Garrosh Is My Friend

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:18 PM

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Mommar here.

Every week,  even if I'm looking to do other things to cleanse my pallet of World of Warcraft, I go and finish my flex raid runs on Garrosh.  The pets that drop from the two bosses previous to him are bonuses but my main goal is to obtain the BOA's that he drops from time to time.

I have two toons that are Garrosh worthy. (I refuse to be carried through a Flex 3 or Flex 4).   If I cannot do 125 dps then I need to upgrade.  This is just my personal view of raids and other raid leaders will have different views.

The thing I find a little funny is the cursing that occurs after the Garrosh kill happens.  Many players are in the same boat that they only reason they run Seige of Orgrimmar is for the BOA gear.  Obtaining one of these items sets a toon up for leveling if not all the way up to heroics.  I can see the frustration that people will have when the item they need won't drop.

Having played this game for years I have gotten used to grinding for gear that is useful.  During the Burning Crusade expansion I lived in Terrokar working on heroics for as many times as I could scrape 4 other people to run.  Shadow Labryinth was where I lived and breathed easily for 2 months plus just to obtain one or two pieces of gear.

This is why I switched to making sure that I had gold to craft the items that I needed.  Even now there are belts that can upgrade players over and above what drops in Timeless Isle.  As the Mists of Pandaria expansion matures gear becomes less and less important.  With the Alpha notes having been seen, it is obvious that the quest for gear will change completely.  Main stats will no longer be as important as the secondary and tertiary stats.

So as others curse and gripe about how Garrosh has stiffed them again (I know,  stiffed isn't the word that they use) remember that the benefits of having the entire summer for Garrosh runs gives players plenty of time to fill in the BOA weapon slots that are desired.

Good Luck and Good Profit Hunting

You Lost That Alpha Feeling
Too Many Coins On My Hand
We All Make Mistrakes
World Without The Auction House
Not So Smart Loot
It Was A Great Day
WOD:  Prepping For The Storm
Special Brand Of Stupid
Silver And Gold Have I None
Worth What Someone Will Pay For It
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We All Make Mistrakes

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 1:06 PM

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Mommar here.

A school principle of mine used to tell his students 'I'm perfect,  I don't make mistrakes'.  When your 12 years old this is way too thought provoking.  But as I've become older I can see the wisdom in what he was trying to impart.

This weekend I took a look at a couple of weak markets and decided to flip them.  I grabbed 32 Magnificent Hides at an average of 125 per hide.  With the daily burn for leatherworkers and the glut of exotic leather sitting on the AH, to me these were still undervalues.  I double checked some of the bigger ticket items that were created by them (Angerhide Leg Armor,  Shadowleather Leg Armor) which were hovering at about 550 per.  This could turn a nice quick profit and set me up for future profits.  Along with listing some of the leg armors I also went ahead and tripled the cost of the Magnificent Hide themselves and dropped them on the AH.

Dropping in a couple of hours later I had sold three of the leg armors, but all of my relisted magnificent hides had been undercut almost immediate.  The undercuts had dropped them to even lower costs to what I had purchased the original batch.

Wait Mommar,  you're saying all of this was a mistake?   In one way of looking at it it was a mistake in that I did not take into my mental calculations the cost of the exotic leather itself.  Also not taken into respect was just how many Magnificent Hides that leatherworkers were still sitting on.   So instead of calling it a mistake let us call it a half win.  In the long term I will be able to get about 2x the amount of gold that I invested.

The other market I took a look at and decided to reset was the bag market.  Netherweave bags had been a hotbed of sales for me.  Usually, clicking to 500g a day in sales just from the stock I still had sitting in my bank.  Recently the market had dropped to 12g a piece (still profitable, but not so much that I was willing to again list some bags).  I looked at some other bags (the 24 slot bags crafted from higher level tailoring materials).  The Illusionary Bag and Royal Satchel will be strong come the next expansion.  Players get the automatic 4 x 24 bags with their new level 90, but they have 8 slots in their bank to fill with new shiny bags.  Most will buy 16 slot bags but some will spring for a couple of the 24 slot bags for their new toys.

Both the Illusionary Bag and Royal Satchel have tailored daily timers using Dreamcloth and Imperial Silk respectively.  Dreamcloth is on a weekly timer while Imperial Silk still sits at a daily timer.  Collecting the materials and taking a few minutes to craft and sell these have added some nice coin into my pocket.

What may seem like a mistake at first can be turned into a success just from taking a deep breath and seeing potential instead of just instant profit.  Time is gold and gold is time.  Both will happen if your patient and look at not just short term sales but long term sales.

Good Luck and Good Profit Hunting

World Without The Auction House
Not So Smart Loot
It Was A Great Day
WOD:  Prepping For The Storm
Special Brand Of Stupid
Silver And Gold Have I None
Worth What Someone Will Pay For It
Please.. Wait.. I Wanna Tag
WOD: Waiting Til The Fall?
Boost Me, Buy Me, Pay Me Gold
Save That Boost for a Rainy Day
Lent.. Mighty Lent... Super Lent

Who Is Your Nemesis On the Gold Market

World Without The Auction House

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 9:22 AM

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Growing up I used to sneak in and read my brothers comics.  My money went into other items that I wanted (usually involving too much sweets).   He liked buying comic books and reading them over and over again.   They still sit in my parents' closet in need of being bagged and boarded.

One of both of our favorite series was the 'What if' versions that both Marvel Comics and DC had.  They would ask the obvious question for the title 'What if'.  What if Wolverine had forks on his finger.  What if Superman had a cold vision.  Things that were good, sometimes for a laugh or a quick adventure.

Diablo 3 got my mind to thinking of what if World of Warcraft did not have an auction house.  The introduction of the Auction house in Diablo,  including the real money auction house changed the scope of the game.  It made the need for massive amounts of gold almost required to be able to play at a high level.  Gold ended up costing more and more, both in real money and time as players tried to get the best gear.  If it didn't drop or couldn't be crafted then you just went out and bought for obscene amounts of money.  Sound familiar in regards to our friendly beloved WOW?

But what truly happened if the WOW auction house didn't exist?  Or it limited to only trinket items and the occasional non equipment.  Could a game survive in that type of atmosphere?   Diablo has become a game more for the materials than the actual gold.  You can make a large amount of gold in finding different places to farm.  Selling unused equipment is also available.  But for the most part gold becomes a non factor in playing Diablo 3.  Would the same occur with World of Warcraft where gold was only used for vanity items and not necessary for gameplay?

Do not take this as me being a proponent of removing the Auction House from the game.   There is a large difference in the raid/progression style play that Warcraft has against the pick up and beat something down style that is Diablo 3.  But sometimes it is a good thing to take a look at why something is important to learn how to master.

The Warcraft auction house doesn't just give you access to high quality weapons, but also to high equality enhancements.  It also gives you an opportunity to sell those enhancements and items to others.  Diablo 3 anymore, only allows you to take care of your own personal needs.  Both games, share a repair cost,  with the high the equipment levels you have the higher the repair cost.  Both hold legendary items,  though against some popular raid beliefs they aren't just handed to you in Warcraft.

The final thing to look at for where the auction house in Warcraft differs than from Diablo is that you have the option of playing it or not.   This may seem like a counterproductive idea vs what I said earlier.  But with dailies,  questing and vendoring items, as a player you do not have to step anywhere near the auction house for your day to day expenses.  But to be the very best player,  even a little bit of auction house ability can put you farther up the food chain game wise than others.  Especially at the beginning of patches where access to high level patterns are limited.

So take a look at your patterns in the Auction House and imagine yourself without access to the sales or the purchase ability.  Respect can lead to mastery of something that is necessary for your playstyle.

Good Luck and Good Profit Hunting

Not So Smart Loot
It Was A Great Day
WOD:  Prepping For The Storm
Special Brand Of Stupid
Silver And Gold Have I None
Worth What Someone Will Pay For It
Please.. Wait.. I Wanna Tag
WOD: Waiting Til The Fall?
Boost Me, Buy Me, Pay Me Gold
Save That Boost for a Rainy Day
Lent.. Mighty Lent... Super Lent
Who Is Your Nemesis On the Gold Market

It Was A Great Day

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 1:23 PM

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Having been playing World of Warcraft for years,  I have developed little quirks about myself.  One of them is when something finally drops when I have worked for it.

Since the start of the Timeless Isle patch I have been working the rare mob Houlon to have her drop the Reigns Of The Thundering Jade Cloud Serpent.  Having read in one of the Blizzard notes that you were only guaranteed a loot drop once each day from rares (yes,  I know it's possible to get more but they said guarantee),  I had been farming her every day.  Each time I was on the isle and the timer came up I joined 10-30 of my favorite strangers for the quick 2 minute kill and loot.

Finally the mental trumpets played and wallah,  I see in the loot window my next pet.  Being excited I added it to my collection,  dragged it onto my tool bar with some other mounts and then found out that you can't fly it on Timeless Isle.  Really, Blizzard?  Had to get that one final tease in didn't you.

But putting that aside, I started looking for my weekly Garrosh runs.  My hunter has an easier time of getting a better run than my Warrior does.  I would probably link it to Melee DPS being less popular than Ranged DPS or just blind luck.  Either way a couple of weeks ago, my Warrior had obtained his uber mega blade of awesome;  Hellscreams Decapitator.  In my own mental battle my hunter was getting a little bit jealous of him lugging that big shaving axe and wanted her own new BOA toy.

After finishing the first two bosses in one shot (hitting 3 and 4 on the dps respectively) we approached Hellscream.   The first try got him down to 12 percent before the fickle finger of fate disconnected a healer and a tank.   We regrouped,  no one started with the great noob debate and we went after him a second try.  Finally he went down,  and the loot window popped up and there it was:

(it's so pretty)

After doing a little bit of a happy dance in front of my computer (thankfully not having the camera on at the time) I zipped over to my jewelcrafter/engineer to get the enhancements done.   Two Delicate gems and a Lord Blastington's Scope of blowing things up and I was set for the next adventure.

But then I ran into a problem.  What was next?   I work better with a goal in mind.  Both of my main raiders now have their epic capes.  They are both exalted with the Grand Pooba of the isle.  My Warrior is exalted with everyone except for the furry little tribe in la la land.  I have all the coins that I could want,  and all of the gold I really can want (I know.  Blasphemy).  So what's next in the land of Mommar?

Do I make more gold.   Well of course I do.  That's half the fun.   Do I try to go for a 3rd epic cape.  Absolutely not.  No more grinding stones and lost information and you can go find that stuff yourself you little toad dragon.  Do I continue to raid and even look to jump into some regular runs instead of flex raid runs?

There is always a question of what motivates someone to continue to strive to play this game.  The next 6 months some people will decide to take some time off.  Some players will go and continue to work on their game.  Some are playing with new boosted level 90's.  Some are even leveling toons the normal way for a challenge.

So many things that can be done.  So many motivations that still are out there for the picking.  Archaeology looks like it might need to be dusted off and played with some more.  Pet battling (gotta catch em all, POKEWOW).

But one day,  one glorious day I got to run naked through the main horde cities on my new mount with my new weapon in my hand.

This is my weapon,  this is my gun.   This is for.... What you should join the military to hear the rest

Good Luck and Good Profit Hunting

WOD:  Prepping For The Storm
Special Brand Of Stupid
Silver And Gold Have I None
Worth What Someone Will Pay For It
Please.. Wait.. I Wanna Tag
WOD: Waiting Til The Fall?
Boost Me, Buy Me, Pay Me Gold
Save That Boost for a Rainy Day
Lent.. Mighty Lent... Super Lent
Who Is Your Nemesis On the Gold Market
Keeping up with the Black Market Auction House
I love me some Oqueue In The Morning
Will They, Wont They, Will I Care?

The Importance of Quick Decisions