Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

28 May 2008 - Development Diary: A New Look RuneScape!

The pictures shown in the 'Image of the Future' newsposts were just a taster of what is to come with our graphical improvements. In this Development Diary, we get to go into more detail, as well as show you some new impressive-looking images.

You'll find information about why we decided to embark on this project and what it involves, including shadows, textures and fogging.

Discuss this update on the forums.

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

21 May 2008 - Level-up Messages

Going up a skill level can access a shedload of new activities, items and quest requirements. You need to know exactly what you're capable of at these new levels, so we've taken a fresh look at your level up messages and skill guides.

Level-up messages now give you much more information about any abilities you've unlocked when raising your skill levels. They'll tell you when you increase a Combat level, for example, or when you've met the requirements to start a new quest. Each of these important milestones will be highlighted by improved sounds and graphics, which get more impressive as you achieve harder-to-reach goals!

Extra information has also been added to the Skill Advance Guides, giving you a truly comprehensive picture of what can be done at your current level. If you have gained the ability to do anything with your new skill level, you can almost guarantee that it will be here.

Finally, you won't miss your level-up message if you're in the midst of combat. Once you advance a level in a skill, that skill's icon will begin flashing in the statistics menu of your side interface. You can then view your level-up messages by clicking on the flashing icon (as long as you stay logged in). In all other cases, clicking on the skill icon will open the skill guide as normal.

Summary

In other news...

There are a few unusual signs for you to discover across RuneScape, revealing bizarre statistics about the activities of the day. Ever wanted to know the number of cakes stolen from East Ardougne stalls? Well, now you can! There are signposts for you to find in the following locations:

• East Ardougne


• Goblin Village


• Lumbridge


• Lumbridge cow fields


• Varrock Palace

On the subject of signposts, you'll find that a number have been added around Runescape. These are very useful if you're lost and need pointing in the right direction. These are scattered in the area bounded by Ardougne, Fremennik Pass, Morytania and down to the Shantay Pass.

Various NPCs in Miscellania and Etceteria are more helpful and will tell you your approval rating. This should save you time and a trip to Advisor Ghrim.

Juna, from the Tears of Guthix minigame, now has a quick option for telling her stories. Also, she'll inform you more accurately about when you can return to the cave and collect tears again. If you are able to access the Tears of Guthix within the next two days, Juna will tell you when to return, to the hour. If you can access them within 4 hours, Juna will tell you when to return, to the minute!

Discuss this update on the forums.

21 May 2008 - Quick Chat

Quick Chat:

This week brings the Quick Chat system - an optional method for chatting to players in RuneScape.

You may activate the Quick Chat system by clicking on your name in the chat window or the speech bubble next to it. This brings up the Quick Chat menu, which replaces your chat window. You may revert to the normal chat system at any time by pressing 'Esc' or the 'X' in the top-left corner.

The Quick Chat menu houses a list of requests, responses, greetings and other commonly-used sentences. You can choose from these by selecting them with your mouse or via shortcut keys. Once you have made your selection, your character will say your chosen chat option.

In some areas of RuneScape, you can press 'F10' to bring up 'context-sensitive' chat. This is a list of chat options that varies according to where you are or what you are training. You can then use this menu to talk about subjects related to the area or activity. We expect this to be particularly helpful in those situations where you need to give team directions: in minigames like Castle Wars and Pest Control, for example, you will be able to suggest tactics at the touch of a few buttons.

We have also made Quick Chat available to muted players. We believe that this is a more suitable action to take against those who have previously abused the chat system. Additionally, Quick Chat can be used to chat with players on German worlds, since the system will translate whichever chat option you choose.

Due to the nature of Quick Chat, we cannot entirely predict how players will use it or what players will want from it. So, we would encourage any feedback that you have, to help us tailor the system to your chatting needs. To offer feedback, please post on the official Quick Chat thread in the Suggestions Forum.

As we mentioned in this month's Behind the Scenes, Quick Chat is optional and an alternative to conventional chatting.

Changes to the 'F' keys:

Quick Chat brings some slight alterations to the handy shortcut keys:

• F4 now opens your inventory (which was previously 'Escape').


• F9 opens the quick responses of your Quick Chat menu.


• F10 opens the context-sensitive menus of your Quick Chat menu.


• F11 repeats the last phrase you said using the Quick Chat menu.

Discuss this update on the forums.

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

15 May 2008 - Players' Gallery

This month, Postie Pete's been admiring the sights of RuneScape. As a result, he's handpicked the best landscapes from your picture submissions, ready to display them in this month's Players' Gallery.

Head to the Players' Gallery to see the burning sun over the Kharidian Desert, the murky fog creeping across Morytania, and many others.

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

16 May 2008 - An Image of the Not-Too-Distant Future

In last week's Image of the Future newspost, we revealed our secret plan for RuneScape: a complete graphical rework. We were sneaky and held back a little information, however: namely, when you can expect these updates.

Drum-roll, please... You will have access to all of these updates within a couple of months! There really isn't much time to wait. If you can't wait for more details on the update, a new Development Diary is coming later this month.

We plan to keep improving RuneScape's graphics in the future, so we would encourage you to 'Send us your Specs', if you have not already.

Finally, we can reveal another image of the future...

Click for full image

Discuss this update on the forums.

If you are looking for a new mining area with high level ores, such as Adamantite and Mithril ores, then the lastest quest from RuneScape may be just what you need. The TokTz-Ket-Dill Quest will take into the the depths of the TzHaar City, where you will have to defeat a level 100 monster. You may also pick up some information about the TzHaar language and counting system. Afterwards, take up your pickaxes and get your fill from the new mining area.

Thanks to Belgariad04 and everyone else who contributed such great information.

~ Maonzhi ~

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

13 May 2008 - TokTz-Ket-Dill

A giant creature is causing havoc inside the Karamja volcano, digging tunnels beneath the city. The TzHaar now risk losing their beloved home, unless they can be convinced that they need help.

TokTz-Ket-Dill will give you a unique look into TzHaar society, as well as access to new areas, creatures and TzHaar characters. You may already know about TzHaar guards, hunters, mages, and crafters, but what about the TzHaar playwrights? Do you know how to speak the language? You don't? Perhaps a TzHaar librarian could be of help.

But what would a trip to the TzHaar city be without some fighting? Worry not! Besides learning the language and meeting some strange TzHaar, you will also explore dangerous tunnels and fight deadly beasts. These foes are no less threatening than the other inhabitants of the volcano, so you will need to prepare yourself.

Summary

Discuss this update on the forums.

13 May 2008 - Party Pete and TzHaar Improvements

The Guaranteed Content Poll is your chance to have a genuine impact on the game, and you have made some great choices this time. We asked you to choose the single character and group of characters that you would like us to transform. The results were Party Pete and the TzHaar (now that would be an interesting party!).

Party Pete seems to be very proud of his fabulous new look and he can’t wait to show it off to everyone in RuneScape. He has had a complete makeover, with clothes and accessories that suit his fun-loving lifestyle. If you want to check out his new threads (and groovy moves), head over to the Party Room to join in with his celebrations. The Party Room can be found to the north-east of Falador’s east bank.

We don’t think that the TzHaar would appreciate being described as ‘groovy’, but recent geological disturbances have left every single one of these fearsome creatures looking very different, from the TzHaar-Hur to TzTok-Jad himself. After a dramatic transformation, the TzHaar now look even more intimidating; TzTok-Jad even scared us when we first saw him. If you’re feeling brave and your adventuring brings you to Brimhaven's volcano, be careful where you put your pickaxe. Those rocks have powerful friends!

In other news...

In High Detail mode, you will find that buildings with roofs are much easier to enter. You can now click on the roof of a building and your player will walk inside - assuming the door is open, of course!

Discuss this update on the forums.

Hey everyone! We have some great news for you today. RuneHQ is now affiliated with Draynor.net, a wonderful place to get all sorts of cool stats signatures, goal signatures, banners, and more!

Thanks to Draynor.net, we now have some new signatures available under the tools menu to the left. Simply follow the instructions on the page to create your very own graphic to put in your forum signature or to show off to your friends.

In the future we hope to participate in more great projects with Draynor.net to make your RuneScape experience even more enjoyable.

~ [Im4eversmart] ~

Official RuneHQ May Event

Clan Wars: where the greatest of armies do battle. Within the walls of that bloodied arena, mighty battles take place and powerful clans strive for dominance.



Such a battle shall be waged in May. Come and join us at Clan Wars and fight for either the Blue Robes or the Black Robes. Who will emerge victorious?



Event details (such as the date and time) can be found at this topic on the Community Forums:



We hope to see you there!

Quotations taken directly from RuneScape.com

8 May 2008 - An Image of the Future

Over the past year, we've been keeping a rather large secret. We have been working on a complete graphical rework of RuneScape, which is looking truly spectacular. There's no need to take our word for it: look at the images below and see for yourself.

As you know, we currently offer 'High Detail' and 'Low Detail' modes. We plan on adding a new and optional detail mode, bringing you accelerated higher quality graphics. This will be in addition to the existing detail modes, as they will remain unchanged.

As if the improvements below weren't enough, an optional fullscreen version of RuneScape is due at the same time. This will let you play at a resolution of your choice, and it also supports widescreen monitors. We think you'll agree, the future of RuneScape is looking very good indeed....

Before:

After:

Click for full image

Expect more to be revealed in a Development Diary, later this month.

Discuss this update on the forums.

8 May 2008 - Send us your Specs! - Reminder

When planning future projects or attempting to really push the technology of the RuneScape game, we often come across the same problem: we have no information about everyone's computer hardware. With this kind of information, we could release more RuneScape improvements that make the best use of your system's capabilities.

We have come up with a solution that we'd like you to help us with. We have developed a program that, once downloaded, will tell us the following things about your computer:

• your operating system


• your graphics card


• your CPU


• your Java version


• relevant graphical and audio drivers

This program downloads and runs in the same manner as the RuneScape game. We would encourage you to run it on every computer that you use to regularly play RuneScape.

Once we've gathered together all of this information, we can begin planning our future projects and RuneScape improvements to work within these specifications. This means that very few people will miss out on some awesome updates that we have planned!

To begin downloading the program, visit this link. It will guide you through an agreement page to make sure that you understand what is required. The process only takes a few seconds, so you should be back to RuneScape in no time.

NOTE - We would like to remind you that this applet is COMPLETELY secure and official (you can verify this by checking that your address bar states www.runescape.com/). It does not include spyware or any other form of malicious software.

We can guarantee that your information will only be used by Jagex to develop future games and improve RuneScape. It will not be shared with any other organisations. Please only download the program from RuneScape.com as this is the only legitimate source.

Click here to download the program.

Discuss this update on the forums.

Perils of Ice Mountain Quest Guide

We are proud to present you our guide on the newly released Perils of Ice Mountain quest.


This guide was written by Alfawarlord, and bubble00000. Thanks to everyone for corrections and updates.

~ Alfawarlord ~ and ~ [Im4eversmart] ~

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

7 May 2008 - Perils of Ice Mountain

The dwarves of the Dwarven Mine are an industrious bunch and get through a lot of pickaxes. Nurmof, the pickaxe sales-dwarf, has always had trouble keeping up with demand and, as RuneScape shops have limitless stock, he can't possibly make enough pickaxes on his own.

Being a dwarf, Nurmof has solved his problem the dwarven way: through automation! His cave in the Dwarven Mine is now home to a machine that churns out pickaxes night and day. Powering it has become something of a problem, so Nurmof has commissioned a power station on the surface, near the mine.

Projects of this scale are rarely without their problems: a hapless dwarf has lost part of a delivery to the power station, and an adventurer is needed to recover it. As is customary on RuneScape, this may not be the end of that adventurer's involvement...

Summary

In other news...

Those who complete Perils of Ice Mountain will find a set of dwarven blueprints. To get a closer look at them, look at the wallpaper, in the Download section of our website.

What's new pussycat? Well, along with the reworked Gertrude's Cat quest, we've updated the cats and kittens throughout RuneScape. All cat and kitten variants have been looked over by the Makeover Mage and are more adorable than ever. Miaow!

The Monastery and monks east of Ice Mountain have also undergone a graphical update. Check out the fresh robes and the surrounding area - we think you'll be 'thoroug-holy' surprised by their new looks.

We've implemented a fairy ring logbook to assist you in your travels. Using the Zanaris fairy ring will display your log, so you can easily find the code combinations for your chosen destination. Your log will only display code combinations from this week onwards, however. Additionally, the rings can turn in two directions, which should speed up your selection.

You should find that it's easier and quicker to recharge your essence pouches in the Abyss. The Dark Mage now has a quick option and he'll repair your degraded pouches with less hassle.

The Bone Grinder has been improved, so that grinding silver bars to dust has been made faster. Stop by the Ectofuntus Temple to give it a go!

Other small fixes:

• The red boater hat is no longer listed twice in your player-owned house treasure chest.


• Crossbow bolts purchasable after Death to the Dorgeshuun can now be bought and sold on the Grand Exchange in larger quantities.

Discuss this update on the forums.

7 May 2008 - Law Talisman Changes

This week brings a change that will have an impact on the Runecrafting skill. We have realised that obtaining the law talisman as a reward for completing Troll Stronghold is not really adequate, considering the difficulty of the quest. Such a tough and demanding quest deserves a better reward, so, as of today, members can trade the law talisman and law tiara. Players will now be able to take advantage of the Assist System at the Law Altar, so that anyone with the required Runecrafting level can help those with a lower skill level to produce law runes. This change opens up law rune crafting to a wider group of players, which benefits everyone.

If you’ve yet to complete or have already completed Troll Stronghold, fear not! We have no wish to devalue the hard work necessary to complete the quest, so we are replacing the law talisman reward with two experience lamps that give 10,000 XP each into any skill over level 30. You will not lose the law talisman you already received for completing the quest, and anyone who completes the quest from this point on will receive the two experience lamps, but no talisman.

There are now more ways to obtain the law talisman. In addition to trading it with other players or buying it from the Grand Exchange, the law talisman is now a monster drop for a variety of foes, including abyssal creatures, battle tortoises, terror birds, ghouls, guards, and paladins.

If you have already completed Troll Stronghold, you will need to speak to Dunstan, the blacksmith in Burthorpe, to claim your new reward.

Summary

Discuss this update on the forums.

Quotations taken directly from RuneScape.com

6 May 2008 - Summoning Poll Results

Many thanks for voting in last week's Guaranteed Content poll. We had a huge number of votes and it really captured everyone's imagination. So, without further ado, we can reveal that the familiar you will be summoning in the future is...

The phoenix!

Another Guaranteed Content Poll is coming soon, so if you want to influence the choices for the poll, keep an eye on the Suggestions Forum...

href="http://www.runehq.net/RHQInn/index.php?showtopic=144145">Discuss this update on the forums.

6 May 2008 - Send us your Specs!

When planning future projects or attempting to really push the technology of the RuneScape game, we often come across the same problem: we have no information about everyone's computer hardware. With this kind of information, we could release more RuneScape improvements that make the best use of your system's capabilities.

We have come up with a solution that we'd like you to help us with. We have developed a program that, once downloaded, will tell us the following things about your computer:

• Your operating system


• Your graphics card


• Your CPU


• Your Java version


• Relevant graphical and audio drivers

Once we've gathered together all of this information, we can begin planning our future projects and RuneScape improvements to work within these specifications. This means that very few people will miss out on some awesome updates that we have planned!

To begin downloading the program, visit this link and log in. It will guide you through an agreement page to make sure that you understand what is required. The process does not take long, so you should be back to RuneScape in no time.

The applet is completely secure and official (you can verify this by checking that your address bar states www.runescape.com/). We can guarantee that your information will only be used by Jagex to develop future games and improve RuneScape. It will not be shared with any other organisations.

NOTE - Please only download the program from RuneScape.com. This is the only legitimate source.



Click here to download the program.

Discuss this update on the forums.

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

1 May 2008 - Behind the Scenes - May

It's not unusual for dwarves to be involved in a spot of industry. In this month's first quest, however, they may take it a bit too far. Nurmof, the pickaxe sales-dwarf in the Dwarven Mines, will have need of an energy source to power his patented pickaxe machine. Unfortunately for RuneScape, it looks like his choice will have severe consequences. Will you be able to clean up Nurmof's act in this month's low-level quest, Perils of Ice Mountain?

Whatever happens in RuneScape, the cats seem to find their feet, and, this month, those feet - and the rest of their bodies - will get graphically improved to become even more adorable. We may be getting a wee bit enthusiastic by sprucing up the Gertrude's Cat quest, but we're sure you'll appreciate what's new (pussycat).

You may know that the law talisman is a reward for the hard-to-beat Troll Stronghold quest. We feel that, not only is this a reward that everyone should be able to get their hands on, but it's strangely low-level for a high-level quest. This month, we will be making the law talisman available to all members, so that anyone can craft law runes, or use the Assist System to help others make them. The Troll Stronghold reward will be replaced by two 10,000xp lamps and, if you have completed the quest already, Dunstan will be ready to hand you them.

You wouldn't find Party Pete fighting trolls in Troll Stronghold - that would mess up his marvellous new 'fro! That's right, Party Pete has an appointment with the Makeover Mage, all thanks to your votes in the Guaranteed Content Poll. Expect a startling new 'do, threads and moves. You might even go "Woah! Dude..." when he throws some pretty spectacular shapes.

Burning down the house will be the graphically reworked TzHaar. Like Party Pete, the TzHaar were voted, by you, to have their looks and animations reworked. There's also the small matter of an improved Jad; this month, you will find the look of old is gone. What replaces it will be a whole lot more threatening...

Which leads us neatly to a RuneScape first: a TzHaar quest! It seems that the TzHaar will have need of a JalYt - a human - to help kill a fearsome beast that has been tunneling through their structures. Normally, this kind of problem would be dealt with in-house, but the only access to the creature will be through a very small, human-sized hole. Will you be successful where the TzHaar have failed, in TokTz-Ket-Dill?

Later this month, we introduce the Quick Chat system - an optional alternative to our normal chat system. Using Quick Chat, you will be able to use shortcut keys or your mouse to choose from a library of questions, answers, sentences and greetings. We expect this to be particularly helpful in minigames like Castle Wars and Pest Control, where faster communication is invaluable.

Muted players will have Quick Chat available to them. We believe that this will be a more suitable action to take against those who abused the chat system. Additionally, we have developed Quick Chat so it will be possible to talk to players on German worlds (and vice versa) since the system will translate whichever chat option you choose.

NOTE - The Quick Chat system will be completely optional, and normal chat will remain unchanged.

Level-up messages will be made more informative and less intrusive this month, with a raft of changes that we think you'll appreciate. First, you'll find that there's much more information about what you can do at your hard-fought new level, from quests to skill milestones. Fireworks will fizz into the air as you rise up the levels, and steps will be taken so that your level up messages cannot be interrupted by combat or other events.

Random statistic signs will be seen on the streets of RuneScape. These will offer some interesting facts about the more popular activities of RuneScape. Would you like to know how many Varrock Palace guards are killed in a day? The stat signs will tell you exactly how many...

There will be a few smaller updates to round the month off. The first - Grind-X - will allow you to conveniently grind items with your pestle and mortar. We will also be introducing signposts to areas of RuneScape, making the world easier to navigate. Finally, in the land of website updates, you can expect to help yourself to a Perils of Ice Mountain wallpaper, Players' Gallery and a Postbag from the Hedge.

Discuss this update on the forums.

Quotations taken directly from RuneScape.com

1 May 2008 - New Forum - Reporting Academy

Hi everyone,



We have released a new Forum in the 'Support' section of the RuneScape Forums. This is called the 'Reporting Academy', and it contains information that will help you when sending abuse reports about other players.



Every day, we receive lots of inaccurate abuse reports, which take up a lot of our time. By creating this Forum, we hope everyone will have a better idea of what to report, so we can spend more time moderating in-game or on the Forums. Let's work together to make that happen!

Here are a couple of quick pointers to get you started:

Noob:



Being called a noob can be annoying. You may have a bad game of Castle Wars, for example, and find that a player follows you around afterwards, calling you a 'noob'. As irritating as this may be to you, please do not report it unless there is something more serious that you'd like us to take a look at! If the player is really bothering you, add them to your Ignore List - that way, you'll have no more trouble from them!

Filtered language **** ****:



It may be that you have wandered RuneScape and seen someone activate the in-game chat filter. The filter removes inappropriate words, so you do not need to send us a report. If a person is annoying you by continuously using the filter, we would advise you to use your Ignore List. To sum up: don't report for starred-out language only, as the filter has done its job. Of course, if there is something other than just starred-out language that you are concerned about, please send us a report about that player.

For more great reporting tips please visit our new Forum 'The Reporting Academy'.



Thanks for listening,



RuneScape Community Management

Discuss this update on the forums.

The official RuneHQ May Newsletter is here. Take some time, sit back, and enjoy yourself with the new information and happenings coming your way.

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

28 April 2008 - Summoning Guaranteed Content Poll

Do you want to help decide on a new Summoning familiar? In this week's poll you can do exactly that! Choose from such varied creatures as killerwatts, giant kebbits and kangaroos...



Each of the creature options in this poll were chosen from a thread in the Suggestions Forum. Thank you to everyone who offered ideas for familiars.



Click Vote in this poll (Members Only) on the left-hand side of the RuneScape front page to vote.



The Summoning familiar with the most votes will be developed once the poll finishes on 6th May, 2008. The winner will be announced on the 7th May.

Discuss this update on the forums.

The RuneHQ Official April Event

Event is now finished.

We want to thank everyone for coming to this event. Please check back and join us next time for another event at RuneHQ. If you have any suggestions, please let us know on the forums!

~Maonzhi~

Ever ventured into the Wilderness for a clue scroll, to get to the Mage Arena, or the dragons; only to be stopped by the Revenant monsters? Time after time you try, but they always seem to get in the way. Well, not anymore. Now it's your turn to get in their way as we get some revenge on those pesky monsters for all their interference, in April's massive RuneHQ event, The Revenant Hunt! Join the hunt as scores of fellow players pour out into the wilderness to hunt these most annoying creatures, defeating them as we go. Don't worry if you're not a high hitter, we will bring them down all together. Using Jagex's LootShare and CoinShare, everyone can get in on the action and profit from it too. Let the bloodshed begin!

Quick Summary:

Please join the RuneHQ Events Team's clan chat (We are requiring members to join so that we can use the coinshare/lootshare system.): King_of_alba or Mei_ahn_zhi and Richie_L_S.

UPDATE: we are now using a different chat. Please see above.

• Event: Wilderness Revenant Hunting
  
  


• When: Sunday, April 27th
  
  


• Time: 3pm CST / 9pm GMT
  
  


• Where: F2P - World 85 NOTE: THIS HAS BEEN UPDATED!
  
  


• Meeting Place: Edgeville Bank
  
  


• What to bring: Combat Equipment; Armor, Weapon, Food
  
  


• Event open to: Members, Non-Members, Anyone and Everyone!

Feel free to post your comments about this RuneHq Event on the forums.



If you are not registered, 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.

~ Alfawarlord ~

Quotations taken directly from Runescape.com

24 April 2008 - Postbag from the Hedge

This week's Postbag is a mix of the surreal and the serious. On the surreal side we have exploding trifles and talking tripwires. On the serious side we have the history of Charos and some worrying conspiracy theories...


If you are intrigued or bemused, we can only point you in the direction of this week's Postbag from the Hedge.



Postie Pete also wants images for a future Players' Gallery. In particular, everyone's favorite severed head would like landscapes of RuneScape's beautiful geography.

Discuss this update on the forums.