Free trade will let the community control the economy. This adds a new dimension to the game.
I don't understand how people think this is going to make prices do anything other than what they should. The formula is very simple.
Iron Ore sells for 200gp. So everyone on runescape starts mining iron ore, and selling it for 200gp. So, the market becomes saturated with iron ore. Eventually, supply will overtake demand, and prices on iron ore will drop. When it drops to 50gp, all those miners will move onto something else that will make them more money. With less people continuing to mine iron, the price will steadily rise once more.
If the market never gets saturated with Iron Ore, that means that there is plenty of demand for the item. This is also good for the economy.
This cycle will continue forever, up and down, on every item available. This also adds another "career" into RuneScape. Investing.
A savvy player could invest in Iron while it's cheap, and wait for it to rise up in price, to sell it.
04-Feb-2011 01:43:44