Out of my friends list of 45 people, I know that's not a lot but still, small list of friends that I have that have played this game actively since the very beginning, two of them still play the game and one of them does not even subscribe full-time. Only when there's a major update.... When I asked every single one of my friends why they no longer play anymore the same exact reason was said. “They were taking over by an investment company, and now it just seems like a silly cash grab. They keep raising the prices, keep missing the mark, don't listen to players.” <<< One of my friends said this to me....
So let's get the facts straight here
According to Jagex full accounts report in 2008 from the UK government website, they made $10 million in profit back in 2008. So they were not operating at a loss. Their profit for the year 2022 is up to 38 million. Jagex's profit rose from £10 million in 2008 to £38 million in 2022, a 280% increase. From 2008's price of $7.95 to the current price of $13.99, the RuneScape membership price has increased by approximately 76%.
So in other words, Jagex profit has risen by 280% since 2008, and They raised the subscription by over 80%. If we count the entire lifespan of RuneScape, it's gone up by 180%. This is: corporate greed.
For reference, by the way, World of Warcraft has never once had to increase their subscription price ever. We also have bonds in our game, and RS3 is completely monetized. A monetized game and a subscription is absolutely insanity, when you add in percentage increases to the subscription price, that's just silly
Edit: A reddit user also pointed out that you have to pay $14 a month for EVERY character, even if you're part of the same account. WoW let's you have 60+ characters in your subscription.
I quit probably 11 years ago. IIRC they did some dumb stuff to cap trades, and I played out most of everything that was very cool & interesting, and they kept adding new stupid skills that I had absolutely no interest in doing. Like the hunting/trapping skill. But then they'd release sick new quests, with good rewards/perks, but to do them you'd have to extensively train up that yucky, boring, dumb "skill" that you would never use otherwise. If not for that quest.
They turned my play into work, and took the fun out of it, and eventually I was like why am I paying these people so I can grind away hours on dumb stuff that I don't even like?? So I quit.
You know it's so funny about the hunting skill that was really controversial? The people who actually did the skill did not enjoy it at all It was extremely tedious and frustrating, myself included. One of the worst skills and I've had no interest in doing it since. But it is by far the most botted skill in the game, pretty much everyone that I came across two years ago doing that skill when I still played, they were all bots. Like every single one of them. You could even mess them up just for fun by putting boxes around them so that you captured stuff and they would basically error out because the spot wasn't working
That is truly hilarious. Idk if I'd stoop to that, maybe I would, because fuck 'em. But I'd be a relatively "active" bot, if that makes sense. Just leave it run on a secondary screen, check it often. Maybe while surfing the web, or reading a book. I'd be there! But all this clicking & clacking, running around, tedious AF. Screw that, man. I'm not your monkey. I felt it was just disrespectful of our time, and I guess I wasn't alone in thinking that.
Botting is dangerous, though, especially when you've got a powerful character worth a damn. I had a really good character, I wouldn't ever want him getting banned. I put in too many good hours to get a ban.