Why do so many people consider Mint Cakes or Grand Seed Pods valuable? Neither are particularly useful, nor are they discontinued, nor are they exceptionally rare from their source. So why have they seemingly come to be used as though they were rares? As bartering items?

 

For those unaware of how to obtain them in the first place, these two particular items are uncommon tip rewards you may receive for hard deliveries to Brambickle, Penwie, or Wingstone during the Gnome Delivery minigame.

 

Mint Cakes are food items eaten in one bite that heal 100% of a player's running energy. However, with the rest update, other energy restoration items have been made more effective, and resting iteself doesn't take long either.

 

Grand Seed Pods are stackable teleportation items. You receive 5 any time you get them as a reward. When you right-click them you are presented with one of two unique options: You may either use it as a signal flare, causing a gnome glider pilot to fly to your position (if you are outside, and unarmed) and pick you up, which gives you a little Farming XP, OR you may crush the pod and be teleported immediately at the cost of 5 Farming levels. The first option takes you to the top of the Grand Tree and the second to the base in front of the door. Although convenient that it should take you right to the tree, there are both tree spirits and gnome gliders in convenient to reach locations that can do the same thing for free.

 

So, once again, WHY would someone ever value these at 3m GP street price or thereabouts?

i've actually never gotten seedpods myself, but i digress

 

nobody does gnome restaurant anymore, almost nobody, so it's EFFECTIVELY discontinued

people pay alot of money for them because they will rise alot before they reach their natural price.

 

paying for junk isnt a big deal anyways, most merchants can just loan a GS out to toss their junk out for cash. There are other great ways to dispose of junk as well.

3k and 4k on ge?

Because little to no people actually play the minigame. A few months back my cousins stirred up quite a craze on TIF with quite a bit of people doing the minigame. The rewards aren't necessarily rare, but there are so little of them in the game.

 

It's basically like asking why Left Eye Patches were going for 200-500k on the forums at once. Because any items can be bought out if there is not enough of them entering the game. Whip prices could be at 20m right now if enough people decide to buy them out and sell them for that price.

i've actually never gotten seedpods myself, but i digress

 

nobody does gnome restaurant anymore, almost nobody, so it's EFFECTIVELY discontinued

people pay alot of money for them because they will rise alot before they reach their natural price.

 

paying for junk isnt a big deal anyways, most merchants can just loan a GS out to toss their junk out for cash. There are other great ways to dispose of junk as well.

But... They're easy to get... If they're really that high in their street price then people would start playing the game again to get these rewards.

Also, if there are so few in the game, and they're starting out so low, then it's going to take a very long time for them to rise to their street or natural price.

 

3k and 4k on ge?

Yup. And apparently, 2-3m each traded player-to-player with junk items. But I think you know what I mean, and just felt like being a moron.

 

Because little to no people actually play the minigame. A few months back my cousins stirred up quite a craze on TIF with quite a bit of people doing the minigame. The rewards aren't necessarily rare, but there are so little of them in the game.

 

It's basically like asking why Left Eye Patches were going for 200-500k on the forums at once. Because any items can be bought out if there is not enough of them entering the game. Whip prices could be at 20m right now if enough people decide to buy them out and sell them for that price.

To go on your specific examples, Left Eye Patches were that much when and around when they were new. However, they can be worn, unlike Mint Cakes and Grand Seed Pods, which have limited use and are consumables. Abyssal Whips, however, don't seem like a good example. They're extremely useful, you can stand in one small general area and continually complete the task that might present you with them, and they're already at a fairly high price.

 

To be honest, I'd already come to the conclusion that it was just some evil merchanipulators telling people they were discontinued after they'd bought them all out so that they could use them unfairly as bargaining chips to ignorant masses. But, of course, there could be a real reason, some super use that's relatively unknown, kind of like with Statius's Warhammer being used to effectively solo the Corporeal Beast, and alike had only recently been discovered.

 

There really doesn't seem to be any items to compare to these; Both of these are consumables; Both of these are only uncommon rewards from an easy source; Both of these have limited uses (as far as I am aware)... Most other minigame rewards are either useful, untradeable, multi-use/nondegradeable/rechargeable, or are worn, and look nice, or are a combination of all of these factors like Gnome Scarves in that they are unique and rare.

 

**Ooh, on that note, I'm surprised that Gnome Scarves are so high at the moment. They're 4-5x what they were when I played the minigame, and it looks as though they were actually 2.6m at one point. I almost wish I'd kept the 40 or 50 or so total that I got from rewards. Let's see... That would have been 30m back then and... 130m at their peak... FML.

i've actually never gotten seedpods myself, but i digress

 

nobody does gnome restaurant anymore, almost nobody, so it's EFFECTIVELY discontinued

people pay alot of money for them because they will rise alot before they reach their natural price.

 

paying for junk isnt a big deal anyways, most merchants can just loan a GS out to toss their junk out for cash. There are other great ways to dispose of junk as well.

But... They're easy to get... If they're really that high in their street price then people would start playing the game again to get these rewards.

Also, if there are so few in the game, and they're starting out so low, then it's going to take a very long time for them to rise to their street or natural price.

 

3k and 4k on ge?

Yup. And apparently, 2-3m each traded player-to-player with junk items. But I think you know what I mean, and just felt like being a moron.

 

Because little to no people actually play the minigame. A few months back my cousins stirred up quite a craze on TIF with quite a bit of people doing the minigame. The rewards aren't necessarily rare, but there are so little of them in the game.

 

It's basically like asking why Left Eye Patches were going for 200-500k on the forums at once. Because any items can be bought out if there is not enough of them entering the game. Whip prices could be at 20m right now if enough people decide to buy them out and sell them for that price.

To go on your specific examples, Left Eye Patches were that much when and around when they were new. However, they can be worn, unlike Mint Cakes and Grand Seed Pods, which have limited use and are consumables. Abyssal Whips, however, don't seem like a good example. They're extremely useful, you can stand in one small general area and continually complete the task that might present you with them, and they're already at a fairly high price.

 

To be honest, I'd already come to the conclusion that it was just some evil merchanipulators telling people they were discontinued after they'd bought them all out so that they could use them unfairly as bargaining chips to ignorant masses. But, of course, there could be a real reason, some super use that's relatively unknown, kind of like with Statius's Warhammer being used to effectively solo the Corporeal Beast, and alike had only recently been discovered.

 

There really doesn't seem to be any items to compare to these; Both of these are consumables; Both of these are only uncommon rewards from an easy source; Both of these have limited uses (as far as I am aware)... Most other minigame rewards are either useful, untradeable, multi-use/nondegradeable/rechargeable, or are worn, and look nice, or are a combination of all of these factors like Gnome Scarves in that they are unique and rare.

 

**Ooh, on that note, I'm surprised that Gnome Scarves are so high at the moment. They're 4-5x what they were when I played the minigame, and it looks as though they were actually 2.6m at one point. I almost wish I'd kept the 40 or 50 or so total that I got from rewards. Let's see... That would have been 30m back then and... 130m at their peak... FML.

 

 

They're being merched atm, by either wefightge or smokin mils, I forgot which one

When the Tyras helm first came out, i saw people swapping all sorts of items for them... No one knew how to get them, so people just assumed they were rare.

Wait really?! In my last days as I memb I decided to try out all the minigames and took a liking to Gnome Restaurant.. I have quite a few in my f2p bank.

When the Tyras helm first came out, i saw people swapping all sorts of items for them... No one knew how to get them, so people just assumed they were rare.

Then I suppose it goes back to what I was saying about how merchanipulators who know that they are truly worthless are using them to trick people who are lazy, gullible, and or ignorant.

 

Wait really?! In my last days as I memb I decided to try out all the minigames and took a liking to Gnome Restaurant.. I have quite a few in my f2p bank.

I really don't know how powerful of bargaining tools they are. It's likely that only merchants with lower experience would accept them, and also difficult to say how long this vast ignorance will last.

Personally, if I had the money to blow and a bunch of these items that I'd gotten myself from the minigame (as in, I didn't pay ridiculous prices for) I would try to get a Partyhat for them and cash. Although, to be a good sport, I'd tell the guy they aren't discontinued first.

 

If I had to guess at the actual rarity of these, I'd say 1/5 of the deliveries you do for those specific people would give you a Mint Cake, 5 Grand Seed Pods, or a Half Key. However, they're all very spread out. The only one easy to find would be Penwie, the one camouflaged near the Gnome Glider at Karamja.

It's just supply & demand. The price is high because there's a shortage in supply. Virtually nobody collects them, so there aren't enough to go around for the people who want them, and the mechanics of the Grand Exchange prevent the price from reaching the actual value people are willing to pay.

 

I'm not sure exactly why anyone wants mint cakes, but Grand Seed Pods are the fastest way to get to the Grand Tree by a fairly significant margin.

It's just supply & demand. The price is high because there's a shortage in supply. Virtually nobody collects them, so there aren't enough to go around for the people who want them, and the mechanics of the Grand Exchange prevent the price from reaching the actual value people are willing to pay.

 

I'm not sure exactly why anyone wants mint cakes, but Grand Seed Pods are the fastest way to get to the Grand Tree by a fairly significant margin.

I don't think you can put it so simply. The actual Grand Exchange prices are really very fitting for these items' uses. No one paying millions for them is actually using them for their intended purposes...

I still think that it must be peoples' ignorance of how to get them, and believing them to be discontinued. If you think about it, Mint Cakes are somewhat close to Easter Eggs or Pumpkins in that they're unique food items. Of course, when there's a Knowledge Base and sites like Tip.It there's really no excuse for being misinformed.

 

Also, not to be nitpicky, but I find that teleporting to the Grand Exchange and then running to that Spirit Tree is likely just as fast as using the glider function of the Grand Seed Pods, and if you were farming then you wouldn't want that 5 level reduction from the instant teleport. Really, though, both of these items were meant for playing the minigame itself.

It's just supply & demand. The price is high because there's a shortage in supply. Virtually nobody collects them, so there aren't enough to go around for the people who want them, and the mechanics of the Grand Exchange prevent the price from reaching the actual value people are willing to pay.

 

I'm not sure exactly why anyone wants mint cakes, but Grand Seed Pods are the fastest way to get to the Grand Tree by a fairly significant margin.

I don't think you can put it so simply. The actual Grand Exchange prices are really very fitting for these items' uses. No one paying millions for them is actually using them for their intended purposes...

I still think that it must be peoples' ignorance of how to get them, and believing them to be discontinued. If you think about it, Mint Cakes are somewhat close to Easter Eggs or Pumpkins in that they're unique food items. Of course, when there's a Knowledge Base and sites like Tip.It there's really no excuse for being misinformed.

 

Also, not to be nitpicky, but I find that teleporting to the Grand Exchange and then running to that Spirit Tree is likely just as fast as using the glider function of the Grand Seed Pods, and if you were farming then you wouldn't want that 5 level reduction from the instant teleport. Really, though, both of these items were meant for playing the minigame itself.

You don't teleport to Mobilizing Armies for spirit trees?

 

It may be worth pointing out that there are no quests required to use a Grand Seed Pod. If you were a lv3 skiller, for example, you wouldn't be able to do the quests to use spirit trees or gliders, so it would be the fastest way to get to the Grand Tree. Even if you are using it to farm, it's not a big deal to lose 5 levels because farming level doesn't affect much, especially if you're already planting lower-level trees like maples (the high-level ones are overpriced anyway).

It's just supply & demand. The price is high because there's a shortage in supply. Virtually nobody collects them, so there aren't enough to go around for the people who want them, and the mechanics of the Grand Exchange prevent the price from reaching the actual value people are willing to pay.

 

I'm not sure exactly why anyone wants mint cakes, but Grand Seed Pods are the fastest way to get to the Grand Tree by a fairly significant margin.

I don't think you can put it so simply. The actual Grand Exchange prices are really very fitting for these items' uses. No one paying millions for them is actually using them for their intended purposes...

I still think that it must be peoples' ignorance of how to get them, and believing them to be discontinued. If you think about it, Mint Cakes are somewhat close to Easter Eggs or Pumpkins in that they're unique food items. Of course, when there's a Knowledge Base and sites like Tip.It there's really no excuse for being misinformed.

 

Also, not to be nitpicky, but I find that teleporting to the Grand Exchange and then running to that Spirit Tree is likely just as fast as using the glider function of the Grand Seed Pods, and if you were farming then you wouldn't want that 5 level reduction from the instant teleport. Really, though, both of these items were meant for playing the minigame itself.

You don't teleport to Mobilizing Armies for spirit trees?

 

It may be worth pointing out that there are no quests required to use a Grand Seed Pod. If you were a lv3 skiller, for example, you wouldn't be able to do the quests to use spirit trees or gliders, so it would be the fastest way to get to the Grand Tree. Even if you are using it to farm, it's not a big deal to lose 5 levels because farming level doesn't affect much, especially if you're already planting lower-level trees like maples (the high-level ones are overpriced anyway).

Oh, nah, I usually have something to check or put up at the Grand Exchange anyway, but that's a good point.

If you were what, 83 Farming, you could plant a Spirit Tree at Port Sarim and use the Explorer Ring 3 to get to it, too. (No comment required here, trivial info... :P )

 

Doubtless a skiller wouldn't pay such a high street price for them for such small convenience. The Grand Exchange price, however, which is not what the main topic was about, is perfectly reasonable, and if skillers were able to get them for that I'm sure they would. Also, the point made earlier that players could get rid of junk easily by lending out high level equipment would not apply to skillers unless they bought Godswords etc for the sole purpose of ridding themselves of junk, which I find unlikely. I suppose they could use main accounts that they have high level equipment on to sift out the junk and sell or give themselves the Grand Seed Pods at face value, but really we're getting into a huge void of 'ifs' and small chances here.

 

Topic: Mint Cakes and Grand Seed Pods are nearly worthless, yet people have put unreasonably high value to them, why?