Unearthing&Analyzing this article...

Keep in mind that this article was posted December 23rd 2012. Gold prices rise every year right before Christmas since kids buy gold with Christmas money. This article quotes it's figure of $2k spent on gold in a menacing way, but anyone familiar with the RSGP business knows that $2k is not even close to the worst example they could find if they had any knowledge of the RSGP trade.

Questions and comments? Article link: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...542293087?nk=2657e058fa89c5be626006d31848154b

 

It's unfair to criticize the author on his research for this article. You can't expect someone writing for "The Australian" to spend days researching the Runescape gambling scene. The underlying message of the article is well communicated and accurate.

Some kid was using his mom's CC to fund his gambling addiction on Runescape. It's a real problem and something that would be troubling for any family. I can't imagine this kid ever being able to get orders that size, under his mother's name, through any major Sythe seller.

What exactly do you think the author got wrong in their writing? Obviously the reference to "criminal gangs" is ridiculous; it seems to be there simply for shock factor. I have never witnessed any criminal gangs involved in any Runescape trading activities. I think in this case they are referring to dice clans, which are a far cry from a "criminal gang".

Addiction is a real thing, and can apply to nearly any activity in the world. Many activities which the general population would describe as "very healthy", such as exercise and nutrition, can be subject to addiction. So the fact that people are addicted to video games should not be a surprise, and does not mean that video games are unhealthy. Everything needs to be done in moderation.

 

It's not fair to blame the game or the clans. I am a gambling addict and i like how i can get a rush out of a 100m stake ($30) and it feels like a much more significant amount.

i doubt the children who bet $2000+ actually paid for the gold, maybe they earth it staking/bossing and lost that real life value worth of gold. just like i did with 2 yellow phats.

 

If it's the kid's money, let him spend it.

However, a parent should stop them before doing it. It's not anyone else's fault except theirs honestly.

 

This is a good point which I missed. It's hilarious how parents blame everybody else for their child's actions. The parents didn't notice their kid spent $2,000+ on their CC for Runescape gambling. At what point are they going to accept responsibility for being so oblivious? Nowhere do I see the parents acknowledge the fact that they should have noticed much sooner.

 

That's why I included the context. This isn't an educational article, it's main appeal is its wild inaccuracies.

I'm not trying to exploit the bad parenting decisions that led to this kid spending $2,000, the author is trying to exploit that story. The article's author wrote it with the intention to be shocking, I posted it with the intention of pointing out the gross inaccuracies showing how this media source or author is beyond inept at conveying this sort of news in this sort of way.

Perfect response. Do you mind if I quote you at some point in the future on this?

It's unlikely it would have received press unless there was actual money that exchanged hands, otherwise, his parents probably would have never found out about it and there would have never been an article

The point comes full circle here. Parents have an obligation to make sure their child knows the value of money before giving them access to large quantities of it.

Basically the entire article is just a beacon for bad parenting and journalism

 

So very true, I thoroughly enjoy how much you post when you don't have to R2. You don't have to be active in the forums anymore with your status. but you still do.

Very reputable.

#OffTopic

 

OMG I am dying at "Infiltrated by crime clans". But actually though, gambling in a game that revolves around RWT and a young player base can be quite a big issue.


Edit: lmfao after I finished reading the article, I think free trade/the wilderness should be removed so that the kiddies cannot gamble /s

 

Xier0 is preaching.

Truly stupid how a child thinks its okay to grab Mommy or Daddy's credit card and blow 2k$ on a game. C'mon..you kidding me? Blaming Jagex for this?

 

The author took quite a few liberties in this story...it's clear not much research was done, or perhaps the author just decided that this version of the story seemed much more enticing.

"Innocent child gets conned out of $2000 by criminal online gambling organization in popular MMORPG" will draw much more attention than "Boy loses $2000 gambling online". It's not right (in either sense of the word), but it's going to spark reactions. Sensationalism at it's finest.

 

Exactly - the author was either grossly misinformed, or was trying to needlessly glorify something that really wasn't all that glamorous in the first place. /thread basically between your and R2P's comments.

 

It's the parent's fault, don't make your CC so accessible.

 

I think your looking at this at the wrong view point. Take yourself for example, you have more knowledge on "Crime Clans" (lol at that name) then 99.9% of people that actually play runescape, let alone some random Australian writer that probably hasn't heard of runescape before writing this article. Where is this guy supposed to get his info from? It would be extremely difficult to research a topic like this, where very little is written about it.

The author most likely got most of the info from the parents of the kid that gambled 2k, and other gambling addicts. What do you think the 15 year old kid told his parents? He's gonna make it seem like none of it was his fault, and that gambling is evil, etc. Just like all the other gambling addicts, they want to put the blame somewhere else.

What I'm guessing happened is, the parents complained to someone about this, trying to explain how none of this was their fault, and how runescape is evil, etc. Then, this Australian writer gets assigned to write about it, and they tell him one side of the story. I'm sure if he had a talk with someone on the other side, such as you, the article would be much more different.

 

Accessibility goes in two ways, the less your FC is recognized by Jagex, the less your FC is recognized by customers.

 

I think he meant Credit Card, not clan.

 

You're right on second look, thought he meant clan chat.

I'll read over your previous post in a sec just finishing up a trade

 

Bump, I guess I finished that trade.

Anyway - this goes back to the reason this article is humorous to people on this forum in the first place - because it is embellished and there's no sources to any of it. The author is trying to report a gang story because a kid who blows $2,000 of his parents money isn't newsworthy, and it's just a cop out for the kid to get "treatment" for his addiction and blame it on gang activity instead of taking responsibility for his own actions.

Are there points in the articles I could link to RS dicing? Barely. The author was going for sensationalism, with almost parody level regard for accuracy ($700 mobile charge for RS gambling? Jagex lifting RWT restrictions? ZERO link between gang activity and dice clans?)