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Lost Pages of Taborea: Do-It-Yourself Combat Engine
When I first started playing Runes of Magic and other MMOs, I never used addons because they broke my perceived immersion. Fast forward to today and I have well over a dozen different addons to enhance my user interface and interaction with Taborea. There are quite a few addons that I'd now highly recommend. The collection has both evolved and stayed basically the same over the months. The collection does grow, but a lot of the new addons that come along don't see any love once uploaded. Some of the great classics -- like Advanced AuctionHouse -- are constantly being updated and are very useful. Many others that come along are variations on older popular addons or they aren't popular because they are small fluff addons. Basically, there's a core of great addons that are still being updated, but good new addons are coming at a slow pace. One new addon in particular is the Do-It-Yourself Combat Engine. DIYCE is a robust combat engine that can allow players to pre-script entire combat encounters with the push of a button. There are some ethical questions about the ability to easily program what some would call a cheat code. Is this going too far and skirting the boundaries of hacking? Let's take a closer look at the pros and cons for this program.
Lost Pages of Taborea: A peek behind the fountain rune
Runes of Magic's fountain rune is one of many slottable runes that fall outside the standard attribute boosters. Its job is simple: It increases the rate at which you regenerate mana points. It doesn't fill up one of the six statistic slots that are burned onto an item. It gets plugged into one of up to four slots that are found randomly or drilled on accessories. It's also a great eater of time and resources to tier it in the arcane transmutor. I've been testing a tier 4 fountain rune on two of my characters that are different levels in order to see the difference in output. If you look on the Runes of Magic Database, you'll see it says a fountain 4 adds +22 MP recovery rate. Those who use the addon StatRating will see the same figure. Now I know that the numbers that equipment and runes show are not indicative of what you actually get. I also know that StatRating is there to tell you the actual numbers you get for any stat, but 22 for a tier 4 rune sounded like a lot. It doesn't really tell you how that number is applied, but I think of mana regen in terms of ticks. If a tier 4 fountain gave +22 mana per tick, and we can upgrade it to tier 10, and we can stack different tiers on five different accessories... there's just no way that number can mean that, can it? This week I found my own answers to what the fountain rune gives you. I also share some thoughts on using -- or not using -- the fountain rune.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Snowflake Festival
Jingle brother's time is here. Time for slaying. Time for cheer. Presents abound every Christmas in the Snowflake Festival, and I've been hoarding them like a squirrel. This is one of my favorite holidays, probably my favorite one in Runes of Magic. Not only are there lots of treats to get, but the quests are fun. I reminisced last week about the events held in RoM year-round, but I wanted to run through some of the things I've been doing in this year's festival. Despite some recent patching trouble, the holiday is up and running. There are new mounts, furniture, Christmas graphics and prizes galore to enjoy this year. If you've never played RoM during the Snowflake Festival -- or never took part in the quests -- this will serve as a fun guide and idea engine for what's in store for you. Get your space bar primed and ready for lots of jumping and read on past the break.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Reminiscing on holiday events
There's been a lot of event play-time in Runes of Magic lately. The pumpkin festival carried on for a lot longer than was originally anticipated and transitioned into a short -- and smaller -- autumn banquet. Now, Christmas is right around the corner. I've been drooling over the Christmas trees that are already for sale in the cash shop. RoM has seen a full year's cycle of events come and go twice now, and we are approaching the third Christmas. Now that long-term players have seen all the offerings, I wanted to peer into the place these holidays have in the world of Taborea and see how they add to our virtual lives. In this article, I want to share how I look forward to events and explore some of the great reasons to have them. 'Tis the season, and all that jazz. Let's take some time to look back and reminisce on RoM's holiday events and why we take part in them.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Level 62 growing pains
Halloween has stubbornly refused to leave the land of Candara and is relentlessly holding monster parades around the clock. While it may be boring some, other persistent folk are probably stock-piling enough candy to make it all the way to next Halloween. So while we conveniently ignore the Pumpkin Prince, I want look ahead to the coming new zone. I've been steadily finding great content on the Runes of Magic forum, and the new level-cap increase is a hot subject right now. When chapter 3 rolled out, we knew we'd be seeing the maximum level raised to 60, but this new one wasn't expected, especially not so soon. This new level cap will take us into Limo Desert and to level 62. That means at least one new dungeon, new quests and most likely new armor. There's more than a few in the Runes of Magic community, including CM Swag, who have voiced their opinions both for and against another raise in levels so soon. Let's take a look at the situation that this presents, and I'll give my opinion on the new level cap.%Gallery-108554%
Lost Pages of Taborea: Is Runes of Magic too easy?
It seems things are never quiet in regard to Runes of Magic these days. If it isn't holiday events or new world bosses, it's large-scale balancing issues. Players may still be plugging away at title achievements this Halloween, but the event has been going long enough for people to settle into a daily routine and get back to everyday affairs. In other words: it's something to do, but the shiny is starting to wear off. I took advantage of this lull and decided to do a Q&A on the overall difficulty of RoM. It's not a huge issue; it's more like a constant issue that creeps into other discussions on class balance or the memento system. And after the attempted change to a percentage-based mana cost, it's definitely worth consideration. Is RoM too easy? The question seems like it'd be a quick one-line answer, but there are many ways to view it that would yield different outcomes. What are players' goals? How can a change to one system affect the whole game? How will future updates affect any changes made today? Is there an answer to whether RoM is too easy or not? Well. Let's find out.
Lost Pages of Taborea: The Runes of Magic Database
A long long time ago, I wrote about community resources for Runes of Magic. In that article is a handy resource that gathers collected data from RoM called the buffed database. Key personnel from buffed.de started a new venture called Playata to provide content services to game publishers. The point of this boring news snippet is that Playata, in conjunction with Frogster, has created the official RoM database. This shiny new official site could be viewed as getbuffed 2.0. The official version is streamlined, runs better, and has a few nice extras that the original never had. This week I put together a guide explaining what the database is, what you can do with it, and some of the extra fun stuff it offers.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Low-level PvP alt
I've been spending some time making a home for myself on Artemis. Yes, I've moved away from the PvP server, and I haven't regretted it. I've never really participated in open PvP, so it's not really a surprise. I've said before that I only started on a PvP server to have that extra option available to me and to have an added dose of excitement. Well, your unofficial ambassador to Taborea may be changing his tune. After I made the switch to PvE, I wasn't sure what to do. I already had a high-level character. I didn't feel ready to put my main to rest. It's been my dedicated character for over a year, and it does give me the advantage of accessing high-level content. With the limited time I have for Runes of Magic right now, let alone other MMOs, I was tentative about making an alt. I took the plunge, made an alt, and haven't looked back. Oddly enough -- or maybe not -- I'm enjoying PvP more on a PvE server. I've found that I like alt life, and it has me thinking creatively about what to do with each character. I've spoken about PvP culture; I've mentioned my idea for improving battlefields; and last week I spoke about siege badges that can help you in battlefields. This week, I want to cover building a low-level PvP alt. There's a lot to be done in prepping a low-level PvP alt, so let's get busy.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Badge of honor
I've been spending a lot of time lately in Runes of Magic's battlefields and arena. There are a number of these instanced PvP areas and this crafter has been enjoying most of them. The battlefields, arena, and guild siege system all have tasty incentives in the form of points or badges. Basically operating as a form of currency, these PvP rewards can all be spent on a variety of items. If you thought gear grinding or buying purified fusion stones was the only way to improve your character, then think again. If you thought spending diamonds or exorbitant amounts of gold was the only way to improve your pet, then think again. If you thought Kipos had one ugly mug... well, you'd be right. In this article I take a look at a couple alternative forms of currency you can get your hands on and what you can do with them.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Fun with housing
I've briefly mentioned housing in previous articles, but I haven't done any in-depth looks into it. Plus, with the addition of new house contracts, the housekeeper system, and some creative ideas I've discovered, I thought it was about time to give housing some exposure. For the uninitiated, Runes of Magic's housing is a feature that lets you have an instanced area for yourself to store items, earn bonuses, and decorate to your heart's content. I've seen some players refer to RoM's housing as Everquest II lite. Apart from a handful of boss furniture-recipes, you don't craft the majority of furniture. You can buy furniture from NPCs or select from a wide range of choices in the cash shop. Once inside your house, you'll have access to the housing interface. Your items of choice can be moved into the furniture slots and then placed anywhere you want. You can get a more detailed how-to guide on housing from the Runes of Magic Wiki. In this article, I want to take a look at some creative things you can do with furniture and housing.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Mana strike
When In the Depths of the Forest went live in Runes of Magic there were cheers heard across Taborea, but players soon protested. Along with all of the new content, Runkewaker also added a nerf in the form of increased mana costs for many of the skills in RoM. On top of the existing base mana costs for skills, a percentage modifier was added that significantly increased the cost to use skills as you leveled up. Many players were unhappy with the skills being balanced in this way and went as far as staging cross-server in-game strikes in Varanas' Central Plaza until something was done. Only a few days after the patch went live, a new hotfix was applied to RoM which removed the balancing act completely. Tony Tang, the Vice President of Business Development at Runewaker, issued a statement to announce the removal of the balance, but he also clarified that the company was confident a change would need to be made to address the issue of the game becoming less challenging. In this week's article I want to take a closer look at why many players were upset and point out why I think the balance may be for the better.
Lost Pages of Taborea: It's the little things
As we wait in rapt anticipation for the final volley of Chapter 3 goodness, I find myself speculating about other possible additions and changes that could go into Runes of Magic. Now that the pet system is up and running and the relationship system is on the horizon, will there be a myriad of balances made to classes? Or, will Runewaker and Frogster spring any fun surprises on us? I'm not sure what it is about the time right before a patch, but it gets my neurons firing and makes me want to play amateur designer. Besides trying to figure out exactly how the relationship system is going to work, I've been thinking about how I'd add my own changes to some of RoM's current features. The door is wide open for speculation in this department, but I wanted to look at what I thought would be possible for pre-existing areas in the near future. Follow along after the jump and see whether you agree with what I'd do to the lore, battlegrounds, crafting, and a handful of random features.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Call to arms!
It's only been a few months since I started writing the Runes of Magic column, but it seems much longer than that. I love writing these guides, tips, and opinion pieces for fans of this awesome MMO, but I felt something was missing. Even after all the terrific comments and discussions from players, there seems to be many people who haven't tried RoM yet. Seeing comments -- almost weekly -- about people saying they are going to try RoM is really cool. I am a huge fan of the game, and it's my intention to bring the fun and excitement of it to you, through my articles. I'm not hoping that I stop hearing about new players, because those comments are a small sign I've succeeded in my writings, but I do want to take the opportunity to present a "call to arms". RoM is an amazing one-of-a-kind MMO that has captured my imagination and adventure for fun. It can be all too easy to lump this game into an already complicated world of free-to-play MMOs, and dismiss it as "more of the same". It really isn't more of the same. Let's take a look at how this MMO is different, fun, steadily growing, and branching out into the MMO community. This article should catch everyone up on the current status of the game, and how it has faired in the spotlight.
Lost Pages of Taborea: You can play for free
The life of a free-to-play game columnist sometimes feels like driving a super-charger across a post-apocalyptic planet's surface: pock-marked with jagged smoking craters, littered with crumbling cities and dotted with shanty towns full of biker gangs. No matter how hard I try to avoid anything dangerous on my way to a coveted twinkie factory, it's only a matter of time before I run into some. I usually try to avoid anything that I think will immediately ignite a box of old, wet dynamite when talking about Runes of Magic, but I think I'm going to go out on a limb this time by saying you most certainly can play RoM for free. I had spent two years browsing many other MMOs' cash shops before I saw RoM's, and back then a lot of what they sold were time-restricted items. You could buy any assortment of outfits, mounts, or even some attribute boosters, but you lost most items after a short amount of time. I know a lot of F2Ps operate differently now and have started experimenting with many ways of selling items, beyond any perceived notion that the game was built with simple roadblocks. Still, I think those games feel very separated from their cash shops and that's why RoM's shop stands out to me.
Lost Pages of Taborea: It's all about the lore
I thought long and hard about how to approach a story-based post for Runes of Magic. In the end, I felt it was best not to write on the lore, but about the lore. To sit down and lay out what happens for you felt like cheating you of actual game play. I didn't want to write what I thought would essentially be a long list of spoilers, but rather try and paint a picture of Taborea. Something that could hopefully act as a book review -- in a way -- to let you know the flavor of the world without spelling it all out. I applaud Runewaker for the work they've done to include a rich amount of story into RoM. They're a Taiwanese developer making an MMORPG for a largely Western audience. Then, the German publisher Frogster has to deal with localizing everything into English. Those are no easy hurdles to jump and still end up with a story as good as the one Runewaker and Frogster give us. Before translating even begins, they have to deal with imagining a Western tale. RoM has become very popular and Runewaker is no doubt steadily growing their company, but they are still fairly small in relation to some larger Western developers and have to work that much harder to get the quality job done.
Lost Pages of Taborea: That nasty level curve
The sands of time have poured like Red Bull at an all-night LAN party and the week was gone before I knew it. However, Father Time is reversing things on me this week because I'm looking at 24 hours without playing Runes of Magic this week. Even though this is a painful prospect, I can take some comfort in knowing that Chapter 3 will be waiting on the other side. I'm itching to get back in and continue my climb to the new level 60 cap. A month ago, I thought I was going to be prepared for it, but I had hit a leveling curve. It turns out that leveling slows way down when making the move from Weeping Coast to level 53 and up Savage Lands. Let's laugh in Father Time's face as we whittle away a few minutes of the day by looking at how this level curve affects RoM.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Roleplaying horizontally
I'm definitely not what you would term a hardcore player. I've been playing for a whole year and have just reached level 54/45 on my main. My gear is OK -- not great -- and that's only because an old guild mate loaned the pieces to me months before he quit playing. I haven't been able to run through any dungeon since Mystic Altar and I don't even try to pick fights with other players my level. So, how can I sit here and tell you that I love Runes of Magic enough to forfeit the majority of my young adult life to it? Two words: role and horizontal. Roleplaying is something that is understandably not for everyone, but I'm not talking about a strict actor or actress role. I'm talking about just crossing the line between viewing an MMO as a video game that owes you everything and accepting a little responsibility to use some imagination to increase how much fun you have. Horizontal gameplay is a term that's been thrown around a lot lately, referring to ever expanding content that doesn't rely entirely on leveling. Jump past the break to see why this is such a sweet combination in RoM.
Lost Pages of Taborea: A look into Chapter Three
It's been a fun week of questing and exploration for me in Runes of Magic. I've been digging deeper into the heart of the Savage Lands and learning more lore while discovering new visual treasures. When I first entered the level 53 and up zone, I thought it was some kind of tropical dinosaur utopia. Most of the areas I ventured into have that visual style, but there's also a mix of Elven villages, mountains guarded by apemen and tiki style huts to give the zone unique variety. Of course, I gave all that a break when the first part of Chapter III: The Elder Kingdoms came out. I was anxious to see the new content with its new systems and pretty graphics. After impatiently waiting for my client to update, I was able to journey to the new lands and see some pretty cool stuff. Now, I think it's about time I gave some of my impressions before all of Chapter 3 is released and I'm too busy playing to write about it.
Lost Pages of Taborea: How is crafting holding up?
Runes of Magic's craft system currently lacks a huge fan base. I thinks it's a great system that's very flexible, but the current work vs. rewards as well as limited items doesn't make it terribly appealing. Crafting takes a lot of gathering to yield the most basic of items, which usually don't sell for much -- or at all -- on the auction house. This has raised the incentives for players to seek out better rewards through raiding or bartering highly upgraded drops. Even the crafted items aren't very desirable to upgrade, especially when compared to world and dungeon drops. That's not to say it's worthless. Through the most recent craft improvements, players can take the time to craft quality outfits to aid them on their journey to level cap -- before they start raiding for the better drops. I myself love to gather, raise my profession level, and make some decent gold by selling resources in the auction house. I don't see the system ever needing rebuilt to grow or expand, but just added to. If we take a look at the way it is now, and how it's built to allow for a lot of possibilities, I think you'll agree.
Lost Pages of Taborea: A year of Runes of Magic
You may be hard pressed to find anyone saying Runes of Magic had a rough year. The Western-style MMORPG with its free-to-play business model garnered a lot of attention from all over the web while it was just in beta. Frogster had a smooth launch that saw a rapid increase in RoM's player base. Servers were popping up all over the world at breakneck speed. And just when some might think that was going to be it, a steady stream of updates grew the game over the year into a more content-rich experience than ever. Grab your Extra Ginger Beer, or whatever your fuel of choice is, and follow along after the break to see how RoM has progressed into the great game it is now.
