Winter Veil: Day 04

On the fourth day of Winter Veil my true love gave to me…some herbs to help my Scribe level up!

Somewhere Over The (Ported) Rainbow

What will he see when this spell finishes later today?

Here we are, at the dawn of another major patch in World of Warcraft.  The servers will go down within the hour and when they come up, we’ll be in for some heavy duty changes – the biggest of which will no doubt be the Talent Trees.  I haven’t decided who I’ll spec first to take part in the Theramore event though I’m leading towards Tumunzahar.  Of course, I’m also considering just logging onto my Scribe and crafting more Glyphs like a madman.  I hear there’s money to be made in that.

I’m hoping the servers are back up when I get home from work, which would be about an hour and a half after Blizzard is planning on having them up.  With a patch like this, though, it’s hard to say.  Either way, Mrs. Amateur and myself are headed to a concert not too long after that so hence my selfish optimism.  If they’re not, I’ll probably check things out when we get home -as it’ll be after midnight and I’m up by 4:30 anyway.  It’ll be an efficient way to cut out the middle man.

There’s also the excitement of what will come of Theramore.  I’ve avoided the spoilers that have surfaced in the last week just to experience it fresh for myself (much like the talents).  I can’t wait to see what that will involve, on both sides.

And yes, I’m looking forward to taking one of my Hunters and blowing someone’s head off at point blank range.  I’m simple like that.

Monday Money Making: Stacking The Deck

So what did you think of the new Darkmoon Faire?  Giving it an island is a nice feature and as it’s only around for the first week of each month, we shouldn’t get sick of it.  Also, it gives you 3-4 weeks in between to stock up and take advantage of cheaper cards. Darkmoon cards sell pretty well and there could be several contributing factors:

• grinding Darkmoon rep
• acquring level appropriate epic trinkets
• flipping the decks for trinkets and profiting on the Auction House

For standard decks, patience can make all the difference in the world.  Don’t feel you have to gather the Ace to Eight in one fell swoop.  Granted, there are instances where that actually is a wise move based on their current pricing.  Most often you’ll better to nickel and dime the deck until you complete it.  As an example, I calculated the Lunacy Deck cost me approximately 430g to create over the course of two months.  I then sold it for 1100g.  It was towards the end of the summer, so it’s recent enough that it’s accurate.  That number could be even higher if the Faire is on at the time.  People tend to clamour for the decks while the Faire is on instead of stocking up prior.  Use that to your advantage.  You can do it with full decks, and in acquiring individual cards.

Speaking of individual cards, I’m amazed at how often cards from the Rogues, Swords, and Mages sets go for.  The Rogues might be the easiest of all.  Most servers it seems they’re 2g or less each (in some cases much less) and it takes a whole three cards to build the deck that sells for 10-30g.  That’s one of those no brainer math equations.  You can usually work the same math with the Swords and Mages cards.  However, don’t make the same mistake I did with the Mages Deck. 

I was building Mage Decks for 5g-20g and flipping them for about 50g because people were insanely listing them for 200g.  Of course, this perceived insanity was brought about by my own ignorance.  If you’re as unfamiliar with the results as I was, here’s the thing.: relisting the Mages Deck will make you a decent return.  Doing the quest yourself and listing either reward?  That’s a much more profitable option.  This is why it pays to do a little homework. 

Of course, this doesn’t even take into consideration being a Scribe.   If you can farm the herbs or pull them from the Auction House cheaply yourself, then convert that to Darkmoon cards, even the RNG will be rewarding enough to make it worth your while.  The bottom line is Blizzard removed running in-game casinos last year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take the decks and stack them in your favour.

Professional Bank Toons

Money Never Sleeps, Pal

Recently over at WoW Ladies, someone asked what professions their bank alt should have.  Amidst gold making efforts and several bank toons I can honestly say it never occurred to me until that moment. 

Engineers Are Still Special

You Still Have To Choose A Side

One of the things I looked forward to most in Cataclysm was the remove of Specialization training for my Professions.  I specifically skipped choosing Armorsmith or Weaponsmith on my Death Knight because I knew it wasn’t going to matter for very long (though it did in turn make for a long or expensive climb through skill points).  Now, I have access to all Blacksmithing recipes.  Same goes for Tailoring and Leatherworking.  Not for Engineering.

Engineering is already a misunderstood profession.  For starters, it’s a tonne of fun.  My Shaman went Goblin, and it’s been a hoot.  But, fun factor aside, people don’t take Engineering because they think it’s expensive and that it yields little in return because most of the stuff you make you have to be an Engineer to use.  Whether that’s entirely true or not is for another day, because only having access to half the recipes for the profession doesn’t help entice players. 

Now, Engineers aren’t the only ones who were left out in the cold on this decision.  Alchemists also must still choose between Potion Master and Transmute Master.  So while the gear making Tailors, Blacksmiths, and Leatherworkers can make whatever they want for whomever they want, Engineers and Alchemists are still stuck with one path or the other (or subsequently paying to switch).

I’ve found no explanation for why this is.  To be honest, I doubt I’d find one that satisfies me either.  It should be all or nothing.  Then again, weren’t orange recipes supposed to grant three points instead of one?  Why are my Scribes the only ones who have this happen?

Monday Money Making: A Mistress For Glyphmas

Make Lots. No, More Than That. Even More.

Do you have a scribe?  Is said scribe ready for tomorrow?  With extended maintenance, you can pretty well guarantee those Shattering rumours are true.  That means, Goblin and Worgen aside, you will be able to roll new combinations galore.  You know what that means? 

If you answered “I finally get my Troll Druid,” I’ll give you a cookie.  If you guessed “new characters means more Glyph demand” then you outright earn the recipe and can, from here on out, make your own cookies.  The fact is whether you missed the last Glyphmas like I did, or you always have your ear to the gold ground, there’s another chance to exploit the need for Glyphs. 

People have been dumping a great number of materials (at least on my servers) and that includes ink, pigments, and in some cases herbs.  Midnight Ink alone has been about 2g each and quick math will tell you that most minor glyphs you’re selling are going to go for more than 6g a pop even after the auction house cut.  Some are much more.  If you don’t think that, then these columns aren’t for you.  Getting back on track, even some of the popular glyphs themselves have dropped in price.  Stockpiling hasn’t been hard, but even if you haven’t been stockpiling you should still be able to get some made in the next few days to week.

As you amass, or have amassed, your vast collection of glyphs you have two opportunities to sell fast.  No, the first is not tomorrow.  In fact, bid on anything low on the auction house and don’t list a damn thing.  The realms will be down for far too long for anyone to buy from you, or outbid you (most likely).  Most glyphs can’t be used until level 25, so a good chunk of the new combos probably won’t be at that level until the weekend (when they’ll really have time to go crazy with their new characters.  That gives you a few days to stockpile, as I mentioned. 

The other option, is to wait even longer.  Sure, you’ll sell some in the next week or so, but you’ll sell a tonne come December 7th and afterwards.  The characters that are going to be made this week will really be hitting their stride just as Cataclysm comes.  Some will get much further (and those are the ones you want to lure in with your first option sales), but some will literally collect dust when the 7th hits for one of two reasons.  Either the player goes back to their main…or they roll a Goblin or Worgen.  Yes, that’s right.  Even more glyph needing toons.

Regardless of whether you pick now, later, or both, if you can make the glyphs you will easily be able to sell the glyphs.  People will be so entrenched in the new content by Christmas that there’s a good chance, though, you’ll see your profit margins close a bit during that time because people will be sticking with leveling/raiding or even making their own scribes.  So, strike while your inks are fresh.