Theres many reasons for this game dying. Ironman mode is basically the only real way to play the game anymore because 90% of all methods just flat out not worth doing for any remotely good GP/XP, bots are completely running over and infesting every piece of doable content, and basically every item is on a steep slope in prices because of a lack of item sinks.

You can now fill every single god book for less than 300k. Less than a year ago that wouldve been 1.5-2m. They have lost some of their usefulness but one of the most treasured untradeables in the game have basically lost all value. Seeing a 20k zammy page in a clue scroll is disheartening.

Basically everything that has a high alch price is now at the high alch price. Every boss unique unless tied to some sort of BIS gear for a worthwhile money making activity has lost all value.

Supplies for skills are at an all time low. Profit from skills at an all time low. The only skilling methods for profit worth doing are ones that circumvent requirements or materials (IE blast furnace, minigames, etc.) because they are infested with bots and the rewards from bosses have drained all skilling from value.

Bonds have reached and maintained near all time high for 2 years now because bot farms have reached an all time high. Jagex refuses to implement a better form of account security and verification beyond a shitty dead email requirement. There are many options that would immediately cut short bot farms while also cutting off bot farms almost entirely but they refuse to do so.

This game immediately needs 1 of 2 things.

1) Invention skill

Yall shit on RS3 but it has had a major turnaround since EOC. Invention singlehandedly revitalized every single skill in the game and most forms of skilling and bossing because of it. Yall beg for a new skill, this is it.

2) Wilderness overhaul, Better account security and removal of 99% of free trade.

This is a very clear cut and easy solution. Firstly, you add the ability to link multiple accounts to a single phone number that you must use to verify a members account at the turn of every month via text. You get 1 phone number swap per year per account. Free trade is completely enabled for these accounts, and any accounts found guilty of punishment is shared between all listed accounts.

Secondly, the by far biggest one, wilderness receives a complete overhaul with the removal of trading from drops. Actual real minigames are offered to give PKing an avenue to pk for profit (That isnt bounty hunter or any other easily abusable form) that is related to risk and rewards from killing players from risk that are exclusive to that shop in some form. The goal here is to remove the ability to '''free trade''' by just killing someone while keeping pk integrity intact. Predator vs Prey pking was the most wack thing ever to begin with and needed an update.

All other forms of free trade are completely removed with the exception of the lending system. This covers 100% of trading avenues and basically removes all forms of botting entirely apart from griefing bots and account selling bots.

Whether you like it or not, these problems are growing exponentially and within 2 years basically no non unique items will be worth more than high alch and all real content will be killed by overwhelming bots. Ironman mode will be the only way to keep real integrity between content. A large update needs to happen now otherwise this game will basically be botted to death.

Whether its jagex not being up to date with botting systems and they go more and more undetected, or their refusal to deal with them, it is half the problem and is killing this game.