This update is completely useless.
I've done some google research and found that all gold selling sites are selling gold cheaper than 5$/15m or close to it. Some sites could even increase their price. And with rwt being legitimized, I fail to see why the market should buy Bonds rather than following the basic rules of supply and demand.
You've said that 40 % of the player base have bought rs gold for real money, and you have not banned them. Is this because you would miss out on important income if you did?
Another thing this Bonds lacks to become effective is that they can't be traded for real currency in a legitimate way. I can see that there are many issues and laws to be considered for creating a new currency, but nevertheless it should be considered. There is no option for those ridiculous rich-ingame people to sell their gold for cash, so they will just continue to sell it "under the table" on 3rd party sites. After all, there is a limit on how many RuneCoins you need, or how many years of membership needed.
And finally, what about the Old School version? The Bonds will have little or no effect on that economy. There will still be a huge market for the rwt'ers, and after this update and statements, nothing to stop people from buying gold from 3rd party sites. I, and many other players have swapped our main game gold for Old School gold. If Bonds were added to OSRS and to be tied to your account, and not your character, this could serve as a safe way to exchange gold between the different versions rather than solely relying on trust. But it seems like you totally left out OSRS and almost half the player base in this update.
25-Sep-2013 19:57:25
