“Merchanting was more a skill than anything we use today”

Merchanting is the art of making profit through buying low and selling high. Its a risky game but those who can do it correctly are among the elite in RuneScape. Nowdays though, merchanting is now associated with clans who try to manipulate the system of the Grand Exchange which Jagex put in place to try stop real world trading. However merchanting was not always something to be frowned upon. Once, not so long ago it, was regarded as one of the most important things in RuneScape

Lets take a trip back to years to the peak of merchanting, where if one walked down the right back ally in Falador you could find anything. Quite literally. This was a time before trade limits, where if some one wanted to they could charge half a million for a scimitar - and if they were in short supply, probably get it. This was a time when anyone with a few thousand coins and a bit of patience could easily make more money in a hour than it is possible to through skills today. Not many people complained they could charge what they liked for an item and within reason get it, and many only trained skills to become rich enough to merchant. A simple example of how merchanting benefited everyone would be, say a player happened to be in the Duel Arena and a rune crafter wanted to get rid of excess Fire Runes and sold them to a player for six GP each. The player then traveled to Edgeville and met a mage desperate to buy runes for pking the mage could unwillingly buy them for twelve GP each - meaning a double in profits for the player. This was the beauty of merchanting, simply being in the right place at the right time meant you could make a modest profit. But then, on the 26 November 2007, the Grand Exchange was introduced and all this dramatically changed.

Flash forward to the present day, not a day can go buy now without hearing the groans of players who have fallen victim to “merchanting clans”. Ruthless individuals who manipulate the game in order to make money by scamming their fellow players. The system is unfair and unjust, but nothing is being done to stop it. Each day an item, a common item, will see a huge jump in price as these clan leaders tell everyone to buy up their chosen item at maximum price, with the promise of mega profits for everyone. This is all a lie. Only a few members of the clan will make any sort of profit selling the items while the rest of the clan buy them out, by the time the clan leader orders to sell the item there is little or no demand for it and the price plummets to all time lows and the majority of the clan are left with toxic items, items that are so plentiful they wont sell even for minimum price. This is how these so called “merchanting clans” work. They are not merchanting clans, they are manipulation clans, hell bent on making money for personal gain even if it destroys the game for everyone else. Surely Jagex have taken measures to stop these wrong doers you are saying? NO all Jagex have been seen to do is make a post in official forums telling people not to join these clans. They are not banning the wrong doers they are not compensating the average player, this I’m afraid is down to us. How do we stop these people I’m sure you are all wondering? I’m afraid I cannot answer this but there are a small group of people skillers and good doers alike who are taking small steps to slow down their progress, trading off the Grand Exchange in the parks and centers of every world brining things back to they way they used to be so can we stop them. Well as the saying goes cut off the head and the body will die.

A powdered wig price history

Can we stop the supply of these merchanting items? Can we as a community stop a growing plague thats effecting us all? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure though, if merchanting as it was could be re-introduced, we as a people can refuse to pay outlandish prices but as it is we are bound by the chains Jagex used to bring us together.

Written by Spoc77

Quests. Some players hate them, some players love them, but one thing is for certain; you simply cannot get away from them.
Quests have been an important part of RuneScape since it’s very earliest days and beta stages. They allow access to new areas, weapons, armours and various other rewards, along with being an un-repetitive and fun aspect of the game for some, and a frustrating waste of time for others.
New quests and story lines make up for the vast majority of RuneScape’s weekly and monthly updates, and with an entire system devised by Jagex, dedicated to helping players stuck during their questing; it is clear that Jagex also view quests as one of the most important parts of the game.
With the release of RuneScape’s 150th quest, it seems appropriate to look back into the history of questing in RuneScape with other milestone quest releases, as well as into the future; and what it will hold for Gielnors bold and mighty adventurers. . .

It has been confirmed that the first quest to ever be developed by Jagex was Cooks Assistant. This simple ‘adventure’ consists of simply gathering some ingredients for a disgruntled chef. No puzzles, no combat; no anything, really. Yet from these simple beginnings was laid the template for every future quest to ever enter the game, from the Perils of Ice Mountain to While Guthix Sleeps. Completing tasks and offering your help for certain in game characters in exchange for rewards is now the standard for every new RuneScape quest, and is something that looks like it will be with the game right until the bitter end.

Other early quests include Romeo and Juliet, Black Knights Fortress and Prince Ali Rescue, which were all in the game after it left its beta (testing) stages. These short rambles across the game were often rather dull and unrewarding, yet even this early on progress was being made. Combat elements where introduced, more thought out story lines added and players made to solve simple puzzles.
Later quests would continue to evolve in this fashion.

The 50th quest released by Jagex is one which is still considered to be amongst the most challenging in the game, as well as a right of passage for any one wishing to be considered an experienced player.
The Legends Quest allows players to enter the fabled Legends Guild, as well as gaining the ability to equip both the Dragon Square Shield and Legend’s Cape; both of which were; and still are in RuneScape Classic, the best items in their respective slots.
However, the Legends Quest offered very little in the way of innovation, with its difficulty only being owed to its length and the variety of high levelled monsters that you must battle. Still, few would argue over its legendary status.
Not only was this the 50th quest to be released; a landmark in its own right, it was also the final quest to be released in RuneScape Classic. Such later quests would benefit from an entirely new 3D world, game system and much much more.

Fast forward to RuneScape 2, and we have the 100th quest in the form of Recipe for Disaster. The multi layered adventurer through the lands of RuneScape and beyond was a significant leap forward from The Legends Quest and the others that came before it. It differed from the traditional layout of quests, with the main quest and story line being made up of many smaller sub-plots. The idea behind this being that almost any quester may start it, but only the most advanced players could finish.

The 150th quest, released recently, was somewhat of a disappointment to most RuneScape players. Although The Chosen Commander is stilled deemed to be amongst RuneScape’s most enjoyable and rewarding quest by many, some said it simply lacked the excitement of its other landmark companions.
This was however explained, when it was stated that The Chosen Commander was not actually the planned 150th quest, due to some unforeseen difficulties encountered by Jagex.
However, the hype for The Chosen Commander was still built up over several weeks, and upon its entry into the game, the main RuneScape Website was given a makeover in the theme of the new quest; showing that Jagex are much more willing to help promote new quests, and their releases.

But what exactly does the future hold for quests in RuneScape, both for the 200th and for questing general? It is almost certain that the complexity of quests will continue to grow as new features are added to RuneScape, as will the plots and story lines that accompany every new release.
More Grandmaster quests have also been promised by Jagex, however these certainly will not make up for the bulk of quests released, with some speculating that there may only be a few released each year.
And although quests will be increasing in sophistication, it can also be assumed that Jagex will continue to release more simple and lower levelled content for newer players. In Pyre Need is a great example of this. Whilst its style could be compared to even Cooks Assistant, it managed to be sophisticated whilst being simple.
The player was once again given a short run around a limited area to contend with, however this time many new elements where introduced. An epic storyline added, an entire new area to explore and some exciting rewards rather than a tiny amount of XP.
In fact, story lines are something that are of growing importance in quests today. Whilst in the early days, a player could be expected to wander off on some random adventure, and never give it a second thought. Today most quests form the basis of a much larger storyline, many of which also add to the plot of RuneScape itself. It has also been stated by Jagex that story lines will not be held back on to make them more suitable for younger audiences, meaning that we almost certainly will see more in depth and developed plots in the near future.
And what of the rewards? It can only be assumed that these will be improved upon as well. Long gone are the days of where almost every quest offered some small amount of XP and a useless quest point for your efforts. Today, upon completion of a newer quest players may be rewarded with access to new items, equipment, areas and more; making questing a rewarding, if not crucial aspect of the game.

However; it really is impossible to know for sure what Jagex plans to do for the questing in the future. But if the progress made in the past 10 years is anything to go by; the future is looking very bright indeed.

~TommyBurke

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‘The young mans head spun as he landed upon the hard, brown earth below him. He had fallen awkwardly, and scrabbled around in the compacted mud that made up the path. Impatient warriors bustled past him as he attempted to regain his composure, their heavy armour slamming into his sides and face, whilst merchants turned their heads up in disgust as he clawed around their feet… just another peasant wanting some of their gold, most probably.

Finally picking himself up, the man looked frantically around; surely someone could help him? Where was he? How did he get here?
He turned to look behind, and reeled backwards blinded by a ray of light in the distance. The source came from a man, totally encased in gold plated armour - the sun glinting from the highly polished metal. Surely this man could help him?

Fighting against the surging crowds, the young man made his way up the dirt track towards his target.

“Hello Sir” he stammered, “I was wondering if you could help me?”

“Get away from me…” came the snappy reply, as the man turned away and strode off.

Taken aback and confused, the man stumbled on in search of aid…

Welcome to RuneScape! proclaimed an optimistic voice in his head, as he was shoved out of the way by an angry looking man, dressed in what appeared to be the skin of a dragon.
It gave very little reassurance amidst the chaos and hostility around him…’

For RuneScape players, the scene above will bring back unhappy memories of their first day in the game - but unfortunately, these are memories that we often push from our minds.

Confused about the interface, and in the dark about where you are and what you should do. Starting RuneScape can be an extremely intimidating experience, filled, with often intimidating players, something that we once knew all to well… However, as time goes on, many of us turn into those like the “gold plated man”, in the short story above.

Many, see new players as an annoyance, newbies who simply cannot be bothered reading the manual. However for most, this is simply not the case.
For many players, simply signing up for the game can be a traumatic experience (something, which has luckily been improved lately with things such as the RuneScape website updates), and it would be unreasonable to believe that one can become an expert as something that they have started only hours, or in some cases - minutes before.

It seems that many players unfortunately, seem to forgot that everyone who has ever played RuneScape, was at one point like this. Zezima, Lover Romeo, Yogosun - we all need to start somewhere.

As well as this, with the addition of RuneScape to websites such as miniclip, the amount of new players has recently become something of a hot issue. However, why should it? Is anyone less capable of playing the game, just because they found out about it from a website, rather than a friend? I personally think that this is a horrific stance to take, why should anyone judge a book by it’s cover. (or in this case, by their experience in game,)

So - the next time that a newer player asks you for help, don’t just ignore them, try your best to make them… Welcome to RuneScape.