New Option: Buy Banned Accounts

[i_trollz_u]

if it's like $500+

 

You can probably buy a high-end account off the RWT market for less.

 

Which is why it wouldn't be that bad of a policy. Also, it's probably safer to recover a high end account this way, rather than risk being caught for account trading and losing the money and getting the account banned anyway, or getting scammed on the rwt market.

[Dragonlordjl]

FWIW, with Jagex sinking this low, the next logical step is for them to sell their own gold. I mean, it's obvious they have no ethics at all anymore and are trying to milk RS for every last penny they can get from it. And what better way to make some extra money than to sell in-game currency to the lazy noobs who don't want to work for things?

[The Dark Lord]

Trust me. If people can get a good account for cheap on the RWT market, they'll do that rather than begging to buy their banned account back from Jagex.

 

This is not to mention that Jagex has already said that they will re-adjust the stats at your leisure, and you won't know anything until you get the account, even if you paid before they altered the account. Seems like people who got banned for something more serious like botting (with the possible exception of gold farmers as the banned accounts aren't worth much to them) would rather get a better account by RWT and know the stats (even if there's a risk of being scammed) over Jagex ripping them off anyway.

[i_trollz_u]

FWIW, with Jagex sinking this low, the next logical step is for them to sell their own gold. I mean, it's obvious they have no ethics at all anymore and are trying to milk RS for every last penny they can get from it. And what better way to make some extra money than to sell in-game currency to the lazy noobs who don't want to work for things?

 

Well aside from appealing to lazy players and possibly turning off people who have worked hard, it would COMPLETELY solve all RWT problems, getting rid of a lot of macros. There would even be less of an incentive to buy accounts, considering the value of skills goes down a lot when people could just buy the gold for them.

 

Probably shouldn't be done, but the thought probably has crossed Jagex's and a lot of player's minds...I think 4 years ago i would have preferred that over the removal of the wild/free trade.

[tripsis]

Well this sounds silly.

[The Dark Lord]

it would COMPLETELY solve all RWT problems

 

Uh. No it wouldn't. All it would do is open up competition between Jagex and RWT websites. Jagex would probably end up with having the RWTers offer the best deal (lower prices, etc) since Jagex is actually trying to profit off of this whereas many RWTers just sell gold on the side.

 

As for selling gold, Jagex could also open up a lot of competition, but unless Jagex is willing to almost give mils away for free, the RWT community would probably offer lower prices.

 

In the end, the ONLY way for Jagex to stop RWTing is to totally bork the game.

[i_trollz_u]

it would COMPLETELY solve all RWT problems

 

Uh. No it wouldn't. All it would do is open up competition between Jagex and RWT websites. Jagex would probably end up with having the RWTers offer the best deal (lower prices, etc) since Jagex is actually trying to profit off of this whereas many RWTers just sell gold on the side.

 

As for selling gold, Jagex could also open up a lot of competition, but unless Jagex is willing to almost give mils away for free, the RWT community would probably offer lower prices.

 

In the end, the ONLY way for Jagex to stop RWTing is to totally bork the game.

 

I don't exactly know how big the profit margin is for RWT companies, but the fact that they have expenses (they need to pay their gold farmers, sweatshops cost money to operate), means that Jagex would put them out of business, considering Jagex could make prices as low as they wanted without losing money. They would probably need to balance it with trying not to ruin gameplay entirely, but lots of other RPG games do this effectively. There's no way RWT companies could compete on the same lvl of jagex if they wanted to implement this, also, most people would rather buy the gold legitimately than risk being banned, even if they somehow drove their prices low enough. You can't beat a gaming company at its own game...

 

Of course this should be, like, a completely last resort measure and RS would be better if this never happened.

[Dragonlordjl]

it would COMPLETELY solve all RWT problems

 

Uh. No it wouldn't. All it would do is open up competition between Jagex and RWT websites. Jagex would probably end up with having the RWTers offer the best deal (lower prices, etc) since Jagex is actually trying to profit off of this whereas many RWTers just sell gold on the side.

 

As for selling gold, Jagex could also open up a lot of competition, but unless Jagex is willing to almost give mils away for free, the RWT community would probably offer lower prices.

 

In the end, the ONLY way for Jagex to stop RWTing is to totally bork the game.

If Jagex were to sell gold for $1/mil, I doubt any RWT companies would be able to beat that price. They wouldn't be able to turn a profit like that, when you take into account the costs of memberships, internet, and the sweatshop workers who while they are paid pennies on the dollar still do have to be paid.

[hounddog]

You know parents can check a monthly report of exactly what was used on the credit card right? No 14 year old is going to charge random amounts of money on his parent's credit card if it's substantial...if he does his parent's would probably ban him from RS anyway.

Yup. I know if I were to steal my parents' credit cards, they wouldn't just ban me from RS... They'd probably literally smash my laptop in front of me. And then, being as I am well over 14, they'd probably call the police on me :P

 

 

 

Not trying to start anything but if you bought the laptop or it was given to you and they smash it then you could call the cops on them. JS. Imo they shouldn't be allowed to buy back the accounts. If they are stupid enough to get it banned they don't need that account.

[Cheefoo]

Sounds like a relatively good idea. Here are a few speculations of mine.

 

Someone who bots for RWTing obviously won't want to pay money to get their bots back, because it would ruin the whole point of getting money from selling items.

 

Someone who bots for levels would buy their account back, but I imagine their stat wipes would still be in affect, so that sounds like a solution.

 

Someone who got banned for scamming, offensive language, exploits or whatever, I imagine would have learned their lesson. But I imagine you can't keep buying your account back after a certain amount of offences.

[i_trollz_u]

You know parents can check a monthly report of exactly what was used on the credit card right? No 14 year old is going to charge random amounts of money on his parent's credit card if it's substantial...if he does his parent's would probably ban him from RS anyway.

Yup. I know if I were to steal my parents' credit cards, they wouldn't just ban me from RS... They'd probably literally smash my laptop in front of me. And then, being as I am well over 14, they'd probably call the police on me :P

 

 

 

Not trying to start anything but if you bought the laptop or it was given to you and they smash it then you could call the cops on them. JS. Imo they shouldn't be allowed to buy back the accounts. If they are stupid enough to get it banned they don't need that account.

 

Meh, it doesn't hurt anyone, and only costs the botters RL cash. Honestly i find this a great and hilarious solution, considering I would make fun of anyone who gets their account reset and ends up paying a ton of money for it anyway. If it's done correctly with large price tags, the worst that can happen is just the status quo, people don't take advantage of the option and go buy another account off a RTW website.

[Triquos]

I don't understand the reasoning behind this. If you're permanently banned for breaking the rules, that should be the end of the story. It sometimes makes me question why I continue to report rule breakers when they get handed so many jail free cards.

[Bloodstain]

Heh, they should make a way for players to recognize when another player has bought their account back

[The Dark Lord]

If Jagex were to sell gold for $1/mil, I doubt any RWT companies would be able to beat that price. They wouldn't be able to turn a profit like that, when you take into account the costs of memberships, internet, and the sweatshop workers who while they are paid pennies on the dollar still do have to be paid.

 

From what I've heard from a real life friend who RWTs, the price is already nearly that low anyway.

 

Jagex could very well offer such a low price that RWTers wouldn't feel like it's worth doing any longer, but on the same coin, I doubt Jagex, as a company, would as well.

 

Also, looking from a different perspective, if Jagex sold gold for say $0.50/mil, there could be more of a profit loss from people getting fed up and quitting the game than the money that Jagex could make from RWT. Over half the price per mil than RWT websites AND something that will keep you from getting banned by Jagex? Hell yeah, I'm sure a lot of people would bite that bait. A lot of people would quit too, not to mention that it would totally screw the game economy if Jagex spawned gold to sell to people (leading to more quitters).

[i_trollz_u]

I don't understand the reasoning behind this. If you're permanently banned for breaking the rules, that should be the end of the story. It sometimes makes me question why I continue to report rule breakers when they get handed so many jail free cards.

 

Report them because now you get to take RL money away from them if they want their account back. And hopefully GF everything they botted.

[Cheefoo]

I don't understand the reasoning behind this. If you're permanently banned for breaking the rules, that should be the end of the story. It sometimes makes me question why I continue to report rule breakers when they get handed so many jail free cards.

 

This isn't a "get out of jail free" card. This is more like "paying the bail". If they really want to spend actual money to get their account back, I'm sure they won't continue breaking the rules. They have to learn their lesson eventually, but I imagine after a while, you won't be able to just pay a fine and get back to breaking the rules. Some people get banned for mistakes they make, and regret. Who would it hurt if they're allowed back into the game after they've learned their lesson? The price of buying your account back is more of an insentive to not break the rules. Getting your account banned again is like throwing the money you paid to get it back down the drain.

[SixFootOne]

it would COMPLETELY solve all RWT problems

 

Uh. No it wouldn't. All it would do is open up competition between Jagex and RWT websites. Jagex would probably end up with having the RWTers offer the best deal (lower prices, etc) since Jagex is actually trying to profit off of this whereas many RWTers just sell gold on the side.

 

As for selling gold, Jagex could also open up a lot of competition, but unless Jagex is willing to almost give mils away for free, the RWT community would probably offer lower prices.

 

In the end, the ONLY way for Jagex to stop RWTing is to totally bork the game.

If Jagex were to sell gold for $1/mil, I doubt any RWT companies would be able to beat that price. They wouldn't be able to turn a profit like that, when you take into account the costs of memberships, internet, and the sweatshop workers who while they are paid pennies on the dollar still do have to be paid.

 

 

I am looking at several big time sellers selling their gold for .80 to $1 each. Also not all people selling gold pay workers various bot farms, or even people selling their gold from merchanting/monster hunting can sell.

[Cheefoo]

Remember, RWTing isn't just about profits and credit card schemes. The idea of buying benefits for real money is something Jagex doesn't support. It ruins the fun for everyone who worked for their levels and accomplishments. If it was about profits alone, it would certainly backfire if Jagex really decides to sell game items for real life currency; everyone would quit.

[i_trollz_u]

At least now it would cost people that RWT not only the money they paid and the stuff they got from it, but also extra cash to keep playing.

[Dragonlordjl]

Remember, RWTing isn't just about profits and credit card schemes. The idea of buying benefits for real money is something Jagex doesn't support. It ruins the fun for everyone who worked for their levels and accomplishments. If it was about profits alone, it would certainly backfire if Jagex really decides to sell game items for real life currency; everyone would quit.

Who knows what Jagex supports anymore, other than the almighty Pound. They've proven they aren't afraid to sacrifice ethics to make more money, so I don't see why they wouldn't go all-in and do micropayments. Yes, it would corrupt the already-pathetic community. Yes, it would cause a lot of people (including me) to quit. However, in time the quitters would be replaced by people who didn't know RS without micropayments and a new status quo would develop.

[BioIce]

A dollar, huh. 50 cents per million would definitely kill off all the RWT companies. And if Jagex were to host a legitimate way to buy cash you can be certain players would go to them since the service would be easier and at no risk to their accounts. An obvious consequence is the devaluation of currency and items, and a severe market crash. Among the impatient, the focus of the game would turn from grinding levels to access the actual content i.e. quests, clans, boss fights - into power-leveling to immediately get into what they'd consider the real meat of the game. Throw in an Eve Online-like trainer for members that automatically levels a chosen skill even when they're offline, and you'll see less cases of botting.

 

The question then would be, does Runescape have enough of such content to keep those kind of players long-term?

 

Hmm. Since this thread's opened the pandora's box, consider rares. You can be sure rares would crash if Jagex were to offer missed holiday items for cheap.

 

From a money-grubbing business perspective, a cash shop with effective service and prices would solve all their problems. I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see such a thing one day. But such a day is when Jagex will have sold it's soul to the devil.

 

Then again, DeviousMud was the first instance of this game. I think Andrew's favorite words were cunning and devious.

[1wngedangel]

I feel like people are over-reacting to this a little.

Jagex has to offer you the option, it isn't like everyone can just go pay $5 for their account back.

There are plenty of people who legitimately play the game, get tempted into bottom or something else that breaks the rules, and permanently lose their account. I almost lost mine a few years ago in a situation just like this; thankfully they accepted the appeal, but I would have been equally satisfied to pay a small cash sum for my account back (either way you can believe I learned my lesson). IMO people who are offered this solution by jagex will probably be people who's appeal demonstrated genuine regret for their actions, and won't be breaking rules again. The people that we need to worry about are the botters who will just move on to the next account, not the genuine players who make a mistake and potentially lose their account because of it.

 

With the combination of stat and bank wipes, it seems like Jagex has all the bases covered here. Anyone screaming that jagex has "sunk so low" here needs to actually think about things for a minute. This doesn't change the game in any way other than to give people a second chance. So what if jagex wants to make some money off of it? I think it should be pretty obvious by now that jagex makes a much more genuine attempt than just about any other MMO to offer their services as cheaply as possible, so why get all uppity when they introduce an optional feature which affects the game in almost no way?

[Grimy_Bunyip]

A dollar, huh. 50 cents per million would definitely kill off all the RWT companies. And if Jagex were to host a legitimate way to buy cash you can be certain players would go to them since the service would be easier and at no risk to their accounts. An obvious consequence is the devaluation of currency and items, and a severe market crash. Among the impatient, the focus of the game would turn from grinding levels to access the actual content i.e. quests, clans, boss fights - into power-leveling to immediately get into what they'd consider the real meat of the game. Throw in an Eve Online-like trainer for members that automatically levels a chosen skill even when they're offline, and you'll see less cases of botting.

 

The question then would be, does Runescape have enough of such content to keep those kind of players long-term?

 

Hmm. Since this thread's opened the pandora's box, consider rares. You can be sure rares would crash if Jagex were to offer missed holiday items for cheap.

 

From a money-grubbing business perspective, a cash shop with effective service and prices would solve all their problems. I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see such a thing one day. But such a day is when Jagex will have sold it's soul to the devil.

 

Then again, DeviousMud was the first instance of this game. I think Andrew's favorite words were cunning and devious.

making GP too cheap would cause spiraling inflation, as the dollar to GP ratio tries to equilibriate.

50 cents per million gp would definitely put items like divines and phats well over the 2.1bil gp barrier.

if only moral issues were the only problems of making gp buyable <_<

 

but yeah.

The whole caving into free trade/wildy thing has got me worried.

This buying of banned accounts thing is even more worrisome.

 

Jagex has invested a lot of money in stellar dawn, the 3rd MMO, and of course the failed mechscape (which they already lost tens of millions on).

If all of them go under, I can see Jagex caving into financial problems.

[i_trollz_u]

The rate at which people can buy gold would definitely overcome the rate of inflation. It would just screw over anyone who doesn't want to buy gold. And pretty much all of f2p. It would just turn the game into another type of rpg. Really depends how bad RWT gets, don't think it'll ever get that bad to where jagex would have to resort to something like that.

[Magbill]

If i was Jagex i would use this to teach the botters/rwts a lesson. Give the offer and reset more then they botted/bought. Sounds mean but it's what cheaters deserve.