RuneScape Forum Archive | (F2P) QoL Improvements v2

Oct

2013

Rikornak

Posts: 9,169 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Thing is - that is even some massively improved state compared to what it historically was. They historically actually expected you to go down all the way to feldip hills in order to catch the very birds you can catch now in Burthope. The hunter revamp a couple of years ago did other improvements like being able to start placing two traps from the get-go (albeit it slightly nerfed the xp you're getting from successful catches in the same step).

My issue with the swifts is less how they work - they basically showcase what trap hunting is and how you're doing it - just like polar kebbits would do the same for tracking - if this mechanic is good is something entirely different, but this is how trapping works even at high levels (except for you to be able to place 5/6 traps at once). The issue is what you're doing it for (besides getting xp) - and that's basically just some reagent for adding feathers to arrows, as well as some statless item with an extremely overinflated crafting requirements only available to members.

This isn't just a problem for the hunter showcase in f2p, that's a problem with the hunter skill in general. Players always have skipped the first dozens of levels via lamps and one-off experience, then later did the rabbits in vinesweeper. In OS you also basically will just do the museum miniquest in order to reach level 9, wait until you can reach fossil island (at 100 kudos) and start building bird houses (basically a hunter method, that works like farming usually does - 80 minutes wait for decent profit and xp) sitting out to the point you finally could do something with purpose - or at least endurable as continous training methods, since actually having purpose would only come much later.

RS3 did at least scarab hunting, which gave some 15 year old skill some purpose from level 1 onwards. I certainly would agree adding this to f2p hunter showcase as well - no matter whether it gets extended to 20 or not for now. Improvements: Tooltip / (F2P) QoL v2
Quick Fixes: Invention

23-Oct-2022 05:51:32 - Last edited on 23-Oct-2022 07:08:54 by Rikornak

Seasons Past

Posts: 559 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I agree with your assessment of the Hunter skill. I think having mechanical consistency is important to provide context for later training methods. It’s just unfortunate that the current mechanics don’t really encourage players to reach more advanced content.

What would you think about adding Summoning charms as guaranteed loot from Hunter creatures? My thoughts are that it would give the Hunter skill a more substantial reward, as charms tend to be hard to come by in the early-to-mid game. It would also provide a path to getting charms outside of combat or crazy niche methods like Soul Wars.

I think it also would fit thematically for the Hunter and Summoning skills to be integrated in roughly a similar fashion as Woodcutting and Firemaking. Most early Summoning familiars don’t really do anything useful as far as I’m aware, so I would also be in favor of reworking the early Summoning progression and familiars. Spirit of Forinthry ~ Runecrafting: Magic Armour ~ F2P Extensions ~ Dragon Slayer improvements ~ New Player Experience

02-Nov-2022 19:20:14

Seasons Past

Posts: 559 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I haven’t played OS, but birdhouses have me intrigued. I’ve long thought that Hunter training should be more like Farming. In the wild, you don’t just run around flailing a net and throwing down snares and pitfalls like you’re on some sort of psychedelic jungle dancefloor.

It definitely seems like at least some part of Het’s Oasis should be made F2P, as it’s a large skilling area in a F2P location. (I still haven’t tried the content yet so can’t offer any useful insight on the specifics.)

Maybe Hunter could be split into more or less two main branches of training methods. One set of training methods could be like the scarab hunting method at Het’s Oasis, while the other would be like the birdhouses in OS. Spirit of Forinthry ~ Runecrafting: Magic Armour ~ F2P Extensions ~ Dragon Slayer improvements ~ New Player Experience

02-Nov-2022 19:22:04

Seasons Past

Posts: 559 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

According to the latest newspost , the Sticky Fingers relic power is going to be updated, as its original effect will now be the default when pickpocketing.

I think something similar should be done for Agility. I remember seeing someone suggest making Agility courses be one-click. You would click on the first obstacle and would continue through the course until either you fail an obstacle or complete a lap. Spirit of Forinthry ~ Runecrafting: Magic Armour ~ F2P Extensions ~ Dragon Slayer improvements ~ New Player Experience

02-Nov-2022 19:30:58

Oct

2013

Rikornak

Posts: 9,169 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Naturally obtaining charms was most directly related to combat, albeit there are other skill sources like firemaking and thieving as well - and actually even including hunter already.

https://runescape.wiki/w/Charm_sprite
https://runescape.wiki/w/Charming_moth

In general at low levels summoning certainly is better supported by combat, since almost any creature can drop charms in one way or another. I do not actually think though, summoning should be given a direct 'partner skill' for that matter. Combat kinda already would be that for that matter - for instance at high levels you're able to obtain so called summoning contracts, which allow you to bind a defeated demon into it to summon it later as a new kind of familiar.

They had long long long ago (something like 2012-2014) a concept of how summoning could rather be levelled by using pouches (combat and skilling), instead of creating them. Not sure how good or bad it would've been compared to status quo, but as it stands you do not know much about the skill just by levelling it to be fair.

I am personally also not so super sure how enriching bird houses could be in RS3, in OS hunter content basically is so irrelevant that you won't do much more other than those most of your time, until you're finally able to hunt something of relevance like herbiboars. RS3 certainly has a better setup than that already. The idea generally is interesting to be fair though.

https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/w/Bird_house_trapping

Taking the oasis it currently consists of the following:

Hunter: 1, 20, 40, 60, 80
Farming: 20, 40, 60, 80
Agility: 65
A couple of sideshows for skills like construction and herblore, granting xp, but being unrelated to some distinct level.

Without adding anything new (as I said fishing for desert soles wouldn't be too off), actually just plain scarab hunting could made available. With a proper level extension also growing roses and hunting gliding scarabs would be possible. Improvements: Tooltip / (F2P) QoL v2
Quick Fixes: Invention

02-Nov-2022 20:51:55 - Last edited on 02-Nov-2022 21:41:34 by Rikornak

Oct

2013

Rikornak

Posts: 9,169 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The update coming next week is huge - I'll leave the content be for now and I'll only take a look at what they mechanically did.

They basically took a look what sucks at those skills - and made it better. I am honest - I hate low levelled farming as it currently stands, low levelled plants have such an insane rate of dying (and it doesn't really get better at high levels, when you have again to grow that stuff for primal feasts) and growing herbs is such an underwhelming source to obtain them, in contrary to doing bosses - and then there also are mechanics, which might not even be that obvious - but they're also impactful when you think about them - the changes to compost, the changes if you were to grow your belladonna rather than just gathering them in that RSC cavern. That is stuff they just fixed and improved globally - and then they added not so essential, but still cool stuff as reward space for their new content. I do not think I need to be able to grow my herbs quicker, to plant 10 seeds at once (at a slight loss compared to planting them indivdually) or to shovel out compost without buckets - but it feels incredibly rewarding to earn the ability to do so. Also the upgrades not directly related to farming, that can improve my gameplay in other places. Improvements: Tooltip / (F2P) QoL v2
Quick Fixes: Invention

02-Nov-2022 20:54:02 - Last edited on 02-Nov-2022 21:32:36 by Rikornak

Oct

2013

Rikornak

Posts: 9,169 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Thieving also is game changing - I always thought pickpocketing is fairly unfun until you're able to reach prif in which auto-pickpocketing is a feature even without relic or outfit. And to be fair - every new pickpocketing release had had this feature by default: Arc, Wilderness rogues and you're able to get it at the phoenix with the hard desert diary. And for everything else you needed that outfit. It should be cool, certainly yes - but as soon as it becomes absolutely essential they just messed up. And I certainly do not see it as worthless, just because it 'only' has 10 unique effects + a shitton of teleports, rather than 11.

The relic likewise - you can use it now in conjunction of the outfit and be so much more powerful than before - and even just using the thing on its own. Desert may have lost something compared to status quo, but I do not see it as devalued either - you want to fully complete it anyway for double loot if you're up to plucking feathers...

What also is nice, we're gaining a lower levelled thieving target, that actually might have something of value and use to you with those runecrafting boosters. Runecrafting also would need a lot of love mechanically while we're at it - maybe they'll do something about that.

Generally I would love if something like this was done for other skills as well (they kinda did something like that for divination as a stand-alone release last year). It obviously work better for skills like those, since you do not need to fix broken level requirements on a wide scale - just take a look at the mechanics, what is good, what is bad - and make the bad things good. Sure stuff like growing trees should be adjusted to the level the material then is - but that doesn't make the skill as a whole broken if it's just kept (for now).

Actually fairly ironic, that those 2 skills changed now are 2 of my 3 200m ones if you think about it... but honestly - it's so incredibly nice. Improvements: Tooltip / (F2P) QoL v2
Quick Fixes: Invention

02-Nov-2022 21:11:05 - Last edited on 02-Nov-2022 21:39:43 by Rikornak

Seasons Past

Posts: 559 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I like the idea of adding desert soles to Het’s Oasis and letting F2P catch them. I think that would give the area some “F2P endgame” content for players to look forward to. It also would be in a graphically modern area, as opposed to fishing lobsters and swordfish on Karamja.

I’m also definitely on board with letting F2P catch plain whirligigs, as well as gliding whirligigs with a level extension. (Even though I haven’t actually played this content, it can’t be worse than crimson swifts). Spirit of Forinthry ~ Runecrafting: Magic Armour ~ F2P Extensions ~ Dragon Slayer improvements ~ New Player Experience

08-Nov-2022 19:39:02

Seasons Past

Posts: 559 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

With the Hunter skill I was thinking it could work like this:

1. Go to a Hunter area .

2. Set traps and leave. After an amount of time, each trap would have a chance to catch something (similar to PoF breeding chance, scaling with the Hunter level required). During this time, you would typically go and do something else while waiting (similar to Farming). If deemed necessary, players could get a notification when one of their traps had caught something, as Hunter areas tend to be remote.

3. Return to Hunter area and check traps. Players would receive a reasonable chunk of XP, as well as a stash of creature-related materials based on the number of creatures caught. Both the XP and the value of the items would scale with the type of creature caught. This would be comparable to checking a fruit tree and receiving a bunch of papaya fruits, for example.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 (set traps and go and do other activities while waiting, then return and check traps). Spirit of Forinthry ~ Runecrafting: Magic Armour ~ F2P Extensions ~ Dragon Slayer improvements ~ New Player Experience

08-Nov-2022 19:52:12

Seasons Past

Posts: 559 Steel Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Regarding Summoning, I think it can make sense for some materials to come from combat, especially for some of the more powerful familiars. If combat is the primary source of charms at low levels, though, then it becomes more or less a requirement for Summoning.

So it’s a case of:

Combat

->

Summoning

->

Combat-related benefits

Whereas I think it would make more sense if it was like:

Summoning

->

Combat-related benefits

Combat has a lot of utility already, so having more consistent non-combat sources of Summoning ingredients could help spread some value to other skills, such as Hunter. Spirit of Forinthry ~ Runecrafting: Magic Armour ~ F2P Extensions ~ Dragon Slayer improvements ~ New Player Experience

08-Nov-2022 20:02:37

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(F2P) QoL Improvements v2