Key

A little while back, I did do an entry about Runescape and my time spent on it. Given that I am still playing the same account that I created over 15 years ago, I thought it would be fun to spend some time and talk about things I'm working on right now and where my account currently stands as far as xp gain and whatnot.

As to be expected, I spent a lot more time playing Runescape back in the day, however I do find time here and there to spend time playing on my account. I've always enjoyed going back in after taking breaks periodically. And especially with having an account for a game as long as I have with this one, I feel like it's always fun to go back in and do things I didn't do before, like working on skills or killing bosses. Though, lately I have been doing things like fishing or runecrafting that allow me to be a little more afk while I focus on things in the real world. Some days Runescape is just in the background making progress, and sometimes all my focus is in on it. Just depends on what I feel like doing. The nice thing about how vast Runescape is, is how much there is to do whether you feel like paying attention to it or not.

Now, in the past few months, I've started to find a little more time to play as there have not been too many releases this year that I have spent a lot of time on. Not a lot of great games coming out, however I have played some good ones. But, with that comes progress, and I've posted below a screenshot of my current Runescape account with my last lvl gained being on September 1st, 2022 where I got my Runecrafting level 75. My current goal on this account is to get all my levels to level 80 and above.


my total level will be 2345 once I gain one more total lvl

At my current pace of playing Runescape, I don't have any plans of maxing my account completely, however it's definitely one of those goals that I think will happen as I just play the game at the pace that I am. I'm getting the most enjoyment I've ever gotten with Runescape, and a lot of it has to do with how I'm playing with a much more relaxed outlook and not necessarly worrying too much about getting as much experience as possible, but continuing to find ways and set up personal goals that allows the game to be fun for me for so long. The other obvious part of it is that I love grinding in games, which probably has a lot to do with not only continuing to enjoy Runescape, but it's a big reason for my enjoyment of Path of Exile as well. Been playing both games simultaneously so it's been a good time for gaming for me personally.

As I continue to progress on this adventure, I will post updates here as often as I see fit as Runescape right now is probably the only game that I will make a significant amount of progress in to allow for more writing on said topic. And as was said before, I don't have any real plans to fully max my account, but it is possible. I'm nearing 99 agility at the moment, so I will post screenshots when that happens as it's always fun getting the capes for your 99 skills. And as you can see above, I've gotten many of them.

So much more to come! So stay tuned

Key

If you've been playing Runescape for a while, you probably already know the idea behind achievement capes or capes of distinction as they are properly called. Either for achieving level 99 / 120 in a particular skill, or you claim your veteran cape from the starting town, whether it be for playing the game for 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, and even most recently, the 20 year cape. Given to those accounts for having an account as long as the cape calls for. I have achieved the 5 year, 10 year, and 15 year capes respectively given that my account is around 17 years old at this point. A few more years until I achieve the 20 year cape, which I have not seen anybody wearing in game, or at least not as often as the other 3.

The 99 / 120 achievement capes take a little bit of time to get, but can also be a personal goal set by oneself to get the capes for the skills that you tend to love the most. And even more-so you have the max cape given to those that have achieved at least level 99 in every skill available in the game. Personally, I have always loved the look of the max cape:



I personally have not received a max cape given that...y'know, I have not maxed my account. But the cape is definitely worth pushing for based on the looks alone, and of course the customization.

For my account, as it currently stands, I've achieved level 99 in mining, fishing, fletching, cooking, woodcutting, firemaking, attack, smithing, and agility will be up next with a current level of 96. And of course, I have indeed gotten the achievement cape for each of these respectively. On top of this, I have also achieved at least level 70 in each skill, with only a few skills to go until I have reached level 80+ in each skill, which lends itself to another set of capes that I am currently working to complete. The particular capes are called milestone capes, which are rewarded for getting a certain base level across all skills, increasing by increments of 10 up until level 90. They come in a range of colors as you can see below:



Again, I am currently a few skills away from having 80+ in all skills. Super stoked get the rest of the capes as I go along.

And of course, as you know, Runescape is a very expansive game, so these particular milestone capes / capes of distinction is just scratching the surface of what is possible for your account. These are just some of the things that are achievable the more time you spent on your account. Again, I reiterate that I have a crazy good time grinding in games like this, which I know is not everyone's cup of tea. But I have a good time, and I feel like one's own enjoyment of something is good enough.

Key

I like to do a lot of different things on my account, mostly because there are just so many different things you can do, whether it be questing or working on your skills. As is typical for pretty much any MMO, the more you progress, the more stuff that unlocks that allows you to the progress even more, to then unlock more stuff. Obviously, as a starting account, it is sometimes a little nerve-wracking to figure out where you want to start. I always recommend to either look up things to do as a starting account, or just go in completely blind and figure things out as you go. When I started back in the day, nobody really knew what they were supposed to do, and that made the game feel more fun and fresh as it was your own adventure. For me, it still feels that way because I still go about it that way. Keeps things mysterious and it's always fun to figure things out for yourself.

To name a few things, one thing I have enjoyed doing over time is kingdom management or more specifically called, Managing Miscellania, which in itself is a repeatable reward from completing the Throne of Miscellania quest which is quite easy to complete if I do say so myself. Given that the quest is easy, and the reward is repeatable for as long as you want, I'd say it's one of the more important things to get done as soon as you can.

Basically, you are running a kingdom, and you set your workers to do certain things and collect certain resources that will help you progress in other parts of the game. Resources being things like bird nests that can have seeds and jewelry in them, or collecting wood for you to train fletching, firemaking and whatever else. Currently I have my kingdom collecting various types of herbs and seeds as I will need to get my herblore skill to 80 sometime in the near future. This allows me to passively prepare for said grind as I go do other things. It's one of those features that you can check in once a week, as opposed to feeling like you have to check on it daily. All you have to do is keep your kingdoms faith in you up, which you can do by simply doing skills around the kingdom until you have 100% favorability for that week. Doesn't take long but just a couple minutes of your time. Then you can enjoy the rewards for that week. Or longer if you choose to wait.

Along with that, I tend to get a lot of enjoyment out of simply gaining experience in various skills and then switching to doing more afk things, as I said in a previous post. Not a lot of excitement to talk about however I will say, as you get your levels up and up, the grindiness takes a bit of a backseat which opens itself up to finding more efficient ways to gain experience in skills. One of my favorite being mining, as you can get yourself a ore box that allows you to hold up to 120 of any ore you mine, allowing for less time traveled to banks as your inventory can only hold up to 28 items. So these extra things can be really useful to help you can more experience and less time traveling. (which is why I have gotten my mining lvl up to 103, and am currently working to get that skill to 120). See image below for example:



Otherwise, y'know, as there are lots of things to do an unlock, I don't seem to run out of things to do. However, a lot of people like to say there isn't much to do. All I will say, is that you can pretty much just do whatever you want. Don't feel stressed about grinding all day. That's just one part of the game as a whole.

Key

When it comes to choosing which skill I tend to consider my favorite, there are a few factors that come into play. How much fun is it? Is it rewarding? What is the experience? This, amongst other things play a role in choosing my favorite skill in Runescape. And while there are some that take a close 2nd, actually there are several, the one that always sticks out to me is mining.

Is mining a fun skill? Well, for me it's not to do so much with how fun it is to train, but from the amount of time you can spend afk and still train the skill, it can certainly be relaxing. I find that when I'm training mining, i'm usually either taking a break from something else that I'm working on, or I just feel like adding more to my collection of ores in my bank. I'm currently level 103 in mining and I am currently working passively to get this to level 120, so that I can get my one and probably only level 120 cape, also known as a master cape. As is probably obvious, this cape is an upgraded version of the previously achieved skill cape that you are rewarded when you reach level 99 in any particular skill, in this case being mining. Getting a master cape and I suppose any cape for that matter is completely up to choice. However, it certainly would make sense to aim for a master cape if you're planning to train the skill even after you've achieved 99. And in this case, with my level being at 103, I'm certainly going to keep going until I reach that 120 level.

I mentioned this in my previous post but another big factor into why mining is my favorite skill is the addition of the ore box which allows for a lot more efficiency as well as a decrease of time loss between experience gains.

Of course, one of the not so main reasons why it's fun to train mining is for the little chit chats here and there with other people who are also training mining whether it be for the mining pet, getting mining to 99, adding to your ore collection, etc etc. Also, I was lucky enough to get a mining pet during my level 99 grind.

And obviously, if you ask me in a few months, my favorite skill will probably change. But, most likely I'll always have mining as a skill that I know will satisfy that need to grind experience in something.

Key

My Journey With Runescape: 99 Agility Achieved!!

In case you didn't know, in Runescape, level 99 is technically the level cap when it comes to raising your levels for your skills. However, you do also have the option to go for level 120 and 200 million experience respectively. Level 120 sits right around 102 million experience if I remember correctly.

If you had asked me years ago if I had been planning on getting my Agility level to 99, I'd have thought you were crazy. Agility tends to be one of the more grindy skills to take on when it comes to training in general. And simultaneously can be the most click intensive. However, back in 2014, silverhawk boots were released, turning Agility into a skill you can passively gain experience on, while also training other skills in the process. At my current level, I gain roughly 900xp every 5 minutes. And again, this is while doing other skills which definitely makes it feel like less of a grind. So, I bought the silverhawk feathers that allow the boots to give experience, and finally, with training it passively and with more attention, I got Agility to level 99.

Now, with each level 99 you get, you get a cape that goes along with, with each one having its own perks. While I have always like the Agility aesthetically, the bonus it gets allows you to do any Agility shortcut or Agility training course without failing. Meaning, no falling, or missing a jump, etc. Which is honestly pretty nice.

Now...what's my next skill? Well, I'm still working on getting all my skill to level 80+, but the next closest one to 99 would have to be divination, with a current level of 90. Which...yes, I have plans to get that skill to 99, however the grind to get there is truly insane, and it'll just be something I do passively when I don't feel like doing anything else.

Key

I've done video game months in the past, and I've always enjoyed the work and dedication it takes to keep up on it. Most times, I would try to write something every day to fill in each day with something to write about, however, the last time I did a theme month, I believe I just wrote during the month when it felt right, and I had a lot more fun doing it that way. So I'm going to that again this time.

During the month of October, I'll be writing about various things that pertain to video games whether it's something I'm currently playing, something I've thought about playing, or something I've played and really didn't like it or absolutely fell in love with it. There's been a lot of things on my list as far as games I've wanted to play, so I figure it's as good a time as ever to do so. I usually go about these things without really any specific idea in mind, more-so I just let my mind do the walking and talking and see where it leads to. Of course, the main reason behind doing this type of stuff is that it gets the creative juices flowing, and, while my hands allow me to do so, I'm going to write.

Please keep in mind that while this is taking place in 2022, some games I talk about here may not have been released this year, though I felt I wanted to take the time to write about it.

Once October rolls around, there'll be a lot of neat things to read about in here.

Until then, stay tuned!

The Batlord

Play Mechwarriorr 5, loser.

__________________

Key

Index:
Introduction to Video Game Month 2022

September 2022
Steel Rising - Sept 30th 2022
Pokemon Red - Sept 30th 2022

October 2022
Fall Guys Ultimate Knockout - Oct 2nd 2022
Path of Exile - Oct 2nd 2022
Shovel Knight - Oct 3rd 2022
Divinity Original Sin Enhanced Edition - Oct 6th 2022
Grounded - Oct 6th 2022
Chivalry II - Oct 6th 2022
My Favorite Game of 2022 - Oct 6th 2022
My Favorite Game of 2022 pt. II - Oct 6th 2022
Fallout 76 - Oct 12th 2022
I'm excited for...The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Oct 12th 2022
Games I'm Excited For [pt.1] - Oct 14th 2022
Scorn - My First Impressions - Oct 19th 2022
Fallout 76 pt.2 - Oct 19th 2022
Despot's Game: Dystopian Battle Simulator - Oct 20th 2022
Video Game Trailers: Breath of the Wild - Oct 20th 2022
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - Oct 21st 2022
I'm excited for...Gotham Knights - Oct 21st 2022
Games I'm Excited For [pt.2] - Oct 21st 2022
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands - My First Impressions - Oct 23rd 2022
2021 Games I Played / Didn't Play - Oct 24th 2022
My Top 3 of 2022 - Oct 26th 2022
Gunfire Reborn - Oct 27th 2022

Key

Steel Rising
Developed by: Spiders
Published by: Nacon, Bigben Interactive

Take everything you've learned about Bloodborne and Dark Souls, and imagine what would happen if both of those came together to create a child, that child would be named Steel Rising. Yes, we are looking at another souls-like, but because I had more fun with Elden Ring than I was expecting, my excitement for souls-likes in general has certainly risen over the past few months with the ones we've been seeing, Steel Rising being one of those.

You play as an automaton in a fictional historic Paris and you go around in typical souls-like fashion taking on enemies of different styles ranging from a tall fast robot figure that swings a huge metal ball around, to simple a pack of dogs coming out from the alley ready to wreak havoc on your poor soul. But, that doesn't necessarily mean you're put into this game empty handed. Quite the opposite. Following the ways of Bloodborne, you can be equipped with an impressive amount of different weapons types that are designed to not only look cool, but to also give you some ranges in combat styles that you can choose from. I've only played a few hours of the game, and I've already seen weapons that I will want to use if I choose to do another playthrough after my current playthrough. This type of variance helps in these sorts of games, as it can get quite stale going through hours of content with the same kind of build. It also opens up different ways and tactics on how to tackle the bosses that you'll find throughout your playthrough.

Usually in souls-likes, the boss fights are some of the toughest you'll find in gaming as a whole, however I would say the boss difficulty is certainly less than other souls likes, though I have died numerous times to certain bosses, and simultaneously have managed to kill other bosses in one go. Like other souls-likes as well, it's all about figuring out the boss's movesets, and timing when you strike. Some fights can take a long time, and others allow you to full on tank it. I think playing through Elden Ring multiple times has allowed me to sort of get used to figuring out how to tackle boss fights in these games, subsequently allowing me to enjoy them a lot more. It used to be that I could never feel confident enough to take on bosses, but it's all about patience and diligence.

The game looks and feels fantastic both from a performance stand point and a graphical stand point. I've been playing on the Xbox Series S so my opinion could be somewhat biased. But, you'll certainly get a lot more out of Steel Rising if you are playing on next gen consoles, or a really good gaming PC. I'm not saying you won't get the same enjoyment out of the game, but just let it be known that there are moments where I'll be playing, and be sort of blown away with how smooth everything looks and feels. Certainly makes combat in this type of game much easier as I can time things a little better as I know there will be little to no stuttering on a performance standpoint. So, all that aside, the game looks and feels great. Some have been reporting performance issues, but I've seen little if any issues as far as that goes. But, I could be biased, again.

All in all, I would say if you're a fan of the theme this game is going for and also are not afraid to tackle a souls-like, I'd highly recommend playing this. I reiterate that it is certainly not as difficult as a lot of the other souls-likes that we have right now, but it can rank up in difficult as you go along and level up. But you get upgrades just like any other souls-like so you'll be able to tackle anything as long as you want to. I'd also say if you enjoyed Elden Ring for it's accessibility when it comes to these types of games, I'd put Steel Rising in that ballpark as well, however don't let that mislead you. Elden Ring is far more open-world than Steel Rising. Which is not a fault on either side. In fact, both games are very strong in what they are wanting to accomplish.

Enjoyability: 9.5
Graphics/Performance: 10
Difficulty: 7.5
Recommended?: Yes, very much so.

Key

Pokemon Red
Developed by: Game Freak
Published by: Nintendo

I know what you're thinking, why the hell is Key talking about Pokemon Red? It's 2022. Well, funny you should ask: I've actually been playing a whole brand new file on Pokemon Red and have slowly been making progress on it over the past few months.

A little bit of context: For Christmas last year, I got a custom white castlevania themed Game Boy Advance, and shortly after that, my brother had gifted me both Pokemon Red and Pokemon Silver. Unfortunately, if you know about the 2nd gen games, I cannot play Pokemon Silver as a result of it not saving my file and completely deleting it each time I turn the game off. Oh well, at least I still own a cartridge of Pokemon Silver. Now, fortunately, Pokemon Red did not meet the same fate. In fact, it's probably the first time I've ever played Pokemon Red not only on a Game Boy Advance, but on a Game Boy Advance that has a custom backlight installed. Allowing me to pretty much play whenever I feel like it.

I know most if not all of you know about these games so there really isn't anything new that I could write about that would be too surprising. However, I am having a blast going back to the originals, for better or for worse. And having a backlight is really helpful, of course. However, it also has the unfortunate added benefit of really showing the graphical flaws of the first gen Pokemon games. But, there's really nobody to blame for that. That's just what the devs had in their arsenal. Of course as time went on, the game looked and played better and better, give or take a few.

There's certainly something to be said about nostalgia, and Pokemon Red is full of it. At least for me, given that these games came out when I was at an age where I could dive into them and enjoy them. Though, I distinctly remember my younger brother having Pokemon Blue, I had Pokemon Yellow, and my older brother had Pokemon Red. It was so much fun trading and battling with each other and honestly, a link cable setup would be a lot of fun nowadays, even. Definitely a really nice thing to be able to do with other people playing the same games.

Really, all I'm trying to say with this post is that not all old things are bad. In fact, most older games are still fun as heck to play. Pokemon Red, despite it's flaws, still has a lot to offer that makes it still hold up to today's standards. I bet if you found yourself a copy and played through it, you'd have the same if not more fun playing through it now, given that despite its shortcomings, still comes out to be a truly remarkable experience. And...nothing beats that final battle with Blue at the end of the Elite Four.