The Tip.It Times


Issue 3299gp

Pillow Talk

Written by and edited by Tip.It

Some of us got a sneak peek at what “Rest” could do after players right-clicked on the energy icon and discovered the option there. Others looked on Jagex’s Facebook page and found a screenshot from February 27th with “~~Health restored~~” shown in the chat box. This combined with the “Rest” option led to the conclusion that perhaps this would be a future update that would allow us to replenish our health and run-energy at a faster-than-normal rate, without the use of food, potions, or prayers.

On June 9th, Jagex released the highly anticipated “Rest” update, where players became able to recharge their run energy and health at a higher rate.

This update is déjà vu for the older players of the game. In late 2002, Jagex introduced the Fatigue system to combat against auto-miners and auto-fishers. Players would periodically have to find a bed after training a fatigue-inducing skill, including combat, to refresh themselves, or gain no experience points at all if their fatigue was at 100%. The less fatigue you had, the more energy you had to complete the tasks at hand. Beds once occupied by the more risqué imaginations were being swarmed by players who just wanted a good rest.

Over the course of several days, there were numerous tweaks to the Fatigue update: the addition of more beds into the game that were within a decent walking distance from popular mining and fishing spots, and the introduction of sleeping bags that players could carry with them. Players could also eat special foods such as pizzas to decrease their fatigue. In order to wake up from their deep slumber, players had to type in a word. Talk about studying the English language instead of counting sheep to sleep!

When RuneScape 2 came out, the Fatigue system was done away with and a more elaborate system was put into place to detect macroers, rather than sending the entire game’s population to bed as punishment. The beds, once so feverishly sought after, if one didn’t wish to waste inventory space, were now empty. The idea of Fatigue was soon forgotten, and players were free to train, fish, mine, and do whatever they wanted to do, so long as they did so without needing to fall asleep half-way through.

The idea of energy remained. Players were able to run in the game, but the more weight you carried, the faster your energy drained. Potions helped to restore your energy, and having a higher Agility level helped to make your energy last longer. However, this gave an advantage to member players who went back on non-member worlds, especially in cases of war running. The normal speed can be painful sometimes while going solo, especially when players are trying to get away from challenging NPCs like Revenants. With “Rest,” we see that fatigue has returned in a different manner. Instead of resting in order to keep training, we now rest to keep running around in the game. No longer do we need to carry around a sleeping bag and type in words. It never made sense to curl up in a sleeping bag in a room filled with danger, especially with the screen blacked-out, aside from the bold word glaring at you from the screen.

While we’ve moved on from the Fatigue system, it’s not entirely different from the Rest system. The names have simply changed and the percentages have been altered to reflect a more positive aspect of the game; however, the sitting rest rates could use some minor correction. It seems far too fast compared to the normal replenish rates, and could do with maybe going down a notch, especially since there’s already other items out there that help out with energy, such as Boots of Lightness and energy potions.

The introduction of musicians in the game did make this update more interesting than its initial conception. We’re given two options: sit anywhere in the world (and look bored), or sit with a traveling musician who would pacify you with more developed, area-themed music. Locating the musicians in high traffic areas was the best decision made in this update.

The game’s idea of Rest has evolved from temporarily handicapping us, to encouraging us to keep going. It’s handy for those who are constantly on the go, whether it be combating warriors in war or collecting raw materials. But are we moving too fast? Will we see another massive influx of auto-miners and fishers collecting these raw materials now that they’re able to collect more in a little less time than normal?

Let’s hope not, and enjoy getting some rest now and again.


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Will you use Menaphos to train your skills?



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