MInd if I tell you how to play, Comrade? No? TOO BAD!

We're going to need a moment to compose ourselves. Excuse us....

Nope. Even that won't work. So let's begin:

Oh my F***ING GAWD!!!

Are you serious? I mean, are YOU F***ING SERIOUS?

In case you haven't played Runescape lately (no, we're not going to link there because we are so angry), you might want to take a seat and get ready. In their wisdom, the wonderfully pinko developers at Runescape have decided to free the proletariat by removing any semblance of free markets or individual liberty. Now the dialectic can continue on its natural course and the free peoples of the world can unite in brotherhood and rejoice!

What are we talking about? If you want to read the communist manifesto that is the new Runescape Update, you can go to their site and look for the new rules about trading. If you don't want to read how Jagex decided to make your decisions for you, we don't blame you, so we'll sum it up:

You can no longer choose what prices you want to pay or what items are worth. Jagex no longer trusts you to decide for yourself, so they've decided to decide for you. Trading and paying prices will now only be allowed if Jagex deems the prices are ok. You are too stupid to decide for yourself. You might have to think. You might have to plan. You might have to learn that the freedom to choose for yourself means that something bad might possibly happen at some time and that's bad. Now you have to get Jagex's approval before you trade, get them to agree to the prices for you, and essentially get their permission to wipe your @ss or do what you want to do.

Yes, we understand Jagex's desire to limit real-world trading. We also understand that there are evil-bad gold-farmers who are so evil and bad that they are trying to make money. (Those bastards.) Yes. No one should be making money on anything, and especially not anything that Jagex can't get a portion of!!!

But my gawd. Do you have to kill one of the best parts of the game just to try to discourage the trade of virtual items for real-world money? One of the main reasons we liked Runescape so much was because of the freedom it allowed to interact with others. MMORPG's in general are great because you can interact in a virtual world, engage in real-worldesque activities in a safe, relatively consequence free environment. Runescape (and FTP games in general) are so wonderful because they allow for such interactions and freedoms. What a great learning tool/research laboratory/visceral experience. Where else can you do these things without risking anything more than a few hours of your time? Where else can you bounce back so easily once you've made a mistake? Where else can you enjoy yourself so much and learn skills that you might actually apply to real life?

Oh. And don't EVEN get us started on the Wilderness changes. Fahgettaboutit!

Well, Jagex has put a stop to it all. Forget it. We're done playing Runescape. We're also guessing a lot of other people are. We're guessing the comrades at Jagex will soon feel the effect of their socialist agenda: In the form of much lighter bank accounts.

R.I.P. Runescape.