[Request For Comments] Green Dragon Bots: Let's make these fair
What is being proposed
Green Dragon farming bots allow players to obtain dragonbones, dragonhide, and other tertiary Green Dragon drops, while not having to go and brave the wild for them. On the other side, this also allows for some actual PK gameplay, allowing those of us PvP-oriented to go out and dome these fucking bots and stop them from putting bones into the economy so easily, taking the wealth for ourselves. We can choose to let them farm, or decide to take them down. Just like it was back in the old days of RS2.
Such is the organic order of the wilderness, right?
It's recently become quite apparent that the way the G.D bots currently operate has been consistently exploited and gamed for mass profits and resource generation. Let's try to propose a way to keep our Wilderness content alive, but make sure it is also a fair playing field for all who choose to help the G.D bots, or hinder them.
Here's a few concepts, and proposals, to better get to the heart of these issues, and try to create a more fairer environment for the playerbase to have fun with the G.D bots. Or at the least, initiate a dialogue in which we can foster change and discussion, to create a better proposal to solve this issue.
Right below this block of text is some proposed OVERALL changes to the current (and future!) G.D functionality going forward that I feel need to be addressed, even before we conceptualize new functionality.
Proposed changes overall for the health of the econ, and the continued health of G.D bot functionality:
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Removal of the ability for the bots to buy Shark (do not allow players to profit even a bit off of mass-selling shark to the GE to bots, only let players buy such a high-profile food)
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Relocation of the G.D bots to deeper inside the Wilderness, to allow broader combat brackets a chance at fighting them. Currently, they occupy the 3 G.D spawns west of Dark Warriors Fortress, at lvl 11-14 Wild. This is also the location of safespottable Green Dragons, making it even safer for irons or other low level or restricted challenge accounts to go out and obtain what they need to obtain from a wilderness monster. This lower level spot is also unfair to high-combat players, disallowing high-combat accounts a chance at fighting most of, if not all of the G.D Bots (the highest levelled bot I've seen there recently was CB 108).
Relocating the G.D bots to East G.D's would be more healthy in the long-term, as there are more spawns, it is deeper in the Wilderness for a broader bracket, little to no safespots to allow for free passes by players. It's also more authentically accurate, as G.D farmers back in the era of RS2 would frequent Easts. If Irons/challenge accs want to get some hide for some chaps, moving the G.D bots to East allows those players to go to the West G.Ds in uninterrupted peace.
Overall changes aside, below are two different concepts proposed to replace the current functionality of G.D bots, in a more fairer and more gameplay-oriented way.
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Concept A: "Deposit-Box" Method
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Currently, you put 100 lobster, swordfish or shark onto the GE at market price, and it will autocomplete, and begin to spawn a G.D bot. This "bot money" goes right into the hands of players, allowing them to slightly profit from selling their food, without any money or resource going back into the hands of the players. Why should players be allowed to make any free GP off of the bots? This is quite unfair to the rest of the playerbase who are not aware, or are trying to sell their own cooked supplies to players.
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This concept proposes to alleviate that, turning the ability to start G.D bots into purely a resource-sink. A Deposit Box or Crate of some sort could be placed near the Edgeville Wilderness Ditches, which allows you to deposit lobster and swordfish into it. You deposit in batches of 100 into the Deposit Box, and if the server allows, will take that resource and spawn the G.D bot. No "free" money goes into the hands of players, resource gets correctly drained from the existing econ.
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Even outside of the G.D bots themselves, the currently existent implementation is still exploitable. You can profit nicely by just selling batches of cooked lobster at market price, with none of that actually going into other players pockets. Disallowing people to get some meagre coin for selling the food with the express interest of selling it to the bots, will make it so the right people are using the G.D system effectively, fairly, and at no extra benefit over the rest of the playerbase.
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Concept B: "Mercenary/Hireling" Method
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Admittedly a lot more complex of a solution, but a solution that would allow for expansion in the future to more content. Instead of feeding them food and giving the players coin for the food, you could "hire" a Green Dragon Hireling for a large sum, for a certain amount of time/amount of lobsters. The players would only have to pay these Hirelings in GP, and they would effectively start out with an inventory or three of food. The Hireling would then gear up, and go out to G.Ds for a period of time/until its food supply runs out, and then either place the spoils inside a "Deposit Box" (like the above proposal but instead for the bot to deposit YOUR spoils into for you to take out), or trade you at the end of the trip all of the noted spoils.
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This is a larger gold sink, for potential greater reward and resource. Also greater risk, as these Hirelings could be PK'd by players, and you could potentially lose your spoils, and get nothing back from your Hireling payment.
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This proposal respects all three spheres of gameplay (PVP, PVM, Skilling), respects the economy (by not allowing unintended GP gain, as well as being a large gold-sink in and of itself), and respects players time investment in the game (by allowing them to spend their hard-earned cash, to hire Hirelings to gather resource they do not have the time/ability to do themselves)
Whatever way you feel about these G.D farmers (or if you even knew of them at all!), a healthier, fairer game is for the best interest of all 2009scape players, so let's talk about this, and come up with a solution that can't be unfairly taken advantage of.