2009 Christmas event

The 2009 Christmas event, also known as A Christmas Warble, is a Holiday Event released by Jagex on 21 December 2009. Unlike previous events, this one lasts three weeks, not two. It shall be removed on the week beginning 11 January, as there are no updates to replace it until then

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. All of the yellow dots are either partygoers, guests, other imps, 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), along with cabbage. You do not need the cabbage as it has no use, but keep the bucket as it will prove to be useful to have later on.


 * Use the needle, thread, and the chains on the bed sheet and you will have a set of Christmas ghost armour.




 * 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.Scrooge's_house.jpg


 * Travel back to Scourge's house and up the stairs to scare Ebenezer. 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. 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). \ Unfreeze the guests by using a bucket on the fountain south of the tables to fill it with freezing water, then use it on the guests in your order.
 * Go back to Ebenezer. The player will accuse him of ruining someone's Christmas. 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, 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.

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.
 * 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, but not the wine.

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

Development
The event was developed mainly in September and October of 2009 and is the first project developed by Mod Edam. Before its release, Mod Ajd said that the Christmas event was going to be better than last year's, but Jagex will "leave [it up to] the players to decide that one."

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 developer 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.

Player speculation
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 "A Christmas Warble".

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 21 December.

The event was generally well-received by players, but was criticised in some things (see below).

Members objects
There has been a large amount of criticism from ex members about the 2009 Christmas event. Free players who wear or wield members objects are forced to remove them in order to complete the event, so they will look more like a ghost. Most of this criticism has gone toward not being able to wear Capes of Accomplishment. Many users on the RuneScape Forums have complained that this is an unnecessary part of the event; however some players believe that is completely fair, as free players with members objects aren't paying for them anymore. This issue has been compared to criticism of the 2009 Easter event, where ex members were forced to take off their members-only weapons to wield the butterfly net.

Mod Stevew read the criticism on the forums, and passed the feedback onto the Jagex content team; however, he didn't say whether it would changed or not. The day after the release of the event, Mod Edam, the developer, confirmed that the members object issue would not be changed.

Ghost costume
Several female RuneScape players complained on the RuneScape Forums that the ghost costume, one of the rewards of the event, looked too masculine, and that Jagex was either discriminating against females or "too lazy" to make a girl model of the set. Mod Mark H denied this.

Mod Mark H also said that the costume only looked like the way it did because the event took it from how the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come was described in the novel. However, with so much criticism, Mark H agreed to pass the feedback to the Graphics Team; however, he said the feedback probably won't be seen until after the holidays. If the Graphics Team can adjust the costume very quickly, there is a chance it will be changed, but "it's really up to them."

Glitches

 * While holding the candy cane, players could select to 'operate' it, and throwing it into the air. Players would quickly, after pressing operate, switch to their inventory and click on a weapon, and it would take the place of the candy cane. This made it look like the weapon was spinning in a 360 degree motion instead of the candy cane.

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.
 * After completing the event, the Adventurer Log reads: "Using imp-like cunning I bested Scourge and saved Christmas!"
 * 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."
 * Sir Amik Varze seems to be wearing a Santa hat and a gold-trimmed green cape at the party, however, the cape in question cannot currently be acquired by players.
 * After you come out of The Land of Snow and have a bucket of icy water in your inventory, the ice melts and turns into normal bucket of water.
 * There are piles of snow that can be used to create snowballs, that can be wielded and pelted at people. This is similar to the snowballs gained from the Snow globe of the 2007 Christmas event.
 * Only the Queen of Snow, Santa Claus, and some of the partygoers really fall for the Ghost costume at all. Scourge doesn't really seem fazed at first and everyone else in and outside that area is able to recognise you straight away.
 * 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.
 * The ice sculptures on display are reminiscent of the frozen creatures within God Wars Dungeon.
 * After you drink the Mulled wine, you don't receive any glass cups in return.
 * If your imp interacts with an imp of the same name, they'll call each other "bro's".
 * The song "Silent Knight" refers to the holiday song "Silent Night".
 * 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.
 * While logging into RuneScape at the time of the event, players were treated to holiday music instead of the standard login music.
 * When speaking to Ebenezer Scourge as the ghost of Christmas Present, "your" had been misspelled to "yout" on several occasions.
 * Snowballs can be banked, the same as those from the 2007 Christmas event snow globe.
 * 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.
 * After the quest, Sir Amik Varze and a drunk Partygoer show a new chat head when spoken to.
 * 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.
 * Though Sir Amik Varze, and Generals Bentonze and Wartface are at the party in the land of snow, they are still at their usual locations on Runescape.