How a player stole the powers of a Jagex Moderator

[@rswillmissit]

Additional information about the Potato origin was brought to me from a viewer with good attention to detail: On the 17th of May 2005, two months prior to Farming, the potato was added and obtained from Zogre Flesh Eaters quest. At the time it was useless and only an item obtained from an old backpack together with other old-looking items. When Farming was released, the item was replaced with rotten food (as obtained in Canifis these days) and the potato received its moderating powers. Any old potatoes were deleted, where its item ID of 4813 remains empty in the item database to this date. The potato was coded differently and received a new item ID.

[@Ryan83728]

so basically all this because jagex looked silly? They had to lie and ban people just because people found out that the mods had a tool to do certain things?

[@MusharnaMush]

@@Ryan83728 no they got banned for stealing the item... and having powers of a mod.

[@jamesp5343]

I have more information on the player Quint. He has been caught scamming on WoW for many years and has actually taken real $$ donations from guildies in discord. We have proof and screenshots all the way back from 2016. I'd love you share some information with you! @rswillmissit

[@siccoblue2112]

just jumping in because you probably havent seen it being mainly an rs3 player, but jagex is still incredibly lenient on bug abuse that doesnt heavily impact the game, at least in oldschool, rendi literally makes videos on the subject and things like interface stalls and other things that rendi has done to break the game have been directly addressed by jagex in patches that unintentionally broke the things that he did, or rather was a byproduct of larger changes that needed to be implemented in order to fix higher priority issues. they seem to be taking a relatively light approach to it lately so long as it isnt damaging to the game, but if its done the interest of research or for overall meaningless achievements they dont seem to mind

[@manictiger]

I have to point out that IP bans don't work against people with dynamic IPs and knowledge about Mac Address changing. It's actually one of the worst types of bans available.

[@SammyBear]

Jagex handled this about as poorly as possible at every turn.

[@klbk]

It would be enough to confirm it exists and laugh it off, then move on. Fuckups do happen, but I guess investors will never change and PR with the community isn't as important to them.

[@MattBangsWood]

This video could be a freakin' Netflix documentary. This was so well done..

[@daMillenialTrucker]

Yeah it was, I've probably watched like 5 videos about the rotten potato but Will killed it.

[@garennotinabush3253]

@@daMillenialTrucker A1

[@ERIC-ck6qm]

Agree

[@stantonj7113]

Make an rs construction vid on your channel

[@imakelovetoyourmommy5203]

Slow down fatty

[@kesasilbzy2479]

“Permanent life time membership” to the ban list lol

[@Elliandr]

See, that's the part I don't get, because surely Jagex has lawyers. A company can ordinarily ban anyone for any reason or no reason, but by making such an offer they have created a bug bounty system with contractually agreed upon terms. In not giving what was promised they opened themselves up to lawsuit which I am surprised never happened. If a company like Google or Microsoft decided not to honor the terms of it's bug bounty program they'd be sued, so why not Jagex? There's nothing unusual about people looking for exploits in systems and most companies find it more cost effective to put these people to work for them rather than hire people to go after them.

[@Leymora]

@@Elliandr It's not a written agreement, I'm guessing that's how they get away with it

[@lbj2277]

@@Elliandr They get away with it, because it isn't a bug bounty system, per se. There's no system to it, rather it's more like a gentlemen's agreement, unwritten rule or understanding. The bottom line is that the user agrees to the Terms and conditions, which states that exploiting bugs is prohibited. If an employee or representative from Jagex does in practice have a said reward system, and they do end up banning a player its considered just bad player treatment. It does not open up to any legal backlash because the user already accepted the Terms and conditions which prohibits it. Jagex as an entity can simply brush off whatever the employee did as a simple mistake or misunderstanding.

[@Elliandr]

@@lbj2277 That would depend on the court precedents of the jurisdiction. A contract that says, "if you do this we can respond like this" does normally protect a company especially when it's service is at will that either party can terminate at any time and for any reason, but in legal terms what you call a "gentleman's agreement" is really a verbal contract. If there is physical evidence that an agent for a company has agreed to something other than what was previously agreed in a contract many courts will accept that over the contract itself. For example : when my girlfriend purchased a Samsung Tab E from AT&T they sold it to her by promising things that were not in the contract. At the time I advised her against it because what they were saying was not in the contract and she bought it anyway. In the end she was burned because what she was promised wasn't in the contract. Now, since we did not have any physical evidence of what she was promised such as a recording or an email we could not challenge the validity of the contract itself. However, later on, when we recorded a conversation over the phone without notifying them which we were permitted to do because of the state in which we reside, we were able to document their agents making promises that they later did not follow through on. This made AT&T liable for damages when they attempted to enforce the contract as written. A company that routinely makes promises but then backs out on them because it's not in the contract will not typically have the sympathy of the court when someone tries to challenge the validity of the contract in such a circumstance. Again though, much of it will depend on your local courts, precedence, and whether or not you can prove that there was an agreement which contradicts the contract and how strongly the agreement was made. If the wording was, " if you do this we might not ban you." Then that does not as strongly overrule the contract, but a court still might rules of the contract has been replaced in part if this went on for a of time or there was a reasonable expectation to be made. Of course, even if someone could prove to the courts that the contract has been replaced the victim would still have to prove that they were damaged and what those damages were. That's an even more difficult case. They probably won't be able to pursue money outside of what was actually paid. An injunction would be filed to order a company to reinstate service under the premise that the company had a contractual obligation to continue providing the service under the new verbal contract terms, and there have actually been cases of companies being ordered to provide a service it otherwise doesn't want to on such grounds, but for a digital character the company would likely have deleted the character outright even if a court ordered the account restored. Unless the victim has documentation of all of their items and stops for the company to recreate the character file with there would be no way to pursue this kind of action. Still, none of this is actually impossible because verbal contracts do have weight. Especially if in the form of an email communication with the company in question. While extremely difficult it is technically not impossible for something like this to occur. The only real question is if anyone in the situation even has the resources to fight them at that level and who also has sufficient documentation.

[@Elliandr]

@@Leymora That's a common misconception about contract law. Technically speaking verbal agreements are contracts with legal weight, but the reason why contracts are put into writing is so that it could be proven what was agreed to. In the past these kinds of cases would depend on witnesses, which is a big reason why in signed contracts you always typically see a witness line as well. Most of the precedents involving a verbal contract overruling a written contract has to do with literacy. In America at least you don't have to actually sign your name to sign a contract. You just have to make some kind of mark. In some cases an illiterate person would be taken advantage of where someone would explain to them what the contract says, but then the contract not actually containing what was spoken. The risk to either party of it being one word against the other resulted in witnesses being placed on the contract. More recently American courts have invalidated sections of contracts where the terms are not clear, or buried somewhere, which is based heavily on the above-mentioned precedent of a contract simply being a physical representation of what is verbally understood. If both parties don't understand the contract then the contract does not have weight. This understanding is the legal basis for why a new verbal agreement can overrule a written contract. The fact is both the physical contract and the verbal contract have the same weight. It's just that it's more difficult to prove a verbal agreement occurred at all. Regardless, if it can be proven it does you mean that the understanding of the written contract has been replaced. This risk is also why many companies will put a line in the contract saying that exceptions have to be made in writing, but then email is writing, isn't it? And regardless of this extra line it's not like a new contract can't be made anyway. Other courts may interpret things differently of course, but these kinds of cases are so old that I would be surprised if European court opinion didn't have a similar understanding.

[@SJohnsoninc]

It's funny how they probably would have remained as harmless guys who'd just have some fun, had they not been backstabbed by Jagex. Twice.

[@ViciousXP]

I honestly feel like they should have been employed by jagex to find these bugs instead of ridding of a good resource..

[@Big-Government-Is-The-Problem]

@@ViciousXP right... they seemed to be really good bug testers and likely could have been a good asset for Jagex. its basically the same concept as the NSA or CIA hiring someone they catch who is a master hacker, which has happened.

[@Daman-fs8sz]

Backstabbed? They fucked around and found out. The first time was a overreaction, the 2nd was justified completely. They lied to a mod's face about what th bug was to steal from them.

[@seekerhunts]

@@Daman-fs8sz No, the first time was the slug menace. They offered them rewards to show how the bugs worked. They agreed and showed them. Once Jagex got what they wanted, they started banning. That's where this all started. Jagex fucked up, they always seem to do this.

[@Rexhunterj]

@@seekerhunts Jagex are assholes, always have been

[@Mimsy_Crush]

never trust what a jmod says they just lie to you i'm really surprized to this day they gave up how it was done

[@Noah-Lach]

And to think, if Jagex hadn’t decided to ban a few innocent players after promising them a reward for reporting bugs, none of this mess sound have happened.

[@null301_]

@NsElCaptCrunk ?

[@9bladesofice]

@@null301_ They mean that sound should be would.

[@null301_]

@@9bladesofice o

[@manictiger]

Jagex has always been an authoritarian pile of sociopathic imbeciles. It's ironic as hell, since Runescape used to be one of the freest games available at the time, including a fully functioning free market economy, something we can't even make IRL (we're a plutocracy, not a free market economy).

[@fleecejohnsonbandit]

@@manictiger they banned random people, but cant do something about the duel arena

[@gratedradish6699]

"Hey can I show you a bug" *Shows him a bug* Banned.

[@crazyciler50]

Yeah I never understood this, like they showed them twice, telling them it is a bug, yet still jagex banned everyone they knew and their mothers...

[@Pharoah2]

Basically gives you no reason to report bugs to them.

[@docthekitty2484]

@@crazyciler50 because they can't handle being made to look like a dumbass

[@ronnie9379]

Yeah just like when I logged into my account after 2 years, logged out after walking 20 steps, logged in the next day and was banned for macroing and it was unnapealable. I'm tired of fucking retards being in charge of punishing people.

[@Ragnablast]

@@ronnie9379 I got the same thing, lost two accounts now...one would be nearly 20 years old and I had put a lot of time into it, tried logging in, tells me to check my account for details...check account, nothing on it telling me why I can't log in, second account was what you said, I logged in once move a bit and logged out, went the next day and my account was permabanned. Getting any info from an actual person at jagex seems to be impossible and I doubt they even care. Scumbags.

[@cronnoponno]

I thought this was just gonna be another re-tread of the rotten potato, but you actually went and explained a very interesting backstory of bug-abusing communities to set the stage, I've learned a lot from this video.

[@rswillmissit]

Thank you! That's what I wanted to do. It matters to me that the content I upload always offer something new to the table. Really glad you enjoyed it!

[@danielmizrahi9629]

@@rswillmissit awesome video but i have a question. I get it was hella embarassing once it went public but why was it such a big deal that they had an item like this. i wouldve assumed they did from tthe start lol

[@rswillmissit]

@@danielmizrahi9629 Good question! I don't think it was such a big deal that such an item existed, but rather how it was handled. Keep in mind this was during a time when J-Mods weren't very public. They popped up in-game, but few had any shape of personal relationship with them. When a group of infamous players then manages to take ones power from them, followed by Jagex refusing it happened, it's something the players love to make fun of. I don't think this would've been such a big deal if Jagex just admit from the very start that yep, they messed up - and moved on.

[@danielmizrahi9629]

@@rswillmissit ah i see, thanks bro nice work

[@gzinom6801]

Same thought. Thought I was gonna just mindlessly listen to a rehash of the rotten potato story, threw it on my phone and laid back down to listen to it. But actually learned and was entertained by some unknown info. Thanks op.

[@guitarbass22]

This is as infamous as the Falodor Massacre. And what’s funny is in the old OSRS streams where JMods were banning bots and stuff, they still use the rotten potato as their weapon of choice. So we all know the ins and outs of how it works and what it can do, even though we can never access it.

[@generalharness8266]

Imagine if they had stolen it AFTER a couple of the streams. Wonder if its possible to ban a Jmod.

[@luckyman9903]

Falador bro

[@TheHipisterDeer]

I was there for the falodor massacre too, it was halarious.

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

@@generalharness8266 Wouldn't matter Jagex can unban any account

[@xxinsain2509]

⁠@@A_Black_Sheep94in what world would banning a Jmod from the game even if was only for a few minutes “not matter”

[@Empridon]

Mod Chrisso: "Next talk of bug abuse in this cc will result in every account you've ever even *sniffed* being Perm banned." King-Moof: "I abuse cockroaches" What a legend.

[@llVIU]

**bans innocent players** "legend". You'd love communist china.

[@keymash-aimciamciamalk8630]

@@llVIU he was talking about king moof…

[@henrik1743]

Virgin Chrisso vs gigachad Moof

[@myusernameisthisduh]

Omg these comment went over my head in the video, but now i got it lmaooo

[@Vexmare]

Sounds like a neckbeard mod

[@ForTheOmnissiah]

Near the end, the fact that a company can pick and choose random videos they don't want the public to see and slap them with copyright strikes really highlights the totally broken "fair use" bs we have in place. They can take down whatever they feel like, whenever they feel like. Any company on the planet can do it.

[@A_Black_Sheep94]

Anyone who owns content can do it regardless of who they are if they own it. Doesn't mean it doesn't get abused but it isn't limited to companies.

[@Heeroneko]

It's fraud for them to do stuff like that, but individuals just don't have the power to stand up to a company and take them to court. Even if you do try to counter it and do something about it, youtube chooses to favor the claimant and requires you to basically dox yourself. It's so bad stalkers have used it to get ppl's private info before. It's ridiculous.

[@Heeroneko]

@@A_Black_Sheep94 You don't even have to own the content. Anyone can make a claim on anything. It's blatant fraud, but the only way to do anything about it/get your money revenue back is to take ppl to court to prove they're making fraudulent claims against your work. Most will just take whatever cash they can get off you then disappear tho. Cuz while youtube forces the defending party to share their private information, it does not require that of the person making the claim. They delete the claim/account the next day and you're just screwed.

[@actually5004]

So instead of giving youtube the rights to your videos in exchange for free hosting try buying your own video hosting so they can't touch your crap.

[@SéaFid]

​@@actually5004KZbin/Google has a monopoly though? They were in court for it too, Google. Look can you kiss up to em less boy? Is a shareholder your bf? Lol

[@GoatRuss]

Today I learned that if I find a bug in OSRS to just keep my f-ing mouth shut or suffer a perma ban.

[@fencserx9423]

The fact that people tell their friends about MEGA exploits is ridiculous

[@Daman-fs8sz]

Today i learned that if i lie to a OSRS's mod's face about a bug i've found, and i know that i'm lying to them, i might get permabanned

[@MrLuigge]

I guess the problem is not telling the bug but abusing of it quite a lot before telling or something.

[@thebomber11]

@@Daman-fs8sz What was the lie? He found a bug didn't he?

[@zthecat]

@@Daman-fs8sz I can tell you're a bootlicker in real life from the comments you've posted. "Fuck around and find out" kinda bootlicker Lol

[@highprodigy5063]

Did I hear that right? A J-mod promised rewards for explaining how bugs worked, and instead of rewarding the players as promised, IP banned them instead??

[@Moses255337]

Way to blur the lines of Good and Evil on their part

[@Nick-ij5nt]

@@Moses255337 Haxunit literally didn't do anything wrong, there was no intent to steal it since they didn't even know it existed.

[@Moses255337]

@@Nick-ij5nt i was talking about Jagex

[@Nick-ij5nt]

@@Moses255337 Yes, I thought that you were trying to say that Jagex was in a morally grey scenario and that it wasn't as black and white as we make it out to be. But it's very obviously a black and white situation.

[@elgertj]

yes. jagex used to offer pmod positions or lifetime membership for helping them with bugs but inturn they just perma banned you. pretty shady

[@TBDF12]

Haxunit seems like they could have been turned into a very useful tool for mods if they just actually treated them like people instead like real criminals. They started by visiting people in instances and confusing them how much more harmless can you get.

[@rswillmissit]

Absolutely! A lot of them have wanted work at Jagex to share their skills and use them for good. They've all been rejected though, besides one which was taken in as a consultant. That wasn't someone in this video, though.

[@maximusgugu]

I just love the documentary vibes this video brings about the event

[@rswillmissit]

I just love the nice vibes your comments bring my heart

[@NOGINT]

Dang, the company treated these people like crap. According to this presentation, they intently made sure to never ABUSE these bugs to an impactful effect, and even offered to help them with the devs with their findings. Banning them was either out of wounded pride or sheer mindless panic. Either way, makes them all look very short-sighted.

[@Daman-fs8sz]

huh. They also lied to a mods face in order to steal items off them. You know that you can report bugs without, you know. Lying to there face? Stealing items from them?

[@woopidoo]

@@Daman-fs8sz yes, after getting banned despite being promised rewards for helping out. Can't blame them for being vengeful x')

[@einarsa7196]

@@Daman-fs8sz did u even watch first part of a video ......

[@cooldud7071]

@@Daman-fs8sz After they were backstabbed. Jesus fucking christ, how much do they pay you? Twenty cents an hour?

[@Jacob-sb3su]

@@Daman-fs8sz u got smol brain

[@IrynStyl]

I felt so special when mod chrisso popped up on me to question me lol. It wasn't even a gamebreaking bug, it was just the graphical glitch from zanaris where you used to be able to keep the choir following you by summoning them when they were spawned, then if you waited for more to spawn you could effectively get as many groups of choirs following you as you wanted.

[@lucas23453]

Bruh how are you this low on the list.

[@pandymandy]

These are the things that make RuneScape feel so much bigger than just the game to me. Falador Massacre is a real event both in and out of game and hearing about this was literally learning a piece of his which i didn't know, stellar work. Also I love the remastered outro!

[@mrcresely6536]

Mod Chrisso: Next talk of bug abuse in this cc Mod Chrisso: Will result in every account you've ever even sniffed being Mod Chrisso: Perm banned Mod Chrisso: Am I clear? That type of toddler shit is why I'm embarrassed to play this game lol what a big baby

[@kippesolo8941]

Most of those staff members messages came across like they have a rly bad relation with the community.

[@JacaboBlanco]

Imagine the type of human you have to be to become a mod. It attracts the same people who become dirty cops, or child abusing priests lol. The power gets them off.

[@admiralakainu189]

@@coreyjones3788 On the money!

[@DirtFather407]

The guy under him “I abuse cockroaches” 💀

[@igo0di]

Ikr

[@kylefer]

Omg I remember this! This is one of my favorite mishaps in Jagex history!

[@kylefer]

@@Ttegegg Well, the game is made more unique by things like this, even though it's not a good thing from the companies standpoint, it's something that really gives the game a charm, to know it has a funny history of mistakes, bugs, and errors. Even the Fally Massacre has its place in the games history.

[@FallenActual]

I remember maxing out every skill in "classic" runescape loved that game, harvesting the only yew tree in lumbridge, then varrock added the grand exchange and 3 yew trees man good times.

[@MrNinjahiga]

"it would stick out like a needle in a haystack" I think you got that one mixed up 🤣

[@lanewatson8505]

that IS how the saying goes?...

[@Spirelord122]

@@lanewatson8505 it’s not. “Trying to find a needle in a haystack” is a saying used to denote something hard to find among a lot of stuff hiding it. Saying “sticking out like a needle in a haystack” implies that it is easy to find a needle in the haystack

[@lanewatson8505]

@@Spirelord122 oh yeah I just read it wrong smh

[@MrNinjahiga]

@@Spirelord122 that's right. It's a mash up of the former you said, and "sticking out like a sore thumb'

[@jasont4400]

I mean it’s a 50-50 chance each time you search a haystack. Either you find it or you don’t

[@p4ttl344]

Always found Jagex fucking sad about how they handle the backlash, I remember playing in 07 and you couldn't say "wow" because it was short for world of warcraft....dealing with backlash like that they should've just said yeah it happened and we've fixed it well done to the haxunit for finding it. I don't understand why companies don't hire these people to work for them instead of treating them as an enemy they are clearly trying to improve the game and find out problems for fun and they enjoy it so give them a fucking job.

[@notjimpickens7928]

because its alot easier to simply throw people under the rug or make them stop talking then it is to actually deal with deeply rooted issues that they bring up, especially in online games overseen by malnourished manbabies who wanna flex on everyone. im pretty sure you couldnt say wow up until 2011, and basically everyone whos friends with a jmod (even now for gods sake) can use that to get you banned, modash legit banned my ironman acc because some other dude (who i later found out was a friend of his ) thought i MIGHT HAVE been cheating, because i was grinding for salmon, back in like 2013...im still salty over it.

[@shreknskrubgaming7248]

You could be punished for mentioning another game? What the fuck? I'm glad I don't like Runescape because that sounds like some of the dumbest shit I've ever heard. Even if you WERE talking about World of Warcraft when you said something as innocuous as "wow," that's grounds for punishment?

[@christopherh4891]

because to them its an insult and makes them look really really bad. You got to think a lot of these people working at the company went to school for this and then you have people that we learn this shit on our own and get even better than they are at it they get a little peeved. Look at the pokemon games made by people compared to the ones mainstream released, you got people creating their own mons and way better stories and layouts and Gamefreak is like fuck you wanna be sued. Big companies dont like everyday people being better than them simply out of it making them look bad. Instead of handling it right they rather try and make it go away because dumb logic.

[@christopherh4891]

this is also coming from someone in school for game dev lol Like the degree/certification is really only for job acquisition.

[@shreknskrubgaming7248]

@@christopherh4891 the thing is though, people give Gamefreak shit all the time for what they do to Pokémon fan games and their creators, so I think it's fair to be critical of Jagex preventing people from simply talking about a game. Plus, as shady as it may be and as fucked up as copyright law is, Gamefreak does have the legal right to sue those fan games. I can understand banning the use of things like slurs and such from your game, but preventing people from simply mentioning another game? That's wrong, in my opinion. Your game is always gonna have competitors and it will always have people who think other games are better, that's just part of being a game developer. Censoring your own fanbase is not cool.

[@NightStalker1337]

Mod Reach being in contact with these guys was definitely not foreshadowing whatsoever.

[@K0bbii]

Lol this was my dream as a kid to pickpocket players man i remember being so excited getting 65 thieving to steal from heroes because i thought that meant players lmao

[@lucas23453]

Imagine the sheer chaos.

[@TheAntonergud]

This was incredibly well edited video. I don't even play runescape but I was entertained and hooked on this entire video from the beginning to the end. 10/10 my friend, you deserve alot of credit for making this awsome video.

[@rswillmissit]

Huge words! Thank you so much!

[@tomstery1]

The fact Mod DC promised a green crown/lifetime membership and then bans the players once information is told is disgusting. Just the start of what kind of a shit company Jagex would become.

[@thedjenis]

imo its a 200 iq play and it what i would have done too

[@johnplayyer1885]

@@thedjenis it's a slimeball move

[@illegallogger1250]

@@thedjenis not really, because then no one would report exploits anymore

[@death299]

@@thedjenis congrats, every company on earth would fire you. going back on your word is a major violation of trust and if it ever got out is a bigger liability than your life is worth PR isn't something you can just throw away like that

[@citizensnips3850]

@@thedjenis Thanks for letting us know you're a fuckin' snake who would stab someone in the back first moment you got. Yikers.

[@mionfel1350]

I feel that if the mods hadn't essentially betrayed them then this would have likely been a non issue Never trust mods.

[@skaynne54]

Careful there. There's Jmods and Pmods. They're not hivemind who all thinks the same way

[@Paracosmicality]

Even the J mods arent safe from the scammers lmao. They straight scammed this man.

[@tonykolino]

REMEMBER: NEVER COOPERATE WITH ADMINS

[@joshuakuehn]

DON'T TALK TO THE POLICE AND DON'T TRUST THE STATE

[@tonykolino]

@@joshuakuehn DON'T TAKE MEDS YOUR DOCTORS ARE TRYING TO KILL YOU

[@disturbedpyro4511]

Those with power will eventually abuse it!

[@WhoThisMonkey]

ALWAYS WRITE IN CAPS LOCK

[@Matthew-jw4ds]

​@@disturbedpyro4511 Nuts!!

[@MNPhantom]

All this did was give me raging nostalgia for pre eoc rs.. Nex gear was bis, summoning was cool and new, chaotic weaponry was great. The korasi, the gambling, the Pking scene.. I’m so sad because I’m not an rs3 or an 07scape kid. I’m of the Squeal of Fortune era.. rip

[@beff5058]

Summoning was not cool, it was lame. Was pretty much the end of the game for me.

[@Darkstar12p]

Yooo I saw this comment and Squeal of Fortune just game me MASSIVE nostalgia vibes. I remember when bounty hunter worlds an summoning released. In my personal opinion, that was when Runescape was "Truly" alive for more. That was the high point of RS for myself.

[@MNPhantom]

@@beff5058 Smells like someone couldnt figure out how to level it up

[@devynyates1929]

I mean to be fair, that’s just stupid how jagex didn’t code the item to only work if the account was a j mod. Stupid

[@dacolts24]

Very true

[@devynyates1929]

@Gabriel Coates I understand that but still, safety precaution lol

[@battlec43]

​@Gabriel Coates It would literally take a few lines of code to check the rights of a player when the rotten potato is clicked. A rights system already exists before there is a differentiation between regular, p mod, and j mod accounts, and an item click packet listener also exists because we can interact with items (e.g. equipping them). They had all the tools to implement a couple lines of code to prevent this from ever happening, but unfortunately they were too stupid to do so.

[@MrGaiden100]

This reminds me of the time me and my buddies played UO on an RP server. We were orcs and RP'ed and was "raiding" the main village killing everyone in sight. A mod showed up and turned my buddy into a tiny rabbit. When the mod left and didn't turn him back to an orc my buddy started to attack people anyway. The funny part is the rabbit one shotted people.. Good times, good times!! ahahah

[@lucas23453]

We'z told da boss, but no, da boss sez "It jus' a squishy rabbit, can't urt anyones." But den da boss got well stomped.

[@mrmusic000]

All that time and energy spent trying to ban and fight these guys, such a waste. They obviously have a deep understanding and appreciation of the game. Jagex should hire them all!

[@MPD_1633]

This is incredible. Been playing since 06 and this feels like lived history to me. Love it.

[@MidnightSt]

Moral of the story: Don't give your mods powers via items or skills, give them powers via a bool switch in the invisible properties of the character, which can only be set directly in the database.

[@TheB0sss]

Well that's just not useful. They use tools like this to make testing easier, having to manually change something in the database every time you need something just takes too long.

[@Spiker985Studios]

@@TheB0sss Well, specifically, if you do something like this, you make it have a check that cannot be used by any ole person

[@lucas23453]

@@Spiker985Studios Which they ultimately did do anyway.

[@EcnalKcin]

Jagex has some of the most absurd ban rules of any company. I was perma banned after being hacked, and even figured out how it had happened, but they blocked all appeal attempts so I could not even prove to them that I was hacked. Their justification was that after something like 5000 ban appeals they only had found 2 cases that were legitimate appeals. Which told me that it wasn't that they were so good at banning the right players, but they were absurdly bad at looking into and overturning bans. After 5 years or so of being banned I checked and I was able to appeal, which I did, and the ban was lifted on the grounds that I "never repeat my offense". That is right, as long as I never get hacked again, I wont be perma banned. Bad me for getting hacked. The thing is, the the situation prompted me to look into the actual rules, and they literally say the player is responsible for compromised accounts. Not just accounts compromised due to player error, but accounts compromised through any means. As in, if Jagex gets hacked and my password gets stolen from their servers, I am liable and my account will be perma banned. That is how absurd it is. According to the Jagex TOS the player is responsible for all activity on their account, regardless if it was hacked or even if the hacker gained access through Jagex itself. Imagine if that was a bank telling you that you the customer where responsible for your money being stolen from the bank vault, and you would not only lose all your money, you could no longer bank with them.

[@rswillmissit]

It is in theory the players responsibility to ensure safety on your own account. The one time we know Jagex was at fault, the hijackings from Mod Jed in 2017/18, Jagex took responsibility and fixed each breach individually.

[@tylerjohn9139]

i like how you break things down in simple terms. thats how you know you understand what you're talking about subscribing and clicking the bell right meow brother.

[@Piraja27]

this is like true documentary level production, if anything else you could find yourself as editor for documentaries

[@Schmegil]

This video is amazing. I’ve known of this legend for awhile but there was so much more too it then I ever knew. Very cool video. Great job!

[@CorporateGamer]

I came back to RS after 12+ years or so just to feel the nostalgia, now my feeds filled with these amazing videos. Thanks!

[@Saul1337Ftw]

I have mayor respect for HaxUnit, they managed to put Jagex in an awkward position and really put their foot down after the first backstab. I've known this story for years now but your video puts it in a new wrap, good job on that. Didn't think i'd sit through the entire video but I did.

[@runespar]

As someone who enjoys investigative work, this was *really* impressive.

[@JcJc2399]

I don’t play RuneScape but that was very entertaining and informative. Great job

[@dherokbattleborn]

I’ve never played RuneScape and have no interest in it yet before I knew it I’d already watched this whole video. Who knew a glitch could be so interesting

[@Mornings]

"Cheats for me not for thee" -Jagex

[@뭐야-y1n]

The quality of this vid is just marvelous! Always loved your vids man!

[@rswillmissit]

Only the best for you!

[@nl4746]

so pretty

[@oXoSkaldeoXo]

I have seen 5 videos on this topic and this one was the best and most informative one GJ I'm subbing to see what's next 👍

[@n0f0rtwin56]

Most activity Stealing Creation has seen since 2017

[@vanquishable7844]

A friend did a stream there the other day actually there was 100s

[@n0f0rtwin56]

@@vanquishable7844 I was waiting for this comment xd

[@vanquishable7844]

@@n0f0rtwin56 spam report the post for misinformation

[@vanquishable7844]

@Gaming Legend69 yes

[@matthewhale9364]

I don’t think you understand the needle in the haystack analogy

[@Funbandza]

It was a good analogy, as the haystack presumably was the full items whilst the needle, instead of being hard to find, was sticking out visually

[@gnarlydabs]

NICE VIDEO! heard this story along time ago but the way you put this together made it all that more interesting again!

[@XenonLegend]

Always the Dutches😂

[@ProtoxxGaming]

GEKOLONISEERD

[@lenny5023]

@@ProtoxxGaming lol

[@TheMrDove]

Hahaha precies wat ik dacht

[@Madlyaza1]

@@ProtoxxGaming omfg i never thought id see you make that joke but GEKOLONISEERD

[@TERlNG]

prachtig toch

[@pucie_boi]

@10:52 They let the Haxunit continue because the free knowledge of exploits vs impact to the game was a great trade-off in Jagex's favor. Rather than pay salaries to figure these things out they offered memberships and praise to Haxunit. Pretty good deal for Jagex.

[@lucas23453]

But they also perma IP banned their accounts when they actually gave up the info on the quest that Jagex requested. "We gave you the lifetime membership, now time for the banhammer."

[@spontaksback]

Amazing video, can’t imagine how much research and digging this took! Awesome!!!!

[@MrLPWatcher1000]

Another history lesson! Thanks a lot for the great entertainment and detailed insights on RS´s history! :D

[@ChefXAP]

Amazing production quality, amazing content, and very compelling and interesting! Well done!

[@ElDiggityDog]

I remember someone doing a video on this in the past, but this is way more in depth! Well done!

[@Sakuyushi]

I am still banned from entering Mod Chrisso's fc for saying rotten potato 😂

[@elishab6521]

"The-item-that-must-not-be- named!"

[@heyguys2002]

The R-Word.

[@9HPRuneScape]

I remember the 'rotten potato' but I had know idea about HaxUnit themselves! That was amazing seeing actual footage and learning about all there achievements for bug abuse as a whole! This was so much more than just the infamous rotten potato lure; I learned a ton from this, thanks for another mind blowing vid Will!

[@enraile]

Will, you gotta do a “The Runescape Iceberg Explained” video! I’ve been waiting for one and you would do it perfectly!

[@rswillmissit]

Haha, the images going deeper and such? I've seen a couple, do you have one specific version in mind?

[@enraile]

rswillmissit I actually haven’t seen an iceberg image yet but it definitely needs to be done! Maybe you can have the people in your discord say what they want to be on the list!

[@liqiuicity]

Holy shitttttt. I remember when all of this happened. When I heard the name Haxunit, everything just rushed into my mind so vividly and I relived RuneScape history

[@iiLoodgieter]

imagine coming home from a hard day at work delivering pizzas to play some runescape and you've been banned

[@Pat315]

Hahahaha

[@Pat315]

@Gabriel Coates Yeah, probably a good time to get a real life.

[@iiLoodgieter]

@Gabriel Coates this just gave me an existential crisis

[@BionicDread]

Those good old days of getting banned for glitching. Can't count the amount of accounts I have gotten banned trying to follow those guys and join them.

[@THERAMMSTEINFAN490]

Mod Ash is pretty much THE most mythological figure in all of RS lore and legacy

[@EanFox7]

This video is already significantly better than your last documentary. The other was good on its own, but it felt more like a standard informational YouTuhe video than an actual Documentary. This video achieves that goal.

[@rswillmissit]

Thank you! Glad it's improving this quickly. :D

[@GrumpyIan]

Theory time. Rendi is actually Quint.

[@brett4209]

I remember the days when people would see a mod, they treated them like zealots

[@MexBaker]

Never knew Jagex pulled a bait and switch on Hax Unit before they were Hax Unit. Sometimes this company can be true douchebags to its players lmao.

[@AlibifortheAfterlife]

Jagex's PR has always been terrible. Thankfully the OSRS team seems to get it, at least for now.

[@OGXenos]

Jagex's support makes EA look like the messiah. No appeal false bans, removing ALL official support requests outside of bored mods on twitter/reddit, treating the banhammer like a universal fix button, etc. They get away with it because the victims are so heavily silenced the majority never find out.

[@TorvaESO]

I see a lot of working time in this video, it is very very well made i love it. Great work this is all perfect ! Didnt skip anything

[@Grimmdutch]

This is by far the best RS3 content out there, Thanks for sharing! Really interesting to know all of that

[@rswillmissit]

Aww, very kind to say! Thank you!!

[@Xantexhunter]

Excellent video, but one thing that kinda made me scratch my head. "It would stuck out like a needle in a haystack". That idiom does not mean something would be obvious to an observer. The saying is "Like trying to find a needle in a haystack". What it actually means is that the task or item in question would be nearly impossible to complete or see. I think the phrase you were looking for is "This would of stuck out like a sore thumb." this means that the change or item is quite obvious and easily noticeable. Not trying to tear you down, English is very hard and its not my first language either. Excellent video.

[@BlueCarloz]

NOOO NOT THE PIZZA MAN GETTING BANNED :(

[@OskarCzechowicz-OmniMusician]

After a few seconds I already knew what story is about to be told, but DAT EDITING single handedly made me stay :O

[@joetri10]

I bet their hearts literally broke out of their rib cages when they noticed what the potato was and even more so when they scrambled at all the options.

[@dzintars8034]

Yeah such a sad incident actually on both ends

[@emmaned3178]

was thinking the same thing, he just experienced the most adrenaline he could ever achieve his entire life

[@tehkingleyoneh]

These type of videos are great, keep up the good stuff!

[@thetruesoml2118]

This is great because I only sort of remember this. Mod Chrisso spent a lot of time in the Rants forum and I got to know him there. I never fully understood why people kept giving him crap about potatoes until a few years ago (after he left Jagex). I'm still friends with his Choob account and we chat from time to time. He's a good guy. In case anyone is wondering, he STILL has not lived this down.

[@DoctorMagoo111]

Is he a good guy? He seems like a power hungry bitch to me from the evidence above.

[@thetruesoml2118]

@@DoctorMagoo111 Let me guess. You used to be one of those cheaters and are mad because you got caught? Lol. Gtfo with your whiny BS.

[@RepentInReprise]

Lol. I can imagine the insults/endearment: "Would you like salt with those fries?"

[@thetruesoml2118]

@@RepentInReprise Well, several jokes were made about how he's as smart as a potato. Similar jokes about salting fries was made too. My favorite was when he'd give one of the specific regulars shit for breaking a rule and/or just being an ass, all the regular would respond with was "rotten potato." and that was that. Ha.

[@thetruesoml2118]

@@user-qv5sm5dw1v you must hate an awful lot of people.... Lol

[@Sevenigma777]

The narration in this video is top notch! Great vid dude

[@Unethical.FandubsGames]

So basically Jagex (repeatedly) stabbed people in the back and abused copyrights and suffered the consequences. This was karma.

[@pseudo93]

Great narration on this, really got me sucked in. GG subbed fam

[@rswillmissit]

Thank you! :D

[@martinverbeek8862]

These guys were dutch👏 Dude, this is quality content. Similair to ingus's content

[@zezizarjaars]

Exactly, I still remember them writing a small word to some J-mod with papers of 100 euro, they made a small fortune abusing bugs.

[@martinverbeek8862]

@@zezizarjaars wow is that a Gertjaars reference in your name? I remember bumping into him at northside of GE and actually having a pretty long convo before people started piling up.

[@zezizarjaars]

@@martinverbeek8862 It's a reference at Zezima, Zarfot and Gertjaars actually ;).

[@martinverbeek8862]

@@zezizarjaarsyess!!! KZbin channel: Tofraz, he was called Mr. Tick by some people. I even remember jagex introducing the kalphite queen and D chain, KBD got boring.

[@uaintme6419]

Roy and quint are german and HEJ is swedish

[@zezizarjaars]

Hax Unit came after "The Tainted Ones" if I'm correct, The Tainted Ones actually had bigger bugs then Hax Unit, but the game simply wasn't as popular back then. Underestimating Hax Unit is just plain dumb lol, can't make much else of it. I do remember the vid, with the music Fear of the dark.

[@SetzarothTV]

26:22 You absolutely would if something major happened.

[@BossModeGod]

16:39 the fact he started pickpocketing again once the mod teled back in😂😂

[@ADizzyPuffin]

I chose this video over watching a film, and I made the right choice

[@Yeehaw266]

Great video, crazy to think that people will probably still watch this years from now to remember this weird time in runescape

[@vidorragames]

i remember the day that this happend!! Was captain rank in fast sc back then, and this was hot topic. good old times haha

[@SupraSav]

Thanks for this. Great watch! One of my favourite childhood games and drama.. its like a TV show.

[@w83official]

i miss chrisso! Chrisso mate, if you are watching! had a blast with you and thanks for being on my 99 mining party on 24-12-2012!

[@Daswassuphomie]

Stop lying.

[@professorprofessor1998]

Bullshit.

[@credible7692]

Dude you’re killing it with these videos!

[@ViciousXP]

So.. from what i understood from this video was as follows: Game breakers decided to find bugs; and tried to assist jagex by letting them know how the bugs were done. Jagex banned them afterwords even though they didn't exploit it for self gain. the group was made as a revenge tool after being banned and then they were underestimated which ended up getting them fully banned in every sense of the word.. Sound about right?

[@beff5058]

You missed the part where Jagex Mods promised in game rewards for info on how bugs worked, and when shown the bugs, IP banned everyone involved.

[@Snatcher_Catcher]

Great video! I find it kinda fk'd up that big money can talk to other big money and have a video removed. This is why there so much support for the little guys going against the big guy!

[@TheRealHaans]

Once a childhood favourite game, thankfully I only played this game a healthy amount and stopped when I was 12. This game will rob you of your wealth and more importantly your time.

[@Xxhermitxxrs]

As all mmos do

[@bugbear4689]

The first time I ever did slug menace, I somehow teleported into another players house by entering the second level of the Witchaven Dungeon. I thought he was just another player doing the quest and that I needed to bring construction items so I left but when I tried to go back the way I entered, I was actually put into the dungeon. It confused me for the longest time.

[@ilostmytableny4491]

Imagine how good RS would be if we could control the character with W-A-S-D instead of clicking with mouse..

[@BruceForte]

Quint explores game tools and functions with friends in his youth. Jagex contacts, and backstabs him. He comes back, now aggressive with a growing team. He gets the upper hand, but eventually, Jagex defeats him again. Quint comes back, his exploration of the game has lead to a great appreciation. He develops a client that could possibly popularize the game even further. Jagex contacts and backstabs him.

[@lucas23453]

A client they could have actually used. A thing they could have made Quint lead dev on. Sure Quint didn't own the client, breaking TOS, but breaking cool shit for TOS's sake is a shitty move for any company. Move in, find out how to not lose money on it, and use it, its a wiser long-term decision.

[@piousminion7822]

Why all the drama? Chrisso/Jagex could have just said "Yeah, they showed us an exploit and we've fixed it. Problem solved. Thanks to the guys who brought it to my attention." and be done with it. All of this screams middle school drama. lol

[@stokedd]

i dont even play rs but i find all of these videos fascinating

[@Keysame]

Jesus Christ, I feel like Jagex treated it a lot more seriously than it actually was Or maybe I'm not getting something LOL

[@shadowobito]

Really loving these style of vids Will, keep it up!

[@rswillmissit]

Wow, thank you!!