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RuneScape's wilderness PvP and free trade have returned
At the end of December, developer Jagex put the fate of its browser MMO RuneScape in the hands of its players. Several years ago, in an effort to combat the game's growing RMT problem, Jagex placed severe restrictions on PvP and the trading of items. To make transferring gold harder, Jagex made changes to deny trades in which one party gained a significantly higher value of items and gold than the other. Limits were also placed on the stakes players could fight over in one-on-one duels. The biggest changes came to the wilderness, RuneScape's open PvP area. Wilderness PvP was completely removed in order to remove the possible use of PvP looting mechanics to trade large quantities of gold. Jagex opened a public referendum and vote to ask players if they wanted wilderness PvP and free trade to return, and over a million players answered with a resounding "YES!" Just over a week ago, we interviewed RuneScape's lead designer Mark Ogilvie on the details of the changes and how they'll affect players. In an announcement today, Mark confirmed that those changes are now in effect, along with some tweaks to the gravestone and drop party systems. If you're a fan of RuneScape, stay tuned to Massively's RuneScape coverage for our upcoming guide on making use of the new free trade and wilderness PvP options.
The Daily Grind: Would you roll back a portion of your favorite MMO?
Jagex is making headlines lately with its trailblazing Wilderness vote. Whether you're a fan of the long-running Runescape MMO or not, you have to admit that it's pretty cool that developers would leave an enormous and game-altering decision up to the players. Aside from that novelty, the potential rollback got us to thinking about sweeping changes to our favorite MMOs, and whether or not we'd reverse them given a Jagex-style choice. Whether it's earthquakes like Ultima Online's Trammel or Star Wars Galaxies' NGE, or subtler and more recent tweaks like Age of Conan's removal of Tortage PvP, the MMO landscape is littered with changes both large and small. Are there any features of your favorite MMO that you'd revert or roll back if you could? Which ones and why? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
