One of the oddities revealed during RuneScape’s RuneFest over the weekend is the fact that Jagex plans to auction off the in-game possessions of players who are banned. The studio won’t tell bidders exactly what they are bidding on, just some of the basics of the accounts, like their skill levels.
It isn’t really so odd, I suppose; for many years in Ultima Online, it wasn’t uncommon to come across a house that had been set literally on fire by devs, doomed to burn for months or even years because its former owner had been determined to be a duper. And one thing many players begged for was a way to extricate the contents of those houses before the blaze began, as dupers were often collectors and owned one-of-a-kind rare items from events over the last two decades. It seemed a shame to burn those items along with the pixel homes; it was punishing everyone by destroying a piece of history for all of the players, not just for the dupers.
What do you think? Is Jagex setting up a weird precedent by auctioning off the possessions of banned players, or is it a proper gold sink for the wealthy that might also keep chunks of history alive? Would you bid on the goodies?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
