In the MMORPG RuneScape 3 there is a campaign in September that brings a large bundle in the real money shop. This bundle includes very strong items that usually require a lot of grind and a minimum level. The barrel is overflowing for the RuneScape community.
What happened in RuneScape? There is currently a Pay2Win debate going on in the “current” RuneScape. This is due to the two “Skilling Bundles”, which can be found in the shop until September 25th for around € 17.
In these bundles are the so-called “overloads”, which ensure that the minds of the gamblers heat up.
What are overloads? The item is a very strong potion. The overload combines all five attributes of your character in one potion and improves them by 15%. That makes it the perfect drink for any struggling player. The overloads are not tradable and to create them you need Herbalism at level 96, which corresponds to many hours of grind.
So many people believe that overload is the number one reason to level Herbalism in the first place, as this is one of the most powerful potions in the game and you can’t just buy it. The fact that you can get five of these valuable items in the September Skill Bundle for real money and thus avoid any grind makes the community angry.
“RuneScape 3 will be the worst Pay2Win game ever”
What exactly is bothering the community? Many comments on reddit flood the channels of RuneScape 3. One of the threads with the most upvotes is entitled “RuneScape 3 will be the worst Pay2Win game ever”. But is that true?
Is that Pay2Win? Many voices on reddit are also wondering that, because opinions differ here: When you buy the bundle and with it the overloads, you don’t pay to be better than the others, but to reach certain milestones faster and thus avoid the grind. According to some users, the correct name for this would be Pay2Progress and not Pay2Win. Unfortunately, that does not reduce the anger of the community.
What do the users say? While many on reddit just vent their frustration, there are also some constructive comments. The general mood in the community is rather negative.
The other items in the bundle are hardly addressed at all. Basically, the only thing that bothers the gamblers is the possibility of being able to buy Overloads with real money.
Is it the first Pay2Win debate? No. While the classic old school RuneScape largely manages without microtransactions, those in RuneScape 3 have long been the order of the day. Among other things, you can already buy in-game currency with real money and boost your experience. This has led to discussions in the past, mainly because the game actually relies on a subscription model in order to be able to experience all of the content.
The bundle itself will disappear from the RuneScape 3 shop on September 25th. So that’s enough time to stock up on the overloads if you want to take the money in hand.