Runescape News: Uproar Over Jagex Microtransactions

The stench of hypocrisy has settled over Gielinor. Fresh from nearly a decade of fighting against real world trading, Jagex have apparently swopped sides.

The introduction of a new mini-game entitled Squeal of Fortune allows players to spend their real world cash on virtual bonuses. It's a development which runs contrary to the long established ethos that socio-economic status in reality should never impact upon the same in-game.

Meanwhile a single thread in the official Runescape forums had attracted over 15,000 messages of condemnation. More were flooding in all of the time. It wasn't alone. A petition thread had been maxed out three times and was now on its fourth incarnation.

Another thread had nearly 800 people each quoting the Runescape rules back at Jagex. It's the comment encircled in red below.

In a week of protest, there had not been an official word of response from Jagex. But perhaps the executives would have glanced with some concern at the hundreds of long-standing members of their player base professing to have just cancelled their subscription.

Yet more were stating that they had reported the company to the UK Gambling Commission or its counterparts abroad. In addition, those players were explaining to their peers how to do just that, while quoting the chapter and verse of British law.

A player based in New York City was preparing to collate forum feedback and deliver it to the offices of Insight Venture Partners itself. The private equity investors hold a majority share in Jagex.

So what precisely is all of the fuss about?

Every day each player gets two opportunities to win on Squeal of Fortune. This is free of charge.

It's a very prominent mini-game, with the access module placed on the screen as soon as the player logs in. They either play it or dismiss it. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, the majority of players will click that button.

Once inside, the wheel spins and the goblin bounces up and down on his chain. Pressing the big, red button causes a large boxing glove to smash into him. He screams and flies left across the screen. The animation causes the wheel to stop.

Wherever it lands relates to a prize (redeemable only inside the game) from the selection below. Those in the red boxes are the most desirable.

For example, if I was playing in the illustrated game, I'd have my eye on the Godsword (third from the left) or the massive XP lamp in the middle.

It's far more likely that the counter will stop on a white or gold box. That's disappointing. I could have had a Godsword, but now I have two pieces of clay.

But there's now another option. Up the corner there's a green button, inviting me to buy spins. It's very easy. One click and I have another 10 spins, or 25, or 75. Surely there's a Godsword amongst all of those!

Even more enticingly, some observers have already worked out the exact moment to press, in order to gain the item that you want. It's a counting game coupled with the speed and skill of a twitch player.

That takes away the element of luck. A player could become extremely well kitted out, or gain untold skill levels, employing that strategy. All that's needed are more spins on the Squeal of Fortune.

I'd barely have to see the payment happening. It's coming straight from the credit card through which I pay my monthly membership subscription; and there's no verification placed upon its use.

There is an upper limit though. I would be forced to stop spending after £200 a day had been spent on the spins. That's still £1400 a week (around $2,200 in American dollars). But that's my look out. It's my money.

But what if it wasn't?  Alarm bells should already be ringing for the parents of young Runescape players. It's their credit card details which are logged in the system; and there's no alert to tell them that it's being used.

Just as worryingly for myself is the fact that, over the past month, four of my friends have lost their accounts to hackers. It might have been only temporarily, but with an onslaught of phishing attempts, websites with keyloggers, hacker ingenuity and just plain stupidity on the part of some players, such things are happening with increasing regularity.

Those hackers would have control of the registered credit card. Moreover, using it to gain access to in-game items would be a lot easier than the usual mode of trying to get into a player's Runescape bank. Such items attract vast sums of real world money on illicit real world trading websites.

Jagex had obviously considered the backlash from parents and those with stolen accounts. On April 2nd 2012, the day that buying spins on Squeal of Fortune was introduced into the game, the company updated their terms and conditions:

We reserve the right to charge you for any unauthorized use of your subscription by third parties.

In short, even if your credit card has been used without your knowledge by your child or account thieves, no responsibility is attached to Jagex. They retain the right to keep the money that paid for those spins.

Figures are flying throughout the player base. By spending real world money on Squeal of Fortune's spins, it's guaranteed that levels can be gained.

The cause célèbre is Runecrafting.  Though any in-game skill level can be raised in this way, Runecrafting is the biggest beneficiary.

Ordinarily hundreds of hours of repetitive grinding is the only other way of reaching level 99. As a result, Runecrafting skill-capes are one of the most rare and respected sights in Runescape. But now players willing to pay real world money could gain that skill-cape with no actual gameplay involved, except for pressing the Squeal of Fortune button.

Last night in Falador, a central town within Runescape, a veteran player was wearing his Runecrafting cape. He forlornly told anyone who'd listen that it had taken him five years to gradually chip away at the XP needed to achieve the coveted level.

Then he added that the same thing now cost just $1,000 in buying spins. He could have worked and saved up that money, in far less time than it took to reach the same point fairly.

There was no doubt in his mind that the Squeal of Fortune devalued his accomplishment. All around him, voices were sounding in despondent agreement.

Meanwhile, a British player armed with a calculator was taking in all of the data. He concluded that an average of £36 was needed to purchase 1m XP points in game now. It takes 13,034,431 XP to complete any skill.

£469.24 for a 99 anyone? 

For years the Jagex rules on Real World Trading have included three sentences, which encapsulated the company's ethos.  It was the same paragraph quoted at the top of this page.

Within an hour of my article being posted, Jagex Moderator SteveW had altered the official guidelines from which it derived. I cannot take either the blame nor the credit, as hundreds of Runescape players were similarly quoting the same in the website's forums.

As the Runescape rules are presented in Wiki format, the historical alterations can be tracked. This amendment was made on April 5th 2012, at 14.52.

In short, the Jagex policy on Real World Trading has now shifted away from its toxic influence on gameplay. Virtual devaluation is now not even on the agenda, nor are concerns about stolen accounts.

Instead, the new regime is concerned only about who legally owns the virtual items; and therefore who may be permitted to conduct real world sales. It appears that the company no longer wishes to admit that account theft even takes place.

In addition, at around the same time, a whole section on Virtual Currencies was added to the Runescape Terms and Conditions. In a nutshell it firmly stated that nothing in-game had any monetary value outside.

This is an important point, particularly after a Dutch court recently determined otherwise. This left Jagex vulnerable to a raft of potential law-suits, which the Squeal of Fortune issue cannot be helping.

However, the addition went on to state that 'we offer certain virtual currencies for sale or, in our discretion, as free promotions.'  Furthermore that 'virtual currencies can be redeemed (ie used) to acquire certain digital goods / services, which we describe below as "Items".'  The word 'redeemed' is key. It reinforces the notion of 'no monetary value'.

This is an on-going story, with major developments coming swiftly, I will endeavor to up-date this page as more transpires.

In Britain, any legal or moral issues with adverts can be referred to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA). 

Jagex found itself under investigation when Runescape players complained to the ASA about Squeal of Fortune.  The charges surrounded Jagex's irresponsibility in advertising the mini-game to children.

However, the ASA refused to uphold the complaints. It was satisfied that Jagex was 'robust' in its parental consent mechanisms, and in stopping children under thirteen years of age playing the game.

(I read this while talking with two people who had started playing aged ten and twelve respectively. They laughed.)

Also Jagex had altered the process for buying spins. Credit card payments now required its three digit security number to be entered for purchases.