Jagex now has a way to minimize the risk of leaked or phished accounts that feed the bot farms.
Jagex’s latest account system is part of the security update they long promised to deliver three years ago, and that we’ve all been enthusiastically expecting. We all want a few things: pets, uniques, OSRS gold, a max cape, maybe an infernal, but certainly, and without a doubt, we all want a security update! The thought of the possibility that one day you might get hacked and potentially lose your account entirely, or lose just your bank at best, is terrifying for most of us. And, in all honesty, losing anything you spent countless hours on is scarier than the Wilderness itself. However, they have been working on this security update for years now, and it seems like it’s going to be a while longer until it’s fully ready to be delivered. But will this have an impact on the bots and on your ability to buy OSRS gold?
When is the New Account System Scheduled?
Mod Ayiza confirmed on Reddit that the update is scheduled for this year, but there has been no official announcement regarding a release date, and based on OSRS’ update history, it’s safe to assume it will most likely take them longer than that. This info becomes even more relevant in the context in which Jagex announced an increase in the price for the membership plans and bonds alike soon after teasing us with the account system news. If you buy membership or bonds to get OSRS gold, you will be affected by this price increase. These two together can have real consequences for those who want to buy OSRS gold, triggering a price increase even on the black market.
What’s the New Account System?
If you want to play OSRS on PC, you can do it safely either through the Steam client, the new beta client, or use a third-party client, such as Runelite. You can use whatever third-party client you want – at your own risk – as long as it does not have features that would give you an unfair advantage. Runelite seems to be the only third-party client that Jagex is planning to integrate into their launcher, as so many of us trust and love this client. In addition, there will be a link to download Runelite in the Jagex’s launcher and eventually “full RuneLite integration and installation.” Jagex’s new client will allow us to choose from the enhanced RuneScape client or RuneLite.
How Are OSRS Third-party Clients A Security Risk?
The new account system seems to be Jagex’s way of disposing of all third-party clients’ security risks. The security risks have probably been a great danger to the players as many have had their credentials leaked by promiscuous third-party clients. Besides the leak risk, having so many of these clients for OSRS also increases the risk of potential phishing, as unknowing players could be tricked into inputting their credentials into what looks like one of these third-party clients. This is how many have lost billions of OSRS gold… or their accounts entirely.
And suppose you ever wondered what happens to all these leaked accounts that don’t get recovered by their original owners. In that case, you should know that many of them get sold to bot farms and start producing OSRS gold after being stripped of whatever value that wasn’t necessary for the specific botting activity assigned to them. Even though Jagex doesn’t clearly state this, you can infer from their statements about the stages of delivery for the new system. You can also check the inclusion of the most trusted and used third-party client that they aim to eventually make this a unique way to access your OSRS account/accounts.
The Security Aspects of Jagex’s Latest Account System
Moreover, with the new account, you’ll be able to have a more complex password and even backup codes for the two-factor authentication. Another fundamental security feature that’s currently missing but will finally be deployed with the new account system is the email notifications for new log-ins and account changes. Jagex also mentioned implementing enhanced bot protection, but we currently don’t know what they mean by this. Live chat support is the feature that no one was expecting, but everyone would be more than thrilled to have. Jagex, however, teased the audience by saying they would “explore offering a form of live chat for some support queries.” Ultimately, the new Jagex account will allow you to connect multiple accounts under the same credentials, trading off higher security risks for more convenience since they all do if one character gets compromised.
Could This Be the End for Bots?
Besides the ambiguous enhanced bot protection, removing third-party clients and adding an official link to download Runelite will minimize the risk of leaked or phished accounts. This will impact the owners of the bot farms because it will somewhat decrease how many accounts they’ll be able to get that are premade for their bot farms, and they might even need to buy OSRS gold someday to make new accounts ready for the bot farm. However, we can also expect countermeasures to be taken. Let’s not forget that skilling services already exist and that this new account system alone is unlikely to stop the bot farms completely. At best, it will merely inconvenience them and make acquiring OSRS accounts more expensive. This will probably also impact the price of OSRS gold on the Black Market. Jagex does seem to anticipate this as they have already decided to increase their prices.