Be Prepared

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 8:55 AM

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Mommar here.

Saturday is one of the days that is set aside for raiding with my Guild.  We are the definition of casual in the idea that we only get together one day out of the week to do an organized raid.  Other days we are on our own to pick up runs to gear up,  play around in different groups or just relax and finish up dailies.   Where it is enjoyable it also means we probably won't be on the progression list that high anymore.

Part of my job here is part cheerleader (no you cannot look up my skirt),  part wow financial 'guru' and a part humorist.  Most of my guild members know that I write for this journal and occasionally I get some flack for doing it.  Stick and stones and such,  assuming they are not epic sticks and stones because those tend to hurt.

One thing that my guild members have gotten to be is very self sufficient.  Having many of them been playing this game for years they have almost all have multiple toons with multiple professions.  With extra gold reserves they also have the ability to buy what they want if they cannot craft it themselves.  This can be both a blessing and a curse. 

So from that large buildup came last night's run.  We did a flex run and finished up the first four bosses in Seige of Orgrimmar.  As we progressed,  players received their loot which of course excited some and irritated others.  A couple of my guilders wanted to equip the items immediately but wanted to enchant the items first.  So on a break they jotted over to the local auction house to pick up the required enchant.

One of the things that I"ve kept up on is the current professions for most of the guilders that I run with or spend time with.  So I knew that one of the players on the run was an enchanter.  With the access to both personal and guild banks being readily available (guild perk + Argent Gruntling for the win).  The guilder popped up to his stash,  grabbed an extra enchant and offered it to the fellow guilder for free.  This may seem very strange to many because many guild charge each other for these type of services.  That has never been the way that we run when it comes to professions.

But one thing that can be taken away from this is to always be prepared for a sale.  I have said it many times you never know when you can make a sale.  You cannot carry every enchant with you wherever you go.  But you can easily carry the materials in your bag for one or two weapon enchants. As a leatherworker you should always have a stack of Magnificent Hide to craft a new armor patch for a player. 

A gold goblin never stops hustling when it comes to being prepared.   In today's game there are more and more players learning how to make gold.  This spreads out the opportunities to everyone to make gold in the strangest of places.  Keeping your eyes open and ready can add more profit to your portfolio.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbear @ gmail. Dot com or find me on twitter at "@JMTCMommar" You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server, chat me up, and I will buy you a glass of juice. 

Poor Poor Spirits of Harmony
Not Enough Loot On My Hands
10 Rules To Price My Golem.
Timeless Isle Tagging Is For Rich Chumps
Bring Me the Alchemist
Welcome To Loot Pinata Island
Last Minute Buys and Sells
Patch 5.4: Mental Preparation
You Found What????
Hearthstone:   The Beginning
Patch 5.4: Budgeting for the Patch
Get thee To a TradeSkillMaster 2.0
Patch 5.4 Prep:  No Sleep til Brooklyn
Customer First

Poor Poor Spirits of Harmony

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:39 PM

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Mommar here.

At the beginning of Mists of Pandaria the number one item that players with crafters wanted were the Spirits of Harmony.    These were it,  these were what you needed to make the big bucks.   Almost all of the level 90 armor and gear required these.  They were (and still are) BOP so they would never see the auction house steps.   You farmed them from either Half Hill or from killing mobs, and you hoarded them like they were air.

Now fast forward to today.   Most of the gear that is crafted from these are barely worth the time.  Yes some will sell to the occasional player but being three patches from their introduction most players consider them worthless.

But the shrewd investor knows this isn't completely true.   Some of the crafting items do sell to newly level 90's.   Professions such as Jewelcrafting can craft the Sapphire Cub pet to sell on the AH.  scribes (that's the inscription profession for those playing the home game) still have a group of powerful level 90 staves that can be crafted and sold for a decent profit.

But what about the non crafters.   They just show up in your bag and sit there,  taunting you.   Making you feel less of a player if you don't put them to use.   Your answer is here.   From the beginning there was a vendor in the Shrine of the Two Moons (on the upper deck) there is a vendor named Danky.   Danky gets ignored most of the time because he only has materials for sale.  Stacks of leather,  Stacks of ghost iron ore.  But one of the most important things he sells is Black and White Trillium Ore.

So this again seems a little strange.  A non crafter really cannot use trillium ore for anything.   Why just trade one slot filler for another?   This is where you contacts come in handy.  You can either drop these on the AH (some servers have these listed for 15-20g a piece) or talk to your favorite miner to have them smelted into Trillium Bars.

With the higher demand from Alchemists and Blacksmiths for Trillium Bars  the prices have been steadily rising for these materials.  Time for the non crafters to get into the profits for those leftover abandoned spirits of harmony.

If profit is not your forte these lone poor Spirits of Harmony can be exchanged in the same area that you get your daily archeology quests for Restored Artifact.  If your working on older expansion archeology projects these can give you a boost in your progress of finishing up.

So take those much maligned crafter materials and give them a new place into your heart.   Let them bring profits and fun into your life.   Or at least some profit into your collection.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbear @ gmail. Dot com or find me on twitter at "@JMTCMommar" You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server, chat me up, and I will buy you a glass of juice. 

Not Enough Loot On My Hands
10 Rules To Price My Golem.
Timeless Isle Tagging Is For Rich Chumps
Bring Me the Alchemist
Welcome To Loot Pinata Island
Last Minute Buys and Sells
Patch 5.4: Mental Preparation
You Found What????
Hearthstone:   The Beginning
Patch 5.4: Budgeting for the Patch
Get thee To a TradeSkillMaster 2.0
Patch 5.4 Prep:  No Sleep til Brooklyn
Customer First

Bring Me the Alchemist

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:23 PM

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Mommar here.

The facts are Blacksmiths,  Engineers,  Leatherworkers and Scribes received all of the  Christmas presents with patch 5.4.   In the same lot Alchemist got the short end of an already questionable stick.

But if you have looked at the pricing for Primal Diamonds as well as gem cuts there is a very nice market developing.  Those long forgotten Golden Lotus plants are still relatively cheap on the AH.  with much of the ore being used for transmutes of Trillium and bars to feed into the Blacksmith/Engineer daily needs raw gems have become much more expensive.  And with a short guarantee of getting a blue raw gem with your prospecting it becomes much more financially sound to transmute your own.

If you are like me you have a cubic guild bank ton of the basic gems sitting in one of your storage bays.  Having grown into this game with an aversion of throwing anything away that might be useful (this includes a lot of foodstuffs and old tokens that I hope someday will be back in demand), this will be a nice way to start to empty out that massive collection of gems.

Rings and Neckpiece sales have dried up because of the loot pinata that is Timeless Isle.  A reasonable geared toon can start to chew up turf in Timeless Isle and get the majority of alts geared up quickly.  Think of it similar to getting a tattoo.  Where you may pay 100 dollars for a tattoo,  you are paying a lot of money for the 'after care' products that the shop will sell.  Gems,  enchants and other items are your aftercare products for the Timeless Isle gear.

Also don't poo-poo the Primal Diamond Transmutes.  For the transmutes to be going in excess of 700g just for the diamond itself and a lot more gold for the higher cuts you have a nice profit margin that had been in a lull for a bit.

Don't have an alchemist on the payroll?   Then that's where you can take your fingers and voice to the guild and do some walking.  Everyone wants to earn a few gold pieces, and this is a prime opportunity to save yourself a lot of gold simply by a little bit of discussion with other players.

As patch 5.4 matures you will see a lot less demand for items because the excitement will wane and the grind of dailies will return.  Players will start to drift away waiting for the new expansion.  Keep an eye on your profit margins and don't get stuck with items that can't or won't sell.

Now onto Brewfest.  I need a Root Beer

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbear @ gmail. dOT com or find me on twitter at "@JMTCMommar" You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server, chat me up, and I will buy you a glass of juice. 

Welcome To Loot Pinata Island
Last Minute Buys and Sells
Patch 5.4: Mental Preparation
You Found What????
Hearthstone:   The Beginning
Patch 5.4: Budgeting for the Patch
Get thee To a TradeSkillMaster 2.0
Patch 5.4 Prep:  No Sleep til Brooklyn
Customer First
You're Squishing My Items
The Ways of The Force Are Strange
It's a Date.. Maybe?
Kill The Death Knight.. Kill It Now
Time to Remodel The Financial House
Sense Of Entitlement



 

Patch 5.4 Prep: No Sleep til Brooklyn

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:33 PM

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Mommar here.

In theory this will be the last week of prep work before patch 5.4 lands on our doorsteps.  That means this is the last week for your Barrens dailies to obtain those last items you want from Darkspear Rebellion Quartermaster.   Just remember that some of the items such as Griftah's Authentic Troll Shoes will no longer be available.   Some of the items like Gahz'rooki's Summoning Stone and Raptorhide Boxing Gloves will still be rare drops from the Kor'kron in the Northern Barrens.

Valor and Justice points will not be reset (thank you).   What is a major change is that all of the reputation items up to the new raid reputation (Shaohao) will be available for justice points.  Also included is that reputation for these gets thrown out the window.  That pretty much means the majority of the gear (other than weapons) that is crafted will do a serious drop in price.   The main goal will be the addons (enchants,  armor patches,  enchants) that will be in high demand as players jump from newly minted 90's to raid worthy for just a few instance runs.

Another thing to make sure to grab in the next week is your Mantid Artifact Sonic Locator if you plan on doing any Archeology with the new patch.  It will become much more difficult to obtain this nice little toy after next week.

If you haven't stockpiled your leather, ore and other raw materials for the new transmutes:  your in a little bit of trouble.  With the key to new patterns being the new daily profession transmutes,  there will be a serious shortage at first as players look to burn through their stockpiles.  Anytime there is a major change in the professions transmutes/crafting the economy starts bouncing up and down.  Make sure to send your farmers and extra treat this week to have them all on the same page.

The last thing to do is to double check all of your absolute need addons.  Look at the addon page for your go to addons on Curse.com  to verify that your addons are going to be updated.  If the author has announced they won't be updating anymore then it will be a good time to look for the replacement. 

This next week will be active times to both empty out your items that will take a huge hit and also look to flip some commodities.  Use the Zero Balance Investment as one of your major weapons this week and come out on top. 

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbear @ gmail. dOT com or find me on twitter at "@JMTCMommar" You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server, chat me up and I will buy you a glass of juice. 

Customer First
You're Squishing My Items
The Ways of The Force Are Strange
It's a Date.. Maybe?
Kill The Death Knight.. Kill It Now
Time to Remodel The Financial House
Sense Of Entitlement
Patch 5.4:   Golden Lotus Beatdown
Four Levels of Wow Activity
Patch 5.4:  Preparing your Farmers
Patch 5.4:  Easy Gear.. Easy Go
Prepping for Patch 5.4: The Beginning
The End of a Pricing Era
Patch 5.4 prep:   Do You Know Where Your Tailor Is?

Customer First

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:58 PM

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Mommar here.

Early in my working career I worked for a software company as tech support.  Calls during the day included how to turn on the software,  how to install it,  how to use it etc.  Most of the calls were easy to field.  I just needed to phrase the information in a way that the caller could understand.

Part of my job was also to sell to customers after we had solved their problem.  Many times this included an upgrade to the newest version of the software.  Other times this included offering them other pieces of software that they might find just as useful.

The perfect opportunity to double your sales is to just inspect what equipment they are currently wearing.  If it's a new player they might be willing to take a little advice and buy a gem cut from you.  Viewing what they have at the point can lead you to upgrading a green item they have to a blue or even epic item in just a few clicks.

The key to being a good gold goblin starts with customer service.  Your knowledge and ability in the field of sales can help lead you into multiple sales from the same source.  Players might not know what you carry and offering one or two items can turn a simple sale into your gold mine for the day.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbear @ gmail. dOT com or find me on twitter at "@JMTCMommar" You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server, chat me up and I will buy you a glass of juice. 

You're Squishing My Items
The Ways of The Force Are Strange
It's a Date.. Maybe?
Kill The Death Knight.. Kill It Now
Time to Remodel The Financial House
Sense Of Entitlement
Patch 5.4:   Golden Lotus Beatdown
Four Levels of Wow Activity
Patch 5.4:  Preparing your Farmers
Patch 5.4:  Easy Gear.. Easy Go
Prepping for Patch 5.4: The Beginning
The End of a Pricing Era
Patch 5.4 prep:   Do You Know Where Your Tailor Is?

Patch 5.4: Golden Lotus Beatdown

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:27 PM

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Mommar here.

When starting Mists of Pandaria the biggest grind was obtaining revered with the Golden Lotus faction.  It was a long grind of finishing dailies.  After finishing the first set if you had a high enough reputation you could go to the next set.  Ultimately reaching revered and unlocking other quest hubs for Shado-pan and August Cestials.

Patch 5.3 unlocked the necessity to have revered reputation with Golden Lotus to have access to new quest areas.   With 5.4 the Vale of Eternal Blossoms gets a complete remake.   Assuming you call a place that looks like it was blown up with an atom bomb a remake.

The Golden Lotus after patch 5.4 is going to be an old school's reputation beat down.   Elite mobs giving you 200 reputation.  Lesser mobs only give you 5 rep per kill.   But fear not for there are a lot of mobs to kill in the area.

You also have access to the daily farmer order if you have leveled your farm high enough to have access.   Also there are random mobs that drop tokens that will give you rep.  Don't forget to also pick up your Grand Commendation of the Golden Lotus to increase your reputation grinding.

But don't forget to try your hardest to hit exalted before patch 5.4.   The achievement http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=7315/eternally-in-the-vale will not be available after patch 5.4 drops.  And many players are already going to be farming this area for the new Profession patterns.  So there will be a lot of players running around this area killing things that it might become frustrating to get that last couple of mobs to become awesome with The GL Corps (yes,  I said it.).

The patterns are even useful for selling to alternates as well as personal use.  Also remember that with patch 5.4 much of the gear that was available for valor points will now be sold for Justice Points.  This will put a huge boost on newly minted 90 players getting them into raiding that much faster.

Lots of exciting changes are just around the corner with patch 5.4.  Now is the time to push through the boredom and get your lineup set for the last phase of Mists of Pandaria.  Working smarter and not harder is the key to being the best gold goblin you can be.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbear @ gmail. dOT com or find me on twitter at "@JMTCMommar" You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server, chat me up and I will buy you a glass of juice. 


Four Levels of Wow Activity
Patch 5.4:  Preparing your Farmers
Patch 5.4:  Easy Gear.. Easy Go
Prepping for Patch 5.4: The Beginning
The End of a Pricing Era
Patch 5.4 prep:   Do You Know Where Your Tailor Is?
The Pitfalls of Trade Barking
7.7 Million Customers and Nothing Sells
Priorities in PVP Gear Pricing
Prep for Patch 5.4: Long Term Goals
Weekend Is Here
Take Me To Naxx
Profit Anonymous

Only Worth What Someone Will Pay

Four Levels of Wow Activity

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:31 PM

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A friend of the Journal emailed me and asked me a question.   They wanted to know what I did when I just didn't feel like logging on to wow that day.

I had those days.  Many times it's the edge of being burnt out on the day to day activities that happen with World of Warcraft.   Not wanting to enchant one more scroll.  No interest in crafting one more piece of offer.  The thought of finishing an instance just makes me cringe.

Warning players that this is not a job.   You may have 'responsibilities' that you should do when you decide to log on is one thing.  But the minute that logging on to play a game becomes a job,  that's when it's time to reevaluate just how valuable your time is.

What I ended up doing is setting four different levels of logging on.  Each day might be different depending on what I want to do.

Minimum Day:

This is a day that the only thing I do is burn down my profession timers (Inscription,  Enchanting,  Blacksmithing,  Leatherworking,  Jewelcrafting etc.).   Depending on whether I have the materials at my toons fingertips of having to buy them from the Auction house, this generally takes me 20 minutes to complete.

Average Day:

On this day I'm going to go and finish everything for my minimum day,  plus list 10 items from each profession.  This requires a little knowledge of what has the highest profit margin.  This does not include any new crafting,  just list the top 10 items I have online.   Usually takes me about 30-45 minutes to finish all of these.

Maximum Day:

On one of these days I am finishing up all of my listings for all of my professions.  I might throw in some of the higher profit crafts to make.  Also working on some flips that I see need to be done.  Also included is all of the profession timer burns and also running a few instances.  I allot 1-3 hours for these days.  This also allows me to return to relist items and run instances/farm for points.

Overachiever Day:

These are my marathon sessions.  I have drinks at the ready,  popcorn to graze on and locking in for a long day of leveling,  profession grinding,  crafting,  instance running and buying/selling.   I do allow myself small breaks to refresh my brain when needed.  The longest I've done one of these sessions is 14 hours.  These are the ones I've limited because it feeds into that burn out feeling that happens the longer an expansion matures.

You have every option to decide what time frame works for you.  You might include a farming time that the only thing you do is farm while watching/listening to a movie.  Maybe you're just farming the Auction House for deals and flips without worrying about anything else.  You are in control of your own time allotment.  And your time is just as valuable as your gold is.  

Just remember,  this is a game and not a job.  If it becomes a job,  ask for a raise.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbear @ gmail. dOT com or find me on twitter at "@JMTCMommar" You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server, chat me up and I will buy you a glass of juice. 

Patch 5.4:  Preparing your Farmers
Patch 5.4:  Easy Gear.. Easy Go
Prepping for Patch 5.4: The Beginning
The End of a Pricing Era
Patch 5.4 prep:   Do You Know Where Your Tailor Is?
The Pitfalls of Trade Barking
7.7 Million Customers and Nothing Sells
Priorities in PVP Gear Pricing
Prep for Patch 5.4: Long Term Goals
Weekend Is Here
Take Me To Naxx
Profit Anonymous
Only Worth What Someone Will Pay

Patch 5.4: Preparing your Farmers

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:02 PM

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Let's face facts.  Part of the game with World of Warcraft is farming.   Whether it's farming for materials,  pets,  gear or just something to do.

We have talked many times about having an army of farmers feeding you material.  Depending on the size of your operation you might have one for each raw material.   For a small operation you might have one very dependable worker feeding everything you need.   Just like any other worker,  treating them with respect becomes important as your relationship matures along with the expansion.

Many players are experiencing burnout through four patches to this expansion.  This can happen even more to your farmer who has killed the same mob 100's of times.  Mined the same piece of real estate many many times.   Overall that dependable farmer might be seeing less excitement in feeding into your profit making machine.

This is where you can open up your wit and wisdom and make sure you are treating them well.   Have a spare pet that you think they might like?   Wrap it in a nice gift wrapping and send it to them for being loyal.  Let them know that they are just as important to your profit making operation as anyone else.  Do they need  gear for their alternate toons?   Can they use a new mount?   The more you know about your co-worker the better you will be able to select the perfect gift to remind them they are important.

So why is it important to keep this type of relationship through a slower time?   Because the next expansion is just around the corner.  Have to think that Blizzard will be announcing soon (next 3 or so months) the title and information for the next expansion.  Having your farmers locked into your business model for this and future expansions can save you headaches later on.   Looking for new farming players is a headache that you can do without.

It also becomes just as important as you are entering patch 5.4 territory.  Starting your selective stockpiling of materials early will set you ahead of the grading curve.  Waiting to the last minute might leave you out in the cold.

So be nice to your co-workers.  Treat them well and they will be loyal.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbear @ gmail. dOT com or find me on twitter at "@JMTCMommar" You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server, chat me up and I will buy you a glass of juice. 

Patch 5.4:  Easy Gear.. Easy Go
Prepping for Patch 5.4: The Beginning
The End of a Pricing Era
Patch 5.4 prep:   Do You Know Where Your Tailor Is?
The Pitfalls of Trade Barking
7.7 Million Customers and Nothing Sells
Priorities in PVP Gear Pricing
Prep for Patch 5.4: Long Term Goals
Weekend Is Here
Take Me To Naxx
Profit Anonymous
Only Worth What Someone Will Pay

Patch 5.4: Easy Gear.. Easy Go

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:35 PM

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Mommar here.

If you look at the new isle of Timeless Isle previews on MMO-Champion and other sites then you will see that the words 'easy' and 'powerful' are being slung around for an easy armor set to obtain.

For your average gold goblin this will create cringes and whimpers of lost sales as players get their acts just to 90,  slap a little bit of PVP gear and then grind till they are at 496 armor from the isle.   But fear not loyal goblins,  all is not lost.  It will still be possible to make lots of gold in the next patch if you strap on your thinking cap and be prepared.

Profit margins can live many times based on non-motivated players (the polite term for lazy).  There will still be a time requirement to be able to grind a full amount of the Timeless Isle gear for raiding.  Most players will not want to eat that time just running around gathering chest and killing mobs.  They have had 3 patches worth of this mechanic.   But many players will grind out one or two pieces of gear,  then look to crafters and the auction house to replace the rest.

What will be required is to look at what gear is in demand.  The boots and gloves slot have historically been weak sales.  Where chestplates and legs still tend to dominate armor sales.  They give the most bang for their buck,  when each gold will become more critical to the player.  Gold may be flowing for more players,  but the majority still live paycheck to paycheck (or instance to instance).  The middle ground will be players that have enough to spend on gear,  but not enough to be able to craft it themselves.   That's the happy land for gold goblins to ply their wares to others.

Patch 5.4 will also be a good time to break out your trade chat barking skills again.  Players will be looking for your crafting skills as well as your BOP materials (Spirits,  Bars etc.) as well as the new time locked crafting items that will pop up in 5.4.  A well placed note of 'I am available to craft your item) can net you a quick turnaround on gold.

Don't forget the accessories as well.  As we get closer to the end of the road for Mists of Pandaria players will be looking for your epic enchants instead of just your bargain basement enchants.  So spending a few extra materials to craft that belt buckle or weapon enchant will put you in a new gold category.

Patch 5.4 might be the last major patch for MOP,  but it will be far from the last chance for gold goblins to add to their pool of money to swim in.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Prepping for Patch 5.4: The Beginning
The End of a Pricing Era
Patch 5.4 prep:   Do You Know Where Your Tailor Is?
The Pitfalls of Trade Barking
7.7 Million Customers and Nothing Sells
Priorities in PVP Gear Pricing
Prep for Patch 5.4: Long Term Goals
Weekend Is Here
Take Me To Naxx
Profit Anonymous
Only Worth What Someone Will Pay
What i learned from Marvel Heroes....
Patch 5.4: Arise Scribe Arise!!!!!
Walking On The Dollars

Let The Stockpiling Begin

My Precious Transformer

Bang The Drum Slowly

Five Rules For Dating My Gold Stash

Prepping for Patch 5.4: The Beginning

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 11:57 AM

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In probably less than a month the powers that be will unleash patch 5.4.  Unless there is a drastic change in the landscape it will be the last patch for the pandaland expansion.   It brings the end of our trip to seeing fuzzy bears,  fuzzy logic and fuzzy gameplay.   But all is not lost.

Patch 5.4 will also bring a lot of opportunities include a new isle area to explore.  The last raid tier for the expansion and the finish of the epic story of Hellscreams rule.  If your a lore junkie like me this will be a fun patch to enjoy.

There will also be a lot of opportunities for gold making.  Players will be looking to ramp up not just for tier raiding,  but also getting their alts ready to run lower raids and instances.   All of this time looking for gear and items to buy.

In the next few weeks there will be a lot of journals and blogs talking about getting prepped for patch 5.4.  All of them will have good bits of wisdom (some more than others) so keeping your options open and looking all around will help with being prepared.

A few things to look at between now and then to take advantage of the new patch.

1.  Have your profession toons playing at lvl 90.

This may sound like a no brainer but some of the professions (such as inscription) didn't require you to reach level 90 to maximize it.   With the changes and drops for new recipes for Blacksmithing,  Leatherworking, Engineering and Tailoring you will need to be at your maximum level to take complete advantage of the patterns.

2.  Have your toons hearthstones in different areas.

My Hearthstones are set in different areas depending on the access I have in the bank and the Auction House.  Some would say that this isn't necessary because you can jaunt anywhere very quickly.  But remember that just after the patch you will have 1000's logging in at the same time.  All of them might be sitting right on the top of the Auction House or Mailbox and make it annoying to access your items.   Having your hearthstones set in different zones (Dalaran,  Silvermoon City,  etc.) can relieve a lot of the frustration of seeing 20 people dancing on the tip of the mailbox.

3.  Have someone sit on the mixed Auction House In Tanaris.

On many servers this has become a lost art to 'snipe' players transferring items across factions.  You hate it when it happens to you,  but love it when you can snag something nice for yourself.  It's also still a very valuable area to sell items that are faction specific.  The cat cage business from alliance to horde still nets a tidy sum to many.

4.   Know your strategy from the start.

Will you rush out to the new zones to grab the new patterns?  List items on the Auction House when you first log in?  Sit and wait for the 6 hours of resets that will happen with the new patch?   You have multiple strategies that you can use when the patch hits live.  Choose one and execute it with the knowledge you have to be flexible at times.  A reed bends in the wind and does not break (yes,  watched way too many kung fu movies when I was growing up).

5.   Enter with an open mind.

Too many players have already decided how they feel about a patch.  All of the changes to glyphs and abilities has marked this patch to some as the demise of warcraft.   But if you go in with an open mind to have fun,  you will be surprised at what occurs.

Keep looking for more information and updates as we march on Orgrimmar.

I want to the cool sword to cut off Hellscreams ponytail

Good Luck and Good Hunting

The End of a Pricing Era
Patch 5.4 prep:   Do You Know Where Your Tailor Is?
The Pitfalls of Trade Barking
7.7 Million Customers and Nothing Sells
Priorities in PVP Gear Pricing
Prep for Patch 5.4: Long Term Goals
Weekend Is Here
Take Me To Naxx
Profit Anonymous
Only Worth What Someone Will Pay
What i learned from Marvel Heroes....
Patch 5.4: Arise Scribe Arise!!!!!
Walking On The Dollars

Let The Stockpiling Begin

My Precious Transformer

Bang The Drum Slowly
Five Rules For Dating My Gold Stash

The End of a Pricing Era

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:58 PM

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Mommar here.  I play multiple games on different platforms.   Most of them are played from my PC.  On Facebook I play Marvel Alliance.  I also play Marvel Heroes on my PC.  Just about every game has opened up the idea of having microtransactions.

Microtransactions are items you can buy inside (or even outside) the game that will offer you different bonuses,  costumes and even advancing in levels.  In some cases such as Marvel Alliance to be one of the top players you end up having to sink some gold into buying new and advanced weapons.

I've written about this before in Why Warcraft Needs Microtransactions.   The one caveat that I've always had about World of Warcraft is that it should stay with cosmetic items to purchase.  Items that do not have an actual effect on ability.  Blizzard just introduced it's own ingame store to introduce purchases from inside the game.   This means you should be able to buy your in game pets,  new shiny transmog helms and other items to make your character look spiffy.

But on the PTR's they have also introduced potions that can affect how you play inside the game.  It looks at minimum there will be new potions to give you faster leveling ability.  Other potions could easily be added to give you more temporary health,  Attack power and any other stat.   This could easily kill the transmute market for players with more pocket money that others.   But it also could drive the market even higher because it puts these potions (Potion of Luck anyone?).

But this does create a dangerous curve that happens with many of these games that have in game microtransactions.  It tilts the game towards those with more cash instead of evening the playing field.  There have already been many complaints about the 'dumbing down' of wow for the casual player.  Players who put hundreds of hours into their character in leveling,  obtaining gear and working their professions getting lapped by someone with a hundred dollars to spend.

I"m curious just how much they will add onto the in game purchase system and just how much effect it will have on the hard core player.  And just how much profit will this add to the coffers of the corporate company.

If you want a quick preview of the new in game purchase system go to Wow-Insider and watch the short video.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Patch 5.4 prep:   Do You Know Where Your Tailor Is?
The Pitfalls of Trade Barking
7.7 Million Customers and Nothing Sells
Priorities in PVP Gear Pricing
Prep for Patch 5.4: Long Term Goals
Weekend Is Here
Take Me To Naxx
Profit Anonymous
Only Worth What Someone Will Pay
What i learned from Marvel Heroes....
Patch 5.4: Arise Scribe Arise!!!!!
Walking On The Dollars

Let The Stockpiling Begin

My Precious Transformer

Bang The Drum Slowly
Five Rules For Dating My Gold Stash

Blizzard hates alchemist.....

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 8:00 AM

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Mommar here.

With the patch of 4.03 there was a big change with the transmutation speciality.  Up to the patch release last week it required 4 Truegold transmutes to finish the quest.   While there was nothing in the patch notes there was a change that required now 4 living steel to finish the quest line.

The obvious problem is that Living Steel is not available til the doors to Mists of Pandaria open in three weeks.  This leaves a lot of planned alchemist levelers at a loss for words.   Many players were working on their army of the Transmutation alchemist to take advantage of the demand for transmutes on the open market (those that used their  Truegold transmute gained a lot of gold from just selling the timer itself, or collecting the materials needed and transmuting Truegold for resell.

Up til now most major changes like this occurred the day of the patch release.   When transmutation specialist went from requiring Primal Mights to Truegold it occurred on the release of the patch to open up Cataclysm.  Many expected something similar with Mists of Pandaria and got caught with their Truegold pants on the ground.

This is one of the reasons why leveling and prepping professions up to their maximum now becomes more and more important to players.   Gold goblins who had worked on their toons and finished up their specialist (whether it was potions,  transmutation or flasks) ended up being ahead of the players that waited til after the patch.

Where it's spoiled milk to cry over,  and Blizzard probably will not reverse it's decision to go in this direction, it is important to be prepared before the actual release update for Mists of Pandaria is released.  Hot fixes and patching can happen at a moments notice. And where 99% end up being beneficial,  something such as this transmutation change can cost a gold goblin a lot of money.

Three weeks to go.   Time to get excited and getting those last adjustments to your toons and professions finished before it's too late.

Good Luck and Good Hunting


Previous Entries

Motivate the Gold Troops
Do You Know Where Your Gold Is?
But Uncle... I didn't know

Shuffle Up and Deal Those Inscriptions

Three rules for barking in Trade

Breakfast Briefs

Post Patch Weekend Arrives

An Open Letter To Inscriptionists

That Thing You Do

1500 conquest points and nothing to put on

MOP:  Powerleveling Leatherworking in the Vale
MOP Prep:   Prepping the Farmer
MOP Prep:  Get to the Points
MOP Prep:  Reduction in Inventory
MOP Prep: Stuff to Gold,  Gold to Stuff
MOP Prep: Setting the Lineup
MOP Prep: Setting up the Cartel
MOP Prep:   Zero Balance Investment
Long Term Vs Short Term Profits
Two Accounts.. Twice the Profit
Thanks Uncle Scrooge McBlizzard
Goblins, Pandas and Blood Elfs O My
The Secret For Investing for MOP
I know what the Rock is cooking (in PVP Gear)
How Much Effect Do Bloggers Have?
The Death and Life of Truegold
Time vs Gold Investment
Return to your Essence
Harmony - We Don't Need Harmony
Jewelcrafting dailies or something
Its All Attitude
It's the Little Things
The Doh Club
Psychology of Selling

No realm first achievement for you

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 2:44 PM

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Realm first profession is one of the most popular and difficult achievements to obtain at the start of an expansion.   Gathering professions tend to be difficult but obtainable.   They are based on just how quick you can get to a farming ground for that specific material,  pick/mine/skin and hope that noone was faster than you.

The crafting professions tend to be the ones that gain the most notoriety.     Be realm first on your server and your escapades will be spoken for at least the first two days of an expansion.   

So today,  I offer you 8 tips on how to give yourself a fighting chance to get a realm first in a crafting professions.

1.   Have your professions at maximum already

If your having to level your professions after the opening of the Pandaria gates,  then your digging yourself out of a hole already.   Start the race at the same place as everyone else.

2.   Have enough materials to do the first crafting points with the older material.

Many of the epic items still are in the red or yellow for gaining points.   when the patch first goes live

craft as many of these epic items as you can.   Once the item goes green,  then move onto the next phase (this is more due to time constraints.  You want every craft to try to count towards a point.  A green crafting item will take two or three.

3.   Have some type of powerleveling guide for MOP for the fastest way to 600

This one will be important.  You will want to use the least amount of materials to obtain the most

points.   So knowing which ones will give you the quickest jumps in levels will be important.

4.  Be in a level 14 guild for the Guild Perk Working Overtime

10% added chance for crafting points.   Many players are going to have this already for their crafting toons.  Those players that are lacking this for their guild will be at a disadvantage.   The 10% will effect the chance of a yellow or green level crafting item ticking off another point in profession advancement.  Level 14 guilds tend to be active so if your guild has been raiding or has multiple questing members,  the odds are your already at this level or very close.

5.  Bring gold

There is no two ways around it.  This is going to cost you gold to get to be a realm first in a crafting profession.   It would be difficult if not near impossible to gather your own materials to craft up to the maximum of a profession.   An option to gather your own would be if you can get your guild behind one person to obtain the realm first.  Or of course if your guild is easily bribed (my guild isn't).   Either way it's going to put a dent into your gold reserves.

6.  Be ready to go when the doors to Pandaria open.    This includes standing next what you need for your profession (blacksmithing next to an anvil/forge,  leatherworkers next to their vendor).   Your goal is to spend all your time crafting and none of your time running around looking for what you need.

7.  Have the crafting dailies for fishing/jewelcrafting/inscriptionist daily done and ready to turn in.

This will gain 1 more point towards your profession.  jewelcrafting dailies will give you two points.
So the day before the patch opens up,  finish up your daily but do not turn it in.   Just park your
toon in front of the turn in  (for inscriptionist that will turn in the Forged Documents quest for their point).

8.  Be prepared if the Darkmoon Faire is active

It's possible that the Darkmoon Faire will be active during the opening of Pandaria.   The odds are slim it will,  but be prepared if it is.   Have your materials for your DM monthly profession quest ready to go and turn in.  We will know more about this as the date for Mists of Pandaria comes closer.

Bonus Tips for Gathering Realm First

• Purchase a Gnomish Army Knife before MOP.   These are going to give you a +10 to your gathering ability for herbalism, mining and skinning.   This will not give you points towards your achievement.  But it will prevent you from running into (skill not high enough) problems as you advance into different areas.  

• Have enchanted gloves based on your professions.

• [Enchant Gloves -Advanced Mining], [Enchant Gloves - Advanced herbalism], [Enchant Gloves - Skinning].   This enchant/item combination  with the Gnomish Army Knife adds a healthy +15 to your abilities.  Leapfrogging you over many of the dead zone areas that happen when leveling a gathering profession. 

• Fishing for a realm first achievement will want to have both one of the highest +point level rods in the game (Arcanite Fishing Rod or Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Rod).   even if you only have a plus 5 Strong Fishing Pole you will have an easier time.   Remember again the +bonuses do not count towards your points.  The points just make it a higher possibility to catch in different areas.

What other suggestions do you think that a realm first achiever should know?   

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbearjoe @ gmail. dOT com or find me on twitter at "@Dragonbearjoe" or leave a comment here. You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server, chat me up and I will buy you a glass of juice. 

Past Entries

Tipping Point

Pre expansion dusting and scrubbing

The world is your oyster

Selling for Dummies

Iron Sharpens Iron

It's Elemental Dear Goblins

Four words to rock your head (enchants)

Trade Channel Boredom, bring on the dailies

Preview of upcoming events

Gold to burn

I'm gonna tell you a secret

Life with no AH

Yakity Yak

The Auction House Blues

O Brother Where Art thy professions

Come Back Players... Come Back

Measuring the AH of a "Wow Killer"

Gold: It makes a player better

Get thee to an Engineer

Darkmoon Faire Returns....  Much rejoicing

Prepping for MOP:   Dinner Improbable