Boost Me, Buy Me, Pay Me Gold

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 1:18 PM

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When coming into the weekend many players will be cranking up their new pre-orders to Warlords of Draenor expansion and choosing their new boosted level 90 characters.

Most players will be starting to crank up their gear gathering on Timeless Isle and raids starting Friday.   Looking at the Auction Houses you can already see people taking advantage of the markets and grabbing/flipping raw materials.   The difficult part in doing this is that it is easy to replenish these materials (especially Exotic Leather and Ghost Iron Ore).   This shouldn't keep players in the next couple of days to do some heavy farming to hit the wave that will occur this weekend.

With the knowledge that we won't be seeing the release of Warlords of Dreanor till sometime around November/December it gives players a lot of time to work on their professions.  Thankfully, most players are not known for their patience when it comes to leveling professions.    The new boosted 90's are going to be wanting gear to catch up with their raiding groups and get into the action.

All of the professions should get a boost this weekend from the new quest for gear and enhancements.  Markets that have been slow and steady earning (Inscriptions,  enchanting) will see that boost this weekend from players filling in their scribe books for the future.  High investment weapons and gear might get some sales, but many players are looking at these new level 90's as secondary characters.  

A couple of items to specifically flip are Sha Crystals and Magnificent Hides for their use in the high level armor enhancements.  Needing 10 crystals and a handful of dust for the Dancing Steel weapon enchantment should drive up the prices for the Sha Crystals.  Magnificent Hides should get the same boost from sales of the Pants armor enchantments provided by Leatherworkers.

Keep an eye on the markets as they go up in the next couple of days and position your players to jump on the wave.  This weekend will be exciting for those that are brave and ready to climb the AH ladder to profits.

Geez,  the sounded cheesy even to me.   Go sell something :-)

Good Luck and Good Profit Hunting

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
WOD:   Leave The Wheelbarrow At The Door
Adding To The Sales Floor
60 Dollars to Leave Your Level
Stop Teasing My Rocket
Stop Beating My Warforged Seals

I'm Not Dating My Guild

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 9:15 AM

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Sometimes you just have to step outside of making gold in World of Warcraft and learn to enjoy the game.   Enjoyment of the game and the people involved is truly what should keep people coming back for more.

My Guild as working on a flex raid in Seige of Orgrimmar.   We had picked up a few players in open raid and were progressing relatively well.   They fit in pretty well with our banter and slung a little bull around when necessary.

Around the last of the raid night one of them commented that he had a date and was needing to get ready.  Of course there was the necessary mocking and announcement that some female was more important than the raid.  It was all in jest because many of the members of our guild are couples including a few that live together.  Anyone who has lived with others for long periods of time will tell you that 'date night' is one of the lifeblood of a good relationship.  But this isn't a dating journal is it?

So after the prerequisite banter the player left for his date.   We continued on for a little bit longer then called it a night.  So I told you this part of the story so I could share another different view of the same story.

The boyfriend of a friend of mine was playing one of the Star Wars MMO.  As he was playing she took the time to go and shower.   Not to be graphic because this is a PG blog, but she stepped out of the shower and wore a towel and little else.  Coming up behind him she wrapped her arms around him.  His announcement that he was 'playing his game' took the steam out of what should have been a much more exciting night than the digital killing of mobs.

So why is this an important ideal to remember?   It won't be that long before those purples and awesome gear that drops in this raid instances will became the cannon fodder for every vendor and enchanter.   It may be 3 months or it may be 6 months before the next expansion but that sense of accomplishment will be replaced with a new adventure.   Your friends will be the next day or even the next week.   That relationship might need that power boost at that point. 

So if your friend comes up behind you,  wraps their arms around you and whispers in your ear.   Tell them to hold on a sec,   get on vent and then tell your digital friends that you will see them next week.

That's when you really win the game.

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. 

Golden Days
Tip For Timeless Isle
Be Prepared
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

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

Bye Bye Diablo III Auction House

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:34 PM

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Blizzard announced that they will be completely removing the Auction House after March 18, 2014.  They provided a video to explain this decision and how it will affect the game.

http://youtu.be/ijCgKciMIE4

But this does bring up something interesting in the idea of would they do the same to World of Warcraft?   The Auction House system has been an integral part of MMO's since Final Fantasy XI introduced one of the first active trading systems.  Before then upgrades were either done via trade chat or even sales from online sites such as Ebay.

The removal of an Auction House system will make the next Diablo Expansion that much more interesting in how it upgrades gear.  Modern MMO's such as Marvel Heroes have yet to introduce an auction house and off server pages for trading have flourished.  Pages such as Marko's DiabloIII Gold Guide site are already planning on transferring to off server trade auctions.

So what would happen if Blizzard decided to do the same thing and remove the Auction House from World of Warcraft?   The normal Auction House has always been considered stable, and even the Black Market Auction House has been a popular addition to the Mists of Pandaria Expansion.   The key difference between the World of Warcraft auction house system and the Diablo III auction house system is the Real Money Auction House.  The addition of real money elements into the auction house system was the monkey wrench that brought the concept down.

Where all the money that was on the Warcraft auction house was ethereal in nature,  Diablo III's version encouraged a much higher manipulation into the system.  Players would spend hours farming Epic level gear to sell and rotate through the money making system.   The system became flawed when inflation drove in game gold to become completely worthless. 

When the Real Money Auction House was added to Diablo III I was excited with the concept.  The one thing I think they missed was adding a limit to how much could be earned in real money.  There may be few that were able to manipulate the system to their advantage,  but even a few can cause chaos for a semi closed auction environment.   On this and other journals it's been shown many times that a few can control the multitudes when it comes to pricing on gear and popular items.  If someone needs a quick reminder of this go and sell glyphs on your server at 250g and see how fast it drops to 15g per.

This is in no way a condemnation of the players that took advantage of the Diablo III RMAH system.  In fact,I admire their ability to balance the tediousness of playing the game and being shrewd in their monetary mechanics.  It just is a shame that Blizzard has decided to completely throw out the baby with the bathwater instead of looking for a much better solution.

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:   Golden Lotus Beatdown
Four Levels of Wow Activity

The Ways of The Force Are Strange

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:27 PM

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Most of the time I've kept topics on this journal based around World of Warcraft.  At times I've delved into other areas including Diablo 3,  Marvel Heroes and other games.  Mostly trying to share little nuggets of what each of these games has taught me.

Blizzard has just dropped the closed beta to their new online card game Hearthstone.  It looks interesting and can be fun.  But anyone who has been a veteran of closed betas knows that you have to be careful about scams.

There are some very interesting offers for beta keys going around with different journals.  Wow insider and MMO-Champion have already started offering beta keys as different prizes.  It brings new readers into a journal.  But one thing that always burns me is when people offer to sell their keys.   And Blizzard has the same attitude.

Blizzard has always had a 'we catch you,  we nuke you' policy when it comes to selling anything that isn't approved by them.  Selling Characters,  items,  beta keys,  etc.  Anything that they don't approve of you selling they will nuke you from high orbit just to make sure.  That includes both the seller and the buyer.   On the surface it isn't that big of a deal.   Great,  I got banned from a little card game.  But sooner or later Blizzard is going to take a major whack at these sales and ban entire battle-net accounts.  That means you lose access to not just Hearthstone but also to World of Warcraft,  Diablo and even future games.  You start all over with a brand new email account,  brand new keys etc.  Not really worth it to get to play a game earlier than everyone else.

So be smart about when you see these 'sales'.  Decide if it's worth the risk of everything you've built up to now just to get an early start on a game.  If you feel it is,  more power to you.  I will continue to hope that the beta key fairies show me some love.  And that they are redheaded fairies.

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. 


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?
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

My Favorite Addon

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 10:17 AM

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Mommar here.

Over the amount of time during my Warcraft 'career' I've added and deleted a cubic ethereal ton of add-ons. Some performed one specific duty such as keeping track of how many attempts I ran Sekketh Halls to obtain my Raven mount.  Others performed much more complex tasks such as Trade Skill Master.   Each become very important in the overall setup of performing tasks towards gold making.

But one add-on is the most powerful add-on I have.  Without it I would be crippled in my exploring of gold making tasks.  It's taken years and year for me to develop and is so important that I would guard it with my Warcraft life.

It's my Notebook that sits next to my computer (yeah,  I know.  Cheesy).

There are all sorts of note taking tools that can be used as add-ons.    And with more and more powerful computers, it's just as easy to swap between windows to bring up Springpad or notepad or lily pad or whatever you choose to keep notes.  When I first started playing WOW, my computer just barely crawled over the minimum requirements for the game.   My video settings were at the lowest they could be and I was tanking with a 6fps.  You can imagine how my monitor whined at the end of any boss battle that covered the entire screen with flashing lights.   Ultimately I upgraded my computer to a much better setup but I still remained conservative in how I did my note taking.

I used to note everything that I did or bought in Warcraft.   Looked for trends and researched offline and even noted players that I grouped with that didn't fit my view of how to play.   Keeping records for my guild was an extension of this record keeping.   Now that I do not run as much with my guild I do not keep as detailed records as I did from the start.

But what I do still have is copious notes on financial trends and expectations in the market.  It's how my brain organizes information.   Your brain may do something different and that it becomes easier to use much more computer based ways to keep your notes.  The important part of this is that you are looking for trends and keeping track of your decision making.   Some trends repeat itself every season.   Others are one time deals that are here and gone.  

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”

 George Santayana

This ideal doesn't just apply in real life but also in your Warcraft life.   Your mistakes should not be repeated while your successes should build you to the next step.   The notetaking will allow you to know which is which.   

So buy yourself a notebook and a good pen and keep your own personal gold making journal.  You might be surprised just how much you can learn when you put pen to paper.   

Good Luck and Good Hunting

I Need More Fun Sales
Toxic Sales
Engineering Love With 5.4
Why Warcraft Needs Microtransactions
The New Face of Opportunity
Bring Out Your Pets
Bring On The Next Wow Killer
The Value of Material Assets
PVP Sales Are Not Kind To Me
Finding A New Rhythm
Breaking The Million Gold Barrier
Bye Bye... I Will Take Your Gold Now

Engineering Love With 5.4

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:10 PM

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I love my engineers.   They don't make much money but they are very enjoyable to play for me.   With Engineering it's an expectation that they will be the redheaded step children by making gold.   Their gold making abilities have advanced with the last two expansions but still they have a long way to go before challenging the heavy money hitters.

I was reading the PTR notes,  especially the changes that occur in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.   With many of the quest hubs changing or being eliminated and the Sha blight covering the area's reputation and rewards become more interesting.   But a little tidbit caught my eye:

• On the PTR, any mob in Vale of Eternal Blossoms can drop  Schematic: Chief Engineer Jard's Journal. This is smart loot, meaning that it will only drop for eligible Engineers. This contains recipes for  Jard's Peculiar Energy Source,  Not Sky Claw,  Advanced Refrigeration Unit,  Pierre, and  Rascal-Bot.

A couple of these items were promised in previous patches to be removed due to programming issues.  But to add 5 items for sale for engineers will give a quick boost to profitability.  The pets and mounts especially.   So looking at the items that are required to produce these you can put together that having a large quantity of  reserves can put you in the driver seat.

(all of these recipes might change,  but you can get a good idea of just what will be required from even the PTR recipes).

Sky Claw
Requires 30 Jard's Peculiar Energy and 30 Living Steel

Advanced Refrigerator Unit
Requires 5  Jard's Peculiar Energy and 5 Living Steel

Pierre
15 Jard's Peculiar Energy and 15 Living Steel

Rascal-Bot
15 Jard's Peculiar Energy and 15 Living Steel

Jard's Peculiar Energy Source Is the main component of each of these recipes and depending on whether it is BOE or BOP will determine it's viability to sell by itself.

The common link of all of these materials is the use of Ghost Iron Bars for production.   Living Steel is transmuted by alchemist so it will again be in high demand.   The Living Steel market has been depressed as of late so now is a good time to grab some quick low priced purchases.

As more from the 5.4 PTR is identified finding the niches ahead of time and preparing your farmers and purchases can get you that ride fast and have you ready to ride the gold lightning.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Why Warcraft Needs Microtransactions
The New Face of Opportunity
Bring Out Your Pets
Bring On The Next Wow Killer
The Value of Material Assets
PVP Sales Are Not Kind To Me
Finding A New Ryhthm
Breaking The Million Gold Barrier
Bye Bye... I Will Take Your Gold Now
Post Patch 5.3:   The Lineup
Patch 5.3:   It's here... well tomorrow
Patch 5.3:  Preparing for the Arrival
Patch 5.3:   Grasspicking World Order
Patch 5.3: Bring Out Your Miners
Enchanting add-on for quick flips
Prepping for 5.3:   Profit lines

Realities Of Making Gold

Why Warcraft Needs Microtransactions

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 1:11 PM

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Microtransactions if you're not familiar with them are items (skills,  buffs,  gear,  toys, etc.) that can be purchased inside a game.  Most give an advantage of some type over players that only use the 'free' items.

World of Warcraft has a subscription based system with a modified microtransaction system.   You can purchase pets to play with inside the game but actual gear that can help you become better,  stronger and faster is not directly available.  (Before you say it,   yes I know there are mounts and other items that can be purchased that technically can enhance your gameplay).

I have been a member of Facebook for about 5 years now.  And up to now I've never spent a penny on games such as Farmville,  Cookville,  Monkeyville and others.   It boggled my mind just why someone would pay good hard earned money for a completely fake item.   Even in Warcraft you could find ways of spending hard earned greenbacks to obtain gold.   (Hopefully if you have read any of these entries that are on this site then you never ever have to buy from a gold vendor again).

But recently I've had a slight change of perspective.   The one thing that has made me hesitant to spend my hard earned Georges (I have other names for them) is that I spend 15 dollars a month just to get access to a game.  The idea of opening up a game to let the rich become more powerful and the less fortunate end up having to work twice to three times as hard to get there.

My suggestion that if a micro transaction system is created and the free to play system implemented by Blizzard is that there be a cap on the amount of real money able to be spent.   I expect that soon (perhaps next year) that there will be a rise in the subscription cost to play World of Warcraft.  If a hard cap of 20 dollars real money is placed on what can be purchased for any account it keeps the playing field even,  but still allows players a lot more diversity on what they purchase.  

Warcraft has a large fan base that stays loyal to the brand even through the large amount of 'WOW Killers' that take their shot at the King.  So a conversion to a micro transaction system can generate the same revenue and still allow players to continue to play in Azeroth.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

The New Face of Opportunity
Bring Out Your Pets
Bring On The Next Wow Killer
The Value of Material Assets
PVP Sales Are Not Kind To Me
Finding A New Ryhthm
Breaking The Million Gold Barrier
Bye Bye... I Will Take Your Gold Now
Post Patch 5.3:   The Lineup
Patch 5.3:   It's here... well tomorrow
Patch 5.3:  Preparing for the Arrival
Patch 5.3:   Grasspicking World Order
Patch 5.3: Bring Out Your Miners
Enchanting add-on for quick flips
Prepping for 5.3:   Profit lines

Realities Of Making Gold

The Value of Material Assets

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:33 PM

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Any Gold Goblin worth their salt will tell you they like having assets.   With man speak this is translated to 'I like having stuff'.   The entire goal of our gold goblining (is that a word?) adventure is to make more gold than we really and truly need.

But lost in the translation many times is the advantage of not just having liquid assets but material assets as well.  I am a self professed packrat.  Rarely do I just toss something away.  Even venturing the limitless amount of food that is available from drops and quest rewards.  If it won't sell on the Auction House for a pretty penny it can sell to the goblin vendor I have to lug around on my might might yak of doom.

Material assets are also very valuable when it comes to bartering.    There are those times that no matter how much gold you have,  the item you want isn't available on the Auction House.   And no matter how much gold you throw out there,  the item isn't for sale.   This might seem strange because who would turn down a cubic ton of gold thrown at their feet.   But the value of anything is only worth what someone is willing to pay.

The key to bartering is to not just add items but also add services.  With a Blacksmith I can craft the entire PVP set for someone.  At some point gold becomes relatively meaningless.  But if I can trade for raw materials I can make more than the value that the item would be for just straight gold.  Ore and rarer herbs is especially useful for this idea.   2500g is a nice profit.  But give me 50 stacks of Ghost Iron Ore and I can make much more than 1000g in profit.

Also add to the idea that creative bartering can be enjoyable all by itself.  It's easy to craft,  place on the AH and then pick up your profits the next day.  At the beginning the numbers are exciting as they tick into your coffers.  But later making gold becomes a chore.  Bartering can sharpen your wits and your abilities to enjoy making gold once again.

So the next time you talk to a player about crafting an item,  quote them a price in materials instead of gold.  You will be surprised at just how valuable your materials can be.

Good Luck and Good Hunting

PVP Sales Are Not Kind To Me
Finding A New Ryhthm
Breaking The Million Gold Barrier
Bye Bye... I Will Take Your Gold Now
Post Patch 5.3:   The Lineup
Patch 5.3:   It's here... well tomorrow
Patch 5.3:  Preparing for the Arrival
Patch 5.3:   Grasspicking World Order
Patch 5.3: Bring Out Your Miners
Enchanting add-on for quick flips
Prepping for 5.3:   Profit lines

Realities Of Making Gold

Breaking The Million Gold Barrier

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:58 PM

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Mommar here.

Hopefully there was a pleasant Memorial day weekend in your past.   Ending up playing around on Warcraft for a little bit on different servers than my main.   Wanted to get a feeling for other economies than my home one.

One thing that always brings back memories is reading people's recollections of meeting their goals.  When I first started WOW I thought 10,000g was a fortune.  With that I could buy anything I wanted and play better in my guild.  This was when Burning Crusade came out and money was more difficult to make.  

The mountain felt like it moved each time I was about to reach my goal.   I would hit the 9500g mark and someone would need a 'loan'.  Or I ended up with a rough day of raiding and my repair bill came up to 100g or more.   It was nerve racking trying to scale up that mountain and fall down just a little bit more.

I have told the story before of when things clicked money wise for me.  A friend of mine offered me a pattern Pattern: Bracers of the Green Fortress.   It was in high demand for plate tanking classes and the materials were easy to get.  I sold a large amount of these for profit.  This is when my thirst for finding deals and making gold really popped up.

After I broke my 10,000g set goal I knew that i could do better.   Hitting 100,000 came about 3 months later after I added two more crafters to my lineup.   As the expansions continued I increased the pile of gold I sat upon while still holding onto my beliefs in being honest in my trades and being loyal to my friends and guild mates.  

My 1,000,000g mark was broken somewhere during the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.   My Jewelcrafter brought in what could only be described as stupid amounts of gold just for a few button clicks.  As my WOW career continued I found the need to make larger goals for myself.  Instead of making number goals I changed to making goals for what each toon could create.  I wanted each of my toons to be able to make a 1,000,000g by themselves.  I still haven't accomplished this goal (11 toons with some of them having not leveled beyond level 5 makes this one a tough one to finish).

Blizzard introduced achievements which became a very popular quest for players who were burnt on the daily grind.   Very few gold making achievements are listed,  so the need to create our own became a form of self entertainment.   Plus 1,000,000g is a nice round number to be able to say.

So when it feels that your goals are not achievable,  keep in mind that anyone can make gold with the right knowledge and patience.   If you need an example just look at me.  I did it and when I first started I didn't even know you needed a shield for tanking (I miss my old guild sometimes).

Good Luck and Good Hunting

Bye Bye... I Will Take Your Gold Now
Post Patch 5.3:   The Lineup
Patch 5.3:   It's here... well tomorrow
Patch 5.3:  Preparing for the Arrival
Patch 5.3:   Grasspicking World Order
Patch 5.3: Bring Out Your Miners
Enchanting add-on for quick flips
Prepping for 5.3:   Profit lines

Realities Of Making Gold
How Does Free Gear Effect The Market?
Pre Patch 5.3 Setup
Patch 5.3 on the Horizon
Old World vs New World Profits
Bad Bad Robot.. The Warcraft Edition
Strengthen Your Google-Fu

Realities Of Making Gold

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 9:08 AM

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Mommar here.

Here as well as other journals give high expectations on the huge amounts of gold that can be made in World of Warcraft.  Each technique or though process gives you the chance to obtain gold.  Some of the ideas are easy,  others are much more difficult and eat up your time.

But break down gold making into an exact science is the gold grade for making gold.   To be able to do 4-6 clicks of a mouse and a few wiggles at the auction house is what all players are looking for.   But let's break down exactly how much it requires in gold to make your wants and desires.

Most players do not play every day.  So for example's sake lets assume that players play a total of 180 days a year with an Avg of 1 hour a day.  Yes I fully understand that you play 4 hours a day,  rock the PVP world and grab every gold piece.    Many other players only reach the bare minimum for how much they play,  combining their real lives with their gaming lives.   So here we go:


If you make a minimum of

10g a day  =  1,800 g  a  playing year
(Equals one daily every time you log in).

50g a day =   9,000g a playing year
(Equals one daily quest a day and one random dungeon)

100g a day = 18,000g a playing year
(Equals one daily quest,  one random dungeon and a basic material flip a day)

500g a day = 90,000g a playing year
(Equals and daily quest,  one random dungeon,  basic material and doubling profit for sales)

So on and so forth.   You can see that even if you chucking down 1000g a day every time that you play you can pack 180,000g a year.  This is over and above your repair costs etc.   Making gold in World of Warcraft has never been easier.   So now that I've just shot you need to read this journal in the foot,  why would you want to continue to read?   Because if you can see that making 1000g a day takes a small amount of listing/crafting effort, the skies become the limit on just what you can obtain with a little bit more added effort.  Is 2000g out of line?   3000g?   What is the limit that you set for yourself?  

We talk many times about gold and time management.   Getting more for your time buck becomes that much more important when playing this game.  Not just this game but any money based game that is available to play.   The idea is setting up your system to obtain your goal with the least amount of time spent with chores and trivial matters.

Keep this is mind when that gold making goal seems unavailable.  When you set your goal to buy that Fluffy bunny mount that you viewed on the auction house.   It's not about how easy or difficult it is making gold in World of Warcraft,  it is about just how much perseverance you have to show up.

Good Luck and Good Hunting


How Does Free Gear Effect The Market?
Pre Patch 5.3 Setup
It's Childrens Weak... I Mean Week
Patch 5.3 on the Horizon
Old World vs New World Profits
Bad Bad Robot.. The Warcraft Edition
Strengthen Your Google-Fu
Go To Sales
Weekend Warriors
Possible Glyphmas With Patch 5.3?
The Green Parade
Lions,  Tigers and Cooldowns O My
Snakes in the Playground
Craft Me Some Pants.. Or Something Else
Flipping the BMAH off
Dear Blizzard:   Noblegarden Edition
Throwing A Line
Prepping For the Death Of PVP
Patience is a Virtue.
I Choose You....: Reputation Choices
Thunderforge Ready for Business

Minimum Profit Potential.

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:35 PM

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Mommar here.

Yesterday as i was puttering around Orgrimmar a player was emptying out their guild bank.   Items they were selling were mostly junk items,  some even from the beginning of World of Warcraft time.

As they were listing items some gems came up.   Mostly gems from Wrath (Alicite,  Dark Jade etc.).   Now one of my favorite old markets was the Wrath version of the shuffle.   Taking a combination of Alicite,  Dark Jades or the other gems during that time frame and craft rings/neck pieces.   At that point you could decide either to vendor them or to sell them.

In today's market most of these items sit on the AH with the occasional sale.  Quickly they become vendor bait or Disenchanting bait.   Still even with those decisions made an interesting profit can be made with a few non thinking crafting decisions.

But it did bring up the mental Roll-a-Dex to decide just what the limit in my quest for profit would be.  In everything i have shared with you,  one of the biggest decisions that a gold goblin has to make is determining what is worth their time.  Is crafting an item to sell for 100g just as valuable as crafting one for 1000g.

I dislike immensely being non productive when I'm playing WOW.  Either I'm doing dailies on my main or my alts,  crafting for others in my unofficial clan,  sorting through items to sell or gazing longingly at the auction house and new mounts showing up (500,000g for a Feldrake brought a little drool).   The continual question for me is am I using my minimum profit potential on all I sell.

Next time that you look at something and say 'that's not worth my time',  decide whether that small amount of profit might add up to a large fortune.   Every little step gets you to the top of the gold pile.

Good Luck and Good Hunting


Previous Entries

Lions,  Tigers and Cooldowns O My
Snakes in the Playground
Craft Me Some Pants.. Or Something Else
Flipping the BMAH off
Dear Blizzard:   Noblegarden Edition
Throwing A Line
Prepping For the Death Of PVP
Patience is a Virtue.
I Choose You....: Reputation Choices
Thunderforge Ready for Business
Determine Value: Spirits of Harmony
Hearthstone:   The New Wow Killer?
What Days Do You Sell?
Loot Pinata
Taking Advantage of The Market
The Inportance of being Hot(fixes)
Don't Fret Young Farmer

Patch 5.2: Are you Ready???

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:58 PM

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Mommar here.

If nothing goes wrong we will all be hip deep in Patch 5.2 glory tomorrow.   Lots of new toys and places to look at.   Lots of opportunities to invest in materials for the massive upgrade rush.

Keep in mind that investment and sales will be a marathon and not a sprint.  Yes it is nice to be the first one to drop something on the market.   But there will be many players across many servers having these same thoughts.   Setting the price sky high,  then watching your newly selling treasure be overrun by the floods of
undercutters.

Staying disciplined in your sales techniques will get you high on the pile of gold instead of falling under the avalanche.   If the Auction House is flooded by sales,  look to bark in trade for your sales.   Everyone announcing all of their goodies as they dance on the mailbox in Stormwind?   Then drop some on the auction house for sales.   Those first two hours after the servers come live will be both exciting as well as very volatile.  

Take a few minutes while the patch is downloading and installing to size up your strategy.   Will you be farming for the new recipes first?  Or crafting and manufacturing?   Reselling that sizable stockpile of Ghost iron ore and leathers?  

How you come prepared to the dance is just as important as what you have to offer.   The other thing is that, and I know this will come as a shock,  there are many many many non sales things to do with this patch.  The new scenerios,  new lands to conquer,  new rares.  Keep an eye on what tickles your interest and go for it.

Marathon, not a sprint.   And make sure to enjoy the new patch.

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 "@JMTCMommar" You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server, chat me up and I will buy you a glass of juice. 

Previous Entries

Patch 5.2:  Tap That Mob
Patch 5.2:   The Great Ghost Iron Ore Rush
5.2 Watch: Capping Justice Points
Language People.  Language
Patch 5.2: Know They Economy
New Leatherworking Pattern.html
Patch 5.2: Jewelcrafters
Patch 5.2: Thanks Uncle Blizzard for the Valor
Something Stinks In The Air
Get a Grip On Your Pricing
Patch 5.2:  Prepping for the rush
How Do You Effect The Market?
He's So Great He's A Fivefather
Patch 5.2:   Farming For Rep.. With A Farm?