In a new development blog, Jagex Studios suggested an economy makeover for Old School RuneScape. The popular retro MMORPG is currently struggling with a deteriorating economy. This is because the RuneScape operating system has neither a reliable item absorber nor a gold absorber to remove wealth from the game. It is precisely this problem that these latter proposals must address.

The first suggestion is that the Grand Stock Exchange would introduce a tax. The Grand Exchange is a RuneScape auction house where players can buy items from each other. The introduction of a sales tax on all transactions would significantly increase the amount of OSRS gold leaving the economy. Items would be taxed at only 2% of their value, but that's still a lot considering some items are sold for billions of gold.

Restore the economy

Speaking of gold sinks in the OSRS, what could be better than a literal gold sink? This change allows players to build a gold sink in their player-owned home. Building a sink requires level 47 construction, 10 condensed gold, 5 gold leaf, and 5 mahogany planks. The purchase of these materials would cost more than a hundred million gold.

The third method that Jagex uses to remove gold is related to bank space. Banks are the primary save method used by players in Old School Runescape. Currently, there are 816 hardcap items that can be stored in the bank. If this proposal were successful, the number would be increased to 1,200. While acquiring this additional banking space would be very expensive, it would cost nearly 900 million gold.

While the implementation of a gold outlet in the RuneScape OS is important, it means nothing without an equivalent outlet of items. The new system introduced with the Grand Exchange tax allows Jagex to purchase items from players itself. These items would be purchased with funds raised through taxes. All items purchased in this way are immediately removed from the game, reducing supply without reducing demand.

As with all major updates to Old School RuneScape, these changes are not permanent. The game has an active community poll that allows players to vote on whether these changes should be made. They will only be added if at least 75% of the voters support this proposal. If this value is not reached, the suggestions will be deleted or edited for the next poll in the future.

Nov-05-2021