Old School RuneScape (OSRS), an MMORPG title that launched nearly two years ago, has recently closed a community survey that was voting on the execution of"Partnerships." Essentially, Partnerships revolve around the concept that some new items and attributes would become available to"Partners" of RS Gold, prior to being released to the general population.
The RuneScape community did not like the concept back then, and they don't like it today. A subreddit dedicated to OSRS has slammed the notion repeatedly over the last week. Many users are asserting that this brings the sport one step closer to having full blown microtransactions. Others view this as"microtransactions via a third party," since players that have paid to be partners with another firm are rewarded with exclusive items.
Thankfully Jagex, the developers of OSRS, have stated they won't include any new content to the game without polling the community. This is accomplished by an in-game voting booth where members can cast their virtual ballots. Due to this voting system, most of the community is happy with any adjustments made to the nostalgic game. The poll was set to close on Monday the 8th, however early polling results were negative Jagex made a decision to shut the booths early. A formal statement from the provider indicates that not only were the surveys exceptionally one-sided, but the general hatred around the topic forced them to leave the thought. They state they were in no way attempting to add microtransactions to the match and are disappointed that the community thought they'd do anything.
Of course, they did precisely that using Runescape 3, a movement which many assert stunted the development of the name. OSRS is a Free to Perform title, but it offers a monthly subscription that adds hundreds of hours of extra content. The fact that any type of cheap RuneScape gold monetization was discussed while the name already includes a monthly subscription was likely the cause of such a backlash in the community.