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On the weekend of the 12th of March 2010, we will be running a "bonus XP weekend" for RuneScape members. This has been officially announced in our newsletter (if you haven't already, then sign up for it here).
We've put together this blog as more of an FAQ to answer any questions about the weekend and we will be around on the forums to answer any questions that come up.

What exactly is a bonus XP weekend?

As the name implies, there will be the opportunity over the weekend of the 12th of March to gain extra XP for standard training activities

When will this be happening?

Between the hours of 12:00PM GMT on Friday 12th March and 12:00PM GMT Monday 15th March (so, all of that Saturday and Sunday). These times are a rough estimate, but we will put a news post out as soon as the event starts.

I don't use GMT! Tell me what time this will be in my country.

Here's an idea of times in different areas:
EST - 07:00 AM Friday 12th to 07:00 AM Monday 15th
PST - 04:00 AM Friday 12th to 04:00 AM Monday 15th
Australia - 23:00 PM Friday 12th to 23:00 PM Monday 15th
CET 12:00 PM Friday 12th to 12:00 PM Monday 15th
Brazil (east) - 09:00 AM Friday 12th to 09:00 PM Monday 15th
For more information, please use the handy and helpful Time Conversion Thread.

How does the bonus XP work?

When you initially log in on the weekend, you will gain approx 2.7x XP for all "normal training" activities (see the question below for a list). While you are logged in, a timer will be running over the time you are logged into the game. Over time, the bonus will decrease to a minimum of 1.1x your usual rate.
Your XP rate will be shown in-game over the course of the weekend, and you will have access to an interface showing a running total of the extra XP you have earned (over what you would have normally earned) as well as the amount of time you have logged in. Your bonus XP rate will NOT decrease when you are not logged into the game, so do not feel pressured to play continuously.

What activities will earn me bonus XP?

Normal training activities will earn you the bonus XP. Every fight, log cut or hunter trap you lay will grant you a multiple of the XP it would normally give.

Typical training activities for each skill (not an exhaustive list):

Attack and Strength - melee combat
Ranged - ranged combat, Circus
Magic - magic combat and other spell casting (e.g. enchanting jewellery, alchemy, teleporting), Circus
Defence and Hitpoints - from all forms of combat
Agility - completing courses, using shortcuts, Circus
Construction - building furniture in your POH
Cooking - cooking food on range/fire/spit
Crafting - crafting pots, armour, jewellery, battlestaves, blowing glass
Farming - weeding, planting/harvesting crops, checking tree health
Firemaking - lighting fires, burning evil tree roots, lighting beacons
Fishing - catching fish
Fletching - fletching bows/arrows/crossbows/bolts, etc
Herblore - cleaning herbs, mixing potions
Hunter - setting/checking traps, butterfly/bird/impling catching, falconry
Mining - mining ores/gems, mining shooting stars
Prayer - burying bones
Runecrafting - crafting runes at any altar, combination runes
Slayer - doing Slayer tasks
Smithing - smelting ores, smithing metal bars
Summoning - infusing pouches, summoning familiars
Thieving - pickpocketing, thieving from chests/stalls
Woodcutting - cutting trees/evil trees

What is the specific calculation for my modifier?



WARNING: Maths below.
The calculation for this is as follows:
If you put this into a graphics calculator or even Wolfram Alpha you will see a parabolic curve. It has a nice smooth reduction over time. At 10+ hours we set the multiplier to be 1.1 (the tangent of this equation).
We hope any of you that are studying maths will get a kick out of knowing the internal calculations we are doing to get the value of your multiplier, and of discussing it on the forums.

What activities will NOT earn me bonus XP?

Quest XP rewards
Items that give XP (e.g. genie lamps, tomes of experience)
XP rewards at the end of minigames (e.g. Tears of Guthix, Soul Wars, Pest Control)
Anything which allows point exchange for XP (e.g. Penguin Points, Brimhaven Agility Arena tickets, Slayer incentives, Mrs Winkin's World of Seeds shop from Vinesweeper, jade vine)

Can I use my clay items, Penance horn, brawling gloves, etc, to add to my bonus XP?

These items will not work during the weekend as the effects of the bonus XP weekend will override any other items or areas that enhance XP rates. The item will not degrade when used during the bonus XP weekend. This includes clay items, Penance horns, brawling gloves, flame gloves/ring of fire, Fishing/Runecrafting/dragon slayer gloves and POH altars.

Why are you running this?

It's an idea we've had for a while (and we’re obviously not the first gaming company to think of it; many online games have bonus XP weekends). We wanted to give people a chance to do training on existing skills before we launch the new one (note: this isn't a teaser for the skill's release date).

I'm not around that weekend. Will I be able to use my quota another time?

No. The bonus XP effects will only be available over this weekend.

What happens if I miss out

Don't worry. If this event goes well, then we will likely be running further bonus XP weekends.

Why is this members-only?

Future bonus XP events may well be opened up to free players as well, but we're waiting to see how this one works before making that decision.

But what if I don't want to play for the whole weekend?

The ideal time for training with bonus XP is during your first few hours of in-game time over the weekend - the diminishing returns means that once you’ve played for more than 10 hours you will no longer be getting a significant advantage in your training.

Don’t you think this cheapens training?/I already have 99 in all skills.

We think this is an update which appeals to a wide spectrum of players - from people who have just started out and will welcome a boost, to mid-level players striving for a goal, to high-level players training their last few skills, and even to those maxed-out players who are aiming for the 200 million mark in a skill. As everyone is being given the same opportunity, and that the significant benefit only lasts for ten hours, we do not feel it cheapens anything.

Isn’t this going to ruin the economy?

Ten hours of increased XP isn't going to harm the economy any more than the release of any other new way of training skills. We do expect prices for certain items to rise in the run up to this weekend, but to then naturally level out afterwards. This is one of the reasons we are giving plenty of advance warning.

What will you do to stop merchant clans, etc, taking advantage of this knowledge?

To effectively manipulate a price you need a unique item that doesn't usually have a lot of variation in value. We're expecting demand to go up for certain items in the run up to this update, but this isn't something which can be set by a single agenda as the economy as a whole is going to be up.

Who developed this/who will answer my questions?

Mod Fnord was the technical developer for this project, with Mod Chihiro helping with design and Mod Knox being around to answer questions.

Any further questions that we haven’t covered will be edited into this blog entry in time for the bonus XP weekend.
We’ll be monitoring the forum thread for the next few days, but please be aware we can’t always give personal answers to questions immediately.

If you'd like to discuss this blog on the forums, please visit this forum thread.