Runescape is currently under scrutiny again due to microtransactions, after the community found out that a player has spent more than 50,000 euros in the game.
Why is the Runescape community upset? A report from the English Parliament regarding addictive technologies mentioned the successful and popular MMORPG Runescape. According to this report, the developer studio Jagex takes in about a third of its revenue from microtransactions. It is said that players can spend up to 5,000 dollars a week on the game. However, only about 10 percent of players actually spend money on microtransactions.
The report also cites an example: A player’s father is said to have accumulated immense debts due to Runescape, having spent 62,000 dollars (around 56,000 euros) in the game.
This led to fierce discussions about microtransactions within the Runescape community.
Microtransactions are a red flag
That’s why it’s a long-standing issue: In 2012, the “Squeal of Fortune” update introduced a fortune wheel through which players could win items – of course, for money. Even back then, there was heavy criticism.
Jagex then introduced the “Treasure Hunter” mechanic. Players find treasure chests with items in them and can either buy or earn the keys for these chests. In addition, there are other paid features, such as the ability to view gameplay statistics.
What do the players think about it? There is tension once again. After it became known how much money a player has spent and that they even fell into debt because of it, the majority of Runescape players currently feel that Jagex is exploiting players.
Content updates are rare, and the treasure hunts are being brought to the forefront. Players are slowly getting the impression that they are only valued for how much money they can spend. The developers seem to only focus on the 10 percent of the player base that spends money, the so-called “whales”. Players who are deeply entrenched in the game and also very wealthy.
However, there are also some players who see no problem with this. No one is forced to spend money in Runescape. And the revenue ultimately helps to keep the MMORPG running and developing further.
The Runescape community is now demanding that Jagex focus more on the game and new content and scale back the promotion for microtransactions. The call for more content seems curious, since players prevented this in Old School Runescape. However, Old School players, unlike the fans of the “regular” version, simply do not want any changes.
