näˈstaljə,nə-/
noun
nos·tal·gianoun:
nostalgia; plural noun:
nostalgias
a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations
Well it's that time again, time to analyze a particular update or aspect of RuneScape. This month I will not only be doing this with the game but rather with myself as well and I encourage you to do the same. With Legacy coming in to the game this month it's hard not to think about what the game means to you. Others have said, and I agree, that Legacy has much less to do about the mechanics or gameplay and much more to do about bringing back a time when you were most happy and most comfortable and trying to preserve those feelings. Legacy has brought a feeling of nostalgia to many people and while I haven't always been a supporter of this update, I can see the appeal looking at it through a different lens. I think we all feel nostalgic about different aspects of the game. Lord Rickles reminded me how I too felt about my Dragon equipment and how I bought and sold a full set of Dragon ornamental armour three times before I was ready to, in his words, "let it go". This made me think and ask myself the question, what am I nostalgic about in RuneScape? What do I wish was brought back into game? What do I do now to retain the magic I felt when I first started playing? In short what do I feel nostalgic about? After much soul-searching I believe I found the answer. The sheer number of skills and the ability to be self sufficient if one so chooses was truly one of the most fascinating and engaging aspects of the game to me and it's something that I've gotten away from but as you will see I believe I have found a way to bring this back to my own game so I can have that feeling of nostalgia like so many of the Legacy players.
The day I walked off of Tutorial Island I found myself in this magical land with literally unlimited things to do. Of course the feeling was a bit overwhelming at first but soon I began to see the real beauty in the way the skills worked. I could go fishing and use the fish to train my cooking which I could turn around and use when I was training combat. I could kill chickens for feathers, cut down trees, smith arrowheads, and fletch my own arrows. I could mine ore and smith my own weapons and armour - there was truly no end to the things that I could do for myself. I rarely used the Grand Exchange when I first started, there really wasn't any need. Everything I needed to train was at my fingertips and all I had to do was go out and get it. I have always felt that RuneScape was unique in this respect. Not that no other games have skills that are complementary and can train each other but rather the variety and the way it made you feel like a mountain man living off the land. I've been playing RPG's and MMORPG's for over 25 years and I still haven't found any game that gave me the same feeling that RuneScape did when I started.
Unfortunately it was not to last, I became my own worst enemy in this regard. In my pursuit to be a more high-powered player I drifted away from what truly made me happy. I began to chase the XP Dragon and no matter how efficient I was or how great my XP per hour was it was never enough. I began to rise in the ranks by hundreds of thousands from where I first started and still the feeling turned out to be empty. I never was much for bragging rights, however, I did want a certain level of respect from other players and this just fueled me even more. Eventually the 99s started to come then 1500 total level and 2000 total level and 2300 total level and I still enjoyed the game but I never had that sense of magic and inspiration that I had when I started. Then came Legacy and through my opposition to the update I began to realize why people wanted it so bad. It was something I wanted as well but in a different way. I wanted the game to make me feel like it did when I started.
I finally came to this realization and decided to do something about it. Earlier this month I began to be as self-sufficient as I could. Now I didn't start an Ironman challenge or anything like that, but I did begin to look for ways that I could be more fulfilled by doing things for myself. This was challenging at first because for a higher level player it's not as cut and dry as it is when you start. I have found a number of things I can do, however, that are extremely beneficial, cost-effective, and most importantly fun. I'm going to share some of these things with you now but keep in mind this is not a guide nor are any of my methods very enlightening it's all common knowledge and widely available on YouTube and other sites.
My first 99 was in Woodcutting. The reason why was that I loved Construction and I literally cut all of my own mahogany logs to train my construction skill. The great thing about doing it this way was that I got enough special logs that I could convert my logs to planks essentially getting 99 construction, one of the most expensive skills in the game, for free. Of course you know the trade-off, it took a long time. On the bright side there was always somebody down there cutting logs that I could talk to and I actually made a lot of my really good friends while cutting mahogany logs. This is just one idea if you like these two skills, I will tell you it is a very rewarding feeling when you walk away with either of those capes and know you did it yourself. The next method is something you've probably heard Shane talk about himself. Herblore can be funded through Farming essentially making it self-sufficient and given the fact that Herblore is another one of my favourite skills it's something that I have taken up recently. The plus side to this is that while you are getting 99 Farming you also get 99 Herblore and when you're done you have the supplies to make an obscene amount of overload potions thus keeping you supplied for your PVM trips. Another thing I have went back to lately has been Fishing. I catch all of my own Rocktails now and what I don't use for my Rocktail Soup I use for day-to-day needs. If skilling isn't really your thing and you are more of a combat oriented player don't fret you can still do many of the same things through combat. Of course Slayer is your best friend. It allows you to train multiple skills at the same time all while stabbing something in the face. For example, I recently went on an assignment and had my Bonecrusher with me and was using the Korasi sword to check out its special attack. Long story short, for every kill that I used a special I received Prayer XP, Slayer XP, Magic XP, Strength XP, and Constitution XP, now that's a lot of skills to get XP in at one time. Granted the Prayer and Magic XP was minimal, it is still worth it because you're going to be doing it anyway might as well maximize it. These are just a few examples that I have been doing. There are so much more and it's fun to try to find methods on your own that suit your needs.
I want to leave you with this challenge. Ask yourself what you are nostalgic about? What made you fall in love with the game? Has Jagex already brought it back or is there a way you can recapture that feeling on your own? It's well worth the effort, just ask the Legacy players. Until next month happy RuneScapeing.
This was originally posted as an
Informer Runescape article.
