Darkblade20

The irony is, whenever people who oppose price manipulation bring up history or any real-world comparisons, we're told that we are not allowed to compare the real world to a video game, and that we are just taking this game way too seriously. So we start from the 90s? dot-com bubble and burst, Enron scandals, and hedge funds turning a housing problem into a global recession. If you are willing to look back any further you will see that the America-esque, capitalist market has laws prohibiting the same practices, because it disrupts supply and demand as well as competition. Hah, got me there, I meant to start the general search beginning in the 1900s, rather 1990. You do bring up perfectly valid points, though, I'll pry a bit deeper here. Real people will dictate a society which closely fits their own, game or not. There are real people behind all those skills, and usernames, which, as stated, means that the basic economy will tend to conform to an existing one, rather than creating something unique. Thus, the statement which dictates we cannot compare RS to reality, is nigh. Furthermore, while I do wish to place the basis of my argument around the 1900s, one can argue that Runescape takes place in a medieval era, in which such a market would probably exist. Similarly, with constraints on the way we transfer wealth, rural forms of trade, including bartering, and small-business sales, are essentially rendered unavailable, which strains the basic economy. In terms of merchant clans, it's a completely valid method of marketing, again. I don't think I could call what they're doing a "monopoly," nor would any merchant clan actions fall under the jurisdiction of the Sherman Act. Wal-mart would surely have been cracked down on by now if that were the case. Additionally, the Sherman Act only accounts for actions after 1890, If I'm to be wrong regarding the above statements, in which any activities before hand would have surely fallen within the timeframe, and current economic situation Runescape is in. Furthermore, no laws are in effect controlling general trade, there is no state interfering, this is not a command economy, communism is similarly out of the question. Players are free to do what they see fit, which is the basis of Capitalism, and there is no one to interfere with their activities, if not even a bit, which is the basis of Laissez-Faire. Feel free to criticize me some more.

Worth is a function of time spent, and a general output, whether that output be entertainment, or something monetary. Getting paid $80 every two weeks on 40-hour work week is an example of something that isn't worth it. You can also argue, that time is worth only the price tag you place on it, as a man once said, if you enjoy the moment, the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries. If I can add more quotes, please tell me. To answer the question at hand without all this cryptic nonsense, though, ask yourself: In 10, 20, maybe 30 years, are you going to look back at the time you spent getting 99 cooking on Runescape. Is that what you're gonna engrave in your mind? For most, probably not. You'll more or less look back and remember something like high school graduation, or the time you spent with your friends. Where the line is drawn though, are for the people that are slowly whittling away at their chance to look back like that, with the time they spend on Runescape having a direct effect on their future. Failing grades, lacking social interaction which results in the maldevelopment of basic person to person relation skills, and other ill-fated affects of addiction-driven gaming. For some, runescape may become their greatest achievement, which is where the worth of game play comes into question. Can you resist it? Discuss

Merchanting clans aren't part of some RS conspiracy here. We're simply looking at the generic America-esque, Capitalist market with something called Lassez-Faire. A brisk research of Capitalism throughout the 1990s into the present, as well as Laissez-Faire, will lead most of you to a proverbial Holy Grail of information, much of which will render Merchanting clans to nothing more than historical rip-offs of pre-existing market strategies. Merchant clans are not a problem, fact. They are simply the by-product of a historically successful method of marketing, fact. Rather than try to figure how merchant clans will eventually become illegal, the sensible thing to do, would be to research competitive marketing strategies, if you find it becomes too much of a problem.