Mod Tron: "They essentially cheat to get the gold... This creates a one-way trade where gold enters the economy with no counter balance. In order for an economy to be stable, there has to be trade in both directions...
The difference with Bonds, is that BOTH parties benefit in-game from the trade! Be it through wealth gain, or other tangible means (Membership, Runecoins etc.)"
I'm intrigued by your response. Specifically, the concept of one-way trading. Your argument is that bots selling gold is bad because it's a one way trade that only adds gold to the economy but not necessarily items -- we'll disregard the fact that technically both exist and one is just being traded without the presence of the other. You continue to effectively state that Bonds are NOT a one-way trade because both parties benefit in-game. So sure, we'll pretend that the benefit needs to exist in-game for the trade to be two-way. That's fine. Here's where you lost me. How EXACTLY is the bond NOT simply pumping money into the game (that already exists! That's important!) without any secondary economic input such as an item? Please note: SoF items do not necessarily put anything into the economy. In fact, it's quite rare. Runecoins put NOTHING into the economy with the exception of any items the pets forage (which is exceptionally minimal to my knowledge, but please correct me if I'm wrong). This leaves membership. .... Still not adding anything into the economy, technically. Yes, the player is making GP, getting items, selling, trading -- but those actions and results are entirely separate. Especially since the individual was likely still doing that PRIOR to membership. So yes, Bonds are a two-way trade, but HOW are they any different from bot gold other than the minimal possible economic input from SoF and the Solomon's pets?
26-Sep-2013 05:24:18
