What happened to everyone?

[FirenLazah]

Alright. Lets think back to before the grand exchange. I'm sure this has been brought up in the past, but do you remember that there were way more people in "now-deserted" areas going about their daily runescape lives?

 

I thought about this when I saw an old screenshot of ardougne. That used to be the place to train thieving. Falador used to be pretty populous too. A lot of areas were scattered with players, but I just cant remember all of them (I took a few breaks from runescape during that time, so its a little fuzzy sorry)

 

Now this can be taken 2 ways, as I unfortunately see both sides of the argument. Any worlds grand exchange will have people just sitting there. Talking amongst their friends, sometimes firemaking or alching, or just enjoying watching people run by. This I can understand. I've done it a few times, but I avoid sitting at the grand exchange at all costs. Jagex's intension's for this place was to make trading easier. We all know this...

 

But this grand exchange brought a mindset to the way trading is done. Sitting and waiting. Over the years runescape has become much easier, this includes trading. Trading can now be done by "sitting and waiting". What im afraid, is that this "sitting and waiting" mindset has been brought upon a large amount of people who seem to have been babied by the grand exchange, and the overall easiness of the rest of the game.

 

this "sitting and waiting" mindset has been brought upon a large amount of people who seem to have been babied by the grand exchange, and the overall easiness of the rest of the game.

 

I'm pretty sure the grand exchange was never meant to be the coolest hippest hang out spot in Gielenor. Now it seems I have drifted a bit off topic, but I had to make that point pretty clear, because I think that is the reason why we dont see players spread out through the rest of the runescape world. I did mention before, that there was another side to this argument. And this is an easier way to look at the subject. We have easier training methods. I'm sure some people will think about that before blindly posting.

 

Now think about it. Was ardougne thieving really a good way to train thieving back then? Was the "fast xp rates of thieving" really why people were always in that city? Because I don't really think so. Ardougne is just one example.

 

Have people been so worried and intensified by having the most hardcore xp rates as well? This is just another idea to the subject, when really my main concern is the grand exchange statement I made before.

[gypsyeater]

The main reason why jagex made the grand exchange wasn't to make trading easier. It was because trade limits where implemented. In an attempt to stop RWT.

[FirenLazah]

The main reason why jagex made the grand exchange wasn't to make trading easier. It was because trade limits where implemented. In an attempt to stop RWT.

 

I guess I could of included that too. But thats not my point.

[Danqazmlp]

Yep the G.E ruined the economies of all the small towns. For example, Seers bank used to be a good place to buy fletching supplies and Catherby was a fairly good place to buy fish. It is also that many skills are now best trained out in the middle of nowhere as space has been used in the towns. Add onto this that many people now refuse to train any skill if it isn't in the most efficient place, which is rarely in towns.

[tripsis]

You say that trading can now be done by "sitting and waiting." This was still true in the past. Previously the way to go about it was to create a thread on the forums then while you bump it, sit in world two "sitting, spamming and waiting." In that sense, I don't see much of a difference. Where I do see a difference is with people who formed bonds with other players through trading. For instance, when I was training herblore I found someone who sold a steady supply of bird nests. She always saved nests for me, I always bought from her and through that "business" relationship we developed a personal relationship. These days I probably wouldn't bother forming business relationships with people because I can just buy items at the Grand Exchange. But this has to do with the fact that our economy is now more heavily constrained by Jagex than the fact that I could just put an offer into the GE.

 

As for your Ardougne/thieving sentiments, years and years ago (before Pyramid Plunder) Ardougne actually was a good way to train thieving. Pickpocketing paladins or guards or whatever it was used to be some of the best thieving experience available. Once pyramid plunder came out, that became a better way to train.

[Frede173]

I laugh when I see people at the GE spamming "Buying tinderbox/chisel/hammer plzz!!"

People seem to have forgotten that most everyday items aren't created inside the GE and can be purchased in nearly all general stores.

[Danqazmlp]

This can so nicely be compared to the real life situation with town high streets and supermarkets. The supermarkets take all the custom the small shops had because they are far quicker and easier to use. This then leaves the high street, or in this case the entire towns abandoned. People who used to use them think it is a waste, while newer people do not see the fuss.

[FirenLazah]

This can so nicely be compared to the real life situation with town high streets and supermarkets. The supermarkets take all the custom the small shops had because they are far quicker and easier to use. This then leaves the high street, or in this case the entire towns abandoned. People who used to use them think it is a waste, while newer people do not see the fuss.

 

 

And now we have shopping online..

[Bangin_Blonde]

Nowadays those deserted areas are used as quiet training places. Most noobs don't find their way to Yanille.

[green9090]

I don't think this has much to do with people being "babied" by the grand exchange.

 

Ardougne used to be pretty much the only place to train thieving, believe it or not. Of course it was crowded.

 

Falador used to be a mining hotspot, and a lot of people would just run stuff to the furnace while they were there. Now there are better mining spots, and cheaper nature runes + inflation has made superheating a lot more common, and we have significantly better furnaces like Edgeville, Phasmatys, and Neitiznot (back in the day you had Falador and then Al Kharid was like 3 steps closer, so not a big difference).

 

Seers and Catherby are somewhat deserted (though the farming patches still ensure some traffic, and some low lever fishers still fish there) because fishing and woodcutting have likewise been exported to better training spots.

 

This has little to do with players being lazy, and more to do with Jagex taking the good stuff out of towns and sticking it elsewhere.

[FirenLazah]

I don't think this has much to do with people being "babied" by the grand exchange.

 

Ardougne used to be pretty much the only place to train thieving, believe it or not. Of course it was crowded.

 

Falador used to be a mining hotspot, and a lot of people would just run stuff to the furnace while they were there. Now there are better mining spots, and cheaper nature runes + inflation has made superheating a lot more common, and we have significantly better furnaces like Edgeville, Phasmatys, and Neitiznot (back in the day you had Falador and then Al Kharid was like 3 steps closer, so not a big difference).

 

Seers and Catherby are somewhat deserted (though the farming patches still ensure some traffic, and some low lever fishers still fish there) because fishing and woodcutting have likewise been exported to better training spots.

 

This has little to do with players being lazy, and more to do with Jagex taking the good stuff out of towns and sticking it elsewhere.

 

That was very well said actually. I guess I had the nostalgia glasses on the whole time. I still believe its a mix of both.

[green9090]

Sure, I mean, the GE does have an effect, but I don't think it's in the way you're thinking.

 

As has been said earlier, trading used to necessitate finding someone to trade with, and often that would mean going to the source of the material to get bargains. That made some towns trading hubs for certain materials back when A) the materials actually came from that town, and B) when people had to go through all that to get stuff instead of punching it into the GE.

 

Again, not player attitude shifting at all, but rather the best way to get things done changing. It's not that players are too lazy to go buy materials in different towns, it's just that it's utterly pointless because we have definitively better options.

 

I, for one, am SO GLAD that I don't have to deal with W2 Falador every time I want to buy equipment or get a good drop. I feel like a lot of people romanticize this, but it was absolutely miserable and headache-inducing. You'd sit there spam typing and meanwhile trying to skim through the hundreds of lines of chat scrolling past trying to find a deal, and then try to barter a deal with them, and then probably just find out that they're attempting some dim-witted scam after all and have to start all over again. Player to player trading SUCKED.

[strilmus]

Since a lot of things were decentralized, you won't see that many people gathering around one spot again unless it's on a specific world for a specific reason.

 

However, considering the capacity for people to lag everything has gone up a lot, I do not enjoy these kinds of gatherings as much as I used to.

 

Just think about it. Do you enjoy holiday events anymore?

[lordkafei]

I, for one, am SO GLAD that I don't have to deal with W2 Falador every time I want to buy equipment or get a good drop. I feel like a lot of people romanticize this, but it was absolutely miserable and headache-inducing. You'd sit there spam typing and meanwhile trying to skim through the hundreds of lines of chat scrolling past trying to find a deal, and then try to barter a deal with them, and then probably just find out that they're attempting some dim-witted scam after all and have to start all over again. Player to player trading SUCKED.

 

Hear, hear. In the words of the inimitable Bart Simpson:

 

I didnt think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows.

 

People who go to W117 for effigies are getting a taste for just how much this sort of transaction takes it on the tonsils.

 

At least with effigies, you can filter out the chaff and just click on the pink text to transact business. P2P trading never quite had it this good.

[FirenLazah]

Sure, I mean, the GE does have an effect, but I don't think it's in the way you're thinking.

 

As has been said earlier, trading used to necessitate finding someone to trade with, and often that would mean going to the source of the material to get bargains. That made some towns trading hubs for certain materials back when A) the materials actually came from that town, and B) when people had to go through all that to get stuff instead of punching it into the GE.

 

Again, not player attitude shifting at all, but rather the best way to get things done changing. It's not that players are too lazy to go buy materials in different towns, it's just that it's utterly pointless because we have definitively better options.

 

I, for one, am SO GLAD that I don't have to deal with W2 Falador every time I want to buy equipment or get a good drop. I feel like a lot of people romanticize this, but it was absolutely miserable and headache-inducing. You'd sit there spam typing and meanwhile trying to skim through the hundreds of lines of chat scrolling past trying to find a deal, and then try to barter a deal with them, and then probably just find out that they're attempting some dim-witted scam after all and have to start all over again. Player to player trading SUCKED.

 

Type what your selling

turn chat on hide

turn trade on

?????

[green9090]

Type what your selling

turn chat on hide

turn trade on

?????

Protip: if everyone had done this, nobody would ever trade anyone. Someone has to figure out who's typing what they want, and when people are stacked 3 high everywhere that's not exactly easy to do.

 

Protip 2: "turning trade on" is a relatively recent innovation. Many years went by with no ability to filter chatbox stuff at all.

[Obtaurian]

Type what your selling

turn chat on hide

turn trade on

?????

 

Were you even around before the GE? If you were, did you ever visit world 2 Falador? You're way off.

[homer205]

Sure, I mean, the GE does have an effect, but I don't think it's in the way you're thinking.

 

As has been said earlier, trading used to necessitate finding someone to trade with, and often that would mean going to the source of the material to get bargains. That made some towns trading hubs for certain materials back when A) the materials actually came from that town, and B) when people had to go through all that to get stuff instead of punching it into the GE.

 

Again, not player attitude shifting at all, but rather the best way to get things done changing. It's not that players are too lazy to go buy materials in different towns, it's just that it's utterly pointless because we have definitively better options.

 

I, for one, am SO GLAD that I don't have to deal with W2 Falador every time I want to buy equipment or get a good drop. I feel like a lot of people romanticize this, but it was absolutely miserable and headache-inducing. You'd sit there spam typing and meanwhile trying to skim through the hundreds of lines of chat scrolling past trying to find a deal, and then try to barter a deal with them, and then probably just find out that they're attempting some dim-witted scam after all and have to start all over again. Player to player trading SUCKED.

 

Type what your selling

turn chat on hide

turn trade on

?????

Yes, doing all that is annoying. Like green said.

[CharlieBrown]

What happened to everyone? Efficiency.

 

What happened to trading? Nothing is stopping you from going to w 2 varrock and spamming your items that you want to sell.

This may take "agessss" to sell, but it was no different in the "old days".

Selling things took time.

[IHasChicken]

What happened to everyone? Efficiency.

 

What happened to trading? Nothing is stopping you from going to w 2 varrock and spamming your items that you want to sell.

This may take "agessss" to sell, but it was no different in the "old days".

Selling things took time.

 

zomg efficiency troll.

[CharlieBrown]

What happened to everyone? Efficiency.

 

What happened to trading? Nothing is stopping you from going to w 2 varrock and spamming your items that you want to sell.

This may take "agessss" to sell, but it was no different in the "old days".

Selling things took time.

 

zomg efficiency troll.

 

Ur trollin efficiny br0 cuz u can't haz efficnent.

Nat ma faut g0 tain ur skillz babez

[Vezon Dash]

Since a lot of things were decentralized, you won't see that many people gathering around one spot again unless it's on a specific world for a specific reason.

 

However, considering the capacity for people to lag everything has gone up a lot, I do not enjoy these kinds of gatherings as much as I used to.

 

Just think about it. Do you enjoy holiday events anymore?

 

I honestly don't think any experienced player does. The rewards blow, and it is a waste of time. I feel obligated to do it though, just for the stupid reward items that I immediately destroy after obtaining them.

[SirIzenhime]

I enjoy them

[Troacctid]

I guess I had the nostalgia glasses on the whole time. I still believe its a mix of both.

Damn, I was just about to call you out for your nostalgia goggles, but then you beat me to it yourself!

 

Anyway, yeah, it's pretty much all in your head.

 

I, for one, am SO GLAD that I don't have to deal with W2 Falador every time I want to buy equipment or get a good drop. I feel like a lot of people romanticize this, but it was absolutely miserable and headache-inducing. You'd sit there spam typing and meanwhile trying to skim through the hundreds of lines of chat scrolling past trying to find a deal, and then try to barter a deal with them, and then probably just find out that they're attempting some dim-witted scam after all and have to start all over again. Player to player trading SUCKED.

 

Hear, hear. In the words of the inimitable Bart Simpson:

 

I didnt think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows.

 

People who go to W117 for effigies are getting a taste for just how much this sort of transaction takes it on the tonsils.

 

At least with effigies, you can filter out the chaff and just click on the pink text to transact business. P2P trading never quite had it this good.

Yes. +1. Pre-GE trading was crap.

[K4ylan]

Yeah, it sucked looking back on it. But at the time, we were content with the system; everyone was familiar on how to buy/trade. After they release a new system that is without a doubt better, people will try to find any fault with it in order to proclaim JaGeX did something wrong. Nobody likes change.