This is actually quite a well calculated move, however there is one fundamental flaw in this. before that though, I would like to share some points I think people may be missing.
As the bonds directly equate to membership, or other currently purchasable items using RWM, Jagex should not actually profit from this, in that if someone buys a bond, someone else will use that to buy a membership (or other item) which equates to a lost opportunity for Jagex to sell that membership directly.
in the long run, the GP value of a bond will hover at a fraction higher than a gold farmer, however it will not be possiable for them to derastically undercut these, due to the compeditive nature of the market. if gold farmers suddenly start offering 75 mil of gold for *5, that will drive down the RWV of GP, which in turn raises the Bond VS GP exchange ratio, until it levels out close to the 75 mil per $5 value that the gold farmers are offering. essentially, as gold farmers start to sell gold for less and less, they will achieve only driving the GP value of bonds up, to a point where they remain compeditive. Bonds will always be slightly slightly more costly than there GP value, but this accounts for the added security of buying from Jagex as aposed to the farmer, and the illegality of the transaction.
Where the problem comes in is that gold farmers will instead of exchanging there GP for RWM, they will start buying bonds. Using these as a medium they will be able to undercut the RWV of a bond assigned by Jagex by selling these for $3 or $4 each.
26-Sep-2013 06:47:23