If you log onto a P2P world, you will find that Lumbridge isn't the most busy nor visited town. Despite having a furnace, general store, the best cooking range in all of Gielenor, a spinning wheel, windmill, tree patch, chapel, two chicken farms with other livestock, and a forest full of your favorite woodcutting trees, you won't find that many people wandering about on a P2P world as opposed to a F2P world. Lumbridge didn't even have a bank all players could use until Jagex introduced the numerous Tutors you see hanging around. The goblins which roam through the Lumbridge Swamp aren't worth training on for a good majority of F2Pers and P2Pers, and there is a better place to do practically everything else you could do in Lumbridge, plenty more cities where you can train a skill more efficiently. But yet there is something magical about the tiny town. It's where most Runescapians respawn when they die, where we did our first quests, and Jagex has kindly given us a free teleport to what we affectionately call “Lumby.” Lastly, it's where all of us started off our own adventure when we left Tutorial Island.
I'm not sure how many players have fond memories of their first days in Lumbridge, but I know I do. I occasionally play the music from that area to try to relive those moments. It seemed that cooking chickens and killing goblins never got old in those days. I fondly remember the long trek from the Southeastern Varrock mine to the Lumbridge Furnace and back to the anvils in Eastern Varrock, just to make some pitiful bronze armor. Of course I didn't think it was pitiful then, I was proud of it. You could say during those days I didn't have a care in the world and nothing demanded my time in that virtual world (which unfortunately isn't the case anymore). Those were the days before I had discovered Tip.It, when I had to figure out everything myself. I loved it, I felt so adventurous. I could do whatever I wanted and there was an extraordinary world to explore. Everything was new and just begging to be treaded upon.
I have to admit I am a quest nut. I love my Quest Cape, and just recently trained five long smithing levels to be able to meet the requirements for the new quest so I can complete it and wear the cape again. I love the new content and the storylines behind them. I'm not sure if you voted in a recent Tip.It Poll which asked what you wanted Jagex to focus on more. Last time I checked, “New Content” was beating “Updates to Existing Content” by around 600 votes. While a lot of us want both of those options, I think the one thing that a lot of Scapers really want, and perhaps desperately need is that sense of a whole new world. Some of you might be reminded of Ariel in Disney's “The Little Mermaid.” She knew there was a different world above the water, and she longed to be immersed in it. Most of us don't have a whole new world within Runescape to explore, but I believe there is still the desire. It's a longing Jagex tries to appease and satisfy every month, but we eventually conquer whatever they throw at us, overuse it, and then stow the rewards in our bank for all eternity. The closest I think Jagex will ever get is the release of the graphical reworking of RuneScape.
I was lucky enough to have the privilege of experiencing the new updates firsthand. I have to say I am quite impressed. I especially enjoy all the lighting effects. As your character moves closer to a light source, their face lights up brighter. This also works with the glow emanating from objects such as Summoning Obelisks. I could go on and on describing many more new features of this update, but I will let those of you who can traverse the "New Runescape" see them for yourself. Overall the experience was nearly equivalent to exploring Runescape for the first time all over again. I was tempted to run everywhere, and I made several unnecessary stops to view dungeons and explore buildings that I hadn't touched since my first months as a player. The first few hours were great and I can't wait to log back on and keep wandering.
Recently I visited an art museum. In one of the galleries there were numerous sketches of buildings and various scenes from the late 1800s to early 1900s. Being the human being that I am, I glanced at them for about 5 seconds, then went on to the next painting. But while I was waiting for the rest of my party to catch up, I went back and looked at the sketches again. They were amazing! I saw details you never could've seen with one peek at the drawing, details nearly invisible to the naked eye. There was more than pencil on paper. There was emotion, there was history. As I return to the computer I am determined to go back to all the places in Gielenor I had visited earlier and look back at them again. I hope to find that feeling I mentioned earlier again, whether it be in the sandy beaches of Karamja or the darkest corners of the Edgeville Dungeon. If you can and when you do glance upon Runescape anew, don't rush yourself! Take your time! Before the updates occurred, I once tried to see how much I could walk instead of run in attempts to savor the moment. Now that we have a nearly new world before us, I urge you to stop and take a second and just look around your character (and perhaps listen if you have area sounds turned on). Before you know it the updates will seem old and you will lose that magical feeling you had when you first entered RuneScape.
I wish you all Happy Scaping, whether you've traveled all over Runescape or have just set pixelated foot upon it.
Foodfight13
Did You Know...
...that if you examine your clock in your player-owned home, it will tell you (rounded to the nearest five minutes) how many minutes until or past the hour? (Thanks Foodfight13!)
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