tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-303980002024-03-14T03:00:38.722-07:00Player Owned HousesJagex released Player Owned Houses (POHs) as part of the Construction Skill on 31st May. This update had been the most requested addition in the history of the game. Only time will tell if it is truely a success to the masses.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30398000.post-47309322315237209322007-09-28T17:39:00.000-07:002007-09-28T17:51:51.246-07:00Constructed a Gilded AltarAfter a long time of trying, I eventually got around to building my own <a href="http://player-owned-houses.blogspot.com/2006/07/gilded-altar.html">gilded altar</a>. It is relatively costly, but I have 24 more prayer levels to go and this should help repay the cost in the long term.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I do not have dragon bones in stock to get up to level 99 prayer, so I know one of my future goals will involve a lot of dragon fighting to be able to stockpile some bones to use for raising my prayer skill.<br /><br />I am currently level 123 combat and require another 23 prayer levels to obtain 126 combat. If I bought the bones, it would be quite expensive - so I am most likely going to mix some buying as well as gathering bones. This means it will be some time before I reach level 126 combat, but I am not in any major rush.<br /><br />Overall, my player owned house on runescape is rather under developed - I have been concentrating on other things and not really trained construction skill up much (it is currently level 72 as I used a crystal saw to build the gilded altar).<br /><br />I also purchased an addition 2 marble blocks - as had expected each burner to require two blocks. Instead, both burners were built and used only 2 blocks. The overall cost is still reasonably significant. The cheapest way to achieve the gilded altar would only be to build the actual altar and the burners.<br /><br />Cheapest gilded altar cost:<br /><ul><li>Gilded Altar = 1,170,000 (1170k) for 2 marble blocks and 4 gold leaves</li><li>Marble Burners = 650,000 (650k) for 2 marble blocks</li></ul>The basic cost is 1,820,000 (1820k) - that doesn't include the cost of training construction up to a level where you can actually construct the altar. Anyway, hopefully I will get around to putting it to good use in the near future.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30398000.post-72986545337578553522007-05-25T15:47:00.000-07:002007-05-25T15:56:54.995-07:00Raising ConstructionI recently spent some time raising a few construction levels in runescape. For the past 9 months or so I did not train any construction even though I had stocked up 30,000 or more oak logs. I guess I never felt inclined to train it up.<br /><br />Anyway, my objective is to get to level 75 construction at least and therefore enable me to build the best altar available. This will make it easier to train prayer in the future, although it is expensive at the same time.<br /><br />The long term benefits of building the best altar should enable any runescape member to enjoy quicker prayer training - if they train their prayer up using dragon bones or better. Although the pest control mini game does give prayer training some alternative and cheaper methods to train it with, I would still like to have the best altar available for my house so that friends can train their prayer in it if they wish.<br /><br />I am training my construction using oak logs and building oak larders along with employing the demon butler. As I don't spend too much time ingame nowadays, I haven't found a more efficient method yet. I would be happy to find out any better methods - or even alternative metods than people have used when training their construction skill.<br /><br />At the end of the day, the objective is to achieve 99 construction so that my player owned house will eventually be capable of having the best available materials in all locations. The downside is that it will cost a substantial amount of runescape money to achieve it. Slowly but surely, I am stepping closer - though I am unlikely to get up to level 99 for a year or more yet due to other real life requirements on my time.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30398000.post-323958970985390322007-05-06T15:15:00.000-07:002007-05-06T15:22:36.897-07:00Runescape Houses Boost MembershipRunescape Houses provided a boost to runescape members - people subscribing on a monthly basis. It can be viewed as a significant success in the development of runescape by <a href="http://www.jagex.com">Jagex</a>.<br /><br />Extract from an interview with runescape co-founder Andrew Gower:<br /><ol><li><b>What do you feel has been the biggest differentiating factor behind <a href="http://www.runescape.com"><i>RuneScape</i></a>'s popularity in making it to the one million subscriber milestone?</b></li></ol> <ul><li> AG: I think one of the biggest things is the game's continual updates. We're constantly adding to the game, bringing new stuff in and improving it. It's interesting, but with each addition, we see surges of growth. </li><li> We saw a huge surge with our recent addition of player houses, and again with our recent graphics update. The fact that we keep updating it, adding more to the experience, I think is key. Plus, people like having things to look forward to. </li></ul> The full Andrew Gower interview can be viewed <a href="http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13769">here</a>.<br /><br />Personally, I am not surprised that player owned houses provided a major boost to subscription levels as it was one of the most waited for additions to the game for a long time. I think it had a waiting time of 2 years or so.<br /><br />However, after the initial boost to subscriptions and after people tried out their runescape houses, it would be interesting to find out how many people were disappointed and subsequently went back to free to play runescape servers.<br /><br />Obviously those figures would be very hard to quantify as people choose to leave membership for a variety of reasons - normally to do with real life rather than any game specific reason.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30398000.post-14353041654957944252007-04-20T18:25:00.000-07:002007-04-20T19:02:57.654-07:00Runescape Player House Construction ItemsWith the construction skill in runescape being a necessary evil for people wanting to have their own player house, I felt it necessary to include some information about items in runescape that can boost the construction skill. This may help some players become more efficient when building their own house or it may not.<br /><br />Anyway, the construction stat boosting items for runescape are:<br /><ul><li>Tea</li><li>Crystal Saw</li><li>Evil Dave's Stew of Doom</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">Stat boosting tea</span>:<br />The stat boosting tea can be made by players in their own house. It can boost construction between 1 and 3 levels for a short time. The process is as follows:<br /><ul><li>Use kettle with sink - to fill the kettle<br /></li><li>Use kettle with range - to boil the kettle</li><li>Use tea leaves with teapot<br /></li><li>Use kettle with teapot - add boiling water to make the tea<br /></li><li>Use teapot with cups - to get the cups of tea</li></ul>The stat boosting affect will depend on which type of shelves you have. Normal shelves will provide a +1 stat boost, oak shelves a +2 stat boost and teak shelves a +3 stat boost. Players should note this is only for a short time and their construction skill will return to normal after a while.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Crystal Saw:</span><br />Players who have completed the Eyes of Glouphrie Quest in runescape will be able to get a crystal saw. It will provide a stat boost of +3 when used as a saw when building furniture or items that require a saw to be used. Obviously it will only work if a player has the required materials to build what they want.<br /><br />The crystal saw can only be used to boost actual items that can be made using a saw and does not let players add rooms that are beyond their natural construction level. Consequently, players can not add plants to their gardens that are 3 levels higher than their normal construction level as garden plants do not require a saw to be used.<br /><br />The crystal saw bonus will stack with the homemade tea and Evil Dave's Stew of Doom.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Evil Dave's Stew of Doom:</span><br />Players who have completed the Evil Dave section in Recipe for Disaster quest in runescape will be able to make a stew that will <a href="http://www.runecrypt.com/index.php?pid=727">boost construction stats</a> - again for only a short time. One of the spices used when making the stew will give a construction boost - although players should note that a stat boost can range from -6 to +6, but it will stack with any bonus gained from the tea or through using the saw.<br /><br />Overall, construction of player owned houses in runescape can present a challenge to even the best players in the game - there are many different methods to raise the skill, although it does help to be aware of any stat boosting bonus items to make it more efficient. <a href="http://www.zybez.net/skills.php?id=23">Runescape construction</a> is an expensive skill to level for members so players should be aware of any items that will help them build sections in their house at an earlier level if desired. Additionally, players should be aware of the <a href="http://player-owned-houses.blogspot.com/2006/07/construction-basics.html">construction basics</a> to ensure they are not wasted any unncessary effort or money in the process of building their house.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30398000.post-3279280554747630982007-04-17T15:29:00.000-07:002007-04-17T15:43:42.228-07:00Runescape House PlannerRunescape player houses have been a well liked introduction into the game and many people have built themselves some very nice homes. However, there are many players, including myself, that have failed to build a home that I would be able to invite my friends to.<br /><br />Over at runehq, there is a <a href="http://www.runehq.com/RHQCalcView.php?id=00736">house planner</a> for runescape houses. Obviously it is impossible to have direct access into any players account (a violation of<a href="http://www.runescape-help.net/basics/jagex-rules.html"> jagex rules for runescape</a>), this house planner will let players plan their house layout.<br /><br />Player houses are another benefit of paying the monthly subscription. Free to play runescape people can try out the house planner and maybe one day become a member in order to make their virtual dream home turn into reality. Bear in mind, player houses can become quite expensive and there are only marginal benefits overall.<br /><br />Free to play runescape people may still help their member friends by supplying the necessary materials such as <a href="http://runescape-tip-submissions.blogspot.com/2006/11/runescape-construction-using-oak-logs.html">oak logs</a> for training the construction skill that is required to construct better houses. However, the demand for materials is somewhat lower than it was when the skill was introduced in mid-2006.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30398000.post-11907011068832591752007-04-14T20:00:00.000-07:002007-04-17T15:43:42.229-07:00Runescape Construction NPCsRunescape construction of player owned houses is faciliated through the use of several non-playing characters (NPC's). This ensures that the basic cost of houses will remain the same for every player in the game, although how people accumulate the required resources will impact how much the constuction skill will cost them overall.<br /><br />The list of NPC's players will encounter when making their player owned house (POH):<br /><ul><li>Estate Agents</li><li>Sawmill Operator</li><li>Gardener</li><li>Stonemason</li><li>Taxidermist</li><li>Herald</li><li>Servants</li></ul>The role of estate agents in runescape is simply to sell the plot of land required for members to build their houses and move them to different locations when requested, if they have a high enough level. It will cost 1,000 gps (gp = gold pieces or runescape money) for the plot and there are 4 agents located throughout runescape. They can be found in Varrock (East of the Palace), Falador (between the east bank and furnace), Seers Village (north east of the bank) and Ardougne (north west from the bank in the south west). Estate agents can also redecorate your house style for a price.<br /><br />The sawmill operator will convert logs to planks for a price. He is located north east of varrock just outside the sawmill. The cost of converting logs to planks is as follows:<br /><ul><li>normal logs to normal planks = 100 gp</li><li>oak logs to oak planks = 250 gp</li><li>teak logs to teack planks = 500 gp</li><li>mahogany logs to mahogany planks = 1000 gp</li></ul>Although the cost is low in relative terms, the cumulative cost for runescape members can be significant as 1000s of logs are required to gain a good construction level. In addition to this, the sawmill operator also sells a saw, cloth and nails - all of which can be used to help level construction and decorate your house.<br /><br />The gardener has more of a decorative role within runescape construction. Once again there is a list of items that can be bought. The price range is 1600gp for a bagged plant or dead tree through to 100,000gp for a tall boxed hedge.<br /><br />The stonemason is again more for decorative purposes and to enable your runescape house to be more distinguished. He is located in southern keldagrim and has the following inventory:<br /><ul><li>limstone brick - 45 gps<br /></li><li>gold leaf - 130,000 gps</li><li>marble block - 325,000 gps</li><li>magic stone - 975,000 gps</li></ul>The taxidermist will be used by players for decorative purposes as they may find the heads (or hands) of some runescape monsters as a drop. The taxidermist will stuff this item for a cost with his prices ranging from 1000gps to stuff a crawling hand up to 50,000 gps to stuff the head of a kalphite queen or king black dragon.<br /><br />The herald is located upstairs in the white knights castle and sells items such as maps and portraits. In addition to this he can amend your family crest, so players who do not like their crest can pay him to alter theirs. The portraits and maps are related to other runescape quests and players need to have completed a relevant quest to gain these.<br /><br />Finally, but also importantly, are servants. Servants can carry out a number of tasks to help you in your house construction, but will again cost some money. They can be hired from the servants quarters located in East Ardougne and each one has different limitations and costs associated with them.<br /><br />Most players will aim to get a demon butler in their service to help them train construction effectively through <a href="http://runescape-tip-submissions.blogspot.com/2006/11/runescape-construction-using-oak-logs.html">using oak logs</a>. The cost of servants range from 500gp for Rick to 10,000 gp for the demon butler or Alathazdrar who can carry up to 26 items and can serve guests curry.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30398000.post-1162062726176809652006-10-28T11:57:00.001-07:002007-04-17T15:43:42.230-07:00Share Your Runescape HousePlayer owned houses have been around for quite some time now on Runescape. It has given some players plenty of time to customise their homes and spend excessive amounts of money to ensure they have a home fit for a king or queen.<br /><br />I have recently launched my new <a href="http://www.runescape-help.net/">runescape</a> help site that offers a place for all <a href="http://www.runescape-help.net/characters/">runescape characters</a> to be able to show off their Player Owned Houses. Players may also want to give their runescape characters a storyline and this section enables them to write a short story about their character development.<br /><br />In addition, my new help site has incorporated a new <a href="http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=003322033224724192740%3Amftuldnrm7q">runescape search engine</a> that will be composed of all sites that comply with Jagex rules. This will ensure that players after genuine help will be able to find it from the growing number of sites that will be added to the search engine.<br /><br />I would encourage people to bookmark both my new help site and the runescape search engine as if you bookmark the search engine then you do not need to load my site specifically to find what you need. The search engine is part of the new feature on Google Co-Op - Customised Search Engine.<br /><br />The new help site will grow and become a more power resource itself as well as offering players the ability to write a guide on anything they desire - provided it has not already been done, that it is their own work and that it complies with Jagex rules.<br /><br />In addition, my new runescape help site enables guides to be updated by the authors directly and as such will enable people to keep control of the content of their guide - this will ensure that it will always remain up to date and relevant as well as providing the flexibility to adapt the guide should Jagex make changes to any game features.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30398000.post-1152667213514282852006-07-11T18:07:00.000-07:002007-04-17T15:43:42.230-07:00The Workshop<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/1600/workshop.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/320/workshop.jpg" border="0" alt="workshop" /></a><br />The workshop is a useful feature for player owned houses in Runescape. The construction level required is only level 15 and this room can be used to train your crafting, smithing and your construction skill itself.<br /><br />Players are able to use the workbench to make flatpack items that can be sold to other members who have not got the required construction level to make them. This means that the flatpack items can be used to make some money from the construction skill. My advice and experience tells me this is not a very lucrative area, but it can be useful to help out your friends who want to have better furniture in their house.<br /><br />Players who can make an armour stand can benefit from having a higher smithing level as this reduces the cost of repairing Barrows Armour. In the long term this can save players a lot of money and make managing their finances more efficient.<br /><br />Crafting experience can be gained from making Clockwork items - the experience isn't a great deal, but in the long term it can all add up and just gives more variety in ways to raise your crafting level.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30398000.post-1152397893756044672006-07-08T15:00:00.000-07:002007-04-17T15:43:42.231-07:00Construction Basics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/1600/estate_agent.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/320/estate_agent.gif" border="0" alt="Estate Agent" /></a>If you wish to build a house on Runescape you will have to visit the Estate Agent in Varrock to buy a plot of land that will cost 1000gp.<br /><br />The initial plot of land will be located at Rimmington. Players can easily teleport to their house if they have level 40 magic and are carrying 1 law rune, 1 air rune and 1 earth rune in their inventory.<br /><br />Once you have reached your house you will likely be wanting to start building it. The process is quite straightforward.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/1600/house_options.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/320/house_options.gif" border="0" alt="House Building Options" /></a>Players will simply need to switch the house building mode on to be able to start building on the hotspots of their house. If you are unsure what to build, simply right click on the hotspot and it will show you what can be placed on that location. If you wish to build an additional room then you will need to build on a door hotspot to add a room.<br /><br />When the build option is selected, players will be able to see which items they can currently build, the materials that are required and the level required to build them. If you are only training your construction, then most players will build an item and instantly demolish it and replace with the same type of item.<br /><br />Additional rooms are available to build and they start at 1000gp and raise up to 250,000gp for a Treasure Room. The current construction level of a player will determine how many rooms in total they can build.<br /><br /><u>House Control</u><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/1600/lock_portal_options.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/320/lock_portal_options.gif" border="0" alt="House control options" /></a> If you wish to visit a friends house, then your friend must NOT be in building mode.<br /><br />Players can lock the portal to their house easily by simply right-clicking the portal and choosing to lock it. If they have their private chat set to OFF, then it is similar to having their portal locked. To allow anyone to enter your house you can simply set your private chat to ON. <br /><br />Overall, players should be weary of letting just anyone walk into their house - afterall, a house should be a place for you to relax and enjoy yourself amongst friends and not a place of arguments and animosity from unknown weary travellers.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30398000.post-1151806171359761692006-07-01T18:16:00.000-07:002007-04-17T15:43:42.232-07:00The Gilded AltarPlayer owned houses in runescape allow people to make their own Altar. There are several altars available and each require different levels of construction. The best altar that can be built is the Gilded Altar.<br /><br />To be able to build a Gilded Altar you will need to have level 75 Construction. There are also additional items that can be placed in the Altar room and require other items that will be quite costly. The sigificant costs are outlined below if you desire to fully furnish your Altar Room by placing the best available items on the hotspots. <br /><br />1. Gilded Altar = 1,170,000 (1170k) for 2 marble blocks and 4 gold leaves<br />2. Icon of Bob = 260,000 (260K) for 2 gold leaves and 4 Mahogany planks<br />3. Marble Burners = 1,300,000 (1300k) for 4 marble blocks as 2 burners are required<br />4. Altar Room = 50,000 (50k)<br />5. Opulent Rug = 130,000 (130k) for 1 gold leaf<br />6. Large Statue = 975,000 (975k) for 3 marble blocks<br /><br />At least a total cost of 3,885,000 gp for building the very best altar can run considerably higher than the average players normal budget. Players do not have to fully furnish their Altar Rooms but if they decided to do it, then all the hotspots shown below would have be contain something. Each whitened area is considered a hotspot.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/1600/altar-hotspots.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/320/altar-hotspots.jpg" border="0" alt="altar hotspots" /></a><br />If a player decides to build the best altar available and fully furnishes their altar room, then it will look similar to the picture below.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/1600/gilded-altar.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1363/2957/320/gilded-altar.jpg" border="0" alt="fully furnished altar room" /></a><br /><br />I hope you agree, that although considerable costs are involved in the overall building process of the Altar Room, the finished article is somewhat impressive. The downside is that not many people will be able to revel in your luxury altar room unless you hold an open house by turning your private chat on and inviting people in.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30398000.post-1151649608819950652006-06-29T23:32:00.000-07:002007-04-17T15:43:42.233-07:00Player Houses - 28 Days LaterWriting this post approx 28 days after Player Owned houses were introduced it feels strange... initially I had planned for their introduction but got sidetracked largely with developing my website.<br /><br />Nowadays, I do very little in Runescape itself as time is limited. I do try and get working on some combat or skills - but as far as player owned houses is concerned, I am a Noob :P<br /><br />I am planning to have a feature on this blog that will regularly update people on aspects of POH and inform all the non-members of how best to enjoy the benefits that POH bring... should they decide to become a member.<br /><br />If there is anyone who would like to have their house featured on this blog then you can always register on the forums and private message me (Latona) ... sending me the information that you would like displayed... it would be on its own post and therefore have its own page effectively. Alternatively, you could comment on some of the future posts I plan to make regarding player owned houses and add your own details there.<br /><br />For now, this post is mainly to get the blog officially started as I am trying to establish all the blogs and then when everything is linked up to the website and working, I can then concentrate more on each individual blog as well as updating content on the website itself.Latonahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10725467780653999842noreply@blogger.com0