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Gold Capped: The effect of mega-blogs on your business
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aims to show you how to make money on the auction house, and Insider Trader, which is all about professions. For Gold Capped's inside line on making money in game, check in here every Thursday, and email Basil (new address is basil@wowinsider.com; old one no longer works) with your comments, questions or hate mail! I've been called a lot of things by a lot of people. The reality is that every time I write about a specific business or tip for making gold, hundreds of people will end up trying it out, and if I write something about one of your favorite (or most profitable) businesses, you may find some of these people competing with you. The number of people participating in any specific market is going to fluctuate over time naturally, but as I've said before, the people who have the most success are the ones who hang in for the long run. That said, these people tend to have a strange relationship with each other. They're competitors and will undercut vigorously, but they tend to spend less effort on their tenacious competition than one would expect.
Chinese Apple Stores plan special New Year events
While India's Krishna Kalyan ate an iPhone 4 cake to celebrate the New Year, Apple's four retail stores in China have something else in mind to celebrate the Chinese New Year. According to ifoAppleStore, Apple has emailed an invitation to their customers in China to visit the retail stores between January 26 and February 13 for select events such as workshops, One to One training and shopping specials on Apple and third-party products. Apple currently has stores both in Beijing and Shanghai, but we here at TUAW are partial to the first one to land in Shanghai back in July of last year. With the four stores already under its belt and a growing online presence in China, it seems that Apple heard Lenovo loud and clear when it was declared that Apple hadn't stepped up efforts in the Far East.
Insider Trader: Make a profit from Cataclysm blacksmithing
Insider Trader is a column about professions by Basil "Euripides" Berntsen, who also writes Gold Capped about how to make money using the auction house. Email Basil your questions. Blacksmithing is a very profitable profession at level 85 if you have the time to manage it. There are a few different markets that you have to choose from, so as soon as you have access to the Twilight Highlands metal trader, you will be able to start buying the patterns you'll need.
Survey: 19 percent of households with iPads are likely to buy another
We've heard before that iPad demand is super high around the world, and here's another reason why: households that already have an iPad are actually pretty likely to go out and buy another one. In a recent survey of Americans who own iPads, 17 percent said they already own more than one iPad, and another fifth (19 percent) said that they were considering purchasing another device in the future. And which device are they considering? Another iPad, of course. The most common reason given for purchasing another iPad is that someone else in the household (either a spouse or a child) is using the one they've already got. That's pretty crazy. Not only is the iPad strongly demanded by people who haven't bought one yet, Apple actually has a good chance of selling yet another iPad to households who already have one. This backs up what we've heard about customer usage as well: people are tending to use their iPad more the longer they've owned it. A figure like this helps lend some credence to those gigantic predictions for iPad sales in 2011. Especially if we see a revision as predicted early next year, a lot of households in America and elsewhere might end the year with more than one tablet device around.
iPhone demand in China still exceeds supply
We've heard some crazy stories out of China about the call for Apple products there, both that Apple is trying to increase supply as quickly as possible, and that they're still not living up to the demand. And here's more news that Apple is racing, and probably failing, to keep up with all of the demand there. China Unicom says that Apple is still falling short of orders in that country. So far, 600,000 iPhone 4s have been ordered, but there's no word on how many of those have been delivered yet. Hong Kong's Telstra also says demand is high there, and that company says that it too has had trouble keeping up supply under all the demand. This is both good and bad news for Apple -- China has already been identified in the past as one of the company's biggest possible markets in the future, and it's great to hear that the expectations of demand are being matched, if not exceeded. On the other hand, it's never good to leave money on the table, and if Apple can't take advantage of all of this demand, it'll be doing just that.
Sprint CEO thanks iPad for uptick in Overdrive demand
Well, wouldn't you know it? Seems that tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign may actually be working. Way back in April of this year, Sprint decided it would begin offering its own iPad case, despite the fact that even today the iPad isn't sold in Sprint stores. The reason? It's the perfect opportunity to push the Overdrive, a 4G mobile hotspot that's able to take the iPad (and any other WiFi-enabled device) to 4G speeds where available. In a recent interview with GigaOM, the carrier's CEO (Dan Hesse) confirmed that most iPads being sold are of the WiFi variety, and due to that, "the company has seen an uptick in demand for its Overdrive (3G/4G) wireless-hotspot device, as people use it to connect their iPads to the Internet when on the go." He failed to exaggerate on actual numbers, but it's obvious he's in favor of Apple's darling tablet selling like hotcakes -- after all, how else are you going to get an iDevice into 4G territory?
EVE Evolved: ISK sinks and faucets
In EVE Online's player-run economy, the flow of ISK is a vital concept. While there are many ways to make ISK in EVE, most of them only move it around from one player to another. When you mine ore and sell it on the market, for example, the mining process doesn't introduce any new ISK to the game. Only a few game mechanics can be called ISK faucets, as the game mechanics actually create ISK from thin air. Similarly, the ISK sink mechanics destroy ISK or remove it from the game in some manner. To the individual player, the difference between something being an ISK faucet or not is largely immaterial. When you sell something on the market for a few million ISK, or get the insurance payout on a lost ship, it doesn't really matter to you where that ISK came from. Where the concept really matters is in discussions on inflation and how the game chooses to reward us in PvE. Are ISK bounties and rewards always a good idea, or could their over-use eventually lead to runaway inflation? In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the various ways in which ISK flows in and out of EVE Online, and why we should care about inflation.
T-Mobile no longer accepting G2 pre-orders due to 'overwhelming demand'
Already got your pre-order in for the T-Mobile G2? Then you should count yourself lucky, as the carrier has updated its website for the phone with the short and sweet notice that "due to overwhelming demand, we're no longer accepting pre-orders for the T-Mobile G2." It does note, however, that you'll still be able to buy the phone online starting tomorrow (though there's no guarantee when it'll ship) or, of course, at your local T-Mobile store. Then again, you could also try your luck at a few stores today, considering that official October 6th launch date isn't exactly set in stone.
EVE Evolved: EVE Online's not-so-free market
One of the most talked-about features of EVE Online is its player-run economy. Due to over 330,000 players living on one server, the markets have reached a critical mass where the laws of economics play out in a very effective manner. When there's a demand for something, no matter how obscure the item or low the demand, you can be sure there are dozens or hundreds of pilots trying their best to supply it. The in-game economy mirrors real-life economic situations so closely that CCP even hired a dedicated economist to analyse the market and advise CCP of any problems that arise. EVE's economy is often referred to as a pure free market, but that isn't technically true. At its heart, EVE is still a game designed and implemented by a team of developers. All MMO economies require some degree of control and intervention for the game to remain playable. In EVE, this comes in the form of careful balance of supply and demand via changes to game mechanics and drop rates. There are also a number of more direct passive influences on the market, such as NPC market orders and insurance. In this economic article, I look at a few of the influences that constrain free-market economics in EVE.
Gold Capped: Meta gem deep dive
Want to get Gold Capped? Every week, Basil "Euripides" Berntsen takes a short break from building a raiding guild on Drenden (US-A) to write up a guide that will help you make gold. Check out the Call to Auction podcast, and feel free to email Basil any comments, questions or hate mail! I've talked before about meta gems, however I feel they deserve more than a paragraph buried in the middle of a jewelcrafting post. Like many of the best businesses, metas are purchased by all end game players and many leveling players. They provide a hefty bonus to PvE and PvP, come in a variety of flavors and (most importantly) get purchased every time someone upgrades their helm.
Gold Capped: The pinch
Want to get Gold Capped? Every week, Basil "Euripides" Berntsen takes a short break from trying to build a raiding guild on Drenden (US-A) to write up a guide that will help you achieve the goal of acquiring 214,748 gold, 36 silver and 48 copper. Well, technically that's just a symbolic milestone. The goal is making gold, no matter how much you have or how much you want. Got feedback, questions or hate mail? Email Basil! I've spent the last few months describing different ways to make money. I've also touched on auction house "PvP" a bit but haven't talked about it in depth. The reality is that when you post something for sale, every sale you make is a sale your competitors don't make. The reason I got involved with the AH and in-game economy at the beginning was that I needed money and hated farming. The reason I stayed? My competition. You know that feeling you get when you are in a battleground and everything just lines up, and you win? That feeling is what I get when I empty my mailboxes every morning. Playing the AH would be much less rewarding if there were no competition.
Gold Capped: Market timing
Want to get Gold Capped? Watch this space every week as Basil (also of the Call to Auction podcast, the Hunting Party podcast and outdps.com writes about making gold in the World of Warcraft. Have questions, comments, or threats for him to get off your damned server? Email Basil! The prices for all kinds of things fluctuate. I talked a little about this in my post for casual auctioneers, but there is serious money to be made with market timing for very little investment. Basically, the goal is to watch prices for a few weeks, try to predict their next swing, and take advantage by buying low and selling high. Watching prices Easier said than done, like most things worth doing. You might get hundreds of items you'd like to watch, and short of a photographic memory or a manual spreadsheet, you're going to need some help keeping track of it all. Enter Market Watcher. This is a nifty addon that, once configured, allows you to scan the auction house for just the things you're interested in, and will show you a graph of their prices over time once you get a couple scans done.
No more reservations available for iPad launch day
If you were planning on reserving an iPad for pickup at an Apple Store on April 3rd, you're out of luck. Reservations, both in-store and online, ended on Friday. According to TUAW reader Travis, who sent us the tip early Saturday, an Apple sales associate mentioned told him Apple had to shut down reservations since they have no product left between pre-orders and reservations that have already been made. Apparently Apple believes that they may get a 10% bump in extra product at the stores for launch day, but that may be wishful thinking. For those of you who were procrastinating, your best bet at getting an iPad in the near future may be to show up at an Apple Store just before 3 PM on April 3rd. At that point in time, the stores will release any iPads that were reserved, but not picked up. Your other alternative is to make an online order for an iPad for delivery by April 12th. [Thanks for the tip, Travis!]
Nintendo: Replenishing Wii supply will be a 'challenge'
Nintendo has responded to Joystiq's inquiry into the current Wii supply issues, with Nintendo of America's Senior Director of Corporate Communications Charlie Scibetta telling us, "In the short term, replenishing Wii inventories will be a challenge." He continues, "But we are doing everything we can to satisfy consumers looking to purchase a Wii system." Analysts have already pointed out that Nintendo's console sales, despite being record-breaking, could have been stronger had there been more Wii to go around. What makes this situation even stranger is the report from early December that Nintendo actually reduced Wii production going into the holiday. For the astounding amount of success the Wii has brought Nintendo, there appears to be some serious cognitive dissonance between how much the company thinks it should produce of the console and the actual demand.
Patch 3.3: Fishing pool guarantees and what it means for the market
Wryxian has written a book on fishing over on the forums -- he originally responded to the thread with a quick link that affirmed in patch 3.3, you will never ever catch trash from fishing pools, regardless of your fishing level. If you put the bobber in a pool, you'll get what you're supposed to, no matter what (presumably to allow even low level players to do the fishing quests). But players have problems with that. First, there's the old issue of things always getting easier as the game changes -- people are complaining that they had to level with missed catches and trash, and those who level fishing after 3.3 won't. For that, I don't have a better answer than Wryxian does: that's just the way it works. The game is ever-changing, and most changes make things easier. That shouldn't devalue what you did before. The other issue is that this may destroy the fishing economy -- if even low level characters always get the fish they want 100% of the time, that means more fish in the market, which means any money high-level fishermen would have made off of rare fish will probably go bye-bye. But Wryxian says that's OK -- people will still use fish for themselves, and he believes that the pain of losing that AH sale will be solved by the bonus of always getting the fish you want. We'll have to see -- it's true that between the updates to cooking lately (and the future fishy updates we're expecting), Blizzard is making sure the secondary professions are much less exclusive, which means there has to be the balance of also making them less lucrative. Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
3GS shortages expected overseas due to demand
It's like Econ 101 with the iPhone lately, says our old friend Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. Demand is high, supplies are low, and so shortages are apparently expected. Especially in international markets, there just aren't enough iPhones to go around -- Munster cites a fellow analyst's report that 3 Italia, the Italian company charged with selling Apple's smartphone in that country, is selling 20K iPhones, but could be selling many more if they had the stock to do so. Of course, they probably don't need to -- iPhone sales are already holding the company up above expectations, and Apple may even be figuring that a little demand never hurt anybody. Why sell a ton of phones when you're already selling more than you expected to? I doubt it's as mysterious as that (they probably expected to sell a certain number and it turns out there are more iPhone fans than they counted on overseas), but even if shortages happen, no one's going to be second guessing Apple's strategy. As far as straight results go for the iPhone, they haven't done anything wrong yet. [via 9to5Mac]
Demand for Intel's Atom CPUs finally beginning to cool?
It was inevitable, really -- but the incessant demand for Intel's woefully underpowered Atom processors sure did last a lot longer than we anticipated. Originally made famous by those so-called "netbooks," the Atom is currently facing two hurdles in remaining wildly popular: 1) slumping demand for new PCs and 2) bona fide competition. For months on end, the Atom really was the only game in town when it came to powering netbooks and nettops, but with the unveiling on NVIDIA's Ion, the promise of a GPGPU (or cGPU) and Intel's own CULV platform, Atom's necessity in the market is becoming less intense. The interesting part here is that Intel is purportedly hawking its inventory to "second-tier and China-based vendors" as it looks to minimize warehouse clutter, which certainly makes us hope for lower-cost low-cost lappies to show up in the near future.Read - Atom demand slowingRead - Intel: PC sales hit rock bottom
Wii shortage finally nearing its end, says GameStop exec
We never, ever thought it'd take this long, but we've finally received a sign that the Wii supply and demand might be nearing some equilibrium, almost two and a half years later. According to GameStop SVP Bob McKenzie, the retailer now has a couple weeks' worth of supply, which seems to be fairly unprecedented given the numerous shortage stories we've heard over the console's 852-day lifespan. That's not to say the console's popularity is waning -- it's still topping US sales charts, and according to NPD, pushed over 750,000 units last month. So now that one shortage might be nearing its end, how about Nintendo find a way to keep Wii Fit in stock?[Via Joystiq]Read - McKenzie on Wii supplyRead - February NPD figures
GameStop on Wii: 'Three years later, we finally have enough'
Three years and countless lives lost later, it appears that Nintendo's Wii has finally found equilibrium in the epic battle between supply and demand. GameStop SVP of Merchandising Bob McKenzie, speaking with embedded reporters from Gamasutra, expresses the company finally has enough inventory on the shelf, with at least a couple weeks worth of supply.As for software, McKenzie sees EA Sports Active being another hit for the console, stating that the pawnshop conglomerate was surprised by the popularity of Wii Fit. Although this talk of Wii sales equilibrium sounds lovely in March, that doesn't guarantee it'll hold true once the holidays come around. But, at least, the concept of balance in the Wii supply chain is a tangible idea after all these years.
Mediacom seeing high demand for HD DVRs, adding more HD in Springfield, MO
While we genuinely feel for the HD junkies in Springfield, Missouri who are on a 200-person deep waiting list for an HD DVR, we can't help but smile at the news. Even during these bizarre economic times, the value in high-def programming is obviously shining through. Mediacom Region Operations VP Larry Peterson was quoted as saying that HD DVRs "are the holy grail right now; we've got three different manufacturers we use to try to get the boxes available and it just seems as soon as we get them in, they go out." In related news, the carrier will also be adding in eight new high-def channels on December 17th: WGN, TBS, CNN, SciFi, A&E, History, HGTV, and Food Network. Might explain the uptick in demand, wouldn't you say?
