The Wilderness (Thesis)

The Clan Thesis is a document written by His Lordship and published to the WG Website on 27 April 2004. The full thesis is as follows, copied verbatim from the original apart from stylistic changes to fit the Wiki format.

The Wilderness

A Thesis by His Lordship of the Wilderness Guardians

Author's Comments

This report may not appeal to every reader. Some take a great interest in knowing the constructions of the game. Others simply enjoy it. This document deals only with the workings of the Wilderness, and does not provide advice for players. There is a very ambiguous element to the text below, which I deliberately simplify in order to reach a young audience. As the ideas are exposed and developed the level of difficulty rises consequently.

This document is not a tutorial. It is simply a combination of facts that have been, until now, common knowledge.

Most of the ideas that are being explored are insultingly obvious, when read on screen. A vast majority of Runescape players will say “I know this already, there is no need for me to read this.” Though it may seem obvious, most people do not actually think about these things. When I DO tell them, it becomes so clear them it seems obvious. But you will be surprised by the things that you would not have known before reading the thesis.

I was led into writing this thesis through sheer annoyance, after having surveyed an audience of people and finding out how shallow their opinions were. On the Rune village forums I received expressions of disgust at some of my viewpoints on PKing. My aim in writing this thesis is to both help people to find where they belong in this intricate system and also to share with you my thoughts on where I believe Runescape is heading, and where it should be headed to.

I have tried to cover as much as possible, though I can guarantee some is missing. If you would like to know more, or comment, email me at (email address redacted). I’m afraid to say that you will be rather low on my priority list, as I am leader of the Wilderness Guardians clan, and my clan demands the greater part of my time.

Introduction

Why is it that the Runescape Wilderness intrigues all of us so greatly? It must certainly be that combination of thrill and danger, combined with the sense of fostering friendships and the endless uninhabited plains in which one can trek through in awe and wonder. No other Runescape setting can ever compare with the Wilderness in any aspect.

No place grants us the ability to interact so greatly with other humans. The deepest caves inside the darkest dungeons don’t even measure up to the fear and thrill within the Wilderness. The King Black Dragon itself could not even provide such a feeling. Why is this? It is because danger is not measured by the challenge; it is measured by improbability. The KBD can not think for itself, and for this it is so easily slain. No computer generated character will ever think, or lie, or hide, or talk about anything other than what Jagex tells it to say. A human mind, on the other hand, is never perfectly predictable. We can never tell when our best friend is going to stab us in the back, or if we stumble across a 50-strong clan. We are left in the dark. And it is this that makes the Wilderness unlike any other place. Where can you find a mining location that is rarely used, abundant in every ore? Or where will you find a supply of magic runes lying on the floor untouched? Where can you fight large battles of might? Where else can you find a Mage Arena or a Red Dragon? Only in the Wilderness, is this possible; with a high risk comes a high return.

It is no wonder the Wilderness is harvested so often for its rich resources, combat possibilities and activities. Within this large network of clans, castles, and craters is an ecosystem of many individual components. Every member has a place somewhere, whether it is PKing, or training, maybe even war or following a clue. No matter how hard they try, no decent player will be able to avoid the Wilderness forever.

A great tendency these days is to form clans, for several different reasons. This makes Wilderness combat even more complicated, by creating power struggles and expanding the scope for peer relationships. The wilderness also has a great impact on the economy. A single full scale war could dramatically change the prices of war commodities. More details on clans and economics later. Every person has a reason to access the wilderness, in every aspect of the game. Battle, skills, quests, friendships, even moneymaking. Most of us know how to utilize the wilderness fully, knowing our place. Some of us try out some elements of it to see what it’s all about. Some of us fear it. Whatever type of person we are, what happens in the Wilderness directly affects us. That is why it would benefit you to learn about the system that works in simultaneity. What can you do to leave the Wilderness a better place that what you entered it as? What problems face players in the Wilderness? How can these problems be solved? If the answers were simple, the questions would not exist. This thesis can offer a cornerstone in which one can choose his or her own path in finding the answer.

Functions of the Wilderness

The Wilderness is very much a PKing dominated region. Though it may be high in minerals and resources, these are often neglected due to high risk factors. Other activities also come into motion. The whole idea of the Wilderness is to create a risk, in which Jagex can cleverly manipulate the players into choosing to make risks with a greater return.

Resources

The wilderness is host to a great deal of resources. Obviously the further in you venture, the higher the risk. So why venture in at all? Because the deeper you travel, the more you can benefit. To the shallow end of the Wilderness you can find Body Rune respawns, coal mining sites, arrow respawns, and other various objects of a similar kind.

As you find yourself at the other extreme of the Wilderness, you start coming across much rarer items, such as sapphires, mithril, chaos runes, rune rocks, and some powerful monsters.

The resources in the Wilderness are rarely yielded, due to the large masses of PKers that scan the Wilderness in search of prey. With the exception of the Rune rocks, the deeper in a person goes, the more likely it will be for the resources to be available.

Resources are quite simple to comprehend and there isn’t much need to delve into precise detail, however it is important to note that the resources in the Wilderness are meant to be utilized extensively, for what other purpose are they there for? It is obvious that most people are not willing to take that risk. It is important for Jagex to find the perfect balance between risk and reward. We do not want to lower the risk so much to a point whereby the Wilderness resources are worn out, yet by not lowering the risk enough, the resources are rarely used, especially further in, with the greater demons and green dragons and such. Those that do use such facilities are the higher level players, and it is often these people who we see in higher wilderness. Though these players may be brave enough, a large percentage of the Runescape population would never dare use these skill reserves.

That is our present situation. A high risk relative to a low return. We have two options. We can either reduce the risk, or we can increase the reward, showing caution not to increase the reward too greatly.

If you are interested in joining a clan that places emphasis on skills work, try out:

SeeD:
http://www.cspacezone.com/cspaceforum4/index.php
The Council of Dragons:
http://www.avidgamers.com/c_o_d
The Runescape Scorpions:
http://www.runescapescorpions.com

Activities

The wilderness is an essential part of a player’s experience. Members are made subject to the Wilderness through clues, the KBD, the Mage Arena, and other venues and events that do not involve skill raising or combat. In other words, they are forced to enter the Wilderness. Non members are less affected by this. Not a lot needs to be said on this matter, though there are a few noteworthy facts that should be mentioned. These people usually travel in one of two ways:

1) Travel with 3 or 4 items, so as to minimize losses if a PKer comes in their direction. 2) To travel in a large group. The old saying strength in numbers proves to be quite true. A large crowd will either deter PKers, or grant people an even share in combat.

It is these people who are least subject to risk, because of the little time they actually spend in the Wilderness.

Combat

Combat is by far, the largest phenomenon that occurs in the Wilderness. Combat covers PKing, antiPKing, dueling, war, combat training and chasing. There are hundreds of documents written on PKing, quite a few on wars and dueling, and sadly antiPKing is written about very little. There is so much to cover with combat, that no one work can provide a definitive coverage of it. Combat will be focused upon in more detail in the next chapter.

Combat is a means of settling scores, making money, passing time with friends or alone, and even training. Every aspect of combat is extremely complicated. There is a combination of many factors and morals etc, and the methods in which combat are carried out vary. If we looked at all the people in the Wilderness at any one time in every server, approximately 80% of them would be fighting, 18% would be raising skills or collecting items and the other 2% will be doing something else, maybe exploring or chasing a clue. The high level wilderness is a favorite hunting ground for high level PKers and clans.

Combat in general is what runs the Runescape market, it is most unfortunate to say. Though this will be covered again once more in the Economic side of the thesis, we can look at how combat affects the economy.

Some important facts. Combat items are the highest selling items in Runescape that a player can make (not rare or special drop items). Every skill is based on combat. Prayer, attack, defense, strength, hit points, magic and ranged are the obvious ones. The secondary skills will supplement the combat situation. Rune crafting, fishing, herblore, agility, mining and smithing, crafting and indeed all the other skills pay attention to combat, maybe with thieving as an exception. With such a large emphasis on combat, every person will find him or her self manufacturing goods that ultimately lead to combat, most often in the wilderness. We look to the future in hopes that Jagex will alleviate some pressure from the combat cycle and invest in other areas of a role playing game, such as music, or carpentry.

The Nature of Wilderness Combat

Considering the importance of Wilderness battle, a great emphasis must be placed on it. We can divide combat into NPC combat, which is fighting game based characters and PKing, short for Player Killing. Because of the nature of the Wilderness, most Wilderness combat is PKing.

PKing itself can be broken into four major categories. These are dueling, PKing in general or RPKing, antiPKing and war. What separates one category from another is the intention of the combat.

After having established these subcategories of PKing, we can also deal with other variables such as clan networks, teams, fighting styles (Mage, Range Warrior), defensive and aggressive stance, and other minor factors.

Again, let’s look at the whole situation. It was previously stated that 80% of the Wilderness visitors were PKers of some description. Now, we shall inspect that number even closer. Within those 80% of PKers, we can categorize them into the four PKing types. 70% of all PKers are RPKers. 25% are antiPKers, although most don’t believe they are (more on this in later reading); the remaining 5% are duelists. War participants have not been included because war is a rare circumstance.

Note that these statistics are not exact. They are generic and should not be taken too seriously.

Dueling

This group is the smallest constituent in the PKing genre. Approximately 5% of PKers in the wilderness are duelers. It will not surprise you to know that dueling in the Wilderness happens only in the free worlds. The wilderness is the only way in which two people can agree on set terms before a battle. Unfortunately these players are limited in their dueling practices because they lack in circumstance what the dueling arena provides Runescape members. The two most common places are the low levels of Wilderness north of Varrock (levels 1-4), and in front of the Dark Warriors fortress (levels 14-16). These duelers are usually surrounded by PKers (RPKers have the PKing connotations, so when somebody says PKers, it is RPKers that they are usually referring to), and it is hard to differentiate between an RPKer and a duelist.

A duelist fights so he can simply have fun, against his friends in battles of might, to settle scores, or perhaps because he believes that RPKing is a dishonorable act for several reasons. Sometimes two people can fight each other just to gain combat experience. It is very, very rare to see duelists fighting away from the crowds of Varrock or the Dark Warriors’ Fort (known as The Castle by most). The lower level duelers tend to occupy the Varrock area, while the more daring ones venture deeper to the Dark Warriors’ Fortress.

Surprisingly, there are very few dueling clans that provide dueling opportunities for players to gather and fight in a controlled manner. This could prove to be a big an innovative approach to PKing. There is a large audience of players that would respond well to this. It would be unique in the fact that it would be a clan where the members fight each other, not people outside the clan. This is an amazing opportunity for bonds to grow and strengthen.

PKing in General (AKA RPKing)

PKers have been in Runescape since its earliest days. Originally Runescape was intended to be a dueling based game, where people could simply fight on the streets, and only banks were safe. Soon trends of RPKing grew popular, people striking innocent targets and the game continued to become more dangerous. Soon PKing became so well-liked, and Jagex was forced to move all PKing to the Wilderness, where RPKing continued to prove popular, and has since been growing steadily.

PKers comprise the largest part of the Wilderness. They vary in form, and have many different purposes and intentions. Thus far we have deconstructed the wilderness twice. On the primary level, we have said that at any one time the Wilderness is 80% PKers in some form, 18% Skills, and 2% other sorts. Then, from that 80% of PKers, we said that 70% belongs to the RPKing group, 25% antiPKers, and 5% Duelists. We can now take it down even further by saying this: Of the 70% RPKers, 55% or so will be PKing for just money. Usually these PKers are found alone or in pairs. 15% will have returned into the Wilderness for vengeance or to make up for a recent loss. These people may be alone or may be accompanied by several friends. The remaining 30% belongs to those who are there just to have fun. In many cases, this means clans.

Note again, these statistics are only designed to create a general impression, not exact figures. They are most likely off the mark.

RPKers are Random Player Killers. They will kill anybody they deem worthy of fighting. Most clans fall into this category.

Just like the name, the behavior of RPKers is quite random. They can PK solo, in a team of a few friends, a large group of 10, or a clan of 50. They can fight in several ways. In regard to clans, there are opportunities to create strategies. RPKers are scattered all over the Wilderness. As a general rule, the serious PKers are always in high Wilderness. Those who are just getting a feel for it spend most of their time below level 20 Wilderness, within the teleport zone. There are many forms of PKers in regards to combat. Though pures have diminished since the release of Runescape 2, they are still existent. There is also a tendency for a mage to couple with a warrior. We also don’t know what type of people a PKer will attack. Apart from these few pieces of information, there is much variety in PKing.

Because PKing has been extensively used due to its simplicity compared to antiPKing and dueling, there is a high risk factor. In the Wilderness the risk by far outweighs the return, which is one problem with PKing. The economy is dominated by PKing. Whenever a large clan goes to war, or when there is a surge of PKers, commodity prices vary as well. Only marginally, but they do change all the same. Some good advice is to sell rune armor at a higher price before a full scale war, and buy for cheaper afterward.

The problem with PKing is that you never know your luck. Some days may be good, others will be appalling. It’s all part of the system.

Another fact to note is that there is a simple dichotomy between amateur PKers and professionals. Amateurs will never venture past level 20, whereas the professionals will scour the higher levels frequently. This is 90% accurate.

One growing problem with PKing is a sense of pride. Because such a high emphasis is placed on combat there are many rivalries caused as a result. The concept of “ownage” is very popular as well. And its amazing to see how many people actually use it. If two players of equal combat fight each other, and one does particularly well, he’ll call it ownage, when in honesty it is simply luck. Even great level differences will not necessarily mean the player of lower combat skills will lose. People use the concept of ownage to make themselves feel good, and discriminate the other player. The competitive nature of RPKing may be very good, but then bullying and concepts much like ownage come into motion. This artifice of dominance is a way in which a player will generate self confidence, believing it is power. Most PKing problems are related to bullying and rivalries through the competitive nature of RPKing. As a general rule, RPKers who do not work together are enemies.

Some top ranking RPKing clans are:

Damage Inc
http://s4.invisionfree.com/DamageIncorporated/index.php
‘THE’
http://theclan.im00.net/
Zeonic Force
http://www.zeonicforce.com
Clan Jaguar
http://invisionfree.com/forums/Clan_Jaguar/index.php
The Knights of Death
http://www.rskod.com
The BlacKnights
http://www.rsblacknights.com
The Gladiatorz
http://www.geocities.com/gladiatorzclan/

• Please note that not all high ranking clans are listed. This thesis only names a number of the more famous ones, who are backed by good reputation. All of the above clans have some sort of minimum requirement.
• These clans are all highly recommended by the general population of Runescape, and these clans have a friendly atmosphere and a sense of pride.

AntiPKing

AntiPKing was born out a reaction to PKing. The concept began when the levels of PKing were much larger than they are now. It only really came underway in mid 2003. The concept started of as a vengeance against the murderers who killed players. Later that concept changed to liberating the Wilderness from ALL PKers, and then changed once more to reducing the levels of PKers, a more sensible approach, and much more beneficial to the economy and the wilderness. AntiPKing is yet to reach it summit, though it is steadily becoming more popular.

AntiPKing is a not so well known term. Surprisingly, for such an unknown term, there are many people that antiPK. A common misconception is that antiPKers are not PKers. In fact, they KNOW they PKers, nevertheless they PK for different reasons. AntiPKing and PKing are indeed, similar.

AntiPKers PK like ordinary PKers, with a few conditions. This group of players does not harm people that are in the Wilderness for either skills or an activity. The antiPKer kills only those who are in the Wilderness with the intention to fight. There are two types of antiPKers. They are Noble PKers, which encompass 70% of all antiPKers, and extreme antiPKers,which are the remaining 30%. Noble PKers very rarely call themselves antiPKers. They fight other people in the wilderness who wish to fight as well. This includes other antiPKers at times. The extreme antiPKers deliberately enter the Wilderness with the intention to reduce the number of PKers. There are 3 reasons for this. One, it feels morally right not to harm those who do not harm you. Two, it helps solve the problem with the high risk in exchange for a low return. Finally 3, People who are out there to fight offer more of a challenge in comparison to skill seekers. There are also those who simply stand in one position and let a PKer attack them, though this can become very boring.

Like RPKers, antiPKers will travel just about anywhere. The extreme antiPKers will offer peace first, and determine whether you’re a PKer or not (a skull above one’s head is not sufficient to label a person as an RPKer) Almost anyone could be an antiPKer. It is hard to differentiate between an RPKer and antiPKer. Both may have skulls above their heads, which is one problem facing antiPKers.

Another problem with antiPKing is that after a clan has purged the Wilderness of PKers, the return becomes higher than the risk temporarily, but doesn’t remain that way very long.

AntiPKers have an equal bearing on the economy, as they still fight as though they are PKing.

Unlike the RPKers, antiPKers will consider other antiPKers to be friends if both are extreme. Even some noble PKers will ally with an antiPKer. antiPKing is most effective in groups.

Most clans pk in multi combat, a clan in non multi can lose people if one person attacks, resulting in them mainly staying to multicombat areas. A clan cannot have a successful trip solely staying in non - multicombat. And non - multicombat is where the danger for people in the wilderness for skills lies. However most skills lie in non multi combat. So how could antiPKing possibly save those who are in non-multicombat when antiPKing clans operate in multi-combat?

Clans target multicombat... and as a generic rule only other groups and clans enter multicombat, so people will find that in multicombat areas the combat is usually between groups, however it is common practice for a clan to kill non-PKers who are passing through a multicombat area. This is why antiPKing is successful. AntiPKing clans act as a moderator in the Wildermess, cleansing it of other PKers and indeed other antiPKers, while not harming non-PKers. This remedies the problem of clans ganging on individual players... Often these players are only passing through a region of multicombat. I remind you that the multicombat areas in the wilderness are vast, and in crossing the wilderness to get to skill areas, a player will be likely to enter multicombat and be susceptible to PKing clans. Luring is really an antiPKing technique, but it is often used by PKers in the wrong way, making people skull, unable to log, etc, but the fact remains that luring only works on PKers, otherwise they would not take th bait and seek to kill the lurer.

In long stretches of non multi combat, luring will not work, and the best thing antiPKing clans could possibly do is act as a sacrificial lamb, where the PKer targets the antiPKer in preference to the non-PKer... that, or the realisation that the PKer will be doomed to die if he is forced to fight the clan person by person will intimidate him, and he will flee.

As for solo PKers, antiPKers have a very common technique to drive them out of the wilderness, which I am sure you are familiar with. Luring. A single antiPKer will drive a PKer into multicombat, where the remainder of the clan will attempt to kill him or her.

Some recommended extreme antiPKing clans are:

The Wilderness Guardians (or Wildguard)
http://www.wildernessguardians.com
The Sabres:
http://www.sabrefortress.tk
The Synergy:
http://s4.invisionfree.com/the_synergy

• Please note that all of these clans/ groups have minimum requirements.
• Many clans are antiPKers in a sense. Most Noble antiPKing clan leaders do not care whether a member RPKs or not. As a clan they may not harm a skill-raiser, but there are individuals who might make exception to the rule, therefore they have not been mentioned here.

War

War is the most impressive part of Wilderness activity. It is on such a large scale that clans will flee before one on most occasions. Wars only happen between clans, obviously. Players can’t fight each other and call it war. A war usually happens between 2 PKing clans or a PKing clan and an antiPKing clan. A war between 2 antiPKing clans is yet to be witnessed. Reasons to go to war vary.

In the interest of all parties, there are some “unwritten rules” in war. These rules have developed over the years, through their use in leading clans. Most clans play by the rules of war, and those who do not are deemed to be cheaters. Until now these rules have only been common knowledge. Here is the Just War Statement in full documentation.

JUST WAR

A just war will have 2 components. The pre-war agreement stage and the war stage. Both are essential in ensuring that the war is fair. Please note: Fair war does not imply that both fighting sides must be equal in magnitude. Just war only ensures that there is no cheating.

PRE-WAR AGREEMENT

• There must be a valid reason to go to war. The two most acceptable reasons are to defend a clan from another clan, and to settle an argument between two clans. A less worthy cause is to prove one clan superior to another.
• Both clans involved must have permission to go to war by their leaders. A member cannot declare war on behalf of a clan without the leader’s authentication.
• Both clans must engage in conversation in preparation or war with each other. All clans involved have an equal share in selecting the terms of war, such as server, venue and fighting styles.
• If one clan elects to bring allies, the other clan reserves the right to bring the same number of allied clans.
• If one clan declines the war, the other clan has reason to call itself superior to the withdrawing clan.
• If a clan disbands after both clans have agreed to go to war, the other clan wins by default

WAR STAGE

• A clan can only fight using its clan members, who are registered on the clan’s forums. Any clan that invites non-clan members is considered to be cheating, unless the other clan agrees to make an exception.
• Both clans hold the right to record the war
• Unless agreed upon in the terms set before the war, there will be no returning to the field of combat. Any person who is killed by a PKer or antiPKer who is not partaking in the war is usually allowed to return to battle
• Both clans hold the right to have accompanying allies on different worlds in case they are needed if the other clan has been proven to cheat.
• Retreating is considered to be death, and those who retreat cannot return to battle.
• Scouting is allowed
• The victor of the war is determined the last remaining clan as well as the clan’s allies.
• The winning clan has the right to keep the loot dropped by the victims of war.

Wars provide a fun opportunity for all members involved. Even witnessing a war is very enjoyable. Some clans even base all their events around wars. They will choose who to war with weeks and even months in advance and prepare their clan for the war.

However, there is a considerably large downside to war. As George Orwell said “The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of human labor”. This is very true in Runescape. As we know, those who die do not really die… They continue life after death. War only consumes hard work. Food is wasted, supplies are drained, supplies are transferred from the loser to the winner, and can have a devastating effect on a clan.

As a result of the war, the winners claim the loot. On the other hand, the rivalry increase and hatred multiplies. While the competition is good, most of the time the losers do not congratulate the winning team. Rather, they will curse at them and swear vengeance. This is simply human nature and is very difficult to change.

Some consider a clan to be professional only after they have fought a war.

Fighting in Groups and Clans

The key fact is that people fight in clans for power. It has always been that power comes in numbers. In fact it would be safe to say that 80 percent of all people who venture into the Wilderness are in a clan. Most clans offer the same thing. Some demand higher standards, others take in everybody.

Some argue that clans are bad ways to operate, because of risks of backstabbing, less chance of gaining loot, bias and other many pitfalls. Many people are willing to risk it alone.

The multicombat areas in the wilderness are vast, and in crossing the wilderness to get to skill areas, a player will be likely to enter multicombat and be susceptible to PKing clans. As a result, clans run multicombat, and solo PKers, non multi.

As mentioned before, four fifths of all long term players are members of a clan. If 80% of all people belong to a clan, why do we see so many solo warriors in the Wilderness? The answer stares us in the face, yet many of us can’t see it. Clans don’t muster for PKing or antiPKing for one’s convenience. Most clans enter the Wilderness once a week. One weekly trip is usually the most a clan can afford to do, though some may have two. As a result, a player will be venturing into the wilderness alone or with a friend or two, to try and get a few kills. Alone, these people are weak, and are generally the victims of other clans. It can be advantageous for people to fight in smaller groups, so that they get a higher chance of claiming loot and get a larger amount of it too.

Again, there is a high risk, high return factor. Those who choose to fight alone are taking the risk of running into a clan, and clans do not reward members very often.

Let us consider the true power clans have in the Wilderness. Let us assume that there are 2000 clans. We can narrow that number down to 800 active clans with at least 20 members. We can take that number down even further to 300 clans that are actually lethal to small groups. Now these clans will probably be going out on a weekend, which is Saturday and Sunday. So that’s 150 clans in the Wilderness a day, which is approximately 6 clans entering the Wilderness every hour, staying there for about 3 hours. Spread that over 30 servers, and you will have 1 powerful clan on each server. Now lets add the missing 1700 clans or so, and we’re looking at several Wilderness clans at any one time in any one server. That is a lot of power. This leaves everyone else at the mercy of these clans.

When these clans come face to face with each other, spontaneous war breaks out. Being unprepared, this wars are actually more chaotic than organized wars, even with reduced numbers. Much of the time this clash will result in a full scale war later.

It is the clans that run the economy, and the leaders that have control over the clans. So therefore clan leaders have not only complete control over any actions taken in a clan, but also control over part of the economy. The stronger the clan, the more power a leader will have. Most leaders do not exercise their economic powers. Such an important position also has its negativities. Because of this, there will be several internal power struggles, especially as a clan grows. Most clans will have a change in leadership due to the high level of pressure. Some clans also have a rotation of leaders, and some have a council of high ranking members. This often doesn’t work, especially if every person has an equal share in power, because there will be too much fighting. On top of this the clan leader has to resolve fights, make diplomatic decisions, maintain the website and forums, counsel members, manage clan recruitment, manage a clan bank, log in frequently to oversee the smooth running of everything, organize events, organize war, send and track spies and many other numerous jobs. Clan leadership is very stressful.

The Wilderness and the Economy

As mentioned before, the Wilderness has the greatest impact on the Runescape economy. As more clans enter the Wilderness prices of items are reduced. When a clan disbands, we see slight increases in prices. Though these are marginal, they have an effect all the same. Every wilderness activity is affected deeply by the actions taken in the Wilderness.

Also, as the PKing population increases, so too does supply of goods. More people are producing food and armor, and are producing it at a faster rate than it is being consumed.

This concept can be illustrated using a diagram.

This is the cycle of Runescape. The black cycle represents one player killing another player and taking his loot. So on the spiral goes, as one player kills another player, and another player kills that player, and armor is passed around and around. As the population increases, the cycle gets bigger. More players are killing other players, and those players who pick up the loot are killed by other players and the loot passes on.

While this spiral is going onward in perpetual motion, other players are making food, which is consumed in battle. This is represented by the red arrows. The food is injected into the cycle of players, and is leaked from the cycle when it is eaten. At the moment, food is being created faster than it is being eaten. This means that the lower red arrow is bigger than the top arrow. With so much food left over, the fishermen will sell for lower prices, causing the price of food to fall. If there are more fighters than there are food sellers, prices of food will go up. However this is not happening. People choose to make more food than what is needed. So unless, fighters start demanding more food or fishermen catch less food, then the price of food will drop. The same applies for runes and potions.

As you can see armor is injected into the fighting cycle as well. However, armor is not destroyed; it is only transferred from one person to another. So while the fighters are buying armor and weaponry from each other, more is coming in. Soon, if more armor enters the market, the price of armor will fall greatly, because armor cannot go anywhere else except around the cycle. We can only hope that the cycle increases so that more people demand armor. Otherwise we’ll soon have a crisis where there is so much armor that prices will fall greatly. After having bought 10 sets of full rune, there really is no need for any more armor, so armor sellers will become so desperate to make money that they will reduce the price of armor in order for people to buy it. This will worsen the economic problem.

The amount of armour being produced is growing at an exponential rate. The number of people playing Runescape has been on a stable and constant increase, rather than the expected exponential growth. The rate at which rune ores spawn, and the rate at which rune smithers are emerginging and pumping out rune is faster than the rate at which it is being consumed. In the last 4 months the average price of rune has decreased 10-20k to 200k. The thing slowing down this deflation is the fact that Runescape players are getting richer in general, and can afford more sets... Remember that the REAL value of rune is also eroding. If you think about it, 200k now is a lot less than 200k a year ago. While the price of rune has not dropped significantly, its value has nonetheless decreased.. The nominal rate of armor will not change because it is well balanced by a steady flow of new players, rune armor being in high demand from smithers, price of rune armor in champions guild, and the steady price of rune ores. What has happened though is that the real value of rune armor has declined.

How does this all relate to the Wilderness? Well, that’s how the fighting cycle works. The fighting cycle does not take effect for computer characters. This cycle is the basis of the Runescape economy.

Every skill is well in tune with Wilderness combat. Therefore having the knowledge of the Wilderness economy is a great aid in knowing about the rest of the Runescape economy.

One more important fact to note is that armor is not distributed evenly. Evidently some people will own far more armor than the rest. These are the rich and powerful people. As they get more powerful by killing people, their victims become weaker by losing their equipment. So as they become richer the poor remain poor. It is not easy to start out as a PKer because there are great losses on your part. These losses will make it very difficult for you to reach a higher level of power and wealth. In summary, the powerful players gain their wealth by depriving lesser members of their armor and supplies. This is how they stay at the top. AntiPKing can slow this down, but it doesn’t help much. The only other solution is to unite the lesser players in groups in order to set up a large strike toward the higher members, and this must be done repeatedly. This will be most unlikely to happen, and less powerful players must find another way to gain their power.

Conclusion

The wilderness is by far the most complicated element of Runescape. It is what brings the game to life. It is what brings variety. Run completely by the human mind, it is subject to the greatest things. The economy of the Wilderness is the cornerstone of all Runescape activity, and it is the one place where we can foster great friendships, and great rivalries.

Combat is so diverse, every player unique in his or her style of fighting. War wages, exploration blooms and death waits for some.

No other place or idea will have a greater impact on a player.

It is no wonder that from such an important place is born a complex network of clans and relationships.

Whether we have just taken our first steps in Lumbridge, or whether we witnessed the birth of the game itself, the Wilderness never ceases to take its toll on us.

All that is asked of us is that we learn about what sustains the game, and leave the Wilderness a better place than how we entered it.

Bibliography

Special Thanks to:

Websites
Runescape, www.runescape.com
Rune village, www.runevillage.com
RuneHQ, www.runehq.com

Clans
The Wilderness Guardians Clan
The Sabre Clan
All other featured clans who I was able to interview

Colleagues
Lord Xin
Wildflame110
Vincent Sd
Karlfischer

And thank you to the volunteers who I was able to survey over Runescape.