My cup is full. By “CUP”, I mean “Construction Update Please”. I want a Construction update, and I want it sooner than “maybe”. That’s right, I’m doing an article about how much I want a Construction update. Is it a rant? No, it’s just a desire.

…OK, it’s a rant, but it’s desirable! So that means… wait, that doesn’t- …ah, forget it.

Straight to the chase. I read in the upcoming updates that the Barrows is getting a graphical overhaul and celebratory bonus-reward week. Reading that, I thought that it was pretty sweet. Get my gear back in order, recharge my chaotic longsword, save up some fire surges (cause I’m hardcore; how about you?), and make some house tablets. You know, that way I can heal and recharge prayer, teleport to Kharyll, and get a quick and easy teleport back to the Barrows thanks to that Draken amulet I found on my travels (Sliske’s gonna hate).

Of course, another method is to don the full Darkmeyer gear, teleport right into the middle of the vampyre city, and recharge there, but I could almost swear there’s this counter going up every time I use the darn thing.

I’m not complaining. In fact, I’m excited. The Barrows and I go a ways back. It got me my first abyssal whip. It got me level 80 magic (and several other levels). It got me full Karils once, as well as helped my Guthans collection (got 2 pieces from the God Wars dungeon, oddly enough). My brother became perhaps RuneScape’s first player to get a Torag Plate.

…I’m not kidding. We rush over there after we log back in from the system update and check it out; his first trip, lucky stiff gets the plate. Could have probably traded it for a party hat back then. Probably.

Anyways, I then realized that I’m going to be teleporting from the barrows to my house and back again. The Barrows will get this awesome graphical overhaul which, knowing Jagex, will dramatically change the way we experience the barrows. And I’m excited. But upon returning to my house, I will be cast away from the gorgeous escape from reality back into an obviously-coded pseudo-environment.

It’s not just the Barrows. My house is my teleport hub for all around RuneScape. I check out all these awesome graphical updates, and then I usually return to my house after. It ruins the effect.

Don’t get me wrong, I like what Jagex have done with the Construction skill, and while it’s not the best skill out there, in my opinion it’s not the worst either. On its release, it was adored and trained by all, but it did not last.

We hardly see house parties and events anymore because most of their benefits have been replaced. With these consecutive updates pulling away its merit, Construction is being wasted away bit by bit.

The Cook’s Guild got their wheat patch (originally, the house having the respawnable flour was good for cooking), the Ectofunctus is considerably faster than before (though not by “too” much) and clans can get together and meet in citadels.

All the house is really good for anymore is freeing up bank space by storing pets and clothes, maybe prayer training, and recharging health and prayer. I’m level 97 Construction, and I take full advantage of these benefits. And yes, I have a throne room and oubliette.

But that’s it. Just a safe point in a somewhat (but not desirably) obscure location. And we’ve recently received the tool belt and 30 more bank spaces. Players are going to only ever train to level 69 (tea and crystal saw) just to get the gilded altar, and that’s it. The skill doesn’t have all that much merit to it anymore.

And I don’t like that. Each skill, as you progress with it, is beneficial to not only your playing, but also your status. Smithing gets you better equipment, Farming gets you more herbs and… other stuff, Herblore gets you those Overload potions, Runecrafting… well, more runes. But you get the idea.

Construction, with each level, all you get half the time is better looking stuff, which itself is about as effective as painting a brick wall red. It’s expensive and hard work, and there’s really no benefit anymore. Yeah, it’s good to look at, but after a few ganders, it’s no longer interesting. Plus, it’s expensive and time consuming to train. Hardly worth it.

Jagex, we need a Construction update. At least a few bug fixes and room space here and there would be nice, as there’s still some rather awkward parts still in place. A graphical overhaul and a couple new rooms would be ideal. Maybe get some specific house types and extra floors into the works so we can build our own castle or fortress. Heck, I wouldn’t even care if you demolished all our houses in a complete and total reworking of the skill that made us have to build each and every individual wall from scratch! In fact, I’d welcome that with open arms!

The skill needs some merit again. Some real reason to shoot for level 99. I know it’s a tough piece of code to deal with (I sent a message to them once and got a response), but these kinds of small spots in the game are what affects it the most. Besides, you guys got Dungeoneering to work. After all that effort and design, I imagine giving the Construction skill an overhaul would be a piece of cake! It would be like releasing a whole new skill again! And I think we all know how many players like a new skill.

…would it help if I said please?

Yeah, that’s it. I asked. That’s all I can do at this point. I’ll keep playing RuneScape and I’ll strive for level 99 Construction anyways, so that when the day comes that Construction gets its overhaul, I’ll be ready for it.

Cheers, cannoneers.