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Wilderness Riot

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The Wilderness Riot, "Second Pay to Pk Riot" or "June Riot", as it is called among some players, was a riot which occured on 5 June 2008 (4 June in some time zones). The riot occurred near the 6 month anniversary of the Trade and drop changes and Wilderness removal on 10 December 2007. It lasted throughout the whole day from the early hours of the morning until around 3:00 GMT the following morning. It is considered by some to be an extension of the Pay to PK Riot, due to their similar causes and outcomes. The riot is notable because it is the first major F2P riot.

The riot started in Varrock center square on World 1, however as the riot progressed, it spread to other worlds and locations, although the main body remained concentrated at the starting point. As in the Pay to Pk riot, players wore Pink skirts to show opposition towards Jagex, while others wore Blue skirts to show support. Some players followed each other, creating long chains of rioters. Others formed long lines of stationary rioters.

Player moderators attempted to quell the riot by muting players who were spamming or using autotypers, however there were not enough of the moderators make an impact in the amount of rioters. The riot was temporarily stopped when the servers were taken offline for an update, however the riot quickly started up again. Some of the rioters went to the low level wilderness, where many were killed by wandering Revenants. The riot continued until 7 June, when things started to wind down.

This riot showed that even after 6 months, many players were still discontent with the Wilderness and trade changes, despite Jagex's effort to replace any content that was lost. Furthermore, Jagex had adamantly defended their actions, saying firmly that they would never revert the changes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiyNhnPjQZ8 - Video of the Riot