Dear Editor,
I've decided to refer this letter to "Robot Wars, aka Death of the Robots" It could also be tied into "What the heck was THAT?"
To recap, Robot Wars was written after Jagex's article on May 1st, 2007. That article announced an increase in gold farmers and the usage of bots, and Jagex's firm actions against players who use bots. This is still a problem today, and it's no secret that it is on the rise, increasing daily. Macroing has been a common theme in many threads on Runescape related forums across the web and many people are talking about the different kinds of bots, possible solutions to get rid of them, and even the "pros"(if there are any) and "cons" of their impact on the game. I'm sure that most of you are aware that Jagex just recently released a Development Diary on how much they are trying to combat bots and "RWT" and they have demonstrated what extremes they went and will go to. I'm sure 99.9% of the Runescape population would be much happier if they never existed, and Jagex would be too. But what some sickens me is that some people are very supportive of Rule 7, but yet do not hesitate to break Rule 12 or 2. It doesn't make sense to me.
I can't comprehend how some people can uphold and support most of the rules, but not a select few. I can't begin to think what would happen if this took place in real life. What if murder was wrong, but rape was okay? Or if burglary was illegal, but not destruction of property? Some people may think that drop-trading doesn't "hurt the game." But it does. There is a very good reason Jagex doesn't want you to do it! Jagex is run by intelligent enough people that will establish and enforce laws for solid reasons other than exercising their supreme power over your character. Though we don't always see eye to eye with Jagex, and their updates don't always please the whole crowd, they know what they are doing. They want you to follow all of the rules so the game can be enjoyed fairly by the most people possible. In my opinion, if you break one rule, it is as if you've broken all of them.
Many people blame the macroers for hurting the Runescape economy. And they possibly have a lot of the guilt for it. But the economy isn't the core of the Runescape community. It doesn't completely affect your overall experience while playing Runescape. What does is our actions and how we all treat each other during game play. You can make someone's day by kindly helping someone out or shatter their dreams by insulting them in a furious rage. Bug abuse, Jagex Staff impersonation, encouraging others to break the rules, and all other forms of misconduct on Runescape hurt the game just as much as a macroer, and I don't believe we can gripe about macroers when we haven't done much to improve the game's community ourselves.
In real life, you won't get the same punishment for murder when you steal a candy bar. It may also be that way in Runescape too. But in no way whatsoever are you allowed to point to someone else who “committed a worse crime” and say you're innocent or you don't deserve punishment because they've done something worse. You can't be a hypocrite and support one regulation but then not another. No matter how big or “unimportant” they are, rules are rules. If you believe that your single illicit action won't affect the community of Runescape, then think about 100,000 players doing the same illicit deed. The bad activities add up and multiply until they do make an impact! We've most definitely seen that happen over the history of Runescape. And if we as a group of players want to bring the Runescape community back to the zenith of it's existence -- and maybe even beyond -- everyone will need to follow all of the rules. ALL of them.
Sincerely,
Foodfight13
This is a article related to "What The Heck Was THAT?"
The DEATH of Runescape.... Harsh is it not? But this is the view of many players. After releasing the Grand Exchange, which caused a huge market fluctuation, JaGex went in for the kill with the "unfair trade" update. This has caused many players to wonder if Jagex was taken over by B.A.F. (Babysitters Against Fun) and leaving others choking on their own tongues.
But.... What if this update isn't the end of Runescape (as many believe)? I for one think that JaGex is actually doing a good thing. It is like getting grounded by your parents, it makes you hate them but usually it is for your own good.
Look at it this way, this update will cause the price of resources to go back up seeing as there will not be hundreds of autoers selling thousands of yew logs, sharks and ect, which will make a higher demand, which in turn will make players willing to spend more on resources.
Also one thing that really draws my liking to this update is that item scamming will be virtually impossible once the "Unfair Trade" update is released in January.
Imagine a world without scammers and autoers, wouldn't that be great? Going to the yew trees behind Varrock Castle and being able to cut a tree for more than ten seconds before it is chopped down, or never having to wonder about the price when trading with someone you don't know.
The thing you have to remember is that many players have pleaded with JaGex to do something about the autoer problem, and when they do it is to drastic for you? Like come on people! Don't build the fire if you can't stand the heat! What did you think, Andrew would just tap his Dragon Boots together and the autoers would disappear?
Anyways off the "Unfair Trade" update and on to others, I don't know about the rest of you Free to Play players but eight more bank spaces is a dream come true to me, also a bank in the Wilderness, all I can say is Hallelujah, actually being able to train on greater demons without being worried about being PKed and likewise for the Green Dragons, its making me giddy just thinking about it.
Any who that is my thought on the subject.
F1_bomber
The new "updates" to RuneScape have shocked many, and caused many to leave the game forever. Paradoxically, however, these updates were both necessary and absolutely intolerable for RuneScape to continue.
NECESSARY
For several years now, macroers and gold farmers have dealt heavy blows to the RuneScape economy. Their excessive production of raw materials for the purpose of attaining gold to sell for real-world money has gradually driven down prices in RuneScape to the extent that massive "macro-hunting" campaigns are being conducted by players in order for them to be able to earn honest GP. In Figure 1, the green dot indicates the "equilibrium price" for any given item, such as yew logs. Supply equals demand in this case, and everyone is happy. The red dot indicates the production level of the macroers. In a normal economy, such a result would be infeasible b/c supply would greatly outweigh demand and very high prices would result, leading to very few sales until the price reverted back to equilibrium. However, b/c macroers are willing to sell at any price in order to get the gold they need to sell quickly, they continually sell below the market price and gradually lower the average price. Thus, it becomes harder for the average Scaper to earn a GP.
If Jagex had ignored this problem, it would have continued until it would eventually not be worth the money to do anything anymore, because all prices are so low. Hundreds of thousands of players would leave RuneScape, the macroers would leave b/c there was no one left to sell money to anymore, and RuneScape would revert to the state it was in eight years ago.
If Jagex had implemented only one of these updates, that is, the abolishment of PKing/death piles and the "market value" +/- 3000 gp price fixing, macroers would have continued to use whichever method was still available to transfer funds from one account to another, which would not impact the problem at all but would have an incredibly adverse effect on the honest players.
Thus, Jagex's only choice was to implement both moratoria at once, and deliver the death blow to RWT, however much it may initially cost them by players canceling their memberships. In this way they can hopefully still retain at least half of their paying players, as opposed to the above alternative in which there are no players.
ABSOLUTELY INTOLERABLE
As George Orwell so aptly stated in his novel 1984: WAR IS PEACE
PKing is the central hub of the RuneScape economy. People fish and cook sharks because PKers demand them in large quantities. Yew longbows are cut, fletched, and alched in order to provide a quick (albeit expensive) way for PKers to attain a desired magic level. Runecrafting functions in the same way, along with providing PKers runes with which to kill others. Herblorists produce vast quantities of potions for PKers to attain an advantage over their opponents, the herbs to do which are provided by hardcore farmers and monster-killers. People kill dragons in order to provide would-be PKers with a quick (again, expensive) way to reach their desired Prayer level. Monster-killers reach high Slayer levels in order to provide PKers the highest quality weapons and armor with which to decimate their opponents. These examples, along with others unmentioned, exemplify how PKing drives the RuneScape economy. Thus, everyone is content with their lot. War is Peace!
Now that PKing has been abolished, the whole of the RuneScape economy grinds to a halt. There will be no PKers left to consume the produced materials, and with no buyers, sellers will be left with a massive supply which they cannot sell at a price that earns them a profit. Thus, the producers will be forced to cut losses by dumping their goods at very low prices, which is precisely the problem that Jagex hoped to avoid by abolishing RWT!
To throw another wrench in the gears, Jagex instituted the 3000 gp price fluctuation cap. Will the Grand Exchange still be able to regulate market prices at +/- 5% and thus even out the market, or will no one be able to sell anything b/c producers are trying to dump super strength potions to the only people that will buy them at 200 gp each, while the Grand Exchange still insists on a minimum price of 4500 gp? If this is the case, as I doubt it is, the entire economy is stalled in idle, and will take months to begin crawling along again.
The likely outcome (if the folks at Jagex have an IQ slightly above that of a rock) is that the Grand Exchange will still be allowed to operate at a +/- 5% fluctuation, with the 3000 gp leeway-cap instituted between direct player-to-player trades. In this case, merchants will be those hit the hardest. In a hypothetical example, if a merchant has 100M GP and wants to have 110M GP, he could (again, hypothetically) buy 100 abyssal whips at 1M each, and sell them for 1.1M each, leaving him with a profit of +10M GP. However, if this merchant had purchased the 100 whips but had yet to sell them when the updates were instituted, prices would drop to (hypothetically) 500k per abyssal whip and continue dropping. In this case, the merchant would want to sell his whips @ 500k GP each and cut his losses, further fueling the decline in prices (remember the stock market crash?). This would leave him with a "profit" of -50M, that is, a loss of 50M.
CONCLUSION
The updates, as stated above, are both essential and completely ruinous. Your best bet: Liquidate (sell for cash) your valuable items, wait for prices to crash and settle out, and get ready to buy really cool stuff you could never have afforded before!
-Jackg243
Did You Know...
... that on busy worlds, guards like advertising multi million gp drop parties, even when there are none?
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