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Wow, Jagex staff are dumber than I thought. But then again, I can't totally blame them if only one of them (eg, Andrew) makes such decisions.

Being the company that develops the game, Jagex has more influence through anything, whether it be Zezima, a major fan site, or the gods of RuneScape themselves. Jagex can make any changes it wants, and it can create and destroy worlds at will. Since Jagex is a private company and not a government, it doesn't have to listen to players. But here's the thing: as long as we follow Jagex's rules, we don't have to listen to what Jagex says. Unfortunately, most players are like sheep and eventually submit. Here are some examples: 1. Whe Jagex launched the assist system, people were upset because it ruined work ethics. However, rants quieted down after Jagex removed some skills frmo the assist system. But here's the thing: no-one has to assist; there is no rule saying that a high-level player must assist a lower-leveled player. For all we care, the player may refuse the service or charge for it. 2. Jagex purposely tried to lower the price of rune essence with the pure essence update. Again, most players were like sheep. They simply lowered their prices, thinking that no-one would buy from them. The same goes for the Achievement Diary and the price of furies. 3. Jagex "killed" dueling, but there are trust stakes. With enough organization and leadership skills, it is something that can be pulled off. However, suppose that sellers decided to band together and agree to not sell lower than a certain price. While price manipulation is against forum rules, it is not banned in-game. Theoretically, players could still keep prices high this way. In real-life, this is illegal in many jurisdictions, but it is often conceptually easier. In the real world, there are usually only a few major firms involved (an oligopoly), so it's easy for the firms to agree on a price. In RuneScape, it's going to take a lot of work to convince the tens of thousands of sellers to do the same. Unfortunately, there are some things that players can't overcome. For example, with the infinite stock update, players will not be able to prevent others from buying from shops instead, so they will be forced to lower their own price. Finally, Jagex's income depends on paying members. Theoretically, a boycott would force Jagex to change, but it would be nearly impossible unless Jagex did something that ticks off 99% of the players. But on changes of small scales, such as prices and dueling, players can have the game work their way. Finally, you might want to read the Tip.It Times article on emergent gameplay.

Does Tip.It have a policy against "trust" services? If not, I might offer this service here. But I don't want to get wrongfully banned for real world trading, so I'll probably only accept up to 50k (either in GP or items) from either side at the most.

I remember that level 70 smithing was considered godly in the early days. Back then, people thought it was amazing when Bluerose13x and Twy were among the first players to smith adamantite. Nowadays, it no longer seems to be a big deal, but I'm still proud of myself.

Yes, I forgot to mention that deathmatches are an alternative solution, but the options are very limited. You can't choose what items to "stake," what rules to set (unless the opponent is honorable enough to agree to "rules" and not cheat), or prevent outside entities from interfering with the "duel."

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." One of the wonderful things of the RuneScape community is that players always find ways around difficult problems. In response to the 3,000 coin limit, some players have proposed a way to duel "normally" again: trust stakes. Suppose that Alice and Bob, two players with similar combat levels, want to stake 5m each. Alice and Bob could agree that if Bob loses, he pays Alice 5m and vice versa. However, since there is no technical mechanism to enforce, the loser can dishonorably refuse to pay. A solution is to use a middle person. Consider the same scenario, except with Mallory as the middleperson. Alice and Bob can each pay Mallory 5m. After the duel is over, Mallory gives 10m to the winner (the original stake and the spoils). The problem with the middleperson method is that middlepersons can scam. However, with a trustworthy player, the chances of the middleperson running off is slim. Perhaps some of us can band together and offer such a service; the problem is getting players to trust us. This idea may not be widely accepted, but with enough effort, we can pull this off. Any takers?

Yes, but for tournaments, you can't set the rules.

I usually think of deathmatches (DMs) as a kind of in-Wilderness duel. Basically, players can agree to certain rules, but the options are much more limited. For example, you can't choose the items you keep and lose. Also, there is no way to enforce "honor" in a deathmatch. In a duel, it is possible to specify no prayer. However, in the Wilderness, just because a player says they won't use prayer doesn't mean they won't. Also, it is possible for other players to interfere with DMs as opposed to duels. Nevertheless, will we see more DMs in the Wilderness?

That does seem reasonable. I should probably start selling off some of my items before prices drop.

Imxset - once ranked #6 in cooking: Chenjs2 - well known skiller on Tip.It Speaking of top players, my friend 0x0sammie0x0 just got 99 thieving recently, so congrats to her. :D

I mean, players can have the GE sell items for them, but they can't have the GE buy items for them. For example, the player cannot specify that (s)he buys coal at 180 GP each and have people put coal there.

Unfortunately, jumping on your spot isn't against the rules. However, you should always bring a bow and some arrows. If another hunter starts laying traps right on your spot, then step to the side and start ranging the chinchompas. :D

There's quite a bit of speculation about the upcoming Grand Exchange. While many people think that the GE will push prices down, I think it will actually drive the prices up. This is what I think: First of all, my analysis is based on five assumptions: 1. The GE will basically function as a large player-owned shop 2. Players will be able to set their prices for their items 3. Players will only be able to use the GE to sell items, and not buy them 4. Players will be able to buy items from the GE like from a shop, with just a few clicks 5. The GE will be available to free players The most important assumtion is #2. If players could not set their prices, then this analysis will be wrong. --- In the current system, items in small amounts aren't worth a lot, and those in bulk will usually cost more per unit. However, in very large amounts, the price often goes down again. For example, a player with less than 50 pieces of coal may be able to sell them for only 150 each. However, if the player has a very large amount, (s)he can usually sell them for 200 GP each with little difficulty. Some players might offer discounts for very large amounts. For example, someone might sell coal for 190 GP each if the buyer buys more than 1,000 at a time, or 180 each if the amount is over 2,000 (see piecewise linear function). The reason that many sellers offer bulk discounts is to reward the buyer for buying from them. With the GE, the seller will not be able to target specific players with certain prices, and will mostly list their highest reasonable price (200 GP in this case). The reason that most buyers do not pay much for items in small amounts is that the seller is mostly likely trying to clear the bank and is not serious on making any profit on the item, and that finding individual sellers who offer small amounts is very time consuming. However, if such sellers use the GE, players will still be able to buy them as if from a general store. Thus, even these sellers are likely to list the highest reasonable price. Here's another thing. Some items in high demand are worth much more to individual buyers than people buying in bulk. For example, a player desperate for a law rune might pay 1,000 GP each, while a player planning to use them for training magic might pay only 300 GP each. That's a 700 GP difference. Suppose that a player wants to sell 100 green dragonhide bodies. He can sell all 100 bodies at 6,000-7,000 each, but that will probably take days. However, if (s)he sells the bodies for 4,450 GP each, it might only take minutes. The player might save 50 hours of selling time by sacrificing 155,000 GP. In those 50 hours, the players could have made much more money or gained a lot of EXP. Most players would choose the latter option. However, with the GE, the player can have the items sold automatically, while the player gains skills. Thus, this will drive the prices up. Any thoughts?

Why not just edit and change prices/remove old items from the list? I'm guessing dramatic effect? Looks a lot better if you have $6.99 struck out, and next to it in red have $5.00, eh? Would be a cool little feature to have. My thought's exactly.

I wouldn't say that the behavior of "Josh Evans" alone was the cause of the girl's suicide. Recall that the girl has had suicidal problems in the past. I'd say that the MySpace incident was more of the straw that broke the camel's back.

I read about this news about a week ago, and I initially thought it was fake because Google News only returned one result. Unfortunately, it seems that this is real because it is now listed on many news sources. Condolences to the family.

It would be nice if there was a tag that we can use to strike out text. The advantage of this is that we can mark content that is no longer relevant but is worth saving. This is also useful for marketplace posts, where users can mark off old prices and sold items.

Yeah, 70+ is one of my long term goals. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it before my membership expires, though.

I finally got level 80 crafting and 1800 skill total at the same time!

It seems that Jagex is trying really hard to kill RS Classic, but hasn't actually shut down the game. I think I may know why. I vaguely remember that when EA's game Earth & Beyond shut down, I read about a law such that it would be legal to emulate an online service if it has been shut down completely. I'm not sure if there is such a law, but if there is, it may explain why Jagex doesn't shut down Classic. Although RSC is nearly dead, it is still legally active, so it would be illegal to emulate (create private servers of) it. However, if Jagex shut down the game, then it would be legally dead, and thus legal to create private servers. Since Jagex does not want people to create private servers for RS Classic, it still keeps the game "alive." Thus, Jagex pushes RSC to the point of death but doesn't actually kill it.

I see. Thanks. :)

A long time ago, players who did not log in to RSC for over six months had their stats reset, similar to what Jagex did in the May 29th, 2002 autoer crack down. However, some people on the RSOF claim that Jagex doesn't wipe inactive RSC accounts anymore. Someone said that he had an account that he did not access for over 600 days, and the stats were still there. Can anyone confirm or disprove this?

This is a bit off-topic, but Runehead no longer lists players by total EXP. Was there a reason for this change?

Speaking of real-world trading, I've heard that eBay recently disallowed all such sales. However, I checked their policies and could find nothing on "virtual items." http://pages.ebay.in/help/policies/overview.html Does anyone know where the new rule is listed?

Life would probably be difficult without a computer. But then again, we humans are spoiled by technology.