10/29/13 - RuneScape Close To Eradicating Gold Farming

[Lord Zophar]

 

 

I'm not so sure.

 

By lowering prices they'd appeal to more people but there's no guaranteed sale. They can raise their prices to anything < Bond cost and they'll still be favored by people who've RWTed using third-parties in the past. I think as it sits, Jagex is $0.83/M. Sites I know of are as low as $0.32/M (some slightly lower). They don't need to lower their prices more to be more appealing; they're already less then half the cost. So at this point, raising gold prices would be beneficial for them, since if I were to RWT and be stuck between a Bond and third-party, it's already an easy choice.

Bonds seem to be hovering around 7m (so you are getting roughly 1.4m/dollar), so assuming my math is right that's .73 cents per mil. But, you're still correct in that it's less than half the cost :s

 

Now, before you read my suggestions, I am aware that I am advocating RWT. My logic is that half-assed RWT accomplishes nothing-- if they are going to bother, they need to go all-in.

 

For Bonds to truly be competitive, they need to increase the benefits that you get from them so that it increases the demand. For example, many micro-based games sell items in their "game stores" that provide temporary convenience-based effects. Create NPCs that will trade you items that give a large amount (at least a few hundred thousand) bonus exp in exchange for Bonds. Another thing that could be traded for Bonds is temporary buffs; some of these might include +20 mining or fishing for an hour, or a buff that protects all of your items upon death for an hour (if you have high div, the time on this buff would be greatly extended).

 

Also, increase the amount of spins/runecoins you receive from bonds to 10 and 200, respectively, so that they are equivalent to the $4.99 package on the website.

 

Obviously, these are just basic ideas-- you get the point though. Increasing the demand of the bonds is the best way to make them more competitive to farmers.

 

 

I'd rather keep the gold farming then, tbh. I understand where you're coming from there, but right now what we've got is a legit way to do what was already being done, a bit more of an equalizer than anything else. Adding those bonuses would be going even further and selling stuff that was never really an issue with gold farming. I don't mind Jagex fighting gold farming as long as what they're doing benefits me a bit and isn't sticking out as much like those bonuses would be. Selling a few aspects...fine I'll cope....but don't sell everything and make everything nearly worthless.

 

If Jagex thinks they've gotten rid of 81% of goldfarming, cool. I haven't seen too many spam bots recently, not getting too many pm's, bots are mostly eliminated or kept down in numbers at training areas. Whatever goldfarming is left doesn't affect me anymore, so I'd rather leave it be than burn down the game to eradicate it all. No Pyrrhic victories please =)

 

The thing is, how would those bonuses affect you? All they would do is offer an optional convenience-- the ability to temporarily mine rocks more efficiently or receive extra bonus xp. And they could put all of it on the Wheel too, so that players would have a chance to win it.

 

With you being able to do these things with Bonds, it would make the demand and thus the GP price of Bonds go way up. Thus, instead of being worth 7m each they might rise to 12-15m each. At 15m each, it would be 3m per dollar, or .33 cents per mil. That is very comparable to what gold farmers sell theirs for.

[Ts_Stormrage]

@Everto Malum: No, that's not going to work and is going to create an unfairness that needs not to be expanded any further...

 

The only person coming close to what is really going on is OrTradeMe...

 

I wish I could tell you more right now, but I would be spilling the content of my Tip.it Times article, which is due to be published this weekend... It is a follow up on my last piece on Bonds (see my signature), and should be a proper eye-opener to everyone who's hands are still clean...

 

You're going to want to read it this sunday, that is a promise...

[Ulysses]

I can see how bonds can help discourage gold farming, but not in its current form.

 

off topic: I like how they are never tired of emphasising the game as a 'free-to-play MMORPG'. It is true to some extent, but nonetheless it's intriguing to me.

[aerendil]

While I hate to be a cynic…….

 

110% of statistics are true; and 95% of runescape players approved of free trade, and 90% of payers like the squeal of fortune.

 

 

 

 

Seems legit Jagex.

[Stev]

TBH, what was the big problem with RWT in the first place? The fact that it went into someone else's wallet?

 

People can, and have always, bought their way to the top. Jagex now endorses it, so long as it's done through them. But why?

 

What was sooo broken about the economy that Jagex had to poke their nose in and officially support RWT? What has been fixed in the economy since Bonds' release?

 

I've known dozens and dozens of players who have RWTed using a third-party. Some buying only a few M, others buying and selling a few B. When it came to a company, none of them were scammed. None of them lost their credit information. They are a company, a business, and they have a reputation to uphold. After-all, a reputation is the main attraction for a RWT company.

 

So, what's changed since Bonds were released except for the pocket the money goes into?

[strilmus]

i'd note that boosts do in fact affect other players through the game economy, so it would in fact create a different kind of game that would not be favorable to people who didn't pay as much as their cash store peers

[Platinum_Myr]

Steve is right. But that is the point. The money now goes in Jagex pocket when done through bonds.

[Golvellius]

TBH, what was the big problem with RWT in the first place? The fact that it went into someone else's wallet?

 

People can, and have always, bought their way to the top. Jagex now endorses it, so long as it's done through them. But why?

 

What was sooo broken about the economy that Jagex had to poke their nose in and officially support RWT? What has been fixed in the economy since Bonds' release?

 

I've known dozens and dozens of players who have RWTed using a third-party. Some buying only a few M, others buying and selling a few B. When it came to a company, none of them were scammed. None of them lost their credit information. They are a company, a business, and they have a reputation to uphold. After-all, a reputation is the main attraction for a RWT company.

 

So, what's changed since Bonds were released except for the pocket the money goes into?

 

A reputation to uphold?

What kind of reputation, criminal?

There business is fraudulent at the core.

The real world equivalent is me running around selling property rights to Yosemite national park.

[Nobody]

TBH, what was the big problem with RWT in the first place? The fact that it went into someone else's wallet?

 

People can, and have always, bought their way to the top. Jagex now endorses it, so long as it's done through them. But why?

 

What was sooo broken about the economy that Jagex had to poke their nose in and officially support RWT? What has been fixed in the economy since Bonds' release?

 

I've known dozens and dozens of players who have RWTed using a third-party. Some buying only a few M, others buying and selling a few B. When it came to a company, none of them were scammed. None of them lost their credit information. They are a company, a business, and they have a reputation to uphold. After-all, a reputation is the main attraction for a RWT company.

 

So, what's changed since Bonds were released except for the pocket the money goes into?

If it were your company you would want the profits going into your pocket and not someone else's also. :P

[Lord Zophar]

 

TBH, what was the big problem with RWT in the first place? The fact that it went into someone else's wallet?

 

People can, and have always, bought their way to the top. Jagex now endorses it, so long as it's done through them. But why?

 

What was sooo broken about the economy that Jagex had to poke their nose in and officially support RWT? What has been fixed in the economy since Bonds' release?

 

I've known dozens and dozens of players who have RWTed using a third-party. Some buying only a few M, others buying and selling a few B. When it came to a company, none of them were scammed. None of them lost their credit information. They are a company, a business, and they have a reputation to uphold. After-all, a reputation is the main attraction for a RWT company.

 

So, what's changed since Bonds were released except for the pocket the money goes into?

 

A reputation to uphold?

What kind of reputation, criminal?

There business is fraudulent at the core.

The real world equivalent is me running around selling property rights to Yosemite national park.

 

Are you really this dense?

 

People worry about being scammed or having their CC information stolen, but the REAL rwt companies don't do this. Why? Reputation. Even though what they do is against the RS rules, they are still a legitimate real life business. If they scammed/committed fraud then word would get around not to use them and their business would go belly up. That's reputation.

 

And "being fraudulent at the core" depends how you look at it. Yes, Jagex technically owns every piece of GP in the game. In that sense, yes what they do defrauds Jagex because they do not own the rights to the game to profit from the game. But as of right now, there are no real life e-commerce laws prohibiting such things. It's against the ToS, yes, as far as they are concerned they are a completely legitimate business.

 

And before anyone accuses me of being an illegal gold buyer, I am not. I've actually bought several bonds, instead. Because I prefer to do things on the up-and-up.

[Guest Smelly Paws]

 

And "being fraudulent at the core" depends how you look at it. Yes, Jagex technically owns every piece of GP in the game. In that sense, yes what they do defrauds Jagex because they do not own the rights to the game to profit from the game. But as of right now, there are no real life e-commerce laws prohibiting such things. It's against the ToS, yes, as far as they are concerned they are a completely legitimate business.

 

And before anyone accuses me of being an illegal gold buyer, I am not. I've actually bought several bonds, instead. Because I prefer to do things on the up-and-up.

 

So it is fraud, but it's not fraud as the law doesn't say so, but then they are legit after all.  Then they're not again as you like to buy bonds because it's cosher, so it's not so good after all.  Hmmmm that makes a lot of sense. :huh:

[Aiel]

 

And before anyone accuses me of being an illegal gold buyer, I am not. I've actually bought several bonds, instead. Because I prefer to do things on the up-and-up.

 

buying gold from 3rd parties and buying gold from jagex is equally immoral.

[Platinum_Myr]

 

 

And before anyone accuses me of being an illegal gold buyer, I am not. I've actually bought several bonds, instead. Because I prefer to do things on the up-and-up.

 

buying gold from 3rd parties and buying gold from jagex is equally immoral.

 

 

While I appreciate that you have a strong stance on this... This isn't really the way the game industry (or players!) are going.

 

At least Jagex isn't directly generating gold, but requires that someone actually buys the bond, so this way it doesn't hyper inflate the economy worse than anything a gold (re)seller ever could.

[Lord Zophar]

 

 

 

And before anyone accuses me of being an illegal gold buyer, I am not. I've actually bought several bonds, instead. Because I prefer to do things on the up-and-up.

 

buying gold from 3rd parties and buying gold from jagex is equally immoral.

 

 

While I appreciate that you have a strong stance on this... This isn't really the way the game industry (or players!) are going.

 

At least Jagex isn't directly generating gold, but requires that someone actually buys the bond, so this way it doesn't hyper inflate the economy worse than anything a gold (re)seller ever could.

 

This.

 

You are buying another player's gold-- it is not introducing new gold into the economy. And it's "legal" according to Jagex's rules. Sure, it undermines the "spirit" of the game, but eh. Every game does it, these days.

[Stev]

Technically bots don't introduce new gold into the game. They also introduce items which are later sold for gold. :P.

 

Buuut, that's a different conversation all-together.

[Guest Smelly Paws]

TBH, what was the big problem with RWT in the first place? The fact that it went into someone else's wallet?

 

People can, and have always, bought their way to the top. Jagex now endorses it, so long as it's done through them. But why?

 

What was sooo broken about the economy that Jagex had to poke their nose in and officially support RWT? What has been fixed in the economy since Bonds' release?

 

I've known dozens and dozens of players who have RWTed using a third-party. Some buying only a few M, others buying and selling a few B. When it came to a company, none of them were scammed. None of them lost their credit information. They are a company, a business, and they have a reputation to uphold. After-all, a reputation is the main attraction for a RWT company.

 

So, what's changed since Bonds were released except for the pocket the money goes into?

Interesting viewpoint.  This reads as if you support RWT as it was, it wasn't a problem because nobody you knew got scammed, and you have a problem because Jagex gets the money instead.  I would have thought the benefits of doing this in-house would have been obvious.  I'm also more than a little suprised that a forum mod on a fansite would publicly air a pro-rwt (as it was) viewpoint.

[Kimberly]

You can have a personal opinion of something and still hold it separate from doing your duties that seem to conflict with it. Additionally, it's less of a positive statement and more of a "everything that Jagex said about the bonds update has been fabricated nonsense."

 

Most people don't have a problem with Jagex selling bonds. And while they understandably can't just say, "We wanted a piece of the pie to bolster our profits since you guys don't seem to care" it's still a little frustrating to the average player regardless of what your stance on RWTing is.

[Stev]

This reads as if you support RWT as it was, it wasn't a problem because nobody you knew got scammed, and you have a problem because Jagex gets the money instead.  I would have thought the benefits of doing this in-house would have been obvious.

Whether or not I support third-party RWT is irrelevant. I'm not a lemming of Jagex just because my name is written in green. I have my own views, as does each member of our staff. However, I keep my RuneScape life, what ever it may entail, separate from the work I do here on Tip.It and it doesn't in any way affect the job that I do, as Kim pointed out.

 

I would have thought the benefits of doing this in-house would have been obvious.

I'd like to focus on this. What exactly are the benefits? A higher cost? "Safety"?

 

Think of it from an average-Joe standpoint. My name's now Ben. I'm tired of having dry Nex runs and could do with an extra 100M. I can either pay $80.00 and get it from Jagex; having to go through the hassle of selling Bonds and buying them one at a time, or I can get a cash stack of 100M in 15 minutes from a reliable third-party for $32.00. What benefits did I miss out on?

 

I'm Ben. I don't give a damn who gets my money; I got the same product for half the price.

 

 

 

I'm sorry, but these benefits apparently aren't at all obvious to me. As for my other questions, they still stand.

 

Aiel mentioned buying gold through a third-party to be "immoral". Why? Prior to Bonds, you'd have answered with, "Because it's cheating. People are using the IRL wealth to buy their way through the game, making it unfair for everyone else, which is against the ToS." Now that Jagex supports buying your way to the top, what's so immoral about it?

 

As I said before, I see Bonds opening people's eyes to RWT. People who otherwise wouldn't have thought about it are now thinking, "Hmmm. I can buy some gold and get a Nex set." Then they Google and/or talk to friends and... "I can get GP for 50% off at Website_X!"

[helring]

One of the advantages of it being done in house is that I can now get some of the solomon's stuff that I really couldn't afford previously. Anyone who wasn't willing to break the ToS before was completely unable to benefit. This isn't a moral argument, I just feel more parties benefit from this system than from the previous goldselling. Another benefit of course is that its still against the ToS. You can spend $80 and get it through Jagex free and clear, or you can spend $32 and risk your account. Before there was only one real way to get that 100m when buying it. I'd also prefer that the people making the money are the ones making the game instead of some random 3rd party, but thats more of a preference than anything else.

 

I don't think that many people buying gold before really wanted to risk their accounts, but they had no other options. I could see people willing to pay more for a way to obtain it without risking a banning. Also, while you're right that most of these companies probably wouldn't risk their "reputation" there are probably also some shadier sites out there.

[Stev]

I could see people willing to pay a bit more for some extra level of safety. But double? Seems a bit excessive when they were getting away with it fine just weeks ago. I just can't picture it. If Bonds somehow reached a decent $/M, even remotely close to third-parties, then absolutely. The ratio is just too terrible and unless something changes, I don't see Bonds rising. :(.

[helring]

Really, Jagex needs to start cracking down on those still buying from gold sellers. remove the gold bought, a bit of their stats and maybe a week or two ban every time. Don't need to perm ban them, just need enough to show that they'll consistently get nothing for that $80. While the goldfarmer gp may be cheaper, if Jagex could actually show that there's no way to benefit from it then I could see bonds being successful. Otherwise I understand your point that it is a major difference, however I don't think bonds ever could compete with gold farmers prices, so the only thing really to do that won't wreck the game even worse is to hammer in on the account safety part of it.

[Sy_Accursed]

I'd imagine cracking down in-game on gold buyers is the next phase of their scheme.

Give people a chance to go legit, then crack down on those who don't.

[God Of Lego]

I can imagine the main bond customers are people to young that don't understand what RWT and Gold farming is.

[ilovecuttingyews]

I think if you're old enough to have access to payment for bonds you're old enough to understand what RWT is. Whether they actually know it is another matter.

[Lord Zophar]

I can imagine the main bond customers are people to young that don't understand what RWT and Gold farming is.

That makes no sense.

 

First of all, "young kids" won't have access to unlimited funds unless they steal Daddy's credit card, which opens up an entirely separate can of worms.

 

Next, what does understanding what RWT is have to do with whether or not someone buys bonds? They don't know Gold Farmers exist, or otherwise they would use them? Is that what you're implying?

 

 

I will give you MY rationale for buying Bonds:

 

I've got a job that pays me very well, and soon I am not going to have much time to play. I want to enjoy the benefits of having t80 and t90 gear, and while I do MH every day it is just not fast enough. I could research which sites are legit and illegally buy gold for much cheaper, but you know what? Gold sellers obtain their gold by forcing people to "play" RS for very long hours in sweatshops while paying them next to nothing. That isn't someone I want to give my money to. And besides, I have been playing RS off-and-on since 2001. I don't want to risk being banned, and I also don't mind supporting the company that created a game which has brought me enjoyment for more than 10 years. Even if I disagree with many of the decisions Jagex has made and continues to make, I am still grateful to be able to enjoy RS.