April 20, 200620 yr This is a "speech" I wrote years ago. It's probably a bit out of date now, as the hatred between members and free version users isn't that great now. But here it is: Free Users and Paying Members: A World Apart I have often heard sad stories how some free version users get insulted just because they are not in the Members version. This social segregation has gone from a minute scale to a huge degree. I wrote this "speech" in hopes that people will join me in the cause of ending this unnecessary segregation. Though this may seem to have minimal effect, I have strong confidence that many will one day start fighting for this cause. ===== I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. August the 28th, 1963 Nearly forty years ago, this great individual had dreamed that one day, all black and white people will live together in peace and harmony. Today, although all segregation has been outlawed in most countries, interpersonal discrimination still exists in many places. From hate crimes in rural communities to segregation against freshmen in high schools, discrimination is found everywhere. It even exists between people of different statuses in online games. RuneScape is no exception. RuneScape became publicly available in early January of 2001. Though it had started as a small and quiet online game community, its number of players grew by the ten-thousands every day. Ever since it has been launched, RuneScape had became very, very successful and attracted many people from the other side of the planet. RuneScape had been completely free back then. However, on the 5th of October, something was announced that would soon change the lives of all RuneScape players forever: An optional pay-to-play version of RuneScape was planned. Many people quit, knowing that the free version would soon stop receiving updates, and that their parents would never let them join the pay version. Though the pay version would bring many positives into the RuneScape future, it would definetely bring negatives with it. During the few months that followed, the free version still received updates every so often. Some people were eager to pay, knowing that they would be financially supporting their favorite game; yet others knew they were never going to be able to get their hands on it. Some lost hope just after reading the anouncement. Five months later, the pay-to-play service, called Members, was offically launched. Of course, those who were willing and able to pay jumped for joy. However, soon after that, many people who were in the free version were often referred to as "free-loaders" and "too cheap to pay". Nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps the greatest thing that keeps people from joining Members is that their parents won't allow them too. That was the day that changed everyone's lives forever. Some positively, some negatively. Many of us have suffered the fact that we could not get Members. It is not a matter of money - it is a matter of priveledges. To prove the point, here is one of my personal anecdotes. I feel that I should let the RuneScape world know my story. I'm sure that I am not the only one with this experience; there may be tens of thousands of other people with similar situations like mine. Many have worse cases. The day I heard that the Members service was planned, I was utterly disappointed. I knew that it would be hard - very hard, to be able to convince my parents to let me join. I never asked them for it until near the end of the school year. Nevertheless, I still had hope that I would be able to join Members after school was over. However, after school, my parents believed that I did not deserve to join the Members version because I did not do as well as they had expected. Of course, I am an honest person and I would not use any non-righteous ways to get Members behind their backs. All my hopes to get Members were cut off. Then, about a week later, the light started shining again. I had just got back my scores for my Chemistry SAT II. Even though it was very good to their standards, that was still not enough to convince my parents. Then, the bright side came when I got back results from a math competition. That finally convinced them to let me join Members for one month. Even though it was only a month, it was better than nothing. Some believe that the free version never deserves anything other than bug fixes, due to the fact they do not pay. Of course, that familiar insult "You pathetic free-loader can't even afford five bucks a month!" comes into our ears again. Odds are that everyone can afford five dollars a month, but I shall reiterate this: Not everyone's parents allow their children to join. And it is impossible to not have a single banner clicked when the free version client is loaded at least half a million times a day. To be honest, it is sad to see those who are so dedicated to the game training on the free servers and suffering a great deal of boredom. The free members are also being segregated in a much larger scale in a totally different factor. Not being segregated by the lack of updates, but segregated by social behavior. All too often we hear arrogant Members flaming free version users for no reason. It is the 1960's all over again. But why? The reason that some arrogant Members show segregation towards free users because they think that since they pay, they are better than everyone that doesn't. We should not think this way and judge people because of their status. The status of a person does not determine his or her character - the behavior does. By means of psychology, it is extremely common to be segregated when one has a lower status than others. Though many of us may be free version members, we do not deserve to be treated like rubbish just because our parents don't let us pay. If we treat everyone with respect, then we deserve to be treated the same. Ever since the Members service has been launched, we have been separated. We are a world apart. The free players have been forgotten and reside in the abyss of oblivion. But we shall not be ignored forever. We shall let our voices be heard. But we are not separated by any country. We are not separated by any company. We are separated by ourselves. Before the Members service, we were like brothers, sisters, and counsins in the RuneScape social family. But after the Members service, many friends have turned against one another because they think that since their friends are not paying Members, they are not worthy. In a sense, we are engaged in a social civil war. The free version users and the Members who used to share the Lesser Demon cave or their favorite spot to fish have mostly been separated. Separated and long lost. The life of RuneScape has only begun. At the good will of the people, things can and will change. What we can always do is hope. I hope that some day, the flame wars between the free users and the paying Members will be extinguished eternally. I hope that the free users and the paying Members can someday embrace each other socially in the light of harmony and away from the shadows of prejudice. I hope that some day, the residents of Misthalin can trade goods with those that live near the shining coast of Kandarin. I have a strong feeling that this may happen some day. Some day, those in the free version and those in the Members version will become brothers and sisters again. One day, I hope that the Members will use their benefits to help their free version friends, not taunt those who are not allowed to pay. We must not give up our hope for harmony. I myself am a former Member, yet I still fight against discrimination against the free players. I ask a favor to those who agree with me: to join and fight for the end to this unnecessary prejudice. ARENAscape: Baratus [AS] max hit: 166 with Moon Battle Hammer ixfd64 [AS] max hit: 116 with (untitled spell #2)
April 20, 200620 yr *wipes tear from eye*. What you're saying is spot on - the analogy of MLK worked too. Good speech :D. I'm Jake Milroy
April 20, 200620 yr Did you bringing this up have anything to do with the increased divide between p2p and f2p that jagex just made with the recent update? Or...you just felt like bringing it back up again for more comments. :P
April 20, 200620 yr Author Did you bringing this up have anything to do with the increased divide between p2p and f2p that jagex just made with the recent update? Or...you just felt like bringing it back up again for more comments. :P It had nothing to do with the update. However, I wanted to hear new forum members' opinion on it. ARENAscape: Baratus [AS] max hit: 166 with Moon Battle Hammer ixfd64 [AS] max hit: 116 with (untitled spell #2)
April 21, 200620 yr I couldn't agree more with your speech. It's exactly the same with my parents, i.e. there's no way in you-know-where that I'll be able to pay for members.
April 21, 200620 yr I think maybe only a small minority (like 5 people) actually hate people that are on a different subsciption base than them. Good work though, if you hadn't written so much, people might have read it.
April 21, 200620 yr nice essay ixfd you should check out Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch, its the first book from a three book series about Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement (it also won the pulitzer prize in 88)
April 21, 200620 yr How you can even use the words of Martin Luther King and RuneScape in the same context makes me want to die a little inside. This is how much you all raised for charity. Thank you.
April 21, 200620 yr It was overdramatic and could be downright offensive to someone who actually knows what MLK was really talking about...Not someone calling you a f2p noob... Also, since you seem to want to talk about your SAT and stuff, as a hint, when you write at a higher level don't use cutesy catches like using MLK's speech in your RS "speech". It really hurts the overall quality of a paper/essay/whatever.
April 21, 200620 yr yeah martin luther king has way too much dignity to be included in a speech about a kiddies game. he was talking about a REAL problem in our country, not respect to people who pay or not.
April 21, 200620 yr Author You guys have a point. The thing is, I wrote this around 4 years ago or so, so I obviously wasn't as good as writing essays as I am now. ARENAscape: Baratus [AS] max hit: 166 with Moon Battle Hammer ixfd64 [AS] max hit: 116 with (untitled spell #2)
April 22, 200620 yr Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out for the less privileged and discriminated in society. Runescape is a distinct society, regardless if it is an online society or not. "Dying inside" from seeing a quote used to emphasize a main theme, regardless of how insignificant you view it, is a bit drastic.
April 22, 200620 yr the analogy is good: everyone who is a part of the runescape community needs to respect each other, whether they are p2p or f2p. maybe some find that quoting MLK in relation to an online game is a bit drastic, but the message of respect and equality is still there.
April 22, 200620 yr the analogy is good: everyone who is a part of the runescape community needs to respect each other, whether they are p2p or f2p. maybe some find that quoting MLK in relation to an online game is a bit drastic, but the message of respect and equality is still there. IDD, well said Currently hunting for clues. Any advice? PM me please =)
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