black-market-auction-house
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Grimoire of the Four Winds offers BoA Pandaria flying for alts
There may not be any flying on Draenor, but if you have alts that you haven't boosted to 90 and still need to take through Pandaria, you might be wondering how they can learn flying early. Bind-on-account flying manuals have been in place since Wrath of the Lich King, and although it appeared at first that there were no manuals present for Mists of Pandaria -- or at least the flight vendor out at each faction's respective shrines didn't seem to be selling anything along those lines. However, there is in fact a Grimoire of the Four Winds available -- it just requires a little hike and a possible bidding war to acquire. The Grimoire of the Four Winds is only sold at the Black Market Auction House, which has been relocated from its old home in the Veiled Stair to the Ring of Blood in Nagrand. The approach to the Ring of Blood, located at roughly 53,14 if you have coordinates available in your game, is crawling with level 100 mobs. However, once you get to the Ring of Blood itself, all guards are neutral. Madame Goya is in a small building at the back of the Ring, and offers much the same items as usual -- raiding gear, transmog gear, and of course, the Grimoire of the Four Winds. While bidding starts at 1,000 gold, be aware that this is of course an auction house, and you might find yourself outbid. Reports on Wowhead suggest that either the tooltip or the manual itself is bugged for the moment -- players that have successfully bought the tome and tried to use it receive a message that the item cannot be used until level 90. It's likely we'll see this hotfixed or addressed in the future -- after all, if you're level 90, you're going to be on Draenor and not really caring about flight at all anyway! But if you've been looking for the Grimoire, just head to Nagrand and see if you can pick one up.
Warlords of Draenor: Black market auction house to move
Ion Hazzikostas aka WatcherDev on Twitter has confirmed that the Black Market Auction House will be making its appearance in Warlords of Draenor, just in a new spot. @GurkTV @Celestalon Yes, just moving from Pandaria to a new location for 6.0. - Watcher (@WatcherDev) June 12, 2014 It's no big surprise that it will be moving. It's current location isn't particularly convenient for players who aren't hanging around in Pandaria, which, once the new expansion drops, will be most of us. Interestingly enough, though, it's moving in 6.0 -- before the actual expansion release -- which implies to me that it won't actually be on Draenor. I could be wrong of course, but this makes sense to me, because, if the BMAH is truly an Azeroth thing, why would you find it on a new, alternate-timeline planet? Still, I'll be interested to see where it ends up.
The Queue: Rich in dextrose
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. It's Monday. Have an antique porcelain candy bar advertisement. You deserve it. @hstein3 asked: What does the Shaohao reputation do in 5.4?
The Queue: Black Market success, Hearthstone, and hearts
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. It's Monday morning, I've had two hours of sleep, and I'm guzzling a Lo-Carb Monster. Let's do this thing. blomblom asked: Just wondering, but would you consider the BMAH a success? And, would you consider the Unclaimed Black Market Container a good or a bad thing? Personally i quite like the BMAH, but after twice getting wrist gear for a different class in Unclaimed Black Market Containers, i dislike them and stopped buying them.
How to check the Black Market Auction house without going there
The Black Market Auction House is a special AH that allows you to buy items that are rare and sometimes unobtainable with gold otherwise. It's an extremely effective gold sink, but it's tucked away in the middle of nowhere, and you can't see what's for sale on your realm from the remote AH. Unfortunately, since Blizzard doesn't make the BMAH accessible through the same API as the regular Auction Houses, you are expected to log in and travel to the Veiled Stair in order to see whether there was anything there for you. The Undermine Journal is a website that collects, organizes, and displays information about the Auction House of every realm: Horde, Alliance, and Neutral. Additionally, starting in January, they launched a (still beta) feature that shows us the contents of the BMAH. Assuming you're not on a PvP realm, you can avoid the flight to the Veiled Stair to check whether there's something worth buying by simply checking the Undermine Journal.
Battered Hilt BMAH woes have a happy ending
Night Elf death knight Krushin had a sad tale to tell. She had worked hard to scrape together as much gold as possible, and set out on the twisting path to a covert auction house at the top of the Veiled Stair, where a smiling panda named Madam Goya had the key to beginning the adventure that would be Krushin's greatest yet: the Battered Hilt. Krushin was elated when she discovered that her efforts had not been in vain, and that her life savings were sufficient to meet Madam Goya's demands, so she handed them over. But, alas! On receiving the item she discovered that it was no good to her. This Battered Hilt, for which she had exchanged every coin she had, could only be completed by her enemy: the Horde. She knew the risk of buying on the Black Market, but she had never expected to exchange tens of thousands of gold for something so utterly useless. Krushin had made a mistake, yes, and WoW Insider thought it a good idea to tell her sad tale to our readers, so they wouldn't fall prey to the same problem. There are two Battered Hilts, one for the Horde, and one for the Alliance. Simply mousing over the Hilt you're planning to bid on could avert tragedy, as the races that can use it are shown on the tooltip. But Krushin's story doesn't end there. After a fruitless exchange with an in-game GM, she contacted a senior one via email, and met with success! They recognized that it was a simple error on her part, and on her next login, she was able to start the quest. A happy ending for Krushin, but a tale of note for bidding with caution on the Black Market Auction House. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
What should and shouldn't be on the Black Market Auction House?
Perculia of Wowhead recently posted an update about undocumented changes and vanity items, which included some new information on what was and wasn't on the Black Market Auction House, as far as mounts, pets and items. Perculia's update included the Sun-Lute of the Phoenix King, as used by Sig Nicious of the Elite Tauren Chieftains, but also the Reins of the Plagued Proto-Drake, which was a reward for completing Glory of the Raider back in Wrath of the Lich King. If you were wondering what else is sold on the Black Market Auction House, you can check out Wowhead's full list. While the "axe" is a fun item, the one likely to cause more of a stir is the Reins of the Plagued Proto-Drake. As Wowhead notes, this reward was removed from the game after the arrival of tier 8, and has therefore long been unavailable to players who didn't get the achievement before that time. So, since the arrival of Ulduar, that drake has been completely unavailable to new players until now. This raises a question which has been, and no doubt will continue to be, a hot topic of conversation surrounding the Black Market Auction House. Should old items such as these, which were a trophy for completing a fairly tricky achievement when it was relevant, now be available to players on the Black Market Auction House?
Blizzard Talks about Brawler's Guild
Firstly, an announcement. Blizzard's made the "First rule..." joke now. Everyone else can stop, OK? Good. On with the post. Blizzard hasn't just been busy talking about Brawler's Guild. No, the developers have been trying to readdress some communication failings that, apparently, led to people erroneously thinking the Brawler's Guild was this big new feature that everyone would want to enjoy. I was definitely one of those people. Readers could tell as much from earlier coverage. So when Blizzard announced the method of gaining entry, I was among those who were annoyed. But now, the community managers have stepped in to address the concerns of players like me. The post splits out what Brawler's Guild is and isn't, and probably most important among the "isn't" section is "A major patch feature accessible to everyone (at first)". And this is where I'm not sure I agree with Blizzard. From a lore perspective, there are definitely bigger things afoot for both the Alliance and the Horde, and there's the addition of the two new factions, their quest hubs, gear and daily quests to look forward to, as well as new scenarios. And that's all great, but for me, Brawler's Guild is the major feature of patch 5.1.
Brawler's Guild: There must be another way
Regular WoW Insider readers may have caught sight of my earlier piece regarding Brawler's Guild. I hope it came across in that piece just how excited I was about this impending new feature, how much I wanted to keep doing it despite the fact that it awarded nothing but fun and ranking. I mentioned that there were likely to be changes coming to two elements, the rotten fruit thrown by other players at the person fighting, and the queue times. I postulated that a fix for the queue times, which were very long indeed on the Patch 5.1 PTR and promised to be even longer on live servers, could be something along the lines of instancing, using the new scenario technology, phasing, or simply introducing more rings somehow. I did not anticipate that the proposed solution would be to make this fantastic new feature invitation only, and that those invitations would only be sold on the Black Market Auction House. I didn't anticipate this for several reasons. Firstly, the Brawler's Guild is far too brilliant an idea for Blizzard to want to gate it. It wouldn't make sense to me that, given that most players can access this, they should be prevented from doing so. It's a really brilliant side feature, a game within the game. At the time of writing, it awards no gear, no useable boost or bonus. It's like pet battles, only now it's invitation only.
The Daily Grind: Are black market auction houses a good idea?
With World of Warcraft's upcoming Mists of Pandaria comes an interesting addition to the game: a black market auction house. This new type of auction house will allow Blizzard to post rare items from the game for bidding only (no buyouts), and is obviously intended to be a massive gold sink for those who have more money than sense on their hands. While the intent of the black market auction house is understandable, what it's selling has players hotly debating over whether this is a good idea or the spawn of Evil and Mrs. Evil. Raid gear, ultra-rare pets, and other hard-to-attain goods could become easily available for those with large pocketbooks. So let's put it to the bright minds at Massively Labs (that's you): Are black market auction houses a good idea? Is Blizzard setting a trend here or cutting its own feet out from under it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Mists of Pandaria Beta: The Veiled Stair
In Mists of Pandaria, once you hit level 87, you can head north from the Valley of the Four Winds into Kun Lai Summit. But before you get to Kun Lai, you must travel through the Veiled Stair, a small sub-zone nestled in the mountains high above the Valley of the Four Winds. The grummle pictured above will give you a quest to head up the stairs and see what there is to see -- and surprisingly, there's actually quite a bit hidden away here. The Veiled Stair is also where Wrathion is making his temporary home in the Tavern of the Mists. Nearby, the Black Market Auction House waits for travelers with particularly heavy pocketbooks and a need to dump some gold on unique and hard-to-find items. The path to Kun Lai Summit is littered with wildlife and teeming with saurok who aren't particularly happy about the increased foot traffic in the area. And tucked away in the caverns and mountain peaks are a few hidden areas with no real purpose at this time. These hidden gems are pretty fascinating, provided you can get by the saurok brutes that patrol the paths and block the way. Alternatively, you can simply take a look at the gallery below, which offers a sneak peek to this sub-zone and the hidden mysteries it has to offer. %Gallery-158970% It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
The Queue: Let's do the Mario
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. One day, I'd like to write a post-apocalyptic short story wherein the only thing that has appeared on broadcast television for 100 years is The Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Is it a terrible idea? Yes. But that's the point. john14 asked: Is there a list somewhere of the items seen on the BMAH? I'm very curious to see what all is going to be listed on it.
Zarhym clarifies the Mists Black Market Auction House
If, like many people, you're looking forward to the Black Market Auction House in Mists of Pandaria, Zarhym has a post for you. Zarhym points out that the BMAH is not intended to be a reliable means to gear up a character. Zarhym - Black Market is starting to go too far No one should count on this even being close to a viable option for gearing up a character. If you can raise that kind of gold in the game, you're going to have much better success paying your way into raids for gear than hoping the right items appear for you in the black market AH (which doesn't include set pieces), hoping you can afford to outbid everyone else on your realm, and hoping you're the last one to bid before the auction ends. Sure, it'll have some of the best rewards for sale. But that doesn't mean it'll be remotely reliable for one person to gear up quickly. It's the black market, after all. :) Ultimately the system is going to benefit the extremely wealthy and the extremely lucky. But in all likelihood the benefits won't at all be consistent, even for those who can pony up the gold. source This is a gold sink, plain and simple. It's a way to bleed off the vast amount of gold some people are acquiring, because when you buy an item from the BMAH, your gold doesn't go to anyone. It's a fancier, more random vendor, and if you're trying to use it to gear up your character, you'd probably get better results with the actual AH. Blizzard seems fine with this not being something designed to benefit most players, and I think that's the best way to approach it. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
3 things the Black Market Auction House needs to succeed
The Black Market Auction House seems to be a controversial topic. Some players love the idea, while some players utterly detest the idea with every ounce of their being. Regardless, the theory behind the Black Market Auction House is a solid one. Removing gold from the WoW economy is something that is desperately needed in the days of Auction House kings, in order to balance everything out. If the Black Market Auction House works, it'll even out player gold to a reasonable level, keeping items on the regular Auction House at reasonable prices. And for those who spent the tremendous amount of time it takes to amass their fortunes, it means that they finally have something to spend their reward on, something tangible and -- let's face it -- something pretty cool. In expansions past, we've only had one or two really major gold sinks to speak of, whether crafted mounts, or really useful mounts purchased from a vendor. Once those mounts were purchased or crafted, there was a vast sea of nothing for people to spend that gold on. But the potential for abuse runs pretty high with this thing. And as I pondered the potential side effects of the Black Market Auction House, I realized there are certain things that really need to be in place to make it work effectively.
Is the thought of the Black Market Auction House bugging you?
Ever since the Black Market Auction House was mentioned, people wondered what the heck would be in it. We were told it would sell rare items, but what we weren't told was the extent of those rare items. It's not just level 90 recipes and things along those lines; it's also rare mounts and items that have been removed from game. This includes the elusive tier 3 that was lost presumably for all time when Naxxramas was changed from a 40-man raid to a 10- and 25-man raid and moved from the Eastern Plaguelands up to Northrend. As shown in the screenshot above, this also includes the Ashes of Al'ar, a rare mount drop from Kael'thas Sunstrider in Tempest Keep. And that seems to be a hot topic for a lot of players right now, particularly players who already have the mount and obtained it the old-fashioned way. It's an even bigger topic among those who don't necessarily have gigantic piles of gold stashed away, because it's obvious the prices on these items are going to be incredibly high. Some have said that Blizzard is catering to the 1% of players who have stockpiled mass amounts of gold. Well, that's not it at all, really. And the Black Market Auction House is something that we've needed for a very, very long time here.
Mists of Pandaria: Black Market Auction House offers rare and removed items
According to reports by MMO-Champion, the Black Market Auction House is now live on beta realms. Attempts to confirm this by chatting with Madam Goya just kicked back a UI error at me, but there seem to be plenty of people stopping by to check her out. Madam Goya makes her home at the Tavern of the Mists in the Veiled Stair, north of the Valley of the Four Winds. She's not alone, as Wrathion is still quietly hanging out in the tavern as well. So what's available at the Black Market? A little bit of everything, including rare mounts like the Ashes of Al'ar, pictured above. Also included are pets that require a grind to obtain such as the Sen'jin Fetish, previously available only from grinding out Argent Tournament reputation, and high-level crafting recipes, although we don't have a lot of information on what those recipes are exactly. However, perhaps the most interesting note to glean from this is that the Black Market Auction House appears to be carrying the original tier 3 sets that were removed from the game when Naxxramas was moved to Northrend and changed from a 40-man raid to a 10- and 25-man raid in Wrath of the Lich King. Obviously, this means that those looking to transmogrify into these rare tier sets can now pay to do so -- provided they've got the gold to fling around.
