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Obsolete Lures Forum Trade Luring Before the Wilderness Ditch (OBSOLETE)

NOTE: This page contains information about luring that is now obsolete. It is retained on the site for historical information purposes.

Before the creation of the Wilderness ditch, lurers would try many tricks to get their victims into the Wild. The only saving grace was that the vast majority of attempts took place in only a few areas. Learning the locations of these popular luring spots could help you defuse luring attempts before they even started.

The lurer needed a location outside the Wilderness that he could tell the victim was the place that a legitimate trade or activity (drop party, etc.) would take place. That spot, however, also had to be near the Wilderness, so he could get the victim into the Wild to kill him. This immediately limited most lures to the southern boundary of the Wilderness, a narrow strip along the northern edge of the free-to-play non-Wilderness map (before the ditch was put in).

Along this border there were several prominent places just outside the Wild, which lurers were often able to portray as reasonable places to conduct a trade, have a drop party or whatever. Even though they were not places typically used for these activities, lurers could be persuasive in making up reasons why they were in those spots and the victims should meet them there.

The town of Edgeville was, in general, the “luring capital of the RuneScape world”. It is the bank in the regular world closest to the Wilderness, and was also near several other common luring hotspots. Even worse, getting from Edgeville to these other places usually took only a few steps through the Wilderness, while going from one to another outside the Wild took much longer. This helped entice people to go into the Wild for “just a few seconds”—and then boom, they were dead.

The following were the spots where potential victims had to be most careful, because they were often used by lurers. They are listed going from west to east along the border of the Wilderness, and illustrated graphically in Figure 124:

• Chaos Temple: Located at the far western edge of the Wilderness border, this area was sometimes used for fake drop parties.
  
  
• Black Knights' Castle: The castle is outside the Wilderness, but before the ditch, if you took even one step north of its northern wall, you were in the Wild. This was not as common a luring spot as some of the other locations, because it is not really that near a bank or major town.
  
  
• The Monastery: This used to be a popular luring location for several reasons. First, the Prayer Guild is there, so people have legitimate reasons for being at the spot. Second, it has trees nearby that lurers could claim they were woodcutting. Third, it is outside the Wild and close to Edgeville, but the only way to get there quickly from Edge before the ditch was to cut through the Wilderness. See my example in the next topic for how this was sometimes used.
  
  
• Oziach's House: Oziach sells rune platebodies, and is located in a house just northwest of Edgeville bank. The house itself was never in the Wilderness, but if you went even one square north of its northern wall, you were in the Wild.
  
  
• Trees North of Edgeville: There are several trees north of Edgeville that scammers would sometimes use for lures, claiming that they are “just woodcutting” and asking to meet you there. Some are outside the Wild and some are within, and it could be hard to tell which was where.
  
  
• Edgeville Bridge: This bridge across the river Lum is just northeast of Edgeville. Like the other features described here, it is outside the Wild, but if you took just two steps north you were in it. It was a fairly popular spot for luring.
  
  
• Northern Gate to Varrock: This was not as popular a spot as the others because it is quite a few steps south of the Wild.
  
  
• The Jolly Boar Inn: This pub is considered to be in Varrock, but is actually located well to the northeast, outside the city walls, and right on the edge of the Wilderness. This made it ideal for lurers who preyed on people who didn’t realize that its front door was just a few steps from the Wild—it had become a popular luring spot until the ditch was put in.
  
  
• The Lumberyard: The sawmill operator is located to the south of the lumberyard itself, and that's usually the only reason anyone has to be here. Three steps north of its northern edge and you were in the Wild; it was not used as often as some of the other places discussed here.
  

  Figure 124: Former Wilderness Luring Hotspots

  This map highlights what used to be the most dangerous locations for Wilderness luring. Each “hotspot” is shown in red on the map, while the yellow line marks the approximate border of the Wilderness prior to the implementation of the ditch.

  
  

If anyone told you that they wanted to meet you in any of these places to conduct a trade or have a drop party or anything else, red flags should have started flying. It was possible that the person was being honest, but those places were simply used far more often for luring than anything legitimate. Any honest, reasonable person would understand you being hesitant about wanting to trade in these spots.

Trading in Edgeville could always be done, of course, but should always have been done in the bank. If someone told you they were “busy” doing something near Edgeville but not in the bank and near one of these locations, then the wise person would politely insist on the bank. If the other party refused, they were almost certainly trying to lure you (though they would deny it—that's part of the act.). For example, no real buyer or seller who was “woodcutting near Edge” would argue with you over you asking them to take a few steps over to the bank. There will always be other buyers or sellers, so don't fall for tricks.

NOTE: This page contains information about luring that is now obsolete. It is retained on the site for historical information purposes.

Obsolete Lures Forum Trade Luring Before the Wilderness Ditch (OBSOLETE)