I came into the week thinking I had ample time for farming and generating gold. In the end, I made money…but not as much as I thought I might. Spent some free time leveling instead (Hunter hit 95, Priest 94, Death Knight 77) and then life got in the way as it often does. But I’m still curious to see how things went.
(warning: this is long…and wordy…and…numbery?)
I talked last week about sharing how to play for free. Specifically, how to make at least 25 thousand gold a month. That gets you pretty close to the cost of a token, depending on the market at the time. What I have started doing, is charting everything I’m making over the course of one month, day by day. What I’m enjoying most about it is the opportunity to see for myself just exactly where the gold comes from, what I might be doing well, and what I could improve on. I won’t be capped or anything like that, but I’m happy doing enough to get by and can build on that. As I said before, my goal is simply to be able to continue playing the game for free. So let’s see how we’re doing, shall we?
…and the moment Flagsworth said those words my brain finished the sentence for him. Here was a quest chain that I really had no interest in finishing because to me it seemed pointless, despite him telling me of some of the tracks he had managed to acquire up to that point. But then came the knowledge that I could have Lament of the Highborne as the music in my Garrison. If I had looked in the mirror, I bet I shrunk, lost my hair and began muttering about “the precious.”
So I checked my Quest Log and it turned out I still needed three components. The S.P.R.K. Component was a piece of cake. Just skip over to Talador and take out a Shredder. That left the two items in the Spires of Arak. I took the furthest one first, which is the Laz-Tron Disc Reader. I would have picked it up more quickly were it not for the three rares that required my attention first. A few goblins later and I had it. So just the Phonic Amplifier way up in northern Arak. A little tip…if you’re doing this in the same such manner, follow wowhead’s comments on the best way to get there. Otherwise it’s a nuisance.
Once I had all the pieces it was back to my Garrison.
After Drix and Zarahi danced for a few moments it was time to head to Undercity. Took me a bit to find the Banshee Queen, but once I did I found her Strongbox sitting off to the side and sure enough, there was Music Roll: Lament of the Highborne. I was like that kid on Christmas who had the present they wanted…but couldn’t open because they were going to grandma’s place first. In my case, my Hearthstone was on cooldown (fortunately I had a blog post to write). After what seemed like an eternity, back I went.
And it was majestic.
To be fair, it’s more to the effect of “30 Days Back In Azeroth.” Miss me? Heck, remember me?
Indeed my friend, I have been back in World of Warcraft for just over a month now (though I was gone away for one week in that span). There is a great deal to discuss in terms of the game, the future, even yours truly as it pertains to the two. I suppose I will take the easy route and tackle the last one first.
When I stopped playing WoW earlier this year it wasn’t because of the game itself (unlike a clear number of other people based on subscription numbers). I simply didn’t have time for the game. If I didn’t have time…why was I paying for it then? So off I went. I can’t say that I missed the game, but at the same time there were things I missed doing. More importantly there were people I missed talking to. But don’t get me wrong, that wouldn’t be reason enough to bring me back (as awesome as those individuals may be).
So why did I come back? That’s easy. I can play the game for free. Yes, the well-known WoW token. Some individual buys the token in the real world and all I have to do is hand over some gold for a month of play time. That means zero cash comes out of my pocket. I just spend a few hours generating some coin and I’m in the game as long as I want to be. Of course, there was a catch to getting back that myself and Flagsworth (remember that lad as well?) found as we both considered this option: how do we start playing for free without first paying to do so? Oh Blizzard, you have impeccable timing.
Shortly before I was set to go on holidays I got a Facebook notice inviting me back to the game for a free 7-days. Well, problem solved. So back I came and just before I went away at the beginning of August I purchased my first 30-day token. I just picked up my second one Sunday, and since I came back I still have enough for two more months. I do plan to share my means of doing so but that will be at another time.
In game, as of today, flying in Draenor is officially a possibility. Honestly, I’ve never had issue with us not being able to fly at any point during the game. I don’t see why folks have been so adamant over the issue, but when the realms come back online later it won’t matter. It is what it is and those who are excited may rejoice over the issue.
The aggravation I do understand, however, is over the Garrison. Well specifically that every character you send through the portal must do the chain and go down the same tedious path every time roughly until you’ve gotten your Garrison to level 2. There are ways around it, yes, but they aren’t necessarily viable or free of agony. I do wish we could be at the very least come through the portal and choose to take an “x” amount of experience (less than what you would get doing the quest chain) and appear at that moment after the Garrison is complete.
While Blizzard seems to have learned from some of the mistakes of the Garrison, it looks like they aren’t ending any time soon as the new Class Headquarters sound to be very similar if not identical. Time will tell. To be honest, the Legion expansion seems to be a mixed bag. I like the idea of the Demon Hunter, though I have no certainty whether I’ll play the class much (who am I kidding, I have to have one of every class). The artifacts mechanic is also interesting. Particularly for us Feral Druids! Some say the expansion is a bit of everything people want, but does that mean Blizzard shoots the moon in one shot? I hope not because it’s likely that being a bit of everything means not being enough of any one thing in particular (kind of like my play style…which works for me, but not millions of others). I plan to get it either way, but I’m uncertain if it will be at launch. That will depend on the release date as I have a bigger hobby now and it involves some pricey kickstarters coming down the pipe.
I haven’t written in so long because I had nothing to write about. I’ve said before no matter how excited you might be about something, if you aren’t active in it then it’s very hard to completely relate when sharing your thoughts on the matter. Now I find myself and the Amateur Army deep in the world again, and the interest to write and share my thoughts is definitely there. But I shall provide no timetable. Whenever the mood suits me or there’s a topic worth mentioning then I certainly will. Who knows, others will spur topics for me. I do have a post I plan to start writing today, as the first of the month allows me a launch point to get a clear picture. It’s one I will share at the end of the month, though, and will hopefully provide insight into how to start acquiring your own WoW tokens.
With any luck you’ll be playing for free as well, or perhaps just find a new way to supplement a shopping spree now and again. Either way, so long as I can keep bringing in the tokens I have returned and will be staying. At the very least, I suspect that’s for the rest of 2015. How often I share my ramblings, I cannot say. But when in doubt, rest assured I am always up for a chat in game.
Cheers,
JD
The Amateur house is looking more and more festive every day, and that means limited Azeroth festivities. I did, however, manage to upgrade my Garrison to level 3 yesterday. Having the Warchief refer to me as “General” was a nice touch…and a bit empowering. Of course said feeling of empowerment did me no good when I tried to do the Pet Battle Menagerie. I went after Gorefu and after several tries logged. I just don’t have enough high level Moths.
I had some free time this morning, but unfortunately the Realms are down for full maintenance (and Hearthstone too…who scheduled that?). There is good news, though, as when they go live in a few hours not only will the Highmaul raid be open but the World Bosses also go live. I’m hoping Zarahi can get in on one before I head to work today. If not, I will probably just get Tum or Liouxpold to 91. Both have set up their Garrison and, while Lioux has completed a couple of quests, the pair are both at relatively the same point.
What about you? When the realms pop back up, any immediate plans?
For those of us who didn’t play the beta, or read prior to release, we went into Garrisons pretty blind. As I’ve touched on, they are a far better mechanic than I first expected. When I heard they were a “required” part of leveling, I was not impressed. Until I actually did the leveling and it does tie in very well together. Plus, instead of just being a hero, you’re at the forefront as a commander. It’s a nice little touch.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s all sunshine and lollipops. Take, for example, yours truly. Out of the gate I built a Gem shop and an Enchanting shop. The Enchanting shop was a no-brainer for a toon who had no professions at the time. Free disenchanting is a fantastic feature for all the BoP mail rares like to give my Druid. Plus, at level 2, weapon enchant transmogs. Good deal. The gem shop not so much.
For the most part I did it thinking I would get a gem or two every work order…which I could easily fill via the mine. Instead I got a bunch of soulbound crystals that are fantastic if you’re a Jewelcrafter. I know Tumunzahar will definitely be looking forward to one of those. Occasionally my work order would result in Sorcerous Earth or Sorcerous Air, which in the first week of the expansion yielded some solid returns on the Auction House. So after a while I realized the error of my ways and just switched to the Storehouse. Not the most viable choice, but gives me bank and eventually guild bank access. So I’m ok with that.
The big thing for me is the desire to get the Garrison to level 3. I want to open up the Pet Menagerie and also get my other buildings leveled. What I hadn’t been able to figure out, is why that wasn’t happening. To do so, you need 5k in gold (which in this expansion is ridiculously easy) and 2k in resources. For the longest time, I couldn’t stockpile half of said resources. I had no idea why. I know the best way to get them is through your Garrison, rares, quests, etc (without changing your buildings). What I knew, but didn’t pay attention to? This:
Yup. Silly, right? I normally run anywhere from 8-15 missions a day, and did so all along as I leveled. At no point did it occur to me that I was burning through more resources than I was acquiring. At 10-30 resources a mission, there was no way I was ever going to meet my goal. Now that I’ve made that discovery, and righted myself, I can begin the push to 2k.
What about you? Any foolish errors along the way or did you plan yours out well in advance?
After a few delays and time away from Azeroth, Zarahi became the first of the Amateur Army to hit the new cap of 100. With much rejoicing I stopped to consider things thus far. As such, here’s 100 random thoughts about the new expansion: Continue reading
arcanewordsmith.wordpress.com 