RSBANDBUpdate! — The RuneScape Podcast from RSBandB

We have a first hand experience with the Player Owned Farm Farmhands and the many Farming quality of life updates this week. We also have a rundown on the Valentine’s day Twitch Prime offer and a discussion on smithable salvage and the comp cape!

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Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Join us in-game at Friends’ Chat: BitsBytes, Follow us on Twitter @rsbandb, Join our Discord: rsbandb.com/discord

A Special Thanks to Our Patreon Supporters

• Adam T
• Andrew C
• Ben W
• Brock H
• Kyle
• Kabru
• Shane F
• Zez

Hosts: Shane and Tanis
Duration: 1:24:25

• PoF Farmhands and Improvements
• Tweaks and Fixes (Patch Notes)
• Twitch Prime Offer + shot b (Promo)
• RSBANDB is on Patreon
• Listener Questions and Discussion
• A crypto exchange can’t repay $190 million it owes customers because its CEO died with the only password
• Microsoft wants to bring Xbox Live cross-platform gaming to Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, and more
• Protecting your data, no matter where you go on the web
• February SkotM Update
• Achievements of the Week
• Tanis’ Pick: Steam Lunar Sale
• What have we been doing?

We discuss patch notes including loot share, porters for Mining, and a change to Stone Spirits. Also, we summarize the Farmhands content showcase and break down the internet’s news of the week that Jagex could be for sale once more.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Join us in-game at Friends’ Chat: BitsBytes, Follow us on Twitter @rsbandb, Join our Discord: rsbandb.com/discord

A Special Thanks to Our Patreon Supporters

• Adam T
• Andrew C
• Brock H
• Kyle
• Kabru
• Seth W
• Shane F
• Zez

Hosts: Shane and Tanis
Duration: 1:22:22

• Improved Lootsharing and Stone Spirits
• Tweaks and Fixes (Patch Notes)
• RuneScape Content Showcase (Jan 2019) – Player-Owned Farm & Quest QoL Updates
• Jagex insists potential sale by its Chinese owner will not affect won’t affect RuneScape or Old School
• RSBANDB is on Patreon
• Listener Questions and Discussion
• Serious FaceTime Bug Lets You Hear a Person’s Audio and Video Before They Answer
• Facebook Project Atlas and Google Screenwise Meter caught redhanded
• An update on FIFA Points in Belgium
• January SkotM Update
• Jagex’s 2019 Victory Strategy
• Achievements of the Week
• Shane’s Pick: remove.bg
• What have we been doing?

Back in August 2018 for our first Monthly Bit we talked about the Evolution of Combat 6 years later. It was a frank discussion and one that lead to some surprising conclusions for us all. Was the Evolution of Combat truly needed? Find out!

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Join us in-game at Friends’ Chat: BitsBytes, Follow us on Twitter @rsbandb, Join our Discord: rsbandb.com/discord

A Special Thanks to Our Patreon Supporters

• Adam T
• Andrew C
• Brock H
• Kyle
• Kabru
• Seth W
• Shane F
• Zez

Hosts: Shane, Tanis, Cireon, and David
Duration: 1:25:12

EoC Introduction

In May 2012 the initial posts regarding changes to the RuneScape combat system were made. The game’s combat system had largely remained the same since the launch of RuneScape 2 in 2004. The combat beta ran through most of the summer and into autumn 2012. The new combat system was released on November 20, 2012. The system included:

• A rebalance of the combat triangle, melee was often more powerful than ranged or magic.
• An interface rework to make it, “more fluid, interactive, and exciting for everyone.”
• A focus on player skill rather than knowing which interfaces to pop open.
• Changes to encourage a use of a variety of combat equipment.
• An action bar which could be used for combat but also skilling.
• Introducing keybinds and less dependency on the mouse.
• Dual wielding
• Abilities
• AoE for melee and ranged

Why was EoC needed?

• The legacy system was old, boring, and required you to navigate the interface to be successful (i.e. prayer flicking)
• The legacy combat revolved around preparation for the battle (equipment & items) and not the battle itself. Also limited future combat updates (before: equipment only, today: equipment & abilities)
• Made combat more skill-based rather than luck-based
• Unbalanced combat triangle, many used melee. Ranged and magic were forgotten at times.
• Food markets were mostly shark but sometimes monkfish, lobsters for F2P. Constitution level up to a maximum governed how much food healed.
• The PvM community thrived for several years as a result of EoC. Combat that required voice chat and coordinated teamwork was only made possible by the added complexity of the new combat system.
• Changed how bosses could be designed-lots of mechanics that require specific abilities to deal with could not have existed without eoc, and combat today would be extremely stale
• Memories of old school RuneScape combat: what did we like or dislike?

How has EoC changed RuneScape?

• Action bars used for combat can also be used for skilling, making keyboard gameplay feasible (i.e. teleports, Runecrafting runs, Firemaking, etc.)
• A whole variety of combat methods from AFK to full lean forward interactivity, with room for expansion.
  • EoC added in a factor of skill to combat. It requires active input (at least in full manual, but even in revolution), rather than passive standing by. Combat is no longer about just buying the best gear (either the best stats or the best special attack), it is about knowing what to do with it, with your abilities, and with the combat system in general.
• Shifted focus from weapon-diversity to ability rotations.
• Brought all 3 combat styles to “equal” ground. Missing tiers and styles of weapons, armor and prayers were introduced (batwing, ranged buff-curses, etc).
• Old School RuneScape: EoC was the jumping off point that was largely responsible for the launch of OSRS. Where would we be without OSRS?
• The animosity resulting from the seismic shift that was EoC resulted a lack of trust both in the community and within Jagex. The solution: polling updates. Where would we be without polling for better or worse?
• If the old combat system remained, would the game have fewer players now? Or perhaps better asked, has EoC increased the RuneScape playerbase?

The Pro PvM Community:

• Has the size of the PvM community increased since the release of EoC? Would it exist without EoC?
• What would boss encounters look like without EoC? (Kalphite King was first EoC exclusive boss, QBD was released while EoC in development)
• Would the old PK’ing system have remained if not for EoC?
• Revolution++: A boon or detriment? Mixed bag-it’s fantastic for most people for most purposes and makes the combat system dramatically more accessible. On the other hand, it can make the highest levels of PvM much more difficult and also teaches bad habits detrimental to achieving the highest levels of DPS, particularly in instances that require utilizing defensive abilities e.g. bomb tanking vorago, high enrage telos. On balance it’s probably good, but becomes a problem when people expect it to be efficient in all instances.
• The tick system: a bottleneck or the gateway to more DPS (thinking in increments of 0.6s, 4TAA, etc.)
• The combat triangle and its uses, is it balanced?

Evolving The Evolution of Combat:

• Make action bars easy to set up, by services or by ingame guides, and allow the player to know what is optimal.
• How do you bring the fun, enjoyment, and precision that experts feel to the traditional player who doesn’t have hours of experience?
• Allow the combat academy to touch on the previous point.
• Should EoC be easy to learn, but hard to master?

Hati, Skoll, and Fenrir are back and we also have the accompanying Valkyrie’s return community event. Also, discussion on the future of comp, hyping the Mining and Smithing victory, our solution for stone spirits, and the spoils from Vic the trader.

Download Now
Direct Download – 64 Kbit MP3 (Full Show Notes)

Join us in-game at Friends’ Chat: BitsBytes, Follow us on Twitter @rsbandb, Join our Discord: rsbandb.com/discord

A Special Thanks to Our Patreon Supporters

• Adam T
• Andrew C
• Brock H
• Kyle
• Kabru
• Seth W
• Shane F
• Zez

Hosts: Shane Tanis, and Tyco Elf
Duration: 2:14:43

• Combat Week | Valkyrie’s Return
• Tweaks and Fixes (Patch Notes)
• Completionist Cape Rework – Dev Blog
• RuneScape Dev Q&A (Jan 2019) – Comp Cape Rework, Mining and Smithing and more
• High Level Mining XP Rates
• Companion App removal
• RSBANDB is on Patreon
• Listener Questions and Discussion
• Popular Chrome ad-blockers could be crippled under proposed design changes
• Apple just dismissed more than 200 employees from Project Titan, its autonomous vehicle group
• YouTube TV opens to the whole U.S. ahead of Super Bowl LIII
• January SkotM Update
• Achievements of the Week
• Tanis’ Pick: War of Rights
• What have we been doing?