Well, it's been a fun week back! So many things going on the Nest (and Runescape in general). Here's some of the things I've taken away from my week off of work:
Evolution of Combat
Wow, this is a big one. I never did sign up for the eoc beta, so I didn't experience the new combat system until I logged back in a week ago. My initial impressions were one of frustration; seemed like a lot of button smashing, and the effects of the various attacks didn't seem that different from one another. After going to a couple of bosses and doing some slayer assignments, I've changed my tune a bit. While the new system does seem a bit clumsy at times, I am starting to come around to the idea of the various attacks. I still have a hard time finding the 'abilities' tab for some reason, but I've figured out which combinations of combat/defense abilities I like for the most part, especially with regard to mage and melee. Admittedly, I haven't done alot of ranging yet... anyone want to take me to Kree?
Player Owned Ports
Fun. Just fun. I thought Jagex would swing and miss on the whole sailing skill, but they managed to turn something I thought would be boring into something that I find highly addicting, even if I have to wait for those boats to come back in. I'm only nearing the third set of islands, so I know there is much more in store, but I'm having a good time with it so far (that dastardly black marketeer has got to be making a killing). Still don't quite understand the premise of the random events inside the player owned port, but maybe I'm missing something or maybe I'm just doing it wrong). I did figure out that you can have your boats sail to different parts of the archipelago based on the resources you need, which will be helpful with acquiring bamboo for that third boat office space.
The Chat
What can I say, I'm thoroughly impressed by the folks that are in the Nest. I see that quite a few faces are no longer present; I'm sure some folks are just taking a break, but I really like a bunch of the newer peeps, too. Folks in the Nest have never ceased to be helpful, and nothing has changed in this regard from my observations. I'm particularly impressed with the helpfulness and involvement of players like Pub, Celestia, Ket, Lefty, Pair, Vik, Veg, Cookie, Chaj, Goon - as well as the continued activity of some of the ranks.
SNOF
The forum will always be one of my favorite aspects of the Nest, as it gives folks a chance to be a little more human (and less like pixelated avatars). I'm really excited to see as many people active on the forums at present as there are, and I'm also enjoying seeing drop logs, event ideas, etc (yes, I'm jealous of just about every one of them lol). The forums have the potential to be so much more than a silly clan website, and I think y'all have accomplished this. Continued promotion though events such as Villiama's Sleuthing event will only serve to keep these forums lively.
Anyhow, these are just a few of my observations from being gone for several months. I hope everyone is well and I'm happy to have gotten to spend the week wit y'all.
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