean?



In our first update of the month, you’ll be asked to return to Falador, where the fourth Achievement Diary will be waiting for you. With Falador being such a familiar area, you can be sure that some tasks will be straightforward, but there are challenges, too. Are you capable of slaying a skeletal wyvern? Have you encountered the vast mole beneath Wyson’s flowers? Rewards will include brand new white lily seeds and a shiny new emote.



Once you’ve done that little lot, your next step will be a watery one, as you cross the Fremennik Province and the islands beyond for their Achievement Diary. No doubt Baba Yaga and her Lunar friends will have several tasks for the higher levels, but pet rocks, seaweed and Slayer caves await those slightly less familiar with the Fremennik ways. Rewards will include enhanced resource collection for your Etceterian workers, improved lyres, and a potential 20k experience reward lamp.



As we mentioned in the news post towards the end of last month, we will be making further changes to the reward items associated with Stealing Creation. We will make the rewards far more appealing and easier to use; actually doubling the experience you earn from any of the activities you use your reward objects for, including the combat ones! If you need more information about the changes to Stealing Creation, please read this news post.



Since our graphical update earlier in the year, we’ve been playing around with a variety of new haircuts for the game. We’ve now gathered around 20 new styles and will be releasing them during December to the free and members’ games. These new hairdos include some rather interesting styles inspired by Ak–Haranu, a visitor from the unexplored eastern realms. Perhaps next year will unearth more fashions from these interesting folk? Only time will tell...



You might stumble across some new words if you’re planning to try out any of the French Servers, planned for launch in December. Completely translated into French, we hope that many of you will be finding a new home here, or even just popping in to see what everything’s like en français.



Finally this month, we will be opening the gates to festive cheer and wintry celebrations with this year’s Christmas update. Much like this year’s Hallowe’en, we’ve decided to release a quest at the same time as our Christmas event, which means that the free game will have access to that quest over the Christmas period.



During the event, you’ll be asked to track down Jack Frost, the misunderstood son of the Queen of Snow. Apparently, he loves icing things up and has been known to freeze even the warmest of Christmases. Of course, many of you will know all about what we have planned after voting in the Guaranteed Content Christmas poll we ran earlier this year, so expect Santa suits and even a chilly new necklace to show off with.



For the quest, Explorer Jack will have a tale – a tale of fearsome creatures and bountiful riches. Sadly, the best of his adventuring days are behind him, so he’ll need one of those adventuring sorts to stride out bravely into the icy wastelands. I wonder if he’ll be able to find one? In this quest, it won’t be your equipment that helps you trek through the caves, but a keen eye to work out the fiendishly cavernous puzzles. Higher levelled players will find extra rewards hidden within those puzzles, so be prepared.

Updates after December:

Mobilising Armies

We’ve reported before that we planned to release Mobilising Armies, our new tactical minigame, in December. We’ve found that although we could release it, we really want to take our time to make this the best update we can, so we made the difficult choice to hold onto it until next year. We’ve never ever tried to release a game like this before, and we want to make sure we get it right. So, you’ll have to wait a little longer for your gnomic glider bombers, pigeon messengers, dragons’ hoards and catapult attacks.



Have fun!

Mod Mark

Lead Designer – RuneScape

Discuss this update on the forums.

27th November 2008 - Poll - Christmas Card Results

Two weeks ago, we released a Guaranteed Content Poll on the RuneScape Christmas cards. In it, you were able to vote for the cards that you liked the most. The options were gathered from the Forums, so thank you to those who contributed.



The poll has now finished, so we can reveal the two winning card designs, as chosen by you:



Falador in winter, covered in a blanket of snow and decorated for Christmas



Bob the cat, asleep by a fireplace, wearing a santa hat, with a fish-shaped present waiting for him underneath the Christmas tree



These designs will be available for you to download and print in December.

Discuss this update on the forums.

27th November 2008 - Postbag from the Hedge

The Chaos Elemental returns with some befuddling hints to future updates, while Postie Pete explains how to make the perfect omelette.



Head over to this month's Postbag from the Hedge and read all about it.

Discuss this update on the forums.

The official RuneHQ December Newsletter has arrived! Simply click the banner to read it. Take some time, sit back, and enjoy yourself with the new information and happenings coming your way.

While Guthix Sleeps Quest Guide

That's right people, we have completed our guide to the first "grandmaster" quest in RuneScape, While Guthix Sleeps. In this truly epic quest you will join forces with many heroes all across RuneScape to stop the evil Lucien's rise to power. Can you save RuneScape from his rule? There's only one way to find out, and it might just land you closer to obtaining the coveted Dragon platebody...

Thanks goes out to Greendonkey and everyone who helped contribute to this comprehensive guide.

~ [Im4eversmart] ~

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

26th November 2008 - While Guthix Sleeps

Movario licked his dry, cracked lips, not taking his eyes off the ancient book in front of him. His hand, acting almost like a separate entity, scratched spidery notes onto parchment. He knew who V was, but the references to the stone intrigued him. Fragmentary thoughts were gathering, forming up together into something important – but something was missing, some key detail. With trembling fingers he turned the yellowed page.



“The stone was clearly not of this world...”



A triumphant scratch of Movario's quill tore through the parchment. That was it! After all this time his research was finally bearing fruit!



The antiquated surroundings of the temple afforded little warmth, and the only luxury was the lone, guttering candle by which he read. The chill still reached inside, but it did not register for Movario as his unyielding research ground on through the days.

Mod Tytn

Lead Developer – RuneScape

Summary:

In other news...

The Quick Chat menu wasn’t showing some of the minigames available to play when trying to organise a group. This issue has been resolved.



You will now find that entering the chaos portal in the Dagon'Hai caves works with an omni-talisman. The omni-staff and -tiara were fine, but this one was missed and has now been added accordingly.



The abyssal parasite familiar will now prevent your Prayer from being drained when teleporting into the abyss, exactly as it's supposed to.



Free players who had started the recent Hallowe’en quest, Swept Away, but managed to misplace their broom couldn’t chat to Maggie to get another. Rest assured, Wendy is now ready to send you to Maggie who will replace your broom should you lose it again.

Discuss this update on the forums.

26th November 2008 - Thanksgiving 2008 Event

Gobble, gobble, gobble; it’s a turkey invasion! For the first time ever, turkeys are seeking refuge in RuneScape to escape their holiday blues. They may have overestimated their safety here, though. From this Thanksgiving until Monday, we give you the opportunity to get your own turkey dinner: through combat or your keen turkey-spotting skills.



Attackable turkeys are roaming around near the major cities of RuneScape on both members’ and free worlds. Kill one and you’ll get some tasty turkey meat, but you may also be lucky enough to unlock a new Thanksgiving emote.



If killing isn’t your style, there are other turkeys lurking around in clever disguises. Find one and you’ll get a clue to the location of another. If you get a bit stuck looking for the turkeys, speak to the Cook’s brother in Lumbridge Castle and he’ll give you a book to help you keep track. Find all ten and you’ll unlock the new Thanksgiving emote.



To sweeten the deal, we’ve added a new object to the game: the cornucopia. Being a ‘horn of plenty’, the cornucopia is useful for storing food and taking up fewer inventory spaces. You can store up to 14 Hitpoints’ worth of food inside, and one click will replenish your health by the amount you’ve stored. While the turkeys are visiting RuneScape, they’ll be readily available, but after the holiday you’ll have to look a bit harder for them when you kill certain birds.



This update will only last 'til Monday (GMT), so enjoy it while you can!



Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Mod Nancy

RuneScape Developer

Summary:

Discuss this update on the forums.

25th November 2008 - Stealing Creation rewards system to change

We're working on a major change to the way in which the Stealing Creation rewards work, so we thought we'd let you know in advance what we're planning to do. The change will take place by the end of the year and will have the following effects:



We're aware that there was a bug in the first few days after release that let some players get a lot of points very quickly. This has since been fixed, but some players had already used it to get an unfair number of points. When we make the change, we will also bring everyone's points down to a reasonable level. A player will be able to have up to 10 tools, 10 pieces of combat equipment, and 200,000 stored points. Any more than this will be lost. So if you have more than this, now is the time to use them!



After the change, no Combat experience will be given inside the Stealing Creation minigame. Instead, the sacred clay combat equipment rewards will give experience in the same way that the tools do.



Both the tools and the combat equipment will give experience at a greater rate than at present. In fact, while you are using a sacred clay tool or piece of combat equipment, the experience you gain will be doubled! (The volatile tool will still give a little more on top of this.) On the other hand, the equipment will run out of charge a bit faster than it does now.



The reward items will not have a set number of times they can transform; instead, they will gradually lose charge as they give you experience. Up until they run out of charge, they can be changed freely. (The volatile tool works slightly differently; it will change by itself for every 10% of its total charge that is used, and if you change it deliberately it will lose some charge.)



The reward points you buy items with will work differently. At the end of a game, your personal score for that game will be converted into a reward score, and it will be this reward score that you use to buy items.

Mod John A

RuneScape Developer

Discuss this update on the forums.

24th November 2008 - Buy RuneScape Membership as a Gift

As we’re rapidly approaching Thanksgiving and the holiday season, we wanted to remind you how easy it is to buy membership and also to let you know of a few payment methods that you might not be aware of.



If you’re thinking of buying membership either for yourself or as a present, we currently have 2 RuneScape-specific game time cards that you can purchase.



Firstly, we have RuneScape game-time cards that are sold in Target stores across the U.S., and we have two versions available, a one month subscription and a three month subscription.



For those players in Europe, look out for Wallie Cards, which can be bought in a host of stores, such as CostCutter (with a PayPoint logo), Esso, Total, Hema, Aral, bft and Westfalen. Wallie Cards can be used to purchase RuneScape membership and come in a number of different amounts.



We also have an Ultimate Game Card which can be bought in places such as Walmart, 7 Eleven, Rite Aid & Winn Dixie. These cards are available from our payment partner, PayByCash, and will have their stamp on the front.



Depending on where you live, you may also be able to pay by phone or by mobile! Make sure you check out the subscription pages to see if these simple payment options are available in your country. We’re planning to add more countries to the list soon.



If you're looking for some other RuneScape-themed gifts, keep an eye on the Jagex Store, which will have some new items available in time for Christmas.

Discuss this update on the forums.

21st November 2008 - Q&As, Charity Auctions, RuneScape calendar!

A few things to update you on this week – first of which is our Question and Answer session with Tom Church, author of the first ever RuneScape novel, Betrayal at Falador. Head to this forum thread now, to ask any question you like (while sticking to the forum rules, of course!), and in two week’s time we will post Tom’s responses to his favourites.



In other book-related news, we are currently auctioning ten signed novels (one per week) for charity. Each copy is numbered and signed by author TS Church, RuneScape creator Andrew Gower, cover-artist Giuseppe Grassi, Lead Game Designer Mark Ogilvie, and Jagex CEO Geoff Iddison.



All proceeds from this auction go directly to our chosen charity: The Internet Watch Foundation. The IWF aim to minimise the availability of potentially illegal internet content, so get involved and bid for your copy here. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has already been involved with the auction, and congratulations to the successful bidders so far! Please ensure that all bids are genuine – this is a charity listing, after all, and we want to raise as much money and awareness as possible for such a great cause.



Lastly, but certainly not least, we have just released the first official RuneScape calendar in the Jagex store! This 2009 calendar features some familiar faces from Gielinor, as well as some never-before-seen concept art. Get yours today by clicking here. Also, be sure to keep a keen eye on the Jagex Store over the next week or two, as we have some fantastic offers planned for the Christmas period. There might even be a dragon-themed item of clothing on the way...

Discuss this update on the forums.

19th November 2008 - FunOrb - Zombie Dawn Multiplaye

Halloween may well have been and gone, but our sister site, FunOrb, is keeping the horror theme alive with our latest release, Zombie Dawn Multiplayer: Fight of the Living Dead. Building on the popular single-player version, Zombie Dawn Multiplayer brings you 2- to 4-player shuffling action, as you try to capture and/or zombify more humans than your opponents and get them back to your research lab before the time runs out.



The more zombies you're able to get into your portal, the more Research Points you earn. These points are allocated to the power-ups and zombie traits that you can use on your zombies (of which there are LOTS to discover) allowing you to mould your zombie horde to your own style of play. You'll also find that if you're able to herd a few live humans into the portal, too, you'll get a lot more points.



The gameplay of the single-player version was always something we wanted to build on. With the multiplayer version, we've aimed to retain key elements of the original while building an evolutionary path that opens up more strategies the further you get into it. So, for example, dropping a hammer on an opponent's zombie can thwart their carefully laid plans. We hope you enjoy the many ways that this game allows you to cause mayhem! This brings FunOrb to a total of 34 games, 11 of which are multiplayer.

Mod Korpz

Head of FunOrb

Discuss this update on the forums.

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

13 November 2008 - Players' Gallery

This month's Players' Gallery has the greatest mix of art styles that Postie Pete has ever seen. Plasticine, balloon models, watercolours, felt tips and computer renders all feature in a gallery that will truly dazzle you.

Keep your fantastic submissions coming in and you may find them starring in a future Players' Gallery!

Discuss this update on the forums.

RuneHQ November Event:
Battle Mania

In a bid to keep our members busy this month, we are having not just one but three repeated events. So for all you fighters, mages, and rangers out there, get your weapons and armor dusted down for a month of nothing but one battle after another. We will be having events for both F2P and P2P RuneHQ members alike.

So where are we starting you ask? Nowhere other than the biggest and most dangerous battleground in Runescape and just getting there can be life threatening. That's right, we are starting off with Clan Wars! Message your friends and make sure they are all ready for the biggest battle of the year. Regardless of your experience and prowess, this will be a challenge for all. Do you dare accept the challenge of rival clans or will you wimper and run away? All shall be revealed on the day.

• Event Type: Clan Wars


• Dates: Saturday, Nov 15 (F2P) & Sun, Nov 16 (P2P)


• Time: 2pm CST (8pm GMT) (Time Converter)


• Requirements: None.


• Recommendations: High Combat, Mage, or Range skill levels.


• Recommended Items: Melee/Magic/Ranged armor and weapons, Potions, and Food.


• Start Point: Clan Wars Lobby.

For more information and discussion, see the official Forum topic.

If you are not registered on our Forums and you would like to be, just click here to go to the registrations page. If you have problems validating your email, make sure to check your junk/bulk email box or you can send an email to forum_admin@runehq.net.

~ RuneHQ Events Team ~

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

11 November 2008 - Stealing Creation

A magical portal has appeared in the Wilderness, and a group of mystics has set up camp around it. The portal leads to the ‘Primordial Realm’, an unfinished world in which sacred clay, the building material of the gods, lies scattered around. The mystics are recruiting adventurers to go through the portal and retrieve the clay. To serve their purposes, however, they believe the clay must be tempered by bloodshed, so they will only send volunteers through in two teams that must compete against one another. No items can be taken through the portal, so the teams will have to make any equipment they need out of sacred clay when they arrive.

Nearly every RuneScape skill has a use in Stealing Creation, whether for extracting sacred clay from locations, making it into equipment, or thwarting the other team's efforts. Skill-focused players can concentrate on gathering or processing the clay, while those who prefer combat defend them or harass the other team. Whenever a player is killed, all the sacred clay items they are carrying will drop to the ground for the victor to pick up. Players can build barriers to defend key locations, summon new creatures made of sacred clay, and even pick one another's pockets.

The mystics will reward those who serve them well, so players can buy new combat and skill items that inherit the shape-changing properties of sacred clay.

Mod John A

RuneScape Content Developer

Summary

In other news...

The Hallowe’en Trick or Treat event has been removed. The Swept Away quest will remain in-game as a piece of members' content. To start the quest, you’ll need to speak to Maggie, who has moved her caravan to a spot just west of the Legends' Guild.

It seems the bracelet of regeneration was not only boosting the rate at which you regain Hitpoints but also the rate at which Hitpoints returned to normal after using potions with boosting effects. This has been fixed so the temporary boost always wears off at an ordinary rate.

We've fixed a bug that may have caused the in-game world map to not load every time.

The Fishing Trawler is for Fishing, so we have prevented players from leeching experience while undertaking other activities such as Fletching or enchanting items. This isn't fair to the legitimate players, and now the Trawler might not sink quite as often.

Several hats were still causing baldness, these have been rectified so you should retain your hairstyles. There were also numerous other graphical tweaks regarding clipping and render priority issues such as spiky hair appearing through hats.

And last but not least, some of you may have found that a lazy purple cat from the Hallowe'en event wouldn't change into a wily cat after exercise. This has been adjusted so your cat can become healthier again.

Discuss this update on the forums.

Events Team

Thanks to all those who have applied! Applications are now closed. We received a lot of applications and are now sorting through them as soon as possible.

If you are not registered on our Forums, just click here to go to the registrations page. If you have problems validating your email, make sure to check your junk/bulk email box or you can send an email to forum_admin@runehq.net.

~ Events Team ~

Quotations taken directly from RuneScape.com

3 November 2008 - Behind the Scenes - November

We've written a lot about combat-orientated multiplayer content in RuneScape recently. This mostly focused on the way that it had been relegated to the sidelines, until the introduction of PvP worlds invited it back into the heart of the game. There's one aspect, however, that we haven't mentioned: its relationship with skill-orientated multiplayer content.

We felt that producing a piece of content, which would appeal both to those players who prefer combat and those who prefer non-combat skills, was a major challenge for us. So, we put our thinking caps on and the result is this month’s headline update: 'Stealing Creation'. Stealing Creation will be a new 'safe' minigame, where teams of players work together to control resources across the game area. This area will change each time the game is played, so you will need to keep your tactics varied.

The game will focus on collecting 'sacred clay', thought to be the building blocks used by gods to create worlds. You'll enter the minigame with nothing, which means you'll need to use your skills to gather resources and make the equipment you need to dominate the game. For those of you who are just as happy making swords as you are using them, it will offer lots of choice as to the kind of experience you want to have playing the game. But what of the pure skillers? Can you create equipment for your battling buddies while they defend your back? Can those doing the fighting rely on someone else to make them powerful? With the added ability to fight as a clan, battles can be organised for very specific groups of players. So, if you want to gather with your clan buddies to take on your enemies, you will be able to.

Speaking of enemies, Zamorak was once mortal like the rest of us, but through clever manipulation and some devious planning he became revered as a god in Gielinor. The god wars that followed brought about great destruction and change – it would be impossible to do that now, wouldn’t it? What does it take for something like that to happen? Gathering some of the most important artefacts and keenest minds to research them would be a good start...but that is bound to attract attention, isn’t it?

That’s where our November quest will join things. Specialists and concerned dignitaries will be gathered to discuss the whereabouts of the Staff of Armadyl, an ancient and powerful artefact from RuneScape’s distant past. All they will need is a willing adventurer to conduct the more interesting parts of the...investigation. Will this link to the mysterious dragonkin symbols found recently, or the rumours of the dragon forge? While Guthix sleeps through the centuries, treachery is afoot, and terrible dangers appear on the horizon. In our first Grandmaster quest ever, with the longest, deepest storyline we have ever attempted, it will take an expert adventurer to find out.

Finally, after that huge update will come something much, much smaller! For a few days over the last weekend of November, you’ll notice Thanksgiving turkeys wandering around the map, gobbling and generally minding their own business. Hunt them down for some tasty drumsticks or find the turkeys in disguise for a special reward. Look out for more short celebration updates like this in the future.

Updates after November

The Phoenix

Some months ago, we asked you to vote on the next Summoning familiar, and you chose the phoenix. There were some great discussions on the forums taking the idea far beyond what we had originally imagined, so we decided to expand the idea out to another 'Distraction and Diversion' similar to the Shooting Star update or Bork from the Chaos Tunnels. You’ll find this update (planned for early next year) features not only a new Summoning creature and a repeatable activity, but also a quest!

Mobilising Armies

With any tactical game you need to spend a long time fine-tuning its different aspects to try to make it as fair, balanced and fun as possible. Mobilising Armies, our headline update for December, is no different and we have been working hard to tweak the key scenarios for this: Conflict, Siege, Hoard and Rescue. We'll have more on this update in next month's Behind the Scenes but in the meantime we have another screenshot for you.

Mod Mark

Lead Designer – RuneScape

The RuneHQ November Newsletter has arrived. Simply click the banner, and sit back and enjoy.

Night of the Slayers!

October is coming to an end, and the Events Team has one last event for this month that'll give you all a chance to make the creatures of RuneScape cower in fear! As you all should know, Halloween is considered one of the scariest nights of the year. So why not spend it in some of the scariest places in RuneScape?

We'll start out easy for our F2P friends and take them for a journey down into the Stronghold of Security to eat, drink, and destroy. There are many levels of the stronghold so you can test just how tough you are by venturing down as far as you can. As the night progresses, we'll start our P2P event in none other than Canifis. From there, we'll grab our gear and head to the Slayer Tower to begin the event. We'll start out killing all the monsters so we can make our way up the tower, but as everyone starts to arrive, our higher levels will begin to hold off the more dangerous beasts so that our weaker friends may progress up the top where we'll have our party.

While there you could chat with your friends, try your skill against some of the most dangerous monsters Canifis has to offer, or impress others with your scariest costume. Click here to discuss this event on the forums.

F2P Event Information:

• Date: Friday, October 31st


• Time: 6:00 PM CST (11:00 PM GMT)


• World: 57


• Location: Varrock Square


• Clan Chat: Blade Rs3390


• Requirements: None!


• Recommended Items: Combat equipment, food, and a teleport.

P2P Event Information:

• Date: Friday, October 31st


• Time: 9:00 PM CST (2:00 AM GMT)


• World: 60


• Location: Canifis


• Clan Chat: Blade Rs3390


• Requirements: A Runescape membership and completion of the quest Priest in Peril.


• Recommended Items: Combat equipment, slayer equipment, food, and a teleport.

If you are not registered on our Forums, just click here to go to the registrations page. If you have problems validating your email, make sure to check your junk/bulk email box or you can send an email to forum_admin@runehq.net.

~ RuneHQ Events Team ~