OK, we all know about macros and how they're posing a problem to RuneScape, right? Well, how about I propose this hypothetical scenario:

 

 

 

On the homepage, when you visit http://runescape.com, there is a news section. Jagex Staff posts a news entry about a mass auto ban. You, being a fellow Tip.iter and disliking bots and goldsellers, pique your interest by checking out the article. Within the article, Jagex says they did a global auto ban, hunting down and banning every macro from every server. This has been going on for just over two weeks, realistically. In the article, Jagex claims that they triple-checked before banning any suspected bot to avoid banning any real, honest players. Still, some true, honest plays might've been mistakenly banned but Jagex is offering free appeals for those players on the website. Because macro-owners wouldn't bother to appeal a couple o banned bots that they own, it seems unlikely any bot-owner would try to appeal themselves, the article claims. It then goes on to say that they have gotten rid of every bot, as mentioned earlier. The only cost, however, is that no one has the ability to create new accounts..

 

 

 

Overall it seems like a good idea, but not without its pros and cons.

 

 

 

I'll just list a few here:

 

 

 

Pros:

 

No bots will infest and slow down the game

 

No more gold selling

 

 

 

Cons:

 

Prices for various goods will shoot up

 

Prizes from random events might not be attainable anymore because Jagex got rid of bots in a combative effort

 

New people who want to play the game won't be able to create new accounts, as stated earlier. This might spur another con, people trying to buy existing accounts from other players, or account sharing trading, against rule#7.

 

 

 

Existing players who get wrongfully banned won't be able to register a new account if their appeal fails, and we know how crappy our RSCS system can be at times.

 

 

 

Here it is clear that the cons far outweigh the pros. How would you react if Jagex did do this? Would you beg Jagex to reverse this decision even knowing that macros and gold-sellers would come back to deflate the economy?

 

 

 

You also may feel free to post more pros and cons here in-case I missed any.

Eh, if nobody was able to make new accounts... runescape would stop growing... and the game would eventually die... :-s

I don't think that they would want to commit growth suicide just to stop autoers.

They would never do this.

 

 

 

No more accounts = no more money. Jagex is a company. They're not gonna make it so you can't create accounts anymore because then they would never get anymore new members to sign up.

Eh, if nobody was able to make new accounts... runescape would stop growing... and the game would eventually die... :-s

 

 

 

That would be inevitable, but skillers would be able to actually skill and sell their good and get rich, because macros have prevented us from doing so currently. Also, a new pro comes to mind. There wouldn't have to be a need for newbie updates, since no one would be able to create a new account if they didn't have one already.

casthewiz, Makoto_the_Phoenix, Infernosage4, I Agree. There has to be a way to do away with bots permanently, but without this kind of problem.

 

 

 

~Mr. Devnull

I don't think that they would want to commit growth suicide just to stop autoers.

 

 

 

Well, Jagex can be a bit unpredictable. Jagex virtually killed off staking by decreasing to the worthless stake of 12k/hr just in a futile effort to combat one aspect of RWT...so we don't know. Surely nothing of this magnitude will probably ever show up, but if worse comes to worse, then maybe. :?

They would never do this.

 

 

 

No more accounts = no more money. Jagex is a company. They're not gonna make it so you can't create accounts anymore because then they would never get anymore new members to sign up.

 

 

 

You're half right there. Existing F2P players can still upgrade their accounts to P2P, don't forget that...

Also, a new pro comes to mind. There wouldn't have to be a need for newbie updates, since no one would be able to create a new account if they didn't have one already.

 

And what about inviting friends to the game who don't have accounts??? Did you EVER think of this??? Or were you intent on shutting them out and leaving those who wish to invite them hanging??? :shock:

 

 

 

~Mr. Devnull

~All they need to do is this: Every week or so, a message will appear, kind of like the "System Update" ones. It will be something along the lines of "Log out in with the next 30 minutes, or you will get two black Marks. Of course, autoers won't do this, and in a few weeks, they'll all be banned.~

Also, a new pro comes to mind. There wouldn't have to be a need for newbie updates, since no one would be able to create a new account if they didn't have one already.

 

And what about inviting friends to the game who don't have accounts??? Did you EVER think of this??? Or were you intent on shutting them out and leaving those who wish to invite them hanging??? :shock:

 

 

 

~Mr. Devnull

 

 

 

Erm, inviting a friend to the game would fall into the category of "players not being able to create new accounts who don't already have one." :D

 

 

 

I wasn't intent on shutting them out, I was only suggesting a hypothetical situation. If worse comes to worse as it is already in RuneScape, an update of this magnitude is possible.

~All they need to do is this: Every week or so, a message will appear, kind of like the "System Update" ones. It will be something along the lines of "Log out in with the next 30 minutes, or you will get two black Marks. Of course, autoers won't do this, and in a few weeks, they'll all be banned.~

 

 

 

But the programmers can just reprogram their bots to combat this. They already programmed them to respond to random events, so I doubt this would work.

~All they need to do is this: Every week or so, a message will appear, kind of like the "System Update" ones. It will be something along the lines of "Log out in with the next 30 minutes, or you will get two black Marks. Of course, autoers won't do this, and in a few weeks, they'll all be banned.~

 

 

 

and what if i'm at work during this "system update?" :(

The easiest but incredibly annoying solution would be every time you do anything (pick flax, cut trees, mine rocks, craft runes etc..etc...)you would be presented with something similar to what some of the random events do (i.e: the niles/giles random). Then after completing it correctly you'd be able to mine/cut/pick etc.. for 15 minutes and thenceforth be prompted again.

 

 

 

Thats a stupid idea but it would work and its also less drastic than the OP's.

The easiest but incredibly annoying solution would be every time you do anything (pick flax, cut trees, mine rocks, craft runes etc..etc...)you would be presented with something similar to what some of the random events do (i.e: the niles/giles random). Then after completing it correctly you'd be able to mine/cut/pick etc.. for 15 minutes and thenceforth be prompted again.

 

 

 

Thats a stupid idea but it would work and its also less drastic than the OP's.

 

 

 

Wouldn't work, in my opinion. If it's like a random event, macros would be able to complete it. I myself saw a macro complete the sandwich lady random event when I was just browsing through Port Sarim. If I had a screenshot, it would offer more proof, but there are YouTube videos of Macros completing events.

Its a nice idea if your goal is tokill rs.

 

 

 

In whihc case it'd be far easier for jagex to say we got rid of all the bots!

 

 

 

We deleted the game!

 

 

 

No new accounts = declining number of players = soaring prices = impossible to buy/sell = harder to beat quests etc = less fun = more quitters =dead rs

How about cell-phone verification for every account created...

 

I know on a lot of sites, to register completely, you need to type in your cell phone number and then they will text you an activation code.

 

 

 

Jagex could set it up so that 1 cell phone could create 3 accounts, that way families could all play (3 should be enough, but even if its not, most families have more than 1 cell) and/or you could create a seperate account.

 

 

 

It would also eliminate a lot of players <13 years old, which I'm not sure Jagex would want, even though most people would... they don't seem to be doing much to prevent them...

I've mentioned this account issue before, but the macroers don't usually pick names average players would use: for example qvc21352. Unless someone's initials were qvc and they felt the number 21352 were lucky, then no one would even miss this name. Most of the macroers are like this. (For future reference, I made that name up #-o )

this would never happen because it would freeze the amount of max members and in the long run more people would quit members then would join so jagex would basicly end their own company.

How about each ip can only create one account a month.

 

Well, Jagex can be a bit unpredictable.

 

 

Yes, but they ARE predictable in that they do first and foremost what is necessary to increase their bottom line.

 

 

 

And that sure wouldn't be this.

 

 

 

They could solve a lot of problems also by creating a custom client rather than working through browsers.. but they don't, and for much the same reason.

 

 

 

Also, a new pro comes to mind. There wouldn't have to be a need for newbie updates, since no one would be able to create a new account if they didn't have one already.

 

 

 

HA! thats awesome! also, after a few years, jagex could stop making it such a kid-friendly game. and on that note, dont these kids also play halo? i mean, a little blood wouldn't kill the game, and if they would just stop with all the warnings...

ammy of accuracy becomes a new rare just like rs1 :wall:

The easiest but incredibly annoying solution would be every time you do anything (pick flax, cut trees, mine rocks, craft runes etc..etc...)you would be presented with something similar to what some of the random events do (i.e: the niles/giles random). Then after completing it correctly you'd be able to mine/cut/pick etc.. for 15 minutes and thenceforth be prompted again.

 

 

 

Thats a stupid idea but it would work and its also less drastic than the OP's.

 

No way I'll want this, this is just how annoying randoms are, each coal you mine you have to delay some 10 seconds for a random, making productivity horribly low.

 

 

 

How about cell-phone verification for every account created...

 

I know on a lot of sites, to register completely, you need to type in your cell phone number and then they will text you an activation code.

 

 

 

Jagex could set it up so that 1 cell phone could create 3 accounts, that way families could all play (3 should be enough, but even if its not, most families have more than 1 cell) and/or you could create a seperate account.

 

 

 

It would also eliminate a lot of players <13 years old, which I'm not sure Jagex would want, even though most people would... they don't seem to be doing much to prevent them...

 

The problem is not every runescape player lives in the same country, hence overseas calling will be needed and will cost alot, and not every family that plays RS owns a cellphone..

 

 

 

How about each ip can only create one account a month.

 

Considering the easiness of changing the ip address, this won't work. Many people could bypass this with help of proxy.

 

Well, Jagex can be a bit unpredictable.

 

 

Yes, but they ARE predictable in that they do first and foremost what is necessary to increase their bottom line.

 

 

 

And that sure wouldn't be this.

 

 

 

They could solve a lot of problems also by creating a custom client rather than working through browsers.. but they don't, and for much the same reason.

 

 

 

You have seen them destroy RWT. Pretty much no one could've predicted this, and Jagex's bottom line was predictable in this way? November was all about limiting RWT, but it was overall fruitless, ineffective, and futile, and only caused more players to leave. Considering how those stakers were members, Jagex probably lost a lot more than $5 trying to fight a problem that always slips past them. Bannings won't work. Random Events won't work. New methods won't actually work until you are actually strict with them. Even if it is punishing RuneScape economically and socially, Jagex might have to disable creating new accounts. In fact, I'm pretty sure they'll try to do something of that magnitude pretty soon.