2009 Christmas event

The 2009 Christmas event, officially known as A Christmas Warble, was a Holiday Event released by Jagex on 21 December 2009. Unlike previous events, this one lasted three weeks, not two. It was removed on 11 January 2010 with the news item "Nomad's Requiem".

Walkthrough



 * You can start the event by either going to your snow imp straight away, or talking to the Queen of Snow. She is located inside the tent to the north of the tables (If you don't have a snow imp, talk to one inside the tent). All of the yellow dots are either partygoers, guests, or your imp (when he's not following you).
 * Once you have talked to your imp, head east, through the gate, into Ebenezer Scourge's house. He is in the western room; you must speak to him to continue or he will yell when you touch anything.
 * Search the cupboard located in the same room for bedsheets, and then head to the dining room in the eastern section of the house and find (in another cupboard) a needle and some thread. You will find chains in a barrel in the scullery in the northern section of the house. You should also have found a bucket in the northern cupboard or the other barrels (you can take more than one bucket, but the maximum amount is 4). Keep the bucket as it will prove to be useful to have later on (to get rid of the fire).
 * Use the needle, thread, and the chains on the bed sheet and you will have a set of Christmas ghost robes.




 * Wear the three pieces of the Christmas ghost armour, which will begin a dialogue with the snow imp.
 * Now, you must return to camp and speak with the Queen. If she does not appear to have a prompt that states: "Talk about Scourge," talk to your Imp yet again and ask what to do, she will then have that prompt ready for you. She then tells the player that she used to be in love with Ebenezer. Your Imp will then say that you can return to the house and go upstairs.




 * You can Travel back to Scourge's house and up the stairs to scare Ebenezer.(Please note that you can't have anything in your hands before you go upstairs). The player will have a rather brief conversation in an attempt to convey him, but will fail to do so. Ebenezer Scourge will then be annoyed and will cast a curse of magical fire on the partygoers. In the cutscene, the victims cursed will each glow in red fire in a specific order which is known as "The Red Flame Pattern". (write the order down)(Betty can help the player)
 * There is a specific order to unfreeze the guests, and it is always the opposite of the order in the cutscene.(In other words, you have to unfreeze the guests in the reverse order of what the cutscene shows). The order is different for everyone who participates in the event, but the final person you should free is always Tiny Thom. (If you are incorrect, the red fire sequence will replay, again, write it down). Release the guests from the fire by using a bucket on the fountain south of the tables to fill it with icy water, then use it on the guests in your order.
 * Go back to Ebenezer. The player will accuse him of ruining someone's Christmas. Your imp will ask you which character to summon. It will always be Tiny Thom. After the Snow imp summons Tiny Thom, Ebenezer will show more resentment towards the player, leaving no choice but for the player to return downstairs once again.
 * Have a chat with your snow imp and go back upstairs. You must say nothing to Ebenezer and do the Angry emote, Trick (also known as Scare) emote, and lastly, do the Dramatic Point emote to scare him into releasing Santa.
 * Head back to the feast and talk with Santa near the front of the tent. Then head south-east towards the Christmas Tree. Open the green present with the red ribbons in front of the Christmas Tree to claim your reward, a candy cane for you and a scarf for your imp!

Congratulations, you have finished the event!


 * Once you have completed the mini-quest/event, Ebenezer can be found "enjoying" the Christmas Feast, apparently a changed man. When you talk to him in your Christmas Ghost set, he will tell you that his ways have changed. If you talk to him without wearing any of the Christmas Ghost gear, he is trying to be nice and he tells you he's enjoying all of the merriment and also wishes you a Merry Christmas.

Rewards



 * Christmas ghost set
 * Candy cane, which when wielded has the option to "Spin". When spin, your character will throw it into the air. The Candy Cane will then rotate 360 degrees mid-air before being caught again.
 * The Dramatic Point emote.
 * Your snow imp can be summoned in the Land of Snow (you must have done the Myths of the White Lands quest first).
 * If not already unlocked, the emotes Freeze and Melt and Snowman Dance are also unlocked.
 * After the event, players can take the following from the feast tables: turkey drumstick, roast potatoes, Yule log and mulled wine. Players can't take the food out of the Land of Snow. Players may also choose to store the food in the cornucopia which was obtained in the thanks-giving event 2008, but not the wine.
 * If you attempt to take out an icy bucket of water, when you pass through the wardrobe, the ice melts, and you are left with a plain ol' bucket of water.

Music
Music tracks unlocked:
 * Silent Knight
 * Ghost of Christmas Presents
 * Smorgasbord

Development


The event was developed mainly in September and October of 2009 and was the first project developed by Mod Edam.

Mod Edam stated that he wanted the graphics of the event to "have a "Christmassy" atmosphere," and said that he was "really pleased with what was produced." To add to the "Christmassy" atmosphere, Jagex created a new particles system in RuneScape that included a more realistic look of snow.

Mod Edam based the story of the event on A Christmas Carol, a traditional Christmas novel written by Charles Dickens.

Mod Edam also said that the rewards of the event would not give any player any notable advantage over another, but would still be fun and not useless.

Announcement


The 2009 Christmas event was first announced in the news item "Christmas Cards and Blog". It linked to a Developers' Blog written by the developer of the event, Mod Edam. In the developer blog, titled "Holiday Event: A Christmas Warble", Mod Edam gave a few details about what the event would be like.

Mod Edam said that new characters would be released with the event, but Jack Frost and snow imps, characters seen in a previous Christmas event, would have small cameos. Santa Claus's appearance was confirmed by Jagex Christmas cards that represent the event. Mod Edam confirmed in the blog that the plot would be based on a traditional Christmas story, but he did not say what. This was later confirmed to be A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

After many questions about them on the RuneScape Forums, Mod Edam confirmed that the rewards of the event would not be the same as the rewards from previous events, and that they would not be tradeable.

Before its release, Mod Ajd said that the Christmas event was going to be better than the previous year's, but Jagex would "leave [it up to] the players to decide that one."

Following the announcement of the event, many users on the RuneScape Forums speculated that the event's story would be based on Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. This was not confirmed until the event was actually released on 21 December. RuneScape players based their theories on several hints released by Jagex.


 * The title of the first blog by Edam is "A Christmas Warble", "warble" being a variation of the word carol (i.e. A Christmas Carol).
 * The caption for one of the pictures posted on Edam's blog stated, "Beware of the Humbug", "humbug" being a well-known word that Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol's main character, often says in the book.
 * One of the Christmas cards released at the same time as the "Christmas Cards and Blog" news post is titled "A Christmas Warble" and captioned, "Santa brings a Hint of Christmas Future in this festive card." The picture is of Santa Claus, an old man, speculated to be based on Ebenezer Scrooge, and a young boy with a crutch under his arm, speculated to be based on Tiny Tim.
 * "Christmas Cards and Blog" makes a reference to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who is one of the four ghosts that visits Scrooge in the novel: "Like the Ghost of Christmas Future we're here to offer a hint of what's to come this Christmas, in the form of a new Christmas card and developer blog."

Release
A Christmas Warble was released on 21 December 2009 with the news item "Update:A Christmas Warble (Christmas 2009)".

Many users on the RuneScape Forums have commented on the delay of the release of the event. The 2006, 2007, and 2008 Christmas events were all released on either the 16th or the 18th of December, but the 2009 Christmas event was released on the 21st.

A large amount of criticism has been from ex members because they were forced to take off their Capes of Accomplishment and other members objects in order to complete the event. Mod Edam said this was not intended, but would not be changed.

The event ended three weeks later on 11 January 2010, with the news post "Nomad's Requiem".

Glitches
The following are glitches that occurred during or after the 2009 Christmas event:


 * While doing the Freeze emote, if you flip your candy cane, you appear flipping the cane while the emote goes on.
 * You can remove the Candy cane while doing the Spin emote and it makes you look like you're flipping something invisible.
 * While doing the Explore emote, if you flip your candy cane, you appear to be flipping the cane while the sextant appears to float above the player.
 * If you use Play-with Eek option with Eek (the Spider) then use the Spin option with the candy cane, both of the emotes will happen. This also happens with many other emotes from items.
 * If you use the Candy Cane and quickly use the Chocatrice Cape emote or Around the World in Eggty Days, it will appear to others that you threw your cane in the air.
 * When you ask your snow imp what we should do after completing the event, the imp suggests to pelt snowballs at other adventurers.
 * In the last chat box your avatars appears to be chewing gum in the laughing animation.
 * If you walk and then you use Freeze, you would stop but the ice from the emote would go down and then up without the player.
 * Some people have been able to take their snow imps outside the Land of Snow.
 * During the event, some players lost their imp and couldn't find it.
 * Some people have been unable to talk to Sir Amik Varze and Tiny Thom, getting the error that "I can't reach that."
 * When you rest while wearing the ghost costume, you are able to see part of it sticking up.
 * The first day of the event there was a glitch that let you take the festive food out of the Land of Snow. It was fixed the day after.
 * It was possible to receive 2 Candy canes instead of 1. It was shortly fixed.
 * There used to be a glitch where you could take food outside The Land Of Snow when using the wardrobe by quickly dropping the food as soon as the map loads. The glitch was fixed so the food disappeared as soon as you used the wardrobe.
 * If a person does the zombie hand emote and then the freeze emote quickly the ice will go up and down this also has other emotes where the character does not move the emotes are trick, blow kiss, safety first, idea, and dramatic point

Trivia



 * Tiny Thom and Ebenezer Scourge are based on Tiny Tim and Ebenezer Scrooge, characters in the novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, as much of the event is based on the novel.
 * The idea of travelling through a wardrobe to a parallel world blanketed in snow is similar to that seen in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the second novel within the Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis
 * You can talk to Louis the Camel with a camulet for humorous conversations throughout the event and after you complete it.
 * At the time of this event, the penguins from Penguin Hide and Seek featured a sleek, new costume, like during the Hallowe'en events, only this time they're dressed as snowmen instead of Jack 'o Lanterns.
 * The Candy Cane was an option for a reward in the Christmas Guaranteed Content Poll (July 2008), though it lost to the Santa Suit. It was known as 'Candy Cane Cane', suggesting that it was a cane (like the Treasure Trail rewards) and it was of a Candy Cane.
 * This is the first update which uses the new and upcoming graphical feature, particles.
 * If you have started or completed 'Recipe for Disaster' your character would mention that the fire spell that Ebenezer Scourge had casted was similar to what the Culinaromancer did to the people at the feast in Lumbridge.
 * If you use a snowball on your Snow imp it eats it and says "Yum, snow, my favourite!". When you attempt to use anything else on him he says: "Oi! Don't use that on me!", instead of the traditional Nothing interesting happens. If you use it on a imp that isn't following you, you will yield "Nothing interesting happens."
 * When passing the barrier or logging in with the Ghost costume on in Port Phasmatys, players may receive a message saying, "The ghosts eye you suspiciously and recognise that you are masquerading as one of them."
 * Tiny Thom, when talked to after the event, exclaims that he's received a lump of coal as reference to the Christmas tradition, also from the book. The difference residing in that Tiny Thom retorts that it's valuable via the Grand Exchange, proving Santa's punishment to be useless.
 * In this quest players have the opportunity to witness new facial expressions when talking to NPCs. Sir Amik Varze and a drunk Partygoer are the only ones that show it when spoken to. It could possibly be the drunk or merry facial expression.
 * You can light logs in the Land of Snow during this event. However, it was not possible to light logs on snow or on ice in the previous event and during the quest Myths of the White Lands.
 * The Snow imps seem to be able to teleport other beings.
 * When talking to the Cook of Lumbridge in the Land Of Snow, he says to the player that he could have cooked the feast if the player had not rescued Santa Claus.
 * When speaking to Ebenezer Scourge as the ghost of Christmas Present, "your" had been misspelled to "yout" on several occasions.
 * If you feed snow balls to another other player's imps, you end up feeding the snow ball back to your own imp (even though it is clear that you have fed the snowball to another player's imp) -- This is evident when you feed another player's imp, your own imp's name is above the dialogue when it talks.
 * If you did the 2008 Christmas event, you get the same imp.
 * If you examine the food bins in front of the reindeer and the other animals, both of them will say that the other animal ate it already.
 * Players use the scare emote even if they have not unlocked it, and although it is used it isn't unlocked in the quest.
 * When you attempt to bring Hartwin with you to the land of Snow, the Queen of snow tells you she is tired of picking up [his] mess.
 * The snowballs you were given melted on 19 January.