Quote Originally Posted by Kezip View Post
So, I've been playing my brother's Runescape account for a while; I don't like the game enough to invest that much time in it myself, but I really enjoy merchanting, and it makes my brother money.
Several months ago, I discovered a strange phenomenon: oak logs would alternate between ~19 gp and ~40 gp. As in, it would sit at 19 for a week or so, and then jump up to 40 for a week.

What I'm wondering is whether or not this sort of thing is normal in an MMORPG.
Has anyone else seen things like this?

And, does anyone know why this worked?
Runescape actually did something that is quite unseen in most mmorpgs. The grand exchange computes supply and demand and adjusts the price accordingly. It is not based on the price people decide to sell, rather how many people wish to buy. Most auction house or trade systems in other games do not hold this system, it is based on what people decide to sell it the item at. It's one of the few things they did right.