I've played Runescape a bit, and can tell you that 3000 gp is not much. Most high level players will have at least 1 million gp, if not more.

Also, the 3000 gp limit is only for trades. The Runescape version of the AH, the Grand Exchange, has set "market prices." Trades done through the GE are blind, and can vary from the market price by 5%.
 

Of course, that also means no giving friends items or cash. They just slid their game towards control to limit RMT. Blech.
 

They just slid their game towards control to limit RMT. Blech.

Yeah, to make this work, they've had to decide in advance what tradeable items are "really" worth, which to me sucks much of the life and fun out of the economy.
 

An essential fact is that there are local and global markets. That's what made trading fun for me. Crude arbitrage if you will. I never cared to engage in real-world trading, nor did I concern myself with it. It's just a game to me, and I don't take it too seriously (I'm a grown-up). But now Jagex, in decreeing there shall be no more local markets in the game, has killed the game for me. Pity.
 

The real world trading issue is a contentious one, no doubt about it. Those seeking escapism don't want someone's real world cash giving them an in-game benefit (lol @ world of warcraft and trading card game synergy; how can they crack down on gold farmers when they're doing the same exact thing for profit themselves?), but in truly enormous mmorpgs, it realistically doesn't have an impact at all since the pool is so huge that you really shouldn't care about being the best at any given thing and should be aiming to have fun instead.

In a lot of cases, real world trading only exists because the developers have created a truly necessary, time-consuming and mind numbingly stupidly easy task that can be repeated ad nauseum for profit, that nobody is interested in doing, but willing to pay to have done. If people wanted to get the resources in runescape, there'd be no reason paying someone else to get them. Ultimately, removing macroers and real world trading in this scenario just hurts the game because people who put up with the menial task are unaffected, and people who used real world trading to get it done now stop playing altogether or have diminished enjoyment. "Fairness" doesn't really come into it at all. In fact, you'll find that the largest sufferers for this trading check are legitimate players, because there's just less profit to be had by interacting with other people than playing by yourself, now.
 

I am an adult who has planyed Runscape for 3 years with my sons. We are understanding in fact that the RWT's had to go, but having to lose the abilty to give my sons over 3k to 30k (depends on quest points the account Im trading to has, is heartbreaking to me and I find it very hard to play. The so called removal of unbalanced trades isnt completly gone. There are some ways to manipulte the system that I've been told. It concerns me that in time people will find these ways and then the major changes will have been for nothing. My main concern however, is that the would simply close Runescape for good. Any players reading this should think to invite new players to Runescape, so we can grow again and maybe become a better community/game then ever before. See you on The Game ; )
 

Seems almost as detrimental to the game as it might be helpful.

As some of the other posters have mentioned, limiting non-liquid transactions (bartering with items) within this range would require an arbitrary price be stamped onto all tradeable items.

Also limiting asymmetrical transaction in these ways limits your economic freedom to aid your friends' or familys' characters.

You're crushing the house to smother the fire.. it just doesn't make sense. Personally, greater efficiency and profiling in hunting down, banning, and destroying the resources of "gold farmers" is where I would be concentrating my effort.

At least until I think of a better idea. Who knows, if you get good enough you might even make RMT unprofitable.
 

Well, a few month passed by and it is clear the unbalanced trade limitation is working just fine. Players adapted and there are no complains about the limit anymore. Loot share was improved as well as the Grand Exchange which helped with the transition. RWT is still there, but moved into accounts selling and leveling which has virtually no impact on the game play. No bots anywhere! All in all - the battle pretty much won. I wouldn't be surprised to see other games following this successful example.
 

Good grief. The economy is worse than ever. It's "working just fine" for ordinary items that players use everyday but rarer items are impossible to trade fairly unless you spend months exploiting some loopholes.

I, for example, just happen to own some of the rarest items in Runescape. Because Jagex refuses to fix the rare items market the current situation is one where in the "in game price" is of rare items are 4x-10x less than "street price." Street price being the actual price players are willing to pay. To be able to trade street price (what items are actually worth to players!) I would need to artificially inflate a trade by using "junk trading."

Which is ridiculous. IMO, Jagex needs to either fix the prices of rare items (auction, ebay type trading maybe, or just manually changing it, it's not that hard) or allow players in good standing to do unequal trades.