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TWIRP Special Indexes Report and Analysis (2008/03/10) TWIRP Index Values (2008/03/03)

This is the TWIRP report covering price changes and economic trends for the week of March 3, 2008. Please read on for a summary of TWIRP index results, and be sure to check out the subsections for more index reports, charts and details.

If you are new to TWIRP and have not yet learned about how it works, I recommend reading either the sections Understanding TWIRP and TWIRP Index Details, or the more concise TWIRP Quick Guide. Without that background you may have a hard time understanding this report.

Global Composite Yield (TWIRP): 96.4 +0.8% p
Skill Composite Yield (TWIRP-S): 98.8 -1.7% q
Combat Composite Yield (TWIRP-C): 93.3 +2.4% p
Key Items Affordability (TWIRP-X-KEY): 100.4 +1.2% p

Advancing Items: 87 (28.7%)
Declining Items: 173 (57.1%)
Unchanged Items: 43 (14.2%)

Item "Winner" of the Week: Saradomin brew: +33.0% pppp
Item "Loser" of the Week: Super set (sup att, sup str, sup def): -25.3% qqqq

Index "Winner" of the Week: Potion Affordability: +8.3% pp
Index "Loser" of the Week: Herb Drop Value: -8.9% qq

Crude Volatility Index (TWIRP-X-VOL): 445.0

The title of one of the four parts of the masterpiece Close to the Edge by progressive rock legends Yes is “I Get Up, I Get Down”. Well, that’s a pretty good description of the last two weeks in the RuneScape economy, especially when it comes to combat items. Last week we saw a huge surge in the costs of nearly all PvP-related items, especially supplies like food and potions. And this week, with very few exceptions, they have all dropped right back down again—not as much as they went up, but quite a bit. Frankly, I’m surprised that the trend reversed as fast and as hard as it did.

The overall TWIRP Global Composite Yield index was up slightly, correcting by 0.8% to 96.4. Just as it sagged last week due to rising supplies costs, this week it rose as they corrected. And just as last week combat was hurt while skilling did well, this week it’s the reverse: the Combat Composite (TWIRP-C) was up 2.4%, while the Skill Composite (TWIRP-S) dropped 1.7%. The Key Items Affordability index rose as well, again due to price drops.

In fact, though, the drops in item prices weren’t limited to just supplies—they were seen across the board, indicating a general continuation of the deflationary tone of the game in recent months. Declining items led advancers by a 2:1 margin, which is pretty significant. Also remember that many items are currently well overpriced on the Grand Exchange, but their prices are not adjusting properly. Eventually the piper will have to be paid and those items will take big price hits.

I believe that one factor influencing prices this week has nothing to do with RuneScape itself: it is in fact FunOrb, the new site Jagex launched a few days ago. Many RuneScape players took some time to check out the new game, probably resulting in a bit less activity and interest in even some recent updates like the revamped Bounty Hunter.

As I write this, the Behind the Scenes update for March has just been released, and it portends big changes on the horizon. The arrival of CoinShare, the second batch of Summoning familiars, and changes to the Grand Exchange should all have big impacts on the economy. (I really hope the G. E. changes include some mechanisms to make my production of TWIRP reports easier! J) It shall be an interesting month, to be sure.

For more indexes, reports and analysis, be sure to read the subsections below. Otherwise, see you next week.

TWIRP Special Indexes Report and Analysis (2008/03/10) TWIRP Index Values (2008/03/03)