TruthScape.com  9  The Truth About RuneScape Item Scams

Godsword Related Item Scams General Tips to Avoiding Duel Arena Scams

The RuneScape Duel Arena—also sometimes called the Dueling Arena—is a place for players who are interested in player versus player combat, but who don't want to deal with the negativity and problems of the Wilderness. It allows two players to fight each other in a controlled environment, where they can agree on the terms of the fight, and possibly also gamble gold or items on the outcome. It can be a lot of fun, and a good place to really test your combat prowess, but flaws in the system are also sometimes exploited by scammers, especially when the stakes are high.

In this subsection, I will describe to you some of the more common scams and tricks that are sometimes used by unscrupulous duelers to cheat you out of an honest win—and your stake. I start with some general advice on how to avoid getting tricked at the duel arena. I discuss ways players will try to deceive you through last-second changes to the duel settings, and the especially annoying “shield slot scam”. I then move onto more subtle tricks, including deception by appearance, duel arena cons and player substitution scams, and more.

It's important to note that in the duel arena, you are pretty much on your own. The swindles and cons that I describe here are not generally reportable under the scamming rules of RuneScape. So be extra careful.

One final warning: staking is gambling. Players can sometimes become obsessed with staking, which may become a form of compulsive gambling. If you find that several of these characteristics of compulsive gamblers is true of your behavior at the Duel Arena, you should consider speaking with a parent, spouse, counselor or close friend about getting real world assistance:

• Preoccupation with staking
  
  
• Continually increasing the amount you stake
  
  
• “Chasing losses”: thinking you need to “make back” stakes you've lost
  
  
• Staking items you can't afford to lose
  
  
• Feeling like you know you should stop staking but can't
  
  
• Staking because it takes your mind off real world problems
  
  
• Borrowing gold or items from friends to stake with, or begging others for gold or items
  
  
• Engaging in scamming (in RuneScape or the real world) to get funds for staking

Godsword Related Item Scams General Tips to Avoiding Duel Arena Scams