Freeloading

This article is currently under construction. The information contained within should not be considered fully accurate and/or complete.

Freeloading, or less frequently Bludging, is where players enter a minigame and do little or nothing to contribute to the game, in order to get the reward for doing the minigame. It is most commonly seen on team Activities such as Pest Control, Fishing Trawler, The Great Orb Project, and Soul Wars. However in some games, updates have rendered freeloaders who do absolutely nothing (as opposed to doing small amounts of work required for rewards) obsolete.

Most players dislike freeloaders, as they do not contribute to the game. However, players cannot report them, as they are not breaking any official Jagex rules.

Freeloading in Fishing Trawler

Freeloading was very popular on Fishing Trawler until an update on June 16 2009 when the activity bar was introduced to try and deter the increasing problem of freeloaders. However, it is still a problem on the minigame. Instead of doing nothing at all, some players are only working when their activity bar gets low, filling it, then doing nothing until it gets low again. This can never be stopped. Most freeloaders aren't aware that by not helping to keep the ship afloat, they receive no rewards.

Freeloading in Pest Control

A freeloader in Pest Control, often called a "50 Hitter" by other players, is a player who plays Pest Control, but only gets the required 50 points at the beginning of the game (hence the name) in order to get the reward of coins and Void Knight Points at the end. For the rest of the game, the player will generally sit on one of the towers on the Pest Control island or on the boat rather than helping the others defeat the portals. They are usually found in the novice (combat level 40-70) section of the game, but can be found in the other sections as well. There is no activity bar in Pest Control, so there are no measures preventing players from doing this. 50 Hitting is not against the rules, but is frowned down upon by the majority of players.

Freeloading in Soul Wars

Soul Wars, which also has an activity bar similar to Fishing Trawler, still has a large problem with freeloaders even after the Missing My Mummy update. This by far is the game with the most freeloaders; dozens of them can be seen at any one time. To fill up the activity bar, a freeloader will wait until it is low, then run across and get killed, filling the activity bar all the way to the top. Some others pick up bones to keep their activity bar up, as every set of bones picked up gives a small boost, and there is usually a ready supply of them laying around.

Another type that can be spotted in the bandage spot, freeloaders pick bandages and use it to nearby players. It gives about 50% boost to activity bar. Many people do this, because this is the easiest way to freeload.

Freeloading in The Great Orb Project

Freeloading in The Great Orb Project was easy, as you only had to stay online while others were playing. However, most freeloaders weren't aware that you had to click, or "touch", at least one orb to earn credit for playing the level in order to receive tokens for that level. However, despite the activity bar being added, some freeloaders are still active, as it is easy to fill up the activity bar by simply creating and destroying barriers. Most freeloaders tend to receive much less rewards than actually working for it. Since they take up a slot which could have been used for a member that will work, it is much harder for the freeloader's team to win.

Freeloading in Castle Wars

Freeloading in Castle Wars is still common, as there is no activity bar helping to deter freeloaders. Freeloaders just stand around (and some of them AFK) the arena doing nothing and still claim the rewards of a participating player. Castle Wars freeloading is similar to Soul Wars freeloading before the update. Freeloaders are not as common there, because the only reward is untradeable armour.