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Making/Money: Unlocking More Money
Picture this, if you will - You are in Lord of the Rings Online and have amassed just enough coinage to purchase your first house, a minimum of 950 silver. You have looked through the various neighborhood maps for each of the races to determine where you want to be, taking into consideration the proximity of the housing to a town, the proximity of the house you chose to the gate and the water feature within the neighborhood (for safe fishing right outside your door), and the amount you will have to pay in upkeep. You head to the housing broker of your choice, find a neighborhood that has that house available and purchase it. Ahh, your first property. A place to call your very own in the middle of a bustling game life. You put some nice carpets down, paint the walls, and put some locally-caught fish up as trophies. You might even put a bed in one of the rooms as an homage to real life - not that anyone sleeps in LotRO... at least on purpose. You pay a couple of additional weeks' upkeep in advance to ensure that the house remains yours. Eventually, you unlock the storage container within the house and put some of the items in that would not fit in the bank and you haven't quite decided what to do with. All is going swimmingly. Then, a few short weeks later, real life calls you away on vacation to somewhere with limited internet access (may it never be so!). You get back to heaps of work and do not have time to log in for a little while. When you finally do, there is a box on the left-hand side of your screen informing you that maintenance is now overdue on your house and you have been locked out until such time as you pay it. "Oh noes!!!" you cry, "Whatever shall I do now? I cannot get to the things in my storage container to sell them and I do not have the money to pay this outright. My house is doomed!" Ah, not so, Grasshopper. There are ways to save your house and today we explore my favorite - the crafting method.
A beginner's guide to the EverQuest 2 economy
The official EverQuest 2 site has put up a quickie guide to the Norrathian economy, for folks who may have just hopped back into the game. It can be a challenge to make enough cash, especially at low levels. The easy, common-sense suggestion they offer is to always check a broker before selling an item to a merchant - even a quest reward. Rewards in EQ2 aren't always immediately bound to your character. It's easy to do a price check, too - just head to a broker NPC, put the item into the broker window, and hit the 'search broker' button. A listing will pop up with all the other current auctions for that item. If the price other players are asking is even slightly higher than the merchant sale cost, it's probably worth it to put it up.Other suggestions from the EQ2 team include selling harvested items, especially low-level ones. Lots of higher level players have need of lower-level items, but have no interest in going back to the Commonlands or Antonica to gather them. They're saleable on the broker, the same as any other item, for a neat profit. Tradeskilling also offers a lucrative way to make some coin. We suggest the Sage profession; they're the fine scribes that sell Cleric and Mage spells, always high demand and high price items. There are several other options outlined in the guide, including breaking down unwanted gear, snagging collectibles while you adventure, and even goblin gambling. Go check out the site for the full rundown.
Rogue Signal: The wonderful world of alts
With EVE Online's time-based skill system of character progression, multiple accounts are pretty commonplace amongst the hardcore and even semi-casual player. CCP even occasionally holds special discounts for the opening of new accounts, called the Power of Two program. EVE is unique in the way that it handles alts, in many ways. Since only one character can be training at a time, and, unlike other MMOs, there is no real end to the training a character will do, if you want to start something new from the ground up, you're going to need to either scrap your existing character, or open up a new account. Today, we'll take a look at how to go about creating an alt.
Arcane Brilliance: Leveling your Mage, 40-60
Each week, Arcane Brilliance endeavors to distill the vast and complex world of Mages into a thousand words or so. How does Arcane Brilliance do it? Magic. Yep, it's an 81 point talent, learnable at level 100 and only available in the upcoming 5th expansion, tentatively titled, "World of Warcraft: The Burning Scarlet Crusade of the Lich King." This is leaked straight from the very early Alpha Beta Alpha Gamma of that expansion, and Arcane Brilliance is the sole invitee. In fact, It's so early that the game doesn't technically exist yet, which may explain why most of these columns end up being closer to three thousand words than one. Blizzard's working on a patch.Level 40. You've burned and frozen your way through 39 levels of experience and two whole columns worth of leveling guides to get here, and now you're level 40. Have a party, invite your friends. It'll be fun. If it isn't, turn somebody into a sheep. Just trust me. Works every time. Well, unless your friends aren't humanoids, beasts, or critters, in which case I can't help you, and perhaps no-one can.Level 40 is a milestone of such epic proportions that it's probably only rivaled by dinging 70 as far as stages in WoW progression go. When you're done celebrating, it's time to get going. You've got a lot to do. After the break, we'll talk about level 40 and all the wonderful new toys it makes available to you, and do our level best ( pun totally intended) to cover the 19 levels that follow, stopping only when we hit 60.
Addon Spotlight: AuditorFu
It's Friday, which means that it's payday for some of you. With that in mind, why don't we take a look at an addon that helps you stay on top of your virtual finances. For those of us who are not only information junkies, but also control freaks, this addon is a great way to maintain sovereignty over how your gold comes and goes. AuditorFu, contrary to what the name implies, will function with or without the Fubar addon. However, I find it best suited as a center-aligned, top-bar, Fubar mod, as it allows me to see the important stuff at center stage. (Alongside AuldLangSyne) There's nothing worse than having an inflated view of your gold total and quickly realizing the mats for your Red Belt of Battle are out of reach.The good news is that this addon can help you be more diligent if you're saving for a crafted epic or your Artisan Riding skill. Every copper counts, my friends.
Making/Money: MUDflation IG vs. IRL
We have tackled the subject of mudflation tangentially a few times of late. It seems to have suddenly become the economic buzzword of MMOs. We have all experienced it. We have come to expect, if not accept, it as part of the games we love to play. And though Wikipedia, in its infinite wisdom, has dubbed it an in-game only phenomenon, I posit a different approach to looking at this occurrence. Mudflation is an immediate devaluation of previously owned items due to the gain or release of newly available items. This is not unlike technological advance in that the release of the latest new toy makes all others somewhat obsolete. The differences here are the perceived need for the item, the amount of devaluation, and the time frame in which this occurs.
'Tis the Season 4 making money
Eyonix made a lot of players happy the other day by announcing the start of Season 4. It's something that a lot of players have been waiting for, even planning for. Some players will be making the mad rush to accumulate Arena and Honor points. Within the first week of the new season, players who have stashed away the maximum 5,000 Arena points will be able to purchase anywhere from two to three pieces of Brutal Gladiator gear, provided they achieve the required personal ratings.For other players such as those who have only recently dinged 70 or those new to the PvP scene, the 75,000 maximum Honor -- or whatever Honor they have stashed away -- will likely be used to purchase Merciless Gladiator gear when it goes on sale. More seasoned players will use the Honor to purchase Guardian gear to round out their equipment slots. When Season 4 starts, players will be strutting around Azeroth in brand spanking new gear. For a select few, these players will look like walking piles of Gold. New Arena seasons flood the community with enchant-worthy, gem-hungry gear like no other event.
Arena point sell post 2.4 in Season 4
It used to be that selling Arena points was a very profitable venture. In Patch 2.4, however, Blizzard introduced a new mechanic designed to curb Arena point selling -- something they had previously declared to be perfectly compliant with their Terms of Use. Players now need to have their personal ratings within 150 points of the team ratings, otherwise they will earn Arena points based on their personal ratings rather than the higher team rating. This put an end to high rated teams selling spots on their roster for easy Arena points.The new mechanic has given rise to a new form of Arena point selling, however -- mercenaries for hire. Many players who aren't after end-of-season rewards have used their PvP skills to earn a bit of Gold on the side by instead joining low-rated teams in need of a little push. Most of these players have already gotten full Season 3 gear and have no use for personal or team ratings and Arena points. With the onset of Arena Season 4, which is slated to begin on June 24, it might happen that we'll see a few of these mercenaries peddling their services all over again.With the new personal ratings requirements for Brutal Gladiator items, players will need to work a little harder to get the latest PvP gear. For some players, this means looking to swords-for-hire (or axes-, or daggers-, or spells-...) for help. It's actually more profitable for seasoned Arena player in the new scheme of things, as they no longer need to maintain a high-ranked team and no longer limited to taking on a few customers at a time for the minimum three games (out of requisite ten). Arena mercenaries (or usually a pair) can simply hop from team to team helping raise players' personal ratings. With a modest 1700 personal rating the only requirement to get 4/5 Brutal Gladiator, it seems that PvP progression will finally catch up to PvE progression. With a little help for some, of course.
Making/Money: The Diminishing Need for NPC Vendors
An interesting post was put up on our sister site WoW Insider a few months ago now which told the tale of the NPC merchant at Imported Boomsticks in Orgrimmar. Though my home base in World of Warcraft is usually this bustling city, and I have visited that shop many times for repairs and the unloading of grey/white items, it was eye-opening to note that I was one of the people referenced who did not remember the name of that NPC. None of my characters have used guns (not a moral thing - just a convenience one), so I never had a compelling reason to see what was offered for sale or pay much attention to this little shop. I just knew it was there for me whenever I needed to stop by the auction house and take care of some repairs and bag-cleaning at the same time. It then occurred to me that, other than trade goods and recipes, I really hadn't purchased much of anything from the NPCs on any character. It never seemed worth it. There always seemed to be better items to be gleaned from questing or selling goods that other players would pay for. Why, then, are there still NPC vendors selling their wares around Azeroth?
Making/Money: Flawed by Design
Last week your intrepid blogger was caught up in the other kind of beta testing - a Statistics final. Yeah, that was a bad pun. Oh well. Back to the money talk!In the last column, we discussed value chains and how, in World of Warcraft, they work when dealing with NPCs but not the auction house. Today we are looking at another game and how it deals with value chains to ensure that they do not work when crafting by NPC purchases/sales alone.Lord of the Rings Online offers players vocations - sets of three linked professions that cannot be chosen by themselves. In any given vocation, there is usually one "useful" gathering profession which supports one of the craft professions in the set and another, unsupported, profession. In other words, vocations are structured to enforce cooperation and trade between players by ensuring that no one can gather all the raw materials they will require to level their craft. But that doesn't mean that the supported profession is good to go from the start.
Gameplay Wishlist: WotLK travel guide
Our recent in-depth look at the flood of information concerning World of Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King expansion gave us some cause for speculation. Specifically, the news about the multiple-rider mounts has given us an intriguing idea for a new way to make money in-game.There are two levels to this idea, and they both revolve around players who don't have access to high-speed mounts of their own. One briefly wonders why this change in transportation was implemented, but only briefly. Once the possibilities become clear, there will undoubtedly arise new uses for the piggyback functionality that are still somewhat nebulous at this stage. With no further ado, our ideas after the jump.
Timing virtual world launches
When's the perfect time to launch your brand new virtual world? The one that will send kids hunting through their parent's wallets for money for new outfits for their virtual puppy. The one that will have people busily importing their five thousand-strong MySpace friends list into your Scooby-Doo-themed social networking site, The Haunted Amusement Park. Your Shiny Whiter Teeth virtual world that will launch aside your new toothpaste. It all depends on your target audience, says Electric Sheep's Giff Constable.If you're going after the coveted pre-teen dollar, best to launch it just as the kids are getting out of school. Their parents will likely have their guard down and be more permissive. Though that won't work with college kids. Get them just after exams, but before the new semester. They'll be playing and getting their friends to play so when the new semester starts, your foot is in the door. Adults aren't likely to play during the Summer (when their kids are hogging the computer, no doubt) -- grab them in the Spring or the Fall when the pressure of summer or the holiday season aren't on their minds. But if you're tying your virtual world to a toy or other consumer item, then the holiday season is your strong season, and you should launch in the Fall in order to make a big splash.You can spend all the time you need on your virtual world, polish it to a high sheen, but if your intended audience is off doing something else ... you won't have the launch you want.
Making money along the way
My wife sold another Captured Firefly at the Auction House just a few minutes ago for 800 Gold. When I mentioned this in our virtual WoW Insider foxhole, Daniel remarked that he didn't have the patience to farm it. I don't have the patience to farm those things, either, but my wife surprised me by telling me that she doesn't farm for it. Instead, she makes it a point to kill all the Bogflare Needlers in Zangarmarsh on the way to her daily quests in Blade's Edge Mountains. She'll often end up with a bunch of Fractured Carapaces and Twitching Legs, but when she lucks out and gets the awesome pet, it's guaranteed Gold.I guess it's just a smart thing to do that I never really thought about. Killing those Needlers won't take most 70s too long and Zangarmarsh is along the way to Blade's Edge, anyway. Making a short stopover to take a chance on the Firefly is a prudent move as far as making money is concerned. It doesn't take too much time and the gray item drops are worth a decent amount when sold to vendors. Making money is easy if you make short stops along the way, such as fishing the pools of Pure Water on the way to wherever you're going for guaranteed Motes of Water. Engineers can do the same thing by extracting Motes of Air from the gas clouds in Nagrand while doing The Multiphase Survey in Osh'gun. Sure, they'll probably need to keep swapping goggles, but it doesn't hurt and gives players more loose change.
Making/Money: The Wisdom of MMO Banking
Does it seem strange to save up to buy a house in a game? We are in an era where the real world economies of some nations are paralyzed by debts incurred from home purchases. Yet in games where there is player housing there is a surprising lack of player debt. MMOGs offer a simplified financial system seemingly impervious to the ills of modern society. What could we as a gaming society learn about real-world finance and money management from the way we act in game?
Making/Money: Newbs at Auction
... And we're not talking about selling accounts on eBay. One of the most frustrating aspects of being a new player in an established game, to my mind, is the cost of start-up crafting materials. Hit up any public market area, auction house, trade square or similar as a newbie and you will see what I mean. Even low-level items of any use (i.e. not vendor trash) are sold for seemingly absurd amounts given the time that would be required at early levels in order to generate the money. It can make the start of a new character infuriating and the game too taxing (pun fully intended) to continue. Why does this happen? What makes these things so costly? Why can't we all just get along...? (Oh wait, that's another column entirely)
Breakfast Topic: Most hated daily quests
In light of the recent inquests against our least favorite races, mobs, mob abilities, or tankadin writers, it seems only fitting to ask; what is your least favorite daily quest?Now that the cap has been raised to twenty-five, and a slew of dailies has been added as of patch 2.4, many players are finding themselves spending a few hours on daily quests each day. Personally, there are a few that I enjoy doing most days, including the bombing runs, and some that I'd rather avoid if I didn't need the gold to fuel my rather Outlandish habits.I'm not sure if I could pinpoint a single culprit though. The longer quests bother me up front, because I get bored spending half an hour each day mowing through the same exercise. As such, the Shadowmoon Valley quests might be my least favorite, because aside from the competition, they take forever.Which daily quests are giving you a daily headache, and why?
Fishing your way to profit
I'm not sure if anyone else noticed, but all of a sudden, fishing seems to have become an extremely profitable profession. With the introduction the daily fishing quests in Patch 2.4, those with a bit of luck have found themselves getting a hefty profit from the Bag of Fishing Treasures that the quests give out as a reward. Any angler worth her salt knows that fishing can be profitable through selling fish cooked or raw through the Auction House, or even as junk through the vendor. Before the introduction of the goodies that come inside the Bag of Fishing Treasures, the Goldenscale Vendorfish was probably the most expensive gray item in the game, selling for 6 Gold to vendors. Anglers who are also cooks could profit nicely from raid buff foods such as Golden Fish Sticks or Skullfish Soup, or simply sell the raw ingredients. Even low-level fish sell rather well to those who would like to level their cooking.
The best of WoW Insider: February 27-March 4, 2008
Joystiq may be your source for Brawl news this week, but when you want to know what's up in Azeroth, there's only one place to turn: sister site WoW Insider. Things are hopping over there -- we're on top of the patch 2.4 news, and every single day we've got guild information, addon tips and tricks, and everything you need to know about the World of Warcraft. Here's a sampler platter. News PTR Notes: Shaman buffs, Lifetap "change," and moreWarlocks got a little Lifetap nerf this week, and the gnashing of teeth hasn't stopped since. Wealthy elves I have knownMaking cash (and lots of it) with little effort. How to maximize your bag space with 20-slot bagsWhere to get the satchels with lots of empty space. Hacked and robbed blind: One guild's cautionary taleA tough case of guild treachery. Are raiders becoming obsolete?Blizzard's opening up the endgame and giving out epics. Is raiding worth it anymore? Features Know Your Lore: Oshu'gunDid you know there's a Naaru secret in Nagrand? Encrypted Text: Raiding as a rogue, part 1Stabby stabby on the big raid bosses. Insider Trader: Rounding up 2.4 profession changes, part 1What's new for the professions in patch 2.4. Forum Post of the Day: PuG player archetypesWe've all seen these guys out there, unfortunatey playing right next to us. Farewell, my friendA touching tribute to a guildie and a friend.
Ask WoW Insider: What does a naked level 60 mage do?
Welcome to today's edition of Ask WoW Insider, in which we publish your questions for dissection by the peanut gallery -- now with extra snark and commentary by one of our writers. This week, reader Meliv writes:Hi WoW Insider! I need some good advice. About August I leveled a mage to 60 but due to my very crappy computer at the time I could barely play in Outland so I decided to quit. However, to stop the addiction pulling me back I sold all my gear to repay some old debts and deleted my characters. Now it's December and my situation has changed, I (kindly) asked a GM to restore my Mage and now I'm back in the game. Only problem is that I'm completely naked with no money and no gear. What should I do?There's a joke about what naked mages, sheep, and money we'll leave on the table.As an aside, never delete your character. As WoW addicts we tend to treat quitting WoW with the same seriousness Gene Simmons takes monogamous relationships. Instead, have a spouse or friend do it for you, That way you have someone else to blame.You haven't said what you've got for professions, so I'll assume you have none. What you're going to want to do is earn enough money to grab two gathering professions -- it's short money so don't sweat it. If you're lucky and have a few quests that just need you to chat with an NPC to complete, wrap those.The lazy way is to level your gathering skills up enough to get some OK gear off the Auction House and then head to Outland to run quests. Outland's quests give decent gold and items as rewards. Heck, you can even try running a few as a naked level 60 and see what happens -- it's not like you need to worry about repair bills. Just expect some odd looks. Or tips.The forward-thinking way is to level up your gathering professions and keep leveling them through 70. That way you'll pretty much guarantee you'll have enough gold for your flying mount.How about you, oh wise peanut gallery: Any advice for the freshly-restored?Got questions? Don't wait! Send them to us at ask AT wowinsider DOT com and your query could be up in lights here next week.
Happy Winter Veil's Eve!
Late tonight (or early tomorrow morning, depending how you look at it) the decorations on your server should roll out and the Feast of Winter Veil will begin in Azeroth once again. We've already seen previews of some of the new toys we'll be getting this year. We've also pondered what other changes may be unannounced this year, and we'll be able to experience everything first-hand soon.Just as a reminder, there is one item in particular that always sells well the first few days of the holiday: Small Eggs. Today's your last chance to head out to one of the lower level zones and kill a few thousand birds (or bird-like oviparous creatures) in order to make your fortune. Remember that you'll need at least five eggs yourself in order to complete the quest that creates the clamor for these items in the first place, so even if you don't wish to make a killing on the auction house, it would probably be wise to grab some eggs before the farming gets out of control. Check out Robin's earlier article for a good tip on a farming spot as well.
