Tip.It Times Presents: The Greed Factor

[wakka102]

Alot of good tips in there. I'd love to see the amount of merchanting drop because I think they're are way too many merchants and they are somewhat spoiling the heart of the game.

[elmo_killer6]

i liked the article so true :wink: :!: :mrgreen: :wall:

[highlanders]

Well the Greedy Factor is not a cause but a consequence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The prices of things is way too high, rares for instance are soo much more expensive than in the past years. And this tendency has rubbed off on other markets. Armour, materials, treasure trail items, all has raised. But the money efficiency of the average player hasn't raised (even though certain new skills such as Rc have helped).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What happens? Dun dun dun, people need more and more money, money they don't have. Solution for most: dishonest ways.

[halloaap0]

Well the Greedy Factor is not a cause but a consequence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The prices of things is way too high, rares for instance are soo much more expensive than in the past years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I dont agree with that. I don't really know how to say this in englsih, but prices are dependent on an offer and demand. If the offer is low, prices will go up, because there is a demand for some items and people ARE WILLING to pay the prices. It's the same with oil nowadays. The production of oil is lower than the demand for oil, so prices are going up. I do agree with you that it sometimes makes the game annoying, or some people annoying.

 

 

 

I was recently looking for 7k bowstirngs. It had been a while since I had bought them and the price I still had in my mind was 100 each. It turned out that everyone called me a noob or laughed at me, sice pices had one up to 150 each or even a major 175+ each! But, as I already mentioned before, there are people that are willing to pay that much for some bowstrings, so if I wanted those 7k of strings I had to buy them 150 each.

 

 

 

I do agree with the writer of the article. MAny people think merchanting is the only way to make a good profit, but there are several skills with which to make money fast. What about a good slayer who can kill gargoyles or above? Their drops in total can be more than 500k an hour.

 

 

 

My advice would then be: don't focus too much on merchanting, cause in fact: merchanting doesn't even give xp...

[blad3lord]

I am insulted by this piece, i am a merchant, i find nothing wrong with it, it makes lots of money and really fast. Its a honest way to make money, we do a lot of typing and posting on forums. We aren't scamming people out of there money. Most people dont want to spend the time to look for a cheap price so they buy phats from us merchants for a high price

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

you apparently misunderstood the article. The author discussed merchanting as a legitimate money-making method, as well as discussing the lows some merchants sink to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit- oh and halloapp, replace "offer" with "supply" and you have how to say it in english.

[mebxx]

I had no idea that rune-crafting could make so much money...I recently died :( , and when i was trying to repurchase my full rune, I was almost scammed by someone who quickly dropped the rune legs and shield from the trade screen. I quickly declined and reported the scammer, but i couldnt help but think... whether or not this poor scammer was just trying to make some extra cash (the greed factor) or someone who tries to take pleasure from people who want to simply purchase a few items.

[tlandwehr]

What skill and at what lvl can you make 1 mill per hour?! I knew about 300k per hour from nature runes from the abyss, but how the heck do you make 1 mill per hour from a skill? Can anyone pm me about it or explain?

[Slacker815]

Agreed, this is a growing problem. Like said before, we've all been scammed. For instance, this one guy was trading me a rune long (bank note). First time round, he cancels the trade. Then he asks me to trade again, and this time he puts up an iron long (bank note) which looks exactly the same as rune long in bank note form, and shazam, I get scammed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make sure you always double check what you are trading for.... Also, what can we as players do to help this problem?

[Dexek]

I honestly merchant. If someone asks me the price I will tell them if I know, or tell them to check forums. You'd actually be suprised how many people try to scam me when I am merchanting. Just yesterday I was buying another red h'ween mask and the guy tried to scam me, this was the only time I never told him the actual worth of the mask. I let him give his own price since he tried to scam me, so I ended up buying it for 11m. Other than these types of incidents where I am tricked first, I will let them know the pricing. Making me an honest merchant.....I don't know why I am writing all this, but I guess it is just something for everyone to look at.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottom line, you better believe in Carma, if you try to trick someone else, you will be the one at a loss in the end. :lol:

[mistermars1]

hey i have a question i mean i make all my money from buying herbs from 500-1000 ea and sellign the ones over rannar for 2.5k ea i buy the first herbs based on the lvl of the player or if thier noted or not i can usuly judge thier experince would that bee considered the "greed factor?"

[ChristStopper]

i dont think it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

becaus eits the standard price for them after reselling if you had like an extra 5% + on top of that i think it would be

[theanti]

OK, i didnt read all the posts in this it was too long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But i think the author made so good points about the rares.

 

 

 

Personally i think rares should be made non trade-able.

 

 

 

It would fix plenty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Howver i would like to dispute what he calls *greedy merchants*

 

 

 

now if i buy an item for less then half price, and sell at well over price, i believe thats what merchanting is. I got a good deal on it and im selling it at a higher price. now if i told the person a rune kite (h) was 75k then i could understand, but if i offer a price and they accept it, how am i greedy and evil, I want to know who anyone (even the author) thinks he is to judge what price is "right". players made the prices, and im a player, so i think i can buy the thing at whatever price i want, and sell at whatever price i want without being called greedy.

 

 

 

noone in runescape has the right to say that my price is wrong because its 20gp more or whatnot. Now i could understand if im charging like a rune kite (h) for 23 mil or something like they do with drag chain, but im not, so idont think the greed factor applies there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, another key point i wanted to mention is i think jagex themselves are also very responsible for this greed factor that they "try" to stop.

 

 

 

Every time they release an item you cant buy in store (drag chain, drag 2hander, drag hatchet,seacull, the daggonoth rings, etc) they mess it up even more because automatically players are gonna be greedy and want 10 mil and up, i mean look at the infinity set, they made it so hard to get those that got it are like.....greedy sobs.....12 mil for a set that sucks.....wtf was jagex thinking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

so i think a lot of people are to blame for this.

 

 

 

and there is no way to stop it unless jagex puts all items like drag chain etc into stores, and makes "rares" untradeable.

 

 

 

(and just so everybody knows im fair, i have a blue halloween mask in my bank account ive had a while, so what the money i could get for that mask is nothing compared to what id pay to fix the fudged up economy of runescape)

[dan2012]

one thing i want to know, is that why is price manipulation included in the list of "scams" ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i 'supposedly' got reported the other day for price manipulation as i had a lvl85 follow me for a full 10 minutes asking to buy my abby whip and no matter how many times i said it wasnt for sale he continued to pester me. eventually, i posted a message that said i would only sell it for 8m, just to shut him up and make him go away as i knew it was a ridiculous price to pay. next thing i know, he's sending messages saying "ha, you've been reported now for price manipulation" - how exactly is that manipulation? manipulation is buying 50 dragon scimmys from the shop for 100k each and selling them in the banks for ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã5m, not for posting a message to shut someone up who won't leave me alone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you may have guessed, i'm not very happy about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also - on a completely different note, what makes a player great? i am getting increasingly annoyed with some of the petty behaviour by a lot of the younger players of the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the other day i got laughed at for killing a fire giant with a rune hally, because i'm a lvl95 - i wudnt have minded but the player calling me a 'noob' was a lvl 81 with a dragon hally. it resulted in a heated argument encompassing a further 8 'scapers about whether items or levels were better - he was a lvl81 with full barrows and 1090 overall, i am a lvl95 with full rune and 1370 overall. my argument is that i play this game to increase levels, not to show off with what items i have.

[dragon312]

this is so true

[stefan909]

i like levels as much as the next guy, but showing off items is always fun... :P but i don't call cutting 11k yew logs greed factor (i did that for a whip) not that anyone accused me of it...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But i still don't see why people can't earn their money, they always have to beg, scam, hack and many other thngs, i mean, how lazy can you be??

[Wilmot]

There does seem to be a climate of it being ok to scam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I find it wierd that someone can ask to borrow something and then turns round and throws that trust in your face.

[knight_az]

the greed factor is totally out of hand, its twisting peoples friendships...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

here an example..

 

 

 

in the clan i was in, there was a rich 100+

 

 

 

a friend of his, who some others have known for lots of years asks to borrow his d chain (haven't been told the reason yet), the 100+ says yes (seem pretty stupid) but they all trust him

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the "friend" leaves the clan and gets away with the d chain. The 100+ is devastated because it took him ages to get that chain, and all the clan members are angry at the "friend"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

im not mentioning any names, just showing what the greed factor has done

[fishm0nger]

I have stepped timidly into the world of merchanting but I feel no shame about it. I am doing a specific item and rather not reveal it because one of the reasons its good is because nobody seems to be merchanting at all right now. I allready made one mill in only 3 sales of a single item which is not a discontinued item.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do not think I have done anything underhanded though. When people ask me what I think the price is of the item I say what I truly think the range is and the range I base my buying decisions on. I do not say aggresive things like "its x amount you noob" or " you will never find it for less". even sometimes when I think they can get it for less and the buyer is being really anoying about the price I am charging, I help a buyer find a different seller that will sell for less.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have never really dealt with a person who didn't know what the price was for it when they were selling the object but I have never bought it for less than 90% of the bottom value of the item

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I may prey on the desperate but I tell them to be pattient if they don't like my prices and say they can get it for less but they don't listen. I Have done nothing wrong!

[littlejohnnyboy]

How would you make 1mil an hour?...Merchanting? Cause I'm a lvl 82 fisher and im making like...100k an hour ...*maybe*...and it took alot of time/work to get there...a mil an hour! wow i have to know how! ...dont even think u could get that much mining?

[wildcakes]

I have one issue with the pking that goes on in the wildy. Now for those of us who are serious questers. There are quests which bring you to the wildy. How is it we are to be able to fulfill those quest requirements when there are mobs of people out there just looking to make a quick dollar. My expirience occured a few days ago. I went out to the wildy for the Wanted Quest. I was walking along and was hit with a spell out of no where. Then was bombarded by 4 people who proceeded to kill me. Now, if the wildy is designed to be a place for P2P combat that is fine. If they wish to risk their equiptment and such then that is their choice. I however dont see why those of us who are only there to finish a quest should have to be worried everytime we have to go out there. I feel there should be alot more regulation on the wildy. If it is an agreed P2P confrontation fine. But at least give those of us a chance who are not into that sort of thing. Further more in my story I began to run to the wildy to gather chaos runes. No armor, no weapons, just one tiara and ess. But still I get attacked by some fool. Now tell me that the wildy has not gotten totally out of hand. There is no rhyme or reason to it at all. It is unfair that those of us who play this game by the rules should have to fall victim to those who are out for nothing more that to get the most they can get, and dont care the expense that comes to others. I think it is wrong.

[bedman]

 

Obviously we are looking at this from entirely different sides of the same coin. My analogy was perhaps a bit too general purpose for my point. Of course RS is just a game. Entertainment. Nothing more. But the lines between real and not real are {pardon the pun} virtual shades of gray in this technological world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You save your real time earned, real money for a spiffy MP3 player. I save my real time earned, virtual money for a dragon skirt. Should I feel any less cheated or angry if I get scammed out of my skirt than if someone stole your MP3 player?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time is money. There is no virtual time. Following this, is there no virtual money? A ponderment indeed. :lol:

 

 

 

{I'll not go into quantum physics here}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe people that will cheat in a game will, given oportunity, cheat in the real world. This being said, with the propensity of greedy cheaters in the game, isn't that a bit scary?

 

 

 

Hats off to you! You argued that point very well, and it has honestly made me look at Runescape in a completely different way :shock:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Ian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indeed, I enjoyed reading it. Maybe even more than reading the article (cause most of it was already basic knowledge for me).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes, I also have that feeling you explained wonderfully, but I never really elaborated about it, and not in such a clear structured text :)

 

 

 

On the other hand, Runescape stays something for my leisure, and I dont consider it as working.

 

 

 

Though, me and my friend had fun, estimating how much money we would have had if we did a part time job during all the hours we played runescape. We found out it was quite alot :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

one thing i want to know, is that why is price manipulation included in the list of "scams" ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i 'supposedly' got reported the other day for price manipulation as i had a lvl85 follow me for a full 10 minutes asking to buy my abby whip and no matter how many times i said it wasnt for sale he continued to pester me. eventually, i posted a message that said i would only sell it for 8m, just to shut him up and make him go away as i knew it was a ridiculous price to pay. next thing i know, he's sending messages saying "ha, you've been reported now for price manipulation" - how exactly is that manipulation? manipulation is buying 50 dragon scimmys from the shop for 100k each and selling them in the banks for ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã5m, not for posting a message to shut someone up who won't leave me alone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you may have guessed, i'm not very happy about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also - on a completely different note, what makes a player great? i am getting increasingly annoyed with some of the petty behaviour by a lot of the younger players of the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the other day i got laughed at for killing a fire giant with a rune hally, because i'm a lvl95 - i wudnt have minded but the player calling me a 'noob' was a lvl 81 with a dragon hally. it resulted in a heated argument encompassing a further 8 'scapers about whether items or levels were better - he was a lvl81 with full barrows and 1090 overall, i am a lvl95 with full rune and 1370 overall. my argument is that i play this game to increase levels, not to show off with what items i have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nor you, nor the guy who reported you seem to get what the concept "price manipulation" means.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trying to sell a whip for 8m isnt price manipulation. Trying to sell d scimmi's for 5m isnt price manipulation either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It would be price manipulation, when you (and your friends), made topics telling that whips became ultra rare, and when you posted fake trades on the forums, where your friend pretends to buy your whip for (lets say) 6m.

 

 

 

Basicly, price manipulations is about posting fake trades, fake rumors, ... , with the intention to raise the price of a certain item (that you most probably hoarded).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So you can still TRY to sell a whip for 8m, as long as you dont spread out lies to make people believe it really is 8m. Same goes for scimmis at 5m.

[vlad_the_old]

A far as PKing in order to goes money goes, I wish people had a choice in the matter. There are many things, as you get to a higher level, that are only availabe in wild. The choice thee is either to take the risk or pay huge prices for the items.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An exaple of this would be the groups who hang arond near the Abyss Mage or the entr to the Chaos alter in order to catch runecrafters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think it woul be far better if there were servers where PKing was not allowed so people could choose if they wanted to take the risk or not.

[megadedhed]

im one of those people with a high level in one skill who makes most of his money using that one skill, (im up to 300k from yew chopping) but here is the thing, im reffered to as "the bank" by my friends...really odd that 4 p2p'rs need a f2p'r to give them all of their money,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but this is my point, i work hard for my money...but i give it away, i dunno i guess im just nice...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

oh yeah and all of the money my member friends dont "borrow" (note: they do eventually pay me back but with guilde/trimmed armor) i put to work on my merchanting buisness (items do that to)....i guess im one of the many buisnessmen in runescape...

[RedFalcon]

Concerning everyone who thinks the author was dissing merching: he wasn't. The point he was trying to make was that it's wrong to take advantage of people's inexperience and buy stuff from them at a price lower than "the acceptable range." However, who says what the acceptable range is? No one does. The acceptable range is anything people were willing to pay. If people wanted to pay 1 mil per coal, then that would become the standard. There's nothing wrong with buying coal at 100 ea. (which I've done). They don't have to sell it to me at a low price if they don't want to. What makes it wrong to buy things at a lower price than most people would be willing to pay?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concerning the separate issue of 'price distortion:'

 

 

 

There is also nothing wrong with selling laws for 1k each. If your price is too high, no one will buy it. Most people who buy laws at 1k do so because they need a quick teleport this very instant. There's a greater demand, which brings a greater price. Heck, I've even boughten a ball of wool at 1k because I needed it for a quest...

[unknowable]

I like the way of merchanting, buy you need first some money to start with. As you start merchanting, you gain big profits!

 

 

 

Scamming is money making for idiots!