[Informer Article] Toying With Gambling

Shane · **Posted:** April 25th, 2012, 3:41 pm

I had originally intended to be delivering a new interface mockup for RuneScape this month but I feel my time is better devoted to discussing new purchasable spins for Squeal of Fortune. Those of you who listen to RSBANDBUpdate! will know that I am a big defender of Squeal of Fortune. It's a great way for Jagex to earn more money which, hopefully, means better content for the player base. It's also a good way for players to tip Jagex if they like what they see. We also benefit from the little rewards that we get in game. Overall I think Squeal of Fortune is a good idea and I'm not going to talk anymore about the pros and cons of the game mechanic itself. If you want to hear more about our initial thoughts I invite you to listen to RSBANDBUpdate! 355.

The actual topic for today is morals. There's a good amount of people in the world today who lack a decent moral compass. I won't go into who or what type of people they are but I assure you, they exist. Corporations also have moral obligations to fulfill with regard to their customer base and the world in general. Over the past week Jagex has cast some doubt upon the player base as to whether or not they are one of those companies that actually does care about their own moral obligations.

A few weeks ago when purchasable spins came out I thought, $5, $10, even $20, that's fine. There was a tiny voice in my head that said something to the tune of, "this is gambling, this should not be available for under age players." Sometime over the past week Jagex added a $50 and $100 pricing tier for purchasable Squeal of Fortune spins. Spending $50 or $100 will net you 200 or 450 spins respectively. I can see spending $5, $10, $20, or even $30 on spins that's respectable. But $50 or $100? That's just absurd and is bordering on gambling.

Let me be clear once again that I am not against the idea of spending money on spins. I myself love games of chance, they're one of my favourite. With that being said once a year I could see myself spending $50 on a spin package just for a one-off gambling session. Unless the core demographic of RuneScape has changed and the vast majority of players are over the age of 18 adding the $50 and $100 option is showing a lack of morals and may be breaking the law in certain countries. Even though Squeal of Fortune is technically not gambling (you get something every time), it is actually gambling because the chance of someone wanting to keep 5 soft clay is pretty small. Once again, I like the idea of Squeal of Fortune but it is a weak form of gambling.

Gambling is something that has existed for hundreds of years. People do it all the time, it's something that has become ingrained in our culture. Even though Squeal of Fortune is technically not gambling it's worth examining how the two are similar. People can gamble in moderation or they can develop an addiction and eventually lose their home and much more. Gambling is more often than not better for the house than the person placing a bet. Both of the above are true for Jagex with regards to Squeal of Fortune. Players can only gamble in moderation, there's a set limit of spins per day that can be purchased. Also, all proceeds from purchased Squeal of Fortune spins go to Jagex directly, thus the house benefits for every purchased spin a player takes.

Jagex has two of the three pillars of what gambling actually consists of. The third being that with actual gambling a reward is not guaranteed. Even though Squeal of Fortune is technically not gambling it is the opinion of this article that an age restriction must be put in place. Presently it appears as though Jagex does not currently enforce a legal age requirement on Squeal of Fortune. This could be deemed as underage gambling in some countries. Are teenagers allowed to run to the convenience store down the street to buy a lottery ticket where you live? Are teenagers allowed to visit a casino just for some casual fun? Are teenagers allowed to visit the horse races and decide which horse may win? If you answered no to any of these questions then you probably have a law that prohibits underage gambling. Adding an age restriction on the ability to purchase spins for Squeal of Fortune would illustrate Jagex leading by example. This would show that, yes, Squeal of Fortune is a weak form of gambling and must have similar rules.

Jagex, please take this as humble advice from one of your long term players (since 2004) who has stood by when many others have not. Add an age restriction to who may purchase Squeal of Fortune spins. And with this, lead by example one more time.

As always if you have any comments or suggestions leave them in the discussion topic or send me a private message.

This was originally posted as an Informer Runescape article.

Adbot · **Posted:** April 25th, 2012, 3:41 pm

Duke Juker · RSBandB Donor since 07/01/2010

Quote:

It's a great way for Jagex to earn more money which, hopefully, means better content for the player base. It's also a good way for players to tip Jagex if they like what they see. We also benefit from the little rewards that we get in game.

I would agree with you that SoF is good if it were intended for the purpose you say. But as you go on to say in your article, $50 and $100 is quite absurd, and to me provides proof that Jagex cares more about making and keeping money rather than using this money to improve the game. As Jasonmrc pointed out in his article, I don't see how a company making upwards of $100 million could have trouble finding money for updates. I'll go look up the numbers later for Jagex and see how much of the money they take in actually goes toward content creation and development.

As for tipping, I again don't think Jagex needs it. Why not just buy a membership for a friend rather than spend money on gambling?

As to the benefits received from SoF, I believe it defeats the purpose of the game. RPGs aren't supposed to be easy to level in. Even if having a membership makes it easy, the intent of the game is for the player to spend time and effort to achieve levels, not just be able to purchase them. For someone who has been around for quite some time, it should be frustrating that people who just joined didn't have to put in as much time as someone who has played for a while to achieve the same things. It's frustrating to me and it's frustrating to many players. But enough about that.

Back to the article. The bottom line of this all is that Runescape is not a gambling game. Sure, you might have staking and gambling elements within the game, but they are player controlled and well within the limits of the game. Jagex, by creating SoF, has intentionally injected a form of gambling into the game for the sake of profit. This is a complete moral failure. I don't other RPG companies doing the same thing and I don't hear their players complaining about it. The direction SoF takes players is down the easy path. Why spend 8 hours leveling attack when I can just buy some spins and get lamps that will give the same amount of exp in less than 10 minutes? Where is the fun or joy in that?

Uncle Dano · **12 99's on 12/12/12!**

Duke Juker wrote:

Quote:

As to the benefits received from SoF, I believe it defeats the purpose of the game. RPGs aren't supposed to be easy to level in. Even if having a membership makes it easy, the intent of the game is for the player to spend time and effort to achieve levels, not just be able to purchase them... The bottom line of this all is that Runescape is not a gambling game. Sure, you might have staking and gambling elements within the game, but they are player controlled and well within the limits of the game. Jagex, by creating SoF, has intentionally injected a form of gambling into the game for the sake of profit. This is a complete moral failure. I don't other RPG companies doing the same thing and I don't hear their players complaining about it. The direction SoF takes players is down the easy path. Why spend 8 hours leveling attack when I can just buy some spins and get lamps that will give the same amount of exp in less than 10 minutes? Where is the fun or joy in that?

Couldn't agree with your more. It is certainly an eroding of the intrinsic game mechanics. It devalues the satisfaction of leveling skills. It teaches that "shortcuts" are a totally acceptable means to an end. The only logical reason I can see them trying to introduce all of these extra bonuses for xp is that they eventually intend on making the max level of all skills 120 (like dungeoneering) and they believe that players will complain how hard the game is already. Well, some players will complain... the players who have no work ethic and are generally lazy and eat up any shortcut, cheat, etc. they can. It does seem that profit and money is the top priority for them, even if it means compromising the integrity of the game itself.

As far as the whole gambling issue, I believe that the vast majority of RS players are not old enough to gamble legally in their respective countries. It is gambling if you are spending real world money in order to get a chance to win something big, even though you end up winning something (albeit small) every time. The whole issue is the fact that Jagex is making gambling so attractive to children and teens. They are ingraining acceptance of the concept into their developing minds at a young age. This will impact how they deal with gambling in the future, as adults. This is a very dangerous atmosphere they have set up, which has implications on the growth and development of young people. There is a moral obligation to provide content that not only challenges the player base, and is fun, but also promotes good moral values. They are selling a product. That product for the most part is a good one. One which provides lots of opportunties for fun and personal satisfaction and growth. By spending more time on making the game better (free from bots and cheaters, graphically pleasing, challenging, dynamic, etc.) they will realize their profits by increasing their player base and keeping that clientelle coming back year after year for more. SoF in the way it has been implemented and continues to be promoted is really, in my mind, a really CHEAP attempt at trying to maximize profit, and ends up corrupting a good concept.

Leave it to me to take the moral high ground. That is just who I am. This is certainly not intended on judging any other player and what their personal preferences may be. This is just my own personal opinion, for what it is worth.

CreepyPirate · **Posted:** April 26th, 2012, 7:32 am

Two things really.

1) Jagex is based in the UK. There not breaking any UK law. In the eyes of the law it's not gambling. So there not doing anything wrong on that front. Doesn't really matter what the law is anywhere else. Although it's pretty **** shady of them because it is a loop hole there abusing. But that's the greedy disgusting scummy people that are running jagex these days.

2) They've increased membership fees twice and opened up other forms of revenue. Have you seen the updates improving? From where I'm sitting they've become fewer and farther apart and the quality is down on what it used to be. Do not kid yourself that there going to invest this money back into the game. There milking the cow dry.

Really the only way you can let them know what there doing is wrong is by voting with your wallet. Unfortunately despite the uproar they kept this in the game and continue to push it. What that tells me is it's the tip of the iceberg. More money making ventures to come from Jagex. :]

1 Stone Pwn · **Posted:** April 26th, 2012, 12:25 pm

Shane wrote:

It's a great way for Jagex to earn more money which, hopefully, means better content for the player base. It's also a good way for players to tip Jagex if they like what they see. We also benefit from the little rewards that we get in game.

Yes, but I think that what pushes it away from being "acceptable" in my eyes is that it offers players experience in (sometimes) a skill of their choosing just by spending money and pressing a button. At least with the Refer a Friend update, you had to go earn the experience in the first place. That being said, I think I would be fine with the system just offering cosmetic items with the rare functional one thrown in. In my opinion that would create an environment similar to the one in TF2, which holds up well.