Showing posts with label Money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Money. Show all posts
Wednesday, 25 June 2014
Blood Money
2 Months ago I wrote about my coffers being a little on the empty side. I had spent 100,000 Gold on Royal Satchels and a few of the Jewelcrafting mounts. Whilst not exactly feeling destitute I decide to replenish my treasure trove before the next expansion. I even read that there is no new super bag size to replace the Royal Satchel so get them now and make more use out of them before the expansion.
My conundrum was the best money making options at this point in the expansion. I did compile a list but I can safely say I did not get round to trying them all. The time limited buffs required a change in play style and so the 110,000 Gold that I have collected in 2 months is basically down to not spending and making a few more sales .
The following is based on my findings:
The Tiller Farm, whilst my intentions were good, I discovered for a second time that the Sunsong Ranch is very much like breaking rocks in the hot sun. The rewards are undeniably good but the effort is soul destroying (Obviously there are no rewards for breaking rocks, but it is certainly soul destroying - and besides I just wanted to use the line from the song "I Fought The Law").
Pet Battle Dailies, was something that never really took off. In order to complete the mega daily circuit needs a vast array of max level pets and a crib sheet to cope with the elementals and Epic Bosses. This was at a time when Pet Battles was becoming less like fun and more like an RNG nightmare. I may come back to this one at a later stage but I am time starved with Limited Time Buffs and the Football World Cup (not the World Series - this is a competition that actually involves other countries).
Daily Profession Cooldowns, have been used when I remember to actually press the corresponding button. The iLevel 553 items are not big sellers but it is possible to get the occasional nibble. The Leg pieces are fairly useless due to the ease in which the Celestials like to furnish people with Normal Tier Leg and Hands set, but the Belts provide a decent upgrade for a freshly boosted level 90. I have managed to sell on average one a month of the Gorge Stalker Belt at the princely sum of 5,000 Gold each. The difficult part is nipping back to Stormwind to place the Auctions in the AH, which I normally did once a week and for the weekend market. Plate Leather and Cloth versions never got made due to a poor daily routine.
Levelling Alts and Dailies, is not something I need to do, but I have been doing some reputation grinds, like the Tillers, Operation:Shieldwall, Kirin Tor Assault and the Black Prince. Trips to the Isle of Thunder were made whilst waiting in queue for LFR. The Isle of Thunder is quite fun now that we outgear the place. Most classes can solo most of the Rares, but with nobody else on the Island you will need to find them yourself. Running the weekly solo Heroic in the hunt for Treasure chests is still fun to do. I am not sure why some repetitive routines retain their fun aspects and others feel like pulling teeth. I guess dealing with Virmen or opening Treasure chests there is no comparison.
Glyphs, have become my go to method for money making. The loss of the easy to use TradeSkillMaster addon, coincided with a decline in Glyph sales. The only problem was that I had a bank full of Glyphs that only a handful of people need and with a large sales force eager to undercut but 1 Copper ever time you dared to refresh your stock. The market is now as slow on the sales side as the demand. Prices have gone through the roof but sales are few and far between. There is no point in vendoring glyphs so I weekly post my glyphs in the hope of 2 to 5 sales a week. I have long since written off the cost of the glyphs so any sale is considered to be pure profit. I would sell the lot for 1 Gold each if anyone was mad enough to take me up on the deal.
Heroic 5 Mans and Scenarios, was an idea that never materialised so I cannot comment on it's viability.
Bags, have always been a constant good seller. Netherweave bags and their 16 slots have been a popular seller since TBC. I have continued to make them off and on whenever I come into contact with the cloth. This bag and the current largest will always be the most popular of any expansion, the current largest is the Royal Satchel at 28 slots is difficult to make due to the reliance on a specialist cloth, requiring 12x Imperial cloth. Purchasing 30+ Royal Satchels was one of the reasons why I was running low on funds, so it was kind of ironic to include a few sales in my method for recovering my fortune.
Potions, was something I intended to use in attempt to reduce the bank space occupied by herbs and Golden Lotus. I made Flasks for all my characters did some transmutes and then got bored. The result was that I decided to sell my Golden Lotus. Guess what? it is still a big seller even at this stage of the expansion. In early June, I made a brilliant discovery and thanks to Balkoth I wrote about here. The finding was the Spirit of Harmony vendor Krystel, who will swap Spirits of Harmony for any raw material that is required in MoP. I have used most of my Spirits of Harmony to buy 2x Golden Lotus per Spirt of Harmony. At an AH price of 50 Gold per Golden Lotus I have been selling large quantities every week during the Month of June.
Cooking Supplies, some ideas require a bit of work but they can really pay well if you find the right market. With the Timeless Isle and the endless slaughter of Turtles, Flamingos and Crabs, we have all got bulging bags with meat that nobody wants. The price is less than a gold per item for Raw Turtle Meat, Raw Crab Meat and Wildfowl Breast. These can be bought up cheaply and included into your own stock of materials as part of a trade for the repeatable quest Replenishing the Pantry. With the Ironpaw tokens, it is possible to buy a bag of 25 vegetables. 100 vegetables on my server can often go for over 500 Gold per 100. In case you are struggling with the maths that is trade:
80x Raw Turtle Meat (<80 Gold) for 100x Juicycrunch Carrots (>500 Gold) = 420 Gold profit
There are other costs involved like buying the baskets but there is gold reward (2 Gold) for completing Replenishing the Pantry. It is a mindless task and one that I can only stomach once or twice a week. It may be less hassle to farm vegetables at the Sunsong Ranch but what else can I do with all that Raw Turtle meat.
Timeless Isle, is still the land of purple drops. I remember laughing when I read about Alternative Chat needing her husband to point out that you do not have to vendor all the Epics, and that with Alts it is possible to send all the Plate armour to a plate wearer to open and then vendor. This can convert a 5 Gold drop into 25 Gold vendor trash. This is provides a weekly income at about 1,000 Gold per Month which pays for a few repair bills.
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Money (That's What I Want)
In recent weeks I have been working towards mothballing my characters. In preparation for a new expansion, I take my characters as far as possible and then sell off all the expansion specific resources. The idea is to make space in my bags and bank so that I can fill them with impunity during the early days of Warlords of Daenor. The process normally yields a large amount of money, as I sell off large quantities of herbs, ores, gems and enchanting mats which I have been accruing for the last 2 years. If you need a mental image, imagine 11 smaller versions of Smaug rolling in Dwarven gold and gems (as seen in the Desolation of Smaug).
This expansion I am starting from a new low point, having got interested in Pet Battles to fill the void in my game time. This prompted the loosening of the purse strings on top of the purchasing of 44 x Royal Satchels (I did make some myself) and the result is that I spent 100K Gold in a few short weeks. The biggest expense was the Jewelcrafting mounts Jade, Sunstone, and Sapphire Panthers. The Ruby and Jewelled Onyx are too expensive for my tastes. The largest single cost in the process is the 18K Gold for the Orb of Mystery. The comment below comes courtesy of WoWHead:
"It will only cost 280k (252k with guild perk) to make all of the mounts that use this as a reagent. (including the 4 extra panthers for the Jeweled Onyx Panther.)"
It will only cost 280K, so what are you waiting for, go and make 5 mounts now. The Royal Satchels at least have a benefit, providing additional storage, I have plenty of mounts I don't use already. In case you are wondering how much Royal Satchels cost on my server, I only buy when they are less than 3K Gold but of course that soon adds up. Lets guess that I made 14 bags and bought the rest that would be a mind boggling 30 x 3000 = 90K Gold. Now I have done the maths I am pleased that I only overspent by 100K Gold.
I am not destitute by any means, but I have an irrational need to recuperate the money I have used from my nest egg. The problem is I am unsure the best way to make money at this point in the game. Google will throw up all kinds of suggestions but in my opinion some are time sensitive or are just plain wrong for myself.
- Heroic 5 Man
- Tiller Farm
- Pet Battle Dailies
- Daily Profession Cooldown
- Levelling Alts
- Solo Old Raids for Battle Pets
- Auction House
- Fishing
- Transmute
- Enchanting
- Shoulder Enchants
- Dailies
- Scenarios
- Bags
- Potions
Heroic 5 Mans
Apparently they are really easy. I have not done any Heroic 5 mans for at least 12 months. In my opinion as much as I like to do 5 Man content, I have no plans to start at this stage in the expansion
Tiller Farm
This is something that I have toying with for several months and unless you want to switch off now with TL:DR then I will save this another day.
Pet Battle Dailies
I am not quite up to this stage but I will be in a few days. Expect a post in the near future.
Daily Professions Cooldown
In my opinion the value in the cooldowns disappeared months ago, Living Steel and Imperial Cloth still have a value but the Belt and Pants combo that was available to Tailors, Leatherworkers and Blacksmith are not worth the effort and the mats.
Levelling Alts
Already plundered this rich vein of gold. Any new alts would be on another server, unless my Realm was connected in during my sabbatical, in which I can create another 10 character and a free level 90. A quick check reveals not yet, but a plan is now being hatched for such a time when I can.
Solo Old Raid Content for Battle Pets and Mounts
This was of immediate interest to myself and I quickly ran 2 hunters around Karazhan which was a lot of fun, but it was not very lucrative or rewarding. I still cannot solo Chess even with the nerfs. This is something that I might dabble with in the future.
Auction House
Very vague and I am afraid not very helpful. I have been, unable to offload Glyphs or Gems in recent weeks and Battle Pets sell even worse. Even Del Boy could not sell my surplus stock. I have rarely dabbled with the AH since my addon broke, and I was unable to get to grips with the new version.
Fishing
Yes it might provide a steady income, but I am not prepared to do that much fishing.
Transmute
Living Steel, one a day is not going to make me a Millionaire any time soon
Enchanting
This is one profession that I have never made much money on, with exception of selling D/E'd mats. One of the websites suggested the following as a good stable of enchants to start off with.
Enchant Gloves - Superior Mastery
Enchant Chest - Glorious Stats
Enchant Boots - Pandaren's Step
Enchant Cloak - Superior Intellect
Enchant Gloves - Superior Expertise
Enchant Bracer - Mastery
Enchant Chest - Mighty Spirit
Enchant Boots - Greater Haste
Enchant Chest - Superior Stamina
Shoulder Enchants
A limited market but a useful idea for using up spare Inscription inks.
Dailies
I think somebody is having a laugh at my expense. I thought the entire player base had enough of Dailies after this expansion.
Scenarios/Heroic
Who stole the loot out scenarios? In my opinion Scenarios are good for a couple of runs. Which unfortunately makes them bad rewards for Developer time/playability ratio. Not sure it is a money spinner.
Bags
Specialist cloths have been on my hate list since WotLK having to visit a location to make one cloth a day is too much devotion. My Tailor seems to be one character without a bag full of Motes of Harmony. Another big mistake by Blizzard not making them BoA and then not using them at all in later recipes.
Potions
Never really made any money from potions in any expansion, and it is unlikely I will start now, even though I have a mound of herbs.
Summary
I intend to make 100K as quickly as possible, and my first step is to stop spending. If any of these methods make me a fortune I will report back after I have made my first Million.
Labels:
Money
Monday, 14 October 2013
Handbags and Gladrags
Last week I made an accusation about people not picking up vendor trash and why do they own a vendor mount. Penuruloki pointed out that the Traveler's Tundra Mount and Grand Expedition Yak are in fact very expensive.
The Traveler's Tundra Mount first made an appearance during Wrath of the Lich King. The price at the time was considered to be very expansive at 20,000 Gold or 16,000 with Reputation bonus. It was an extravagance but by the end of the expansion I had succumbed, wanting the benefit for the next expansion. The problem was that I only had one such mount on my main character, but Blizzard eased my pain by making account wide mounts for the Mists of Pandaria expansion. The result is that I now have 11 Traveler's Tundra Mounts and that 16,000 gold seems like peanuts for 11 mounts.
This got me thinking about Mounts, Money and Bags, and that is the topic for todays post.
Mounts
Blizzard have been teasing the playing population with achievements for about 3 years now, the completionists amongst us see and target and have to aim for it. The Mounts have 6 Achievements:
- Stable Keeper - 10 Mounts
- Filling up the Barn - 25 Mounts
- Leading the Cavalry - 50 Mounts
- Mountain o' Mounts - 100 Mounts
- We're Going to Need More Saddles - 150 Mounts
- Mount Parade - 200 Mounts
- Land Mount
- Flying Mount
- Vendor Mount
- Headless Horseman's Mount - It looks great and serves as a flying and land mount
- Mekigineer's Chopper - A 2 seater land mount that handles well and looks great
- Winterspring Frostsaber - One of the nicest land mounts and its took an age to earn one
- Turbo-Charged Flying Machine - What else would an engineer travel in?
- Grand Armored Gryphon - I like the newly re-modelled Gryphon look and why not use the armoured version
- Traveler's Tundra Mount - A vendor mount, which although not the latest model it allows for vendoring and repairs
Money
I have previously discussed my love/hate affair with virtual money, I like to collect it but I am loathe to spent it on frivolous items. Money spent on gear is expensive and soon replaced, and the Timeless Isle has made that inconsequential now that there is an iLevel 496 gear reset. I am unwilling to pay large sums of money for non-combat pets that I tend not to display and have only just started to use for pet battles. This might change if they ever introduce a tablet version of Pet Battles.
I used to religiously study the money making tips, because I had none and I wanted some. I have used up large amounts of game time in the pursuit of Auction House bargains and AH posting. I have more money than I will ever let myself spend and so the desire is no longer there, but I will not waste money by not picking up vendor trash if I can help it. I cannot run past a mining node/herb or dead animal without weighing up the time required to collect it. If the time is negligible then I will collect and stash for later use.
Levelling is a great money maker and I am estimating that ever character I have taken through the 5 levels of Pandaria that I have pocketed around 10,000 gold, based on having the biggest bags possible and regular use of mailbox and vendor mount. Is 16,000 gold a lot of money? I Googled for inspiration and the forums are awash with people on between 1k - 20K and the other people on 100k+. The haves and have nots if you like, my point is that unlike in real life you can easily turn that around. Most people it appears just spend it, which I can see a certain enjoyment in spending large sums of money, whilst at the same time generating large sums of money. If these people want to save money they simply need to save up and stop spending for a few weeks.
Bags
Ghostcrawler recently tweeted about bagspace, "Inventory is a resource. It has been since vanilla." The gist of this is that the player should be responsible for what they choose to carry. I disagree with this sentiment and I think that Blizzard needs to take some ownership. My main character as 30+ Tabards, am I expected to collect and throw away or to keep them in a musky box in the corner of my farm? The implication is that Blizzard have looked at Tabard storage for several years but it is not a game changer and is low priority and the "To Do List".
Adam Koebel at WoW Insider recently wrote about the bag space issues, and highlighted that without an inventory management addon like Bagnon, the individual bags just spill out across your screen. Bagnon allows sizing and the number of columns which make the whole process manageable. Characters are required to carry a vast array of gear PvP, transmog, Food, Toys, Potions, quest items and gathering mats, and yet we are still stuck with the starting 16 slot Backpack. Is it really so difficult to double the size of the backpack, or should Blizzard be offering solutions to the amount of stuff we are expected to carry.
Ghostcrawler is right that inventory is a resource and that impacts the game, but it is a lame response that Blizzard is not doing more to reduce the amount we need to carry just in case.
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