Why is Smithing So Popular?

[oddfaery2]

 

 

people alch steel plate, its fairly good amount of return on the money.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nats worth 300 each, plates alch 1200 each.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1200-300= 900

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

900/5= 180

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

180gp back for each bar you spent 500-600 each on is good return? You're better off with gold gauntlets and selling gold bars if you do that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

did you do the gold gaunts for smithing exp?:P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For much of it yes. I did VERY little smithing with steel. I'd honestly say less than 500k xp worth (which for 99 isn't much). I had gold gaunts before Jagex ruined the Family Crest reward, and I got almost all my levels from either iron, gold, or doing rune. There were some side projects once in a while though (e.g. 10k bars of cannonballs and 9k bars worth of addy darts), but those were my primary means of raising smithing. I used about 20-30k of the gold bars to make jewelry until I had 90 crafting :)

[remoteman]

smithing is very popular with new lvls, because they are usually short on money, and it is very easy to gain lvls. everybody needs armour and they can make iron at only lvl 15. i only got my smithing 2 55 so that i could make mith darts, and only use it for ranging materials combat stuff is a waste of money

[bia_mimir]

Yes, when I first started (on f2p), mining and smithing were my best skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At that stage I liked the idea of making all my own armour and weapons. Of course, now I know that's just romantic nonsense ;-). Once I hit mith I had to start buying my armour etc. It's only relatively recently that I could make full mith (I'm now 77 mining/71 smithing) but I get lots of rune stuff form training slayer (up to mail at least). So both skills are now below my average skill level of 80, but still not my worst.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I mostly smith mith plates to alch these days - but I do like having lots of mith arrows and I might get to the point of making my own addy arrows as I've made a fair number of addy bars already.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But no, it's one of my least popular skills now!

[stormveritas]

I had an epiphany last night thinking about this thread, and wanted to share it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The appeal of smithing reflects not just the appeal of one skill, but rather the APPEAL OF THE WHOLE GAME!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few people said it perfectly; it was fun, or relaxing, or they enjoyed it. That's it. That's all that matters, I suppose. Whether you are leveling smithing, combat, whatever, you are trying to get to certain milestones, or chasing down goals that you set for yourself. When you reach that, you want a new skill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It doesn't matter if you are a low level, a mid level, or a high level. It doesn't matter if you're a killer or a skiller. The fun in this game lies in the milestones. It rests in the "Rate This" category, where people spew forth about the things that they have accomplished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think about the feeling you get when you reach goals. I'll state some of my goals or achievements, and I'm a pretty crappy character, so bear with the mediocrity of these achievements:

• [*:3qd2pdek]Reaching level 44 runecrafting, so I can craft nats[*:3qd2pdek]Reaching level 59/60 mining as an F2Per, opening up the mining guild to me.[*:3qd2pdek]Reaching 60 woodcutting, and the ability to hack away at yews.[*:3qd2pdek]Reaching 900 total levels (I know, it stinks) and seeing the progress I've made.[*:3qd2pdek]Wielding a full rune set.[*:3qd2pdek]Defeating the Demon tree and getting into the Lost City of Zanaris...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the best memories of the game. These are the things I've worked for. My goals may differ from some other people here, as others are at different stages of the game, but it is that feeling of accomplishment that we seek. That actualization of meeting the hard-fought goal you set for yourself, and by doing so opening up other opportunities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So simple, but so indisputably true. I don't know how I overlooked it, to be honest, but it's clear to me now. Finances are a goal of some in the game, but a low priority to others... they are a means to reach most goals more quickly, but if they do not aid your goal, then they are useless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The game is about satisfaction. Those goals are the payoff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[/long-winded, stupid diatribe]

[Luke]

Its fun, you get the feeling of making something :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and its how most people made thier money when they first started playing.

[shade_bandyt]

this is how i make money with smithing. even with the cannonball market facing a drought, surprisingly enough steel bars are still selling for 550-650 and in VERY high demand. i have no idea what these ppl are doing if not cballs, but anyway....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

what i do is smelt like 2-3k steel bars. i mine most of my materials but i'd buy a lot to speed up the amount. then i simply look for someone who will supply the ores plus cash for the bars. even if you paid for all the ores in the first place, and even if youre only making about 50gp per bar (some ppl offer more), in about 6 turnovers youve made back all youve spent, and eveything from then on is profit. not only that, but the ores needed to smelt 2k bars will give you the exp of 12k bars in the 6 turnovers. and theres no limit to howmany times you do this. never mine again and make unlimited exp and profit. you pretty much cant lose

[Whoadystu]

First off, smithing is pretty much only popular to lower levels and F2P players.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why?

 

 

 

The prospect of being able to create your own armor entices low level players. Naturally, they have no knowledge of efficient money making antics and play the game simply for FUN. Higher levels play the game to get experience, and thus indulge in other skills. The variety of skills offered to F2P members is also very limited, ranging from fighting skills, to smithing oriented skills, to crafting and woodcutting oriented skills.

 

 

 

The first thing someone does after they have gained an understanding of their surroundings in an MMORPG is they try to improve their stats or gain money. There are pretty much only two options given to low level players to obtain GP: mining and fishing. Fishing is hardly profitable at low levels, as nobody buys salmon or tuna. On the other hand, iron and coal ores can rake in a reasonable profit. Newbies grasp this opportunity to gain some wealth and in the process find themselves wanting to smith the ores they have acquired.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, noobs just smith because it's the easiest/most fun thing to do for them.

[ldbh2o]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually the smelting part of smithing makes money (a steel bar in terms of ores sells for 400 gp, but in terms of bar form it sells for 600 gp). The XP would not be sufficient for me to get 99 smithing before going crazy. You pay for the good XP. (much like any skill, see "ranger potion" in the herblore section or "blue dragonhides" in the crafting section.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When range was popular (and useful), smithing arrowheads (iron and steel) was decent profit, but slow xp. Melee armour started to decline at the introduction of dragon platelegs (if I remember correctly).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The reason people like smithing, firemaking, old school runecrafting, etc etc, is the challenge. I am glad that there are easy skills and hard skills. So you don't become overly challenged, yet at the same time, you have the satisfaction of completeling something difficult.

[Inadatto]

Before fishing, smithing and pk'in was the ONLY ways to make money. Yes, now its not as good as a few of the skills, it really needs some overhauling.

[Surfboy]

You can sell Cannonballs as low as 150 each and make back what you spent on materials - provided that you bought the bars and not the ores (in which case you could sell as low as 100 each). People will obviously buy for more than 180, so the arguement that Cannonballs can't be profitable is not true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for your argument that "you can't count cannonballs because it's not maximum experience". Who cares? You're never going to be able to get the best experience and the best amount of cash - there's always a sacrifice that takes place. The same is true with every skill.

[Evrae]

I had an epiphany last night thinking about this thread, and wanted to share it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The appeal of smithing reflects not just the appeal of one skill, but rather the APPEAL OF THE WHOLE GAME!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few people said it perfectly; it was fun, or relaxing, or they enjoyed it. That's it. That's all that matters, I suppose. Whether you are leveling smithing, combat, whatever, you are trying to get to certain milestones, or chasing down goals that you set for yourself. When you reach that, you want a new skill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It doesn't matter if you are a low level, a mid level, or a high level. It doesn't matter if you're a killer or a skiller. The fun in this game lies in the milestones. It rests in the "Rate This" category, where people spew forth about the things that they have accomplished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Think about the feeling you get when you reach goals. I'll state some of my goals or achievements, and I'm a pretty crappy character, so bear with the mediocrity of these achievements:

• [*:39c68gda]Reaching level 44 runecrafting, so I can craft nats[*:39c68gda]Reaching level 59/60 mining as an F2Per, opening up the mining guild to me.[*:39c68gda]Reaching 60 woodcutting, and the ability to hack away at yews.[*:39c68gda]Reaching 900 total levels (I know, it stinks) and seeing the progress I've made.[*:39c68gda]Wielding a full rune set.[*:39c68gda]Defeating the Demon tree and getting into the Lost City of Zanaris...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are the best memories of the game. These are the things I've worked for. My goals may differ from some other people here, as others are at different stages of the game, but it is that feeling of accomplishment that we seek. That actualization of meeting the hard-fought goal you set for yourself, and by doing so opening up other opportunities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So simple, but so indisputably true. I don't know how I overlooked it, to be honest, but it's clear to me now. Finances are a goal of some in the game, but a low priority to others... they are a means to reach most goals more quickly, but if they do not aid your goal, then they are useless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The game is about satisfaction. Those goals are the payoff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[/long-winded, stupid diatribe]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wholeheartedly agree. My stats are similar to yours, and i take the view that going much higher than these will take so much time it will not be enjoyable. So i don't. Getting any stat any higher than 60 takes too long and is too boring to be worthwhile. If its not fun, why are you doing it? For money? RS money has no real value. What are you going to do with your 10's of millions? Were they really worth the boredom? Its those realistic milestones that keep my interest in the game, and make it fun. When you break any skill down to its basic costs and components, the trade off of time against money, you lose the fun. I do not buy any individual components when trading - i make them myself. It gives me pride in my achievements, since they are all my own work, not a product of privilege and money!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, part of my reason for having that viewpoint is that i dont have the money to do otherwise - but i could have if i really wanted to.

[balistix0]

Smithing really isn't very popular at all. It costs a lot of money to train up, even at a lower level.

[1sniper1]

well smithing rune meds is a big advantage but u must do alot more work than u know... buying em. mine 8 coal (right?) mine 1 rune ore, and make 1 nat u get over 10k do this repeatedly u will make quite abit of money... just takes awhile and lotsa work lol

[lolking91]

look at this http://forum.tip.it/viewtopic.php?t=387961

[Freshwacka]

I think the best and quickest way to level smithing (without losing money) is to superheat steel bars

[jessy87]

well smithing rune meds is a big advantage but u must do alot more work than u know... buying em. mine 8 coal (right?) mine 1 rune ore, and make 1 nat u get over 10k do this repeatedly u will make quite abit of money... just takes awhile and lotsa work lol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

you do realize that those materials cost much more then 11k, which a rune med alchs for. rune bars can sell for upto 15k ea.

[oddfaery2]

I think the best and quickest way to level smithing (without losing money) is to superheat steel bars

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think you should share what you're smokin' :P

[maximx]

anyone remeber my runeshop? the only smithing that is profitable is runesmithing and thats only if you know what your doing.

[yummy_kids]

I think it is so popular because many people still think 99smithing i the best skill to have at 99 just by work and dedication. The profit really doesn't matter as most people who can make a rune set are already super rich and just are looking for a skill to say 'Look I am uber and have the hardest(not so much anymore) skill to get to 99!'.

 

 

 

I have yet to see someone get 99 smithing who is just scraping by who has to mine thier ores themselves they mostly are rich and buy a #*^@ load of ores and get it.

[folmer_veeman]

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smithing is very useful, if you make cannonballs you pay 550-600gp each steel bar and get 180-220 each cannonball....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

for example, i've got 1.5k steel bars and i buy them for 600 each, thats 900k... and i make cannonballs of them.... (1500*4=9000) so i have 9k cannonballs.... i sell them for 220 each for example and i get (9000*220=1980000) 1.98 mil! i make more than a mil profit!!! :twisted: :twisted:

[jessy87]

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smithing is very useful, if you make cannonballs you pay 550-600gp each steel bar and get 180-220 each cannonball....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

for example, i've got 1.5k steel bars and i buy them for 600 each, thats 900k... and i make cannonballs of them.... (1500*4=9000) so i have 9k cannonballs.... i sell them for 220 each for example and i get (9000*220=1980000) 1.98 mil! i make more than a mil profit!!! :twisted: :twisted:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that takes sooo long, id do that maybe if they had addy cannon balls that sold for 1-2k ea.

[Marricked]

I will be making 2mil+ profit on 8k iron ores making arrow heads (then making arrows)

[Retefael]

the reason that smithing is so popular is because why not make your own armor instead of coughing up 200k for full rune? Although, admittedly, it doesn't make enough money to be a really good way to make money, and it takes a very very long time to get 99 smithing for a rune plate! But it is also popular because it's needed for some of the members' quests... :roll: :wink:

[tyrice]

 

I think the best and quickest way to level smithing (without losing money) is to superheat steel bars

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think you should share what you're smokin' :P

:lol:

[Fromfirst2Last1987]

smithing is just a convience i use to make arrowheads for myself and throwing knives.