Runescape in Bondage

Bonds.

Let's have a quick look at what they are first.

Bonds can be bought from Jagex with real dollars, then traded in Runescape, once.

They can be redeemed for in-game currency from other players, 14 days of membership, 8 Squeal of Fortune spins, and 160 Runecoins.

Bonds were introduced to combat third party sites goldfarming and selling Runescape currency.

Similar schemes exist already.

EVE Online has PLEX.

Guild Wars 2 has Gems.

So this system can work.

However will Runescape make it work?

For Runescape the issue isn't really this particular update, even though it is controversial.

It is how the update happened, Jagex doesn't talk as well as it could.

Blizzard is slightly different in that regard.  Here is a link to Blizzard advising of the removal of Diablo's Auction House, in March next year.  This sort of advance notice would never happen with Runescape.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/10974978/diablo%C2%AE-iii-auction-house-update-9-17-2013

Guild Wars 2 is another example where an economist talked about the game economy before the game even started, and then gave some charts etc. after the game started. Here is one from August this year quote...

"Economic Concerns

Each of these changes will have an impact on the game economy, resetting equilibriums and creating some unfamiliar market forces—which is why we thought we’d brief you beforehand."

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/economy-report-brace-yourself-disequilibrium-is-coming/

For Runescape the word "update" is synonymous with "surprise attack".

To understand that element of surprise let's go back to what was in the old Runescape rule book.

The CEO Mark Gerhard is often quoted for a remark which was deleted from the Runescape Real World Trading rules on 6th April 2012.

"We don't want players to be able to buy their way to success in RuneScape. If we let players start doing this, it devalues RuneScape for others. We feel your status in real-life shouldn't affect your ability to be successful in RuneScape."

And given that these conditions were the game standard for most of its existence it's understandable that players are angry.  Blizzard and Guild Wars 2 are at least giving players time to cope, adjust and contribute, rather than be stuck with retroactively complaining which is what Runescape players get stuck with.

Other games have proven that this Bond system can work.  However Guild Wars 2 started with this system, and EVE Online had a game economist to help out.

Players will react more badly because of how the change was implemented, rather than the change itself.  Which is not specific to this update and Runescape, it is the norm for the modern Runescape.

Here is one reaction where a Forum moderator quits, there are only a 100 or so, fewer than Jagex staff, and they are highly prized positions, only given to the most loyal.

Runescape has two modes.

Old School (also known as 2007Scape) a five year old version of the game, which has about one third of paying players, freeplayers cannot play there.

The other two thirds, which includes freeplayers, is on EoCScape, or RS3 (Runescape 3)

There is some acrimony between the two styles.

What is significant about 2007Scape is how it talks to players.

It also has no microtransactions and won't have Bonds.

For an example of how in-depth the feedback is...

http://services.runescape.com/m=rswiki/en/Devblog:Content_Poll_10_New_Rewards

Players have to vote content in.  Some 70% of players have to agree to new updates.

There is no surprise attack.

Players get time to adjust and contribute.  Which is sensible because issues such as goldfarming are created by players.

Runescape is on the verge of dropping below 500,000 members, it has some two thousand members over that number.

At current rates of loss that drop will only take 2 days.

It may be that Runescape is playing a long game, where they are deciding the fate of the game because players cannot be trusted.  Where players buying advantage had caused Runescape to cave in to that demand and supply what players have been buying from dodgy sites.

Currently to buy Bonds and use them for membership would work out like this; roughly $10 of bonds versus $7 of membership.  In some ways it's good, a schoolkid with no allowance can now buy members every so often, depending on how much they play.

Richer players can in effect sponsor others' memberships by buying Bonds from Jagex and selling them for in-game gold and items.

There is a thriving trade doing this in other games.  Jagex knows these other games, and it knows that real world traders do exist in these other games.  Their argument that Bonds will get rid of these traders is incorrect, and I think that Jagex know that.

These Bonds are a step in the right direction though, they address the motivation.

I would have preferred that Runescape developed its system by involving players, rather than directly copying other systems and then laying that over current systems.

And then force-feeding it to players.