“The rules are very simple. I must stake the money. I cannot keep it for myself. So, even though I did lose the stake, I still get to keep that 1 billion that I won previously.”
What’s going on guys! My name is Theoatrix, and on the 24th August 2018, Jagex took matters to a whole other level, and have banned A Friend on every single one of his accounts. Today, I wanted to give my opinion on the whole ‘A Friend’ situation, and I wanted to give a logical explanation as to why he is actually been banned. What I think this is, is a very powerful line drawn by Jagex as to what promotions are allowed, and what are not, especially on the YouTube platform. Also, the integrity of Runescape was very impacted from that video, and I will talk about that more at the end. For those that are unaware, A Friend promoted a website with a similar gambling aspect to Runescape. In return, A Friend openly said that he got enough cash to afford an entire apartment, and showed that he was given 1 billion from the website to use freely on his account, which he chose to then give away. But, he did not specify that in his first video.
I can see why he should and would be frustrated to be banned, since there are a lot of other YouTubers that have done similar things like this in the past. I won’t name any names specifically. But, any in game currency giveaway is somewhat real world trading. You are giving people in game money to go subscribe to you, to go follow you, to go use your gambling website, etc. You would be lying if you said you have never seen a giveaway similar to what I am talking about. Even live streams that do giveaways for followers, or subscribers only are somewhat over the line in my opinion.
But, more relevant to A Friend’s video, you can go on YouTube and search for a giveaway linked to a paid website, very similar to A Friend’s video, with no repercussion to the uploader.
For this to be justified in my opinion, Jagex should at least warn the other people that have done the paid giveaway promotions, allow A Friend to start playing again from scratch, or unban A Friend, who has spent over 10 000 hours playing Runescape. But, really, it is not that simple.
I would like to address how A Friend’s video impacted Runescape, which is another very powerful reason why he could be banned. In the video, A Friend openly explained how the gambling website worked, and he explained how it gave better odds than the Duel Arena. He told players that it is in their best interest to move over to the gambling website, and move away from gambling in Runescape with the reduced odds of the new Duel Arena Tax System. “As you can see, Duel Arena taxed me 1%, while on *** website, it can go as low as 0.4%”. This in itself is talking down Runescape. Legally, corporations and companies cannot sue people for negative publicity. But, it does not mean they cannot act against it in their own rights. The whole A Friend ban may seem somewhat justified. But, maybe some clarity and reasoning from Jagex may help us really understand what is going on.
What is your opinion? Do you think A Friend should be banned and unable to play? Or, should Jagex give him another shot? Myself, and a large majority of the Runescape community, have been a fan of him for many, many years, and it is sort of sad to see this come to such a destructive ending.
I hope you learned something today or enjoyed. If you did, be sure to leave a like, and make sure to subscribe if you are new. As always, thanks for reading this article, and have a nice day!