if you do things you have fun doing in the game, like the game was intended, you wouldnt have to afk. i dont get my satisfaction knowing i was mindlessly bored for days getting a 99 ill never use again, id rather hop around skills and do bosses and minigames to keep myself entertained.
anywhere money is transferred in exchange for goods/services there is an economy. but no, jagex leaves the ge prices completely up to how we buy and sell things(save the price floor and ceiling >.>)
i agree that they can be very annoying, but if jagex did implement IQ testing as a means to determine maturity and age, there are a whole lot of ethical issues with how and why its given. to many problems and possibilities of people to protest.
runescape is good because unlike most mmo's, you can train each skill as you want, and not have to raise them evenly, or even pick between some and never access others