Eight days ago, well-known streamer DarthMicrotransaction announced that they had lost everything on their Old School RuneScape account. This was valued at 4.8 billion gold and obviously devastating. In the announcement video, he stated that the cause of this was not having set up two-factor authentication. The video was poised as a warning to others to ensure that they do this and don’t end up in the same position.
Five days later, DarthMicrotransaction posted a follow-up video stating that Jagex gave him all of his items back. He explained how he has been playing RuneScape for an incredibly long time, and as he, and the player base all know, this doesn’t happen. Whilst fans of the popular streamer were happy for him, other members of the Old School RuneScape community were absolutely flabbergasted as this had never been done before and set a precedent that streamers would receive special treatment.
It’s always been clear that losing items due to a lack of account security is the fault of the account holder. Many people have been hacked repeatedly and have had to pull themselves up by the Wizard Boots and start again. So, this didn’t sit right with the community, and today Jagex finally posted an announcement regarding this issue in their news.
Our policy, as stated on our website, currently indicates a universal inability to return lost items to players. However, we acknowledge that recent actions have diverged from this message, creating confusion and feelings of inequality among our valued community.
Jagex, October 6th, 2023.
The above line is why players are so enraged by the inequality that Jagex has displayed with this specific content creator. It goes against their policy, and a policy should be a one-size-fits-all all approach, as opposed to cherry-picking who they can help and who they cannot.
Going forward, where we are at fault, we will continue to strive towards restoring items that are lost as best as we can.
Jagex, October 6th, 2023.
The message that they have pushed out today continues to be confusing. They clearly state that they will continue to strive towards restoring lost items when they are at fault. But that isn’t what they did in this situation, as they weren’t at fault.
Navigating the delicate balance between fair play for all and acknowledging the influential role of content creators within Old School has always presented a nuanced challenge. Content creators, with their widespread reach and impact on our community and potential players, undoubtedly play a pivotal role in amplifying and enriching the gaming experience…While we recognize that this can create feelings of disparity among our general playerbase, our ultimate intention is to safeguard the reputation of Old School RuneScape…
Jagex, October 6th, 2023
The message that they end on makes it clear that players who exist in the public eye will always receive differential and special treatment, as Jagex does not want any negativity in the wider community. There’s no other way to take the statement. The pivotal role of the few players who stream Old School RuneScape is more important than the mass of players who keep Old School RuneScape alive with their membership, love of the game, and community support.
With an inability to remove items, it would mean we are injecting items into the game economy, which could have irreparable damage to the intricate player-run system that the health of the game so heavily relies upon.
Jagex, October 6th, 2023
Is this not what just happened? The streamer in question lost 4.8 billion gold worth of items. If staff cannot remove the stolen items as they stated above, it means that they just injected another 4.8 billion gold worth of items into the game. A lot of these items are significant, and rare.
Since the statement about the lost items was posted, all of RuneScape’s social media outlets were flooded with players who shared the same sentiments. Unlike Hero Pass, where the occasional person liked the idea or thought people were overreacting this time, there has yet to be a single person stating that this was the right thing to do. It goes against everything that the Old School RuneScape team has said in the past: it’s blatant favoritism, it highlights the lack of care and support for regular players, and the game just received 4.8 billion golds worth of duplicated items.
It seems that nothing is going to be done about it. The Old School RuneScape team has released the statement, and that’s how it will be. The streamer himself isn’t at fault, as he stated that it wasn’t something he had requested but was naturally happy to receive, as anyone would be. The Old School RuneScape team stated that they will continue to look into making a system to help players, but returning items hurts the game… unless you’re a streamer. Then, it’s for the betterment of Old School RuneScape.
