Reality of RMT

[Bladeglory]

Let me tell you about Homestuck RuneScape.

Back before 2008, there was a massive bot and RMT problem. Every area in Free to Play worlds were absolutely infested with gathering and spamming bots. I used to spend some of my free time helping to wipe them out using community power and the Player Moderator ability to mute.

Late 2008 rolls around, and they announce big news. The removal of the entire Trade System. Well, that's an exaggeration, but there was enough bitching about it to make you think that was the case. What was actually removed was "unbalanced trades". Any trade that was skewed by up to 3k gp, in either direction, based on the Grand Exchange's prices, could not be completed. 3,000 gp was not a lot. It also had a time limit of 15(?) minutes, so wealth could still be transferred, but very slowly. They also removed the Wilderness, the PvP area in the north where you could kill people within your level range for their stuff.

This crippled RMT. I'm talking knee-to-balls crippled. They were rolling on the floor, whimpering softly with tears streaming down their face. Suddenly it was impossible to sell any decent amount of currency in any reasonable amount of time.

Now, this went over really badly for two reasons. Both were solved eventually, however.

PvP: It couldn't stay in, because then RMT would just trade via secluded spots in the wilderness. Dangerous for both RMT and buyers. Mini-games and a new drop system for the wilderness replaced the old PvP.

Helping your friends: Removing unbalanced trades kept people from helping out their friends. And I mean legit friends that you're only helping because you like them. This is where things get really creative... Several new systems were implemented to restore function that the trade system had lost.

1) Increasing the trade limit based on the length of time you had that friend added to your Friends List. After several months of "knowing" them, you could make trades that were substantially larger. I can't remember the exact figures, but I'm thinking 3 or 4 times as much. Obviously, RMT accounts can't sit there for 3 months before delivering.

2) Increasing the trade limit based on the amount of Quest Points the account had. This went up as more Quest Points became available, but this essentially worked out to be a sizeable barrier to RMT. Only accounts with a large playtime could benefit from this increased limit (which stacked multiplicatively with the friends list increase) and it was simply not feasible for RMT to sink that much time into an account that could be banned at any time, even before its first delivery. Between these two increases, you could trade 90k every 15 minutes. This was a pretty decent amount to give away to long-lasting, experienced friends.

3) The Assist System. People would often give their friends raw materials (gems, ore and ingredients) and have stuff made for them. This system made that possible again, and actually improved it by making it safer. You, with all your high level skills, would essentially give your soul to your nooby little friend. You would be unable to do anything but end it whilst this was going on. Your friend would do whatever they wanted with your skill levels. You would receive the EXP for what they did, and they got to make their item with their own stuff. This is pretty close to the "Request Meld" system we already have, actually. It's a much safer way to do things and has essentially the same functionality.

Now, everything wasn't perfect. There were always some enterprising individuals willing to do anything in order to get around this. But this solution was effective in making their lives hell. Especially for those first few months when they had no idea what to do. Ah, it was so quiet...

Anyway, eventually this system was repealed. Why? I still blame the new owners of the game and money-grubbing tendencies. RMT reappeared in full force when they removed Restricted Trade. (they barely even tried to find another solution)

TL;DR: RuneScape had a unique solution to RMT. At least as far as I know. It pissed off a lot of players, but eventually PvP and Trade were almost as good as they were before, if not better than before.

I'm not saying FFXIV should go that route. For one, it would involve placing more restrictions on the Market Boards, if not making it anonymous. I just felt like this thread would be an interesting place to dump the story, as it reminded me of what I experienced.