Summer has always been a big time for Runescape. Both with updates and amount of players that play. The general population of players go to school, so naturally during the summer there is lots of time to get on and play. Some of the greatest updates have been in the summer, a trend that has carried throughout the years.

Every person who goes to school in the fall, winter, and spring always looks forward to the summer months. Runescape players are no exception, and will make goals and plans what to do with the new-found time in the summer. Being a player myself, I recall different times of my plans for the summer months. One summer I believe in 2005 or 2006, I was working for quite a few weeks on meeting the requirements to do the quest. Those are fond memories of mine, and I’m sure other players on the same way. In 2009, I decided to get 99 Herblore that summer, and paid off as well. There is no better feeling in the world than accomplishing a goal placed for ones-self.

This year is no exception, although last year was. This year my plan for the summer is to get better combat gear and combat stats. This includes a chaotic rapier/chaotic longsword. Will I get it? Who knows. It will require a lot of hours of playing, which is the reason that most of my plans never come though. This is probably the same for others as well. It could come from the fact that the goals are set too high.

Many people have I seen that say they are going to get 99 in this skill or that skill. And all the time I will support them, but usually I know that it will never come though. It only takes a few days for a plan to crash and burn, and if it survives that long, it might have the chance of actually being completed. Although I find that I am just persistent, which helps with completing goals I set in the game,  some people might not be. Therefore I have a few bits of advice when trying to decide what to do in Runescape.

The first thing to do is not set your goal too high. This is obvious. If you are setting a goal of having 99 in a skill from level 30, or trying to go for 200 million experience in the skill, maybe just cut it back a bit. What seems like a great reward at the start turns into a very high wall very quickly. The task all of a sudden seems daunting, when it seemed like paradise before. The best thing that I have found to beating that wall is visualization.

Visualization is very important in my opinion, close to most important. The goal is to keep thinking about how good it will be when the goal is complete. How nice it will be to have that item, or to have that level of skill. Visualizing doesn’t always mean just thinking about having it in-game. Many times I would find myself thinking about songs to put in my 99 skill video, and taking pictures for the video. This kept me focused as well as entertained, and definitely helped me achieve many goals in Runescape.

Of course, every person is different, and what works for me may not work for other people. Perseverance is a good strategy to anyone trying to accomplish a goal in Runescape, because usually hours upon hours of boring work goes into it. There is no other situation I have found that you have to work so tediously to get a reward. Going on even when it seems like no progress is being made in the goal at all is very difficult, but not impossible. The biggest draw of the summer though, is the updates that come along with it.

Summer updates have always been very well-received. Jagex saves their best and brightest for this time, because of the large number of players that play on a day-to-day basis. Updates like the God Wars Dungeon, and Player-owned Houses both came during the summer. Graphics updates have also been done in the summer, once in 2006, and again another in 2008. Spirits are higher during the summer, and the community more light-hearted about updates. They don’t pick every detail apart like on some other updates.

Some say that the Return of the Mahjarrat will be coming this summer, which would not come as much of a surprise. Jagex is in need of a good update that everyone is anticipating. However, no one will really know what will be coming out until they check for themselves every week. I know I will be doing so.

Summer has always been a great time for Runescape. People are generally happier, there are more people online, and it is a greater playing experience. Whatever goals may be set for the summer will hopefully be met, I am determined to make mine happen. This summer looks to be quite interesting, and every player is looking forward to how it will play out.