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: 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