Prolly unpopular idea, but: increase the threshold and restrictions for various player-based economy access privileges. Similar to the trade update, but leaving trusted old-timers alone. Close off almost
everything
in the player-driven economy to very new accounts, sending and receiving in both direct trades and GE, duel arena, etc., everything except buying and selling basic resources and low-level equipment to and from vendors. Everyone's a little bit in iron man at first. Then, open up all equipment types after a bit, and from there GE with limitations to +/-10% guide price or +500gp, whichever is higher (so they can quickbuy basic stuff from ge if stores are out of stock). Then, free pricing options in GE, then after that direct trading with value caps like trade update, and
lastly
free direct trading and all workarounds that would enable near-as-good-as-direct-trading. (I.e. just drops nothing valuable if killed in wild, expensive drops disappear without other players being to grab them, etc.)
The hope of this would be to stifle botting, rwt, and market manipulation at the heart of the matter: just make it that much more difficult to maintain accounts long enough to get to a point where they can be used for any of the above. This leaves good old players out of it, and can still bring rotten egg mains down indirectly, by making their bot armies difficult to establish and maintain.
30-Aug-2021 20:41:24