Examine
Examine is a feature in RuneScape that allows players to examine objects closely. Almost anything in RuneScape can be examined, whether it be items, non-player characters, interactive scenery, and even non-interactive scenery. To examine an object, right-click it and click on "Examine" (see Game controls). The examine option is usually the last option when you right-click an object. If a monster's combat level is higher than yours, then the examine option is second to last. A short description of the object will appear on the chat interface.
Examining items is often not very useful for anything other than interest. One particularly unhelpful example can be seen when examining opal bolt tips, which yields the message: "Opal bolt tips." Examining some items or scenery during quests can be valuable, or even necessary. For example, examining the levers on the bottom level of the Abandoned Mine during the Haunted Mine quest lets the player know which lever is which.
When examining stacks of items bigger than one hundred thousand, the usual examine is replaced by "[exact number of items] x [item name]", since exact values bigger than one hundred thousand are not displayed. This is rarely seen with any item other than coins, but it can happen. The rarity is due to stacks of one hundred thousand or greater of anything other than coins rarely being collected. It should also be noted that stacks of one hundred thousand or greater retain their original examine info when dropped. For example, examining 100k dropped coins will read "Lovely money!", instead of "100,000 x coins", as it would read in a player's inventory or bank.
Examples of Examines
Jagex often uses examine text to include cultural references or humour.
For example:
- The Doomsayer: "Cheerful, helpful and optimistic, I'll bet."
- A war tortoise: "Definitely not teenaged, although the jury is out on its ninja skills." This is a reference to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
- The Examiner: "Upon examining the Examiner, you examine it is indeed an examiner!"
- A sign in the wilderness: "Stop examining signs! You're in the wilderness now!"
- A skeleton in the wilderness: "He died of natural causes, like a massive dragon, or something".
- Skeletons in the Slayer Tower yield two different examines: The ones on the floor reads, "How do you make a skeleton laugh?" and the ones leaning against the wall reads, "Tickle his funny bone."
- Growing Wheat: "Kids grow up fast these days".
- Young impling: "A young impling. It's not fair!"
- Sin Seer: "She's honest about the things you aren't."
- Camo equipment: "Examine what?"
- Adventurer: "He's in a pretty nasty spot, in a pretty nasty pot. With some cabbage." The adventurer is about to be boiled alive. The Cabbage is an "in-joke" at Jagex.
- Head Chef: "Despite his name, rarely actually cooks heads."
- Parchment (Olaf's Quest): "Brittle. Yellowed. Different." It is a reference to a slogan that was used to advertise Nuprin, a brand of ibuprofen.
- Mi-Gor: "Little. Evil. Different." This is another reference to a slogan that was used to advertise Nuprin.
- A mounted bull's head, "Looks like the bull lost."
- Huge Mushroom: "These fat fungi take up so much room."
- Strung rabbit foot: "Not so lucky for the rabbit."
- A Rug: "The handkerchief of giants!"
- Burnt bread: "Nice crispy bread. Possibly too crispy."
- A hidden rock in Daemonheim: "I can't see a rock"
- Baby Mole: "I will call him Mini Mole!"
The examine text is initially decided upon by the developer who makes the object, though it is occasionally adjusted by editors<ref>RSDev. Twitter / Jagex Ltd: @Plasma_Ball1 Examine info .... statuses. Twitter. 2009-07-01. “Examine information will be put there by the developer making the object and occasionally tweaked by our Editors”*</ref>.
Player-made examine
The most notable in-game entities that cannot be examined are human players. Player spoofs, such as the ones seen while riding Gnomecopters, have the 'examine' option. Their examine text is simply 'A player'. However, they are just non-interactive NPCs and are not players.
Many players would like to be able to define their own examine text that others can read, and have posted this opinion on the RuneScape Forums. However, this suggestion remained on the "Do Not Suggest" list, a Jagex-controlled list of suggestions that players were not permitted to discuss. Each Suggestions forum has an identical copy of the list in its forum specific rules.
The reason for this policy seems to be the potential problem of people attributing inappropriate examine text to themselves. Mod Craddock said of the proposal: "It's quite a nice idea but it could be quite difficult for us to stop players from writing horribly insulting examines. Can you think of any solution to this?"Players responded by saying that examine text should be subject to the chat filter, and inappropriate text should be reportable under the Rule 1 - Offensive Language. They have even suggested that all player-made examine text should be checked manually by Jagex before "going live", and offenders should have their right to provide their examine text revoked.
It is possible to examine yourself in a certain part of the quest The Branches of Darkmeyer through the eyes of vampyres but with players' own conciousness, stating that this feels like "an out-of-body experience".
Glitches
- While dungeoneering there are areas that just say "Examine" and, when clicked, a blank line appears in the chat box. This has yet to be fixed.
Trivia
- If a monster is examined during its death animation no examine text would be received.