Why is Smithing So Popular?

[stormveritas]

This has been something that has confused me since about two weeks after I started playing. Smithing, for whatever reason, has enchanted Runescape, and I have to admit I am one of those that enjoys it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The question remaining - WHY?

• [*:2kfxshqd]Compared to other skills, smithing is NOT profitable, and en masse usually leads to a loss.[*:2kfxshqd]With rare exception, the primary focused materials created (armors and weapons) are extremely common and easily found. [*:2kfxshqd]In order to MAKE a rune suit, it is nearly impossible to even get to the rocks necessary to mine rune without having something of comparable power to rune already. So you aren't unlocking neat new things.[*:2kfxshqd]Melee characters in general are out of vogue compared to mages and rangers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yet, with all this known, I still have worked smithing nearly as hard as any other skill. I look for ways to turn the narrowest profit so I can do it more?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is it that makes smithing so enticing? What is it about smithing that should be carried over to other skills that would make them more appetizing? Is there a way to take what we've learned from smithing's enormous success and apply it to other skills?

[Sy_Accursed]

smithing is gd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cannonballs and plate armour (steel and up) r majorly profitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cannonballs r in demand by cannoners and can sell for nearly 400ea whihc means 1.6k per steel bar used

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and plates may use 5 bars but steel upwards alch for alot compared to abr costs making it profitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

plus when u hit rune u got the obvious profits

[lagatag]

Back in the day smithing was uber, and the first rune smiths got unbeleivably rich.

 

 

 

I used to like smithing, but now I don't feel like spending the money, or time to get all the ores and bars.

[knight4]

I never liked smithing, it wasen't until a few months after I started playing, that I got my smithing /mining above 3 :)

[stormveritas]

smithing is gd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cannonballs and plate armour (steel and up) r majorly profitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, they aren't. Remember that bars and ores and nats aren't free. Cannonballs are a huge nuisance to make too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cannonballs r in demand by cannoners and can sell for nearly 400ea whihc means 1.6k per steel bar used

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dead wrong. Going rate is 200 each, but I've been trying to sell 2000 cannonballs for weeks and have barely gotten a sniff. Even when I dropped the price to 190, I still got no replies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and plates may use 5 bars but steel upwards alch for alot compared to abr costs making it profitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

plus when u hit rune u got the obvious profits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They do alch pretty well, that makes some sense to me. But rune really *ISN'T* that profitable, considering that you have to sell them individually, and they require an enormous investment, and the ores themselves are very, very difficult to get.

[jwrm22]

I never liked smithing, it wasen't until a few months after I started playing, that I got my smithing /mining above 3 :)

 

 

 

compleet the knight sword quest and get lvl 29...

[Albosky]

As a 99 smither , I can say for me , it was a matter of convience

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

no , its not profitable anymore really, as barrows armor/dragon is far more widespread and superior .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As stated above smithing was THE skill to have in the past as it was HUGE, and just because people dont want to buy our goods anymore , there still comes a certain level of respect from it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and what i meant by a matter of convience , its always nice that when you NEED a rune platebody for some reason , just get a hammer and make your own :)

[Sy_Accursed]

 

smithing is gd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cannonballs and plate armour (steel and up) r majorly profitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, they aren't. Remember that bars and ores and nats aren't free. Cannonballs are a huge nuisance to make too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cannonballs r in demand by cannoners and can sell for nearly 400ea whihc means 1.6k per steel bar used

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dead wrong. Going rate is 200 each, but I've been trying to sell 2000 cannonballs for weeks and have barely gotten a sniff. Even when I dropped the price to 190, I still got no replies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and plates may use 5 bars but steel upwards alch for alot compared to abr costs making it profitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

plus when u hit rune u got the obvious profits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They do alch pretty well, that makes some sense to me. But rune really *ISN'T* that profitable, considering that you have to sell them individually, and they require an enormous investment, and the ores themselves are very, very difficult to get.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me rephrase - for none lazy people who actualy do the work instead of relying on buying all resources for secondary skills they r porfitable

[stormveritas]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me rephrase - for none lazy people who actualy do the work instead of relying on buying all resources for secondary skills they r porfitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't give me that flaming crap, because I've done a good deal of smithing from scratch. Smithing plates is NOT very profitable, it merely nets you a little pittance to go along with your experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the smithing part costs you a lot of money there. Assuming you get a great rate for the plate (1200), you used 10 coal and 5 iron to get there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Each steel bar would sell for 600 (a total of 3000, or 1800 loss)

 

 

 

-Each coal would go for 150, and 100 per iron (2000, or 800 loss)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So by using your own resources to smith, you are forfeiting the opportunity to make a LOT more money. If you have an educated rebuttal for that (aside from the sophomoric flaming you've already exhibited), then I'm all ears.

[desipardesi]

Sometimes, raising skills is not just about profitability. Firemaking is a good example. However, smithing is attractive just for the fact that most players are meleers and the ability to replace armor when they lose it is quite attractive. That was my sole motivation to train mining and smithing early on as a f2p player. Rune is the highest armor wearable on f2p and the items are almost always in demand as new players join. When you take off your profitability blinkers and try to train skills as a part of the game, you might find smithing a lot more fun.

[Craven_Image]

I haven't trained smithing since RSC as I find it rather boring and useless. At the beggining when there were few 99 smithers I could see it being very useful with the huge monopoly of cash at 99 smithing but nowadays it doesn't look that good.

[Peronix]

I do it so I can make arrows, knives, and other ranged related materials. Making melee items are a waste of time. If I want to train, I fork over 25k so I can get my gauntlets reconfigured into goldsmith gauntlets, head my butt down to Keldargrim gold mine, mine like crazy, and smith them in port patahsmas (never got that spelling right) and churn out 56.5 xp (a little more than smithing addy bars) per bar. Plus, on top of that, smithing is used in a variety of quests, like the new devious minds quest, so I need to keep up with it so I can complete those. Smithing I will be working up to 65 after I get a few more levels on RuneCrafting.

[Ts_Stormrage]

smithing went popular all of a sudden because there was a quest requirement of lvl 65... end of that...

[r2-pleasent]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me rephrase - for none lazy people who actualy do the work instead of relying on buying all resources for secondary skills they r porfitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't give me that flaming crap, because I've done a good deal of smithing from scratch. Smithing plates is NOT very profitable, it merely nets you a little pittance to go along with your experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the smithing part costs you a lot of money there. Assuming you get a great rate for the plate (1200), you used 10 coal and 5 iron to get there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Each steel bar would sell for 600 (a total of 3000, or 1800 loss)

 

 

 

-Each coal would go for 150, and 100 per iron (2000, or 800 loss)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So by using your own resources to smith, you are forfeiting the opportunity to make a LOT more money. If you have an educated rebuttal for that (aside from the sophomoric flaming you've already exhibited), then I'm all ears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paw, I'm sorry, but you gotta do some research on this stuff before posting. You're saying Smithing is profitable if you mine your own ores, but it really isn't. The only reason you're "profitting" is because of Mining; the actual act of Smithing the Armor is actually losing you money. Smithing is only profittable if you're Smelting Bars, which is quite boring.

[Sy_Accursed]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me rephrase - for none lazy people who actualy do the work instead of relying on buying all resources for secondary skills they r porfitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't give me that flaming crap, because I've done a good deal of smithing from scratch. Smithing plates is NOT very profitable, it merely nets you a little pittance to go along with your experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the smithing part costs you a lot of money there. Assuming you get a great rate for the plate (1200), you used 10 coal and 5 iron to get there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Each steel bar would sell for 600 (a total of 3000, or 1800 loss)

 

 

 

-Each coal would go for 150, and 100 per iron (2000, or 800 loss)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So by using your own resources to smith, you are forfeiting the opportunity to make a LOT more money. If you have an educated rebuttal for that (aside from the sophomoric flaming you've already exhibited), then I'm all ears.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paw, I'm sorry, but you gotta do some research on this stuff before posting. You're saying Smithing is profitable if you mine your own ores, but it really isn't. The only reason you're "profitting" is because of Mining; the actual act of Smithing the Armor is actually losing you money. Smithing is only profittable if you're Smelting Bars, which is quite boring.

 

 

 

My research shows when u pay absolutely zilch for resources then make them into something worth 200ea or 1.6k upwards u r making pure profit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It doesn't matter if selling bars or ores is worth more, if u do all the work it is pure profit

[jessy87]

 

 

smithing is gd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cannonballs and plate armour (steel and up) r majorly profitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No, they aren't. Remember that bars and ores and nats aren't free. Cannonballs are a huge nuisance to make too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cannonballs r in demand by cannoners and can sell for nearly 400ea whihc means 1.6k per steel bar used

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dead wrong. Going rate is 200 each, but I've been trying to sell 2000 cannonballs for weeks and have barely gotten a sniff. Even when I dropped the price to 190, I still got no replies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and plates may use 5 bars but steel upwards alch for alot compared to abr costs making it profitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

plus when u hit rune u got the obvious profits

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They do alch pretty well, that makes some sense to me. But rune really *ISN'T* that profitable, considering that you have to sell them individually, and they require an enormous investment, and the ores themselves are very, very difficult to get.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me rephrase - for none lazy people who actualy do the work instead of relying on buying all resources for secondary skills they r porfitable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

uh, no. im sure you could double your $ from a steel plate if you sold off the ores. 5*2=10 coals 10 coals at 100 each = 1k, steal plates sell for nearly 1k give or take.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

edit: let me say how it is profitable, make steel bars sell the bars and then buy ores and make more steel bars. thats good $ actually and 1k steel bars renders like 17k smithing exp

[teh_soldier]

because the duke of lumbridge says its profitable :lol:

[stormveritas]

 

 

 

uh, no. im sure you could double your $ from a steel plate if you sold off the ores. 5*2=10 coals 10 coals at 100 each = 1k, steal plates sell for nearly 1k give or take.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

edit: let me say how it is profitable, make steel bars sell the bars and then buy ores and make more steel bars. thats good $ actually and 1k steel bars renders like 17k smithing exp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That method does work, but smithing to get maximum experience (that means armor / arrowtips / nails / NOT CANNONBALLS) will never get a good return on the dollar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smelting is a business that will earn money, you are correct. At the same time, it is a very slow, very work-intensive process, as opposed to other methods of "earning" (such as woodcutting or mining) that earn money FAST.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your explanation is sound, but Paw stopped listening a long time ago. He didn't read any of the last set of posts, evidently, because he did nothing to counter my evidence (that you supported) that mining is exponentially more profitable than smithing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basically, mining earns the money, and then you "pay" for smithing experience because your return goes way down. Smelting, conversely, actually can make you a few bucks, but is a slower process.

[r2-pleasent]

The main thing to note is that many skills like Smithing, Herblore, Farming, and even most forms of Fletching usually don't make you any profit; they actually end up costing you money most of the time. The amount of money you make on a Skill is not the only factor in how good a Skill it is overall, it is just one of the many factors. One thing I personally enjoy about Smithing is how peaceful it is. Just chilling at an Anvil and hammering my Bars into usable items holds a certain prestige that keeps me entertained.

[Sy_Accursed]

you said nothing new since my last post, whihc sums it up nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you mining ur resources input cost = 0gp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

output from smithing etc = mine xp, smith xp, money, and possible mage xp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the ores etc may be worth more but its still pure profit

[spooferfish]

you said nothing new since my last post, whihc sums it up nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you mining ur resources input cost = 0gp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

output from smithing etc = mine xp, smith xp, money, and possible mage xp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the ores etc may be worth more but its still pure profit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's not spending any money to get the ores-bars-final item, essence-nature rune therefore anything he makes is a profit. There are probably better ways to make a profit, but that is a profit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do this fletching, I mine my own essence, make the natures. Then I buy logs for 300 ea, and strings for 100 ea. The yew long bow I make alchs for 700 something cold. So I make a small profit off it, plus I get some fletching xp so I can look like less of a noob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I dunno why I've like smithing. I think its what R2 said, its just standing there hitting metal [racist term]s with a hammer and turning it into something useful.

[Unitedite]

you said nothing new since my last post, whihc sums it up nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you mining ur resources input cost = 0gp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

output from smithing etc = mine xp, smith xp, money, and possible mage xp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the ores etc may be worth more but its still pure profit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You might want to google for the phrase 'opportunity cost'. It's one of the most basic concepts in economics, and one that you don't seem to have the grasp of.

[Sy_Accursed]

 

you said nothing new since my last post, whihc sums it up nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you mining ur resources input cost = 0gp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

output from smithing etc = mine xp, smith xp, money, and possible mage xp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the ores etc may be worth more but its still pure profit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You might want to google for the phrase 'opportunity cost'. It's one of the most basic concepts in economics, and one that you don't seem to have the grasp of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have perfect graspe of economics thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not matter what value essy, ores, nats and bars have if you produce them yourself they cost you nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smithing them further may take from thier value, but in end it is still profit for intial cash amount and also as it was nvr converted to cash at mid point is not a lose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may not be the best way to make money cause gettin ghte resources and making them worth less by 2nd process is unefficent, but it still produces pure profit

[stormveritas]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have perfect graspe of economics thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not matter what value essy, ores, nats and bars have if you produce them yourself they cost you nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smithing them further may take from thier value, but in end it is still profit for intial cash amount and also as it was nvr converted to cash at mid point is not a lose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may not be the best way to make money cause gettin ghte resources and making them worth less by 2nd process is unefficent, but it still produces pure profit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your logic only stands if you ignore the fact that mining and smithing are mutually exclusive, and the fact that there is indeed a worth to goods in your inventory other than gold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The iron and coal ore that you mine increases your net worth as you bank it, since it immediately becomes an item with some resale value. When you stop mining, it's net value then adds your inventory's total value, and the amount of money (not just gold, but total tangible assets) that you have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smelting generally increases this net worth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you turn around and smith, however, you are spending some of your newly acquired assets. Your net worth DECREASES THROUGH SMITHING, (unless you're doing CBalls, which are boring and horrible), as the gold yielded via high-alching is far less than you could have earned had you sold the ores or bars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The difference between your net value before and after smithing translates into the DIRECT COST TO YOU that you are paying in exchange for smithing experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So in other words, NO, this type of smithing is by no means "pure profit".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This economics lesson has been brought to you by Stormveritas

[Unitedite]

I have perfect graspe of economics thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not matter what value essy, ores, nats and bars have if you produce them yourself they cost you nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smithing them further may take from thier value, but in end it is still profit for intial cash amount and also as it was nvr converted to cash at mid point is not a lose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may not be the best way to make money cause gettin ghte resources and making them worth less by 2nd process is unefficent, but it still produces pure profit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Correct, from a monetary point of view you're making a profit, but it's irrational to suggest that such a blinkered view provides a realistic conecpt of wealth.

 

 

 

Unless you'd like to go craft 100,000 nats and sell them to me for 1gp, because you'll clearly have more money afterwards so it must be a good deal ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And sorry if my previous post sounded a bit more surley than i intended.