Attraction of achievements

First of all, some assumptions.
Q: How much is an achievment worth?
A: However much the seeker is willing to pay, in time and/or gold.

Q: What influences how much an achievement is worth?
A1: How cool it is
A2: For completionists, how hard it is

Q: What says how cool an achievment is?
A1: An obvious marker, like a pet, mount or title
A2: What peers and role models say is cool.


Q: How hard is an achievement?
A1: The amount of grind involved
A2: The hardest task(s) eg school of hard knocks for What a long strange trip its been
A3: Whether it must be done at a certain time.


As readers of this blog know, Blizzard have removed the requirement for Insane to be done by the Shattering, and will remove the requirement for Shan'drelar reputation.  Blizzard will also add a seperate feat of strength for Shan'drelar reputation.  If you want the Shan'drelar feat of strength, you must achieve it by the Shattering.

Some people who would have liked insane were discouraged and stopped because it was (for them) unobtainable due to a lack of time.  For others, this unobtainability was it's attraction.

Insane is still going to be a popular time distraction between now and Cataclysm.  It is a large solo time and gold sink, firmly in many peoples mind.  But as a whole for the completionists, Insane is now less urgent than Shan'drelar rep.  This rep grind will provide a solid base price for librams and diamonds between now and a few days before Cata.


I have no doubt that without the title Shan'drelar reputation is less cool than it was last week, due to it not being required for a title.  However it still has inherent coolness due to being it's own achievement.  The remainder of it's coolness is in part due to how the bloggosphere markets it.  Do a google search on marketing campaign brown diamond for a real world example.

For the record, the Undermine Journal for Alliance Caelestraz, has a current market price of about 497g.  I predict a price crash just before Cata hits as players either have their rep or give up.  Between now and then there will be a large amout of price volitility as people panic sell & panic buy.

Imagine the price effect on Librams and Diamonds after the following two headlines on a well read website.

• Only 3 weeks left to get your Shan'drelar feat of strength, or
• Insanity after Cata, Shan'drelar rep removed so dump those diamonds

If you are desperate to get a few cheap diamonds, choose your headline. If you want to sell Pristine Black Diamonds at a profit, choose the other one.

A deep love of Dire Maul

The latest big change (from a goldmaking perspective) is the news that you will that players will still be able to attain> Insane in the Membrane and "The Insane" title in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

From what I have seen, those seeking insanity have providing us with cheap darkmoon cards, cheap runecloth, the occaisional cheap recipee. The have also propped up the herb market (for those darkmoon cards), pushed up the prices on librams and pristine diamonds.

The biggest change to the criteria to be delcared insane is that Exalted reputation with Shen'dralar will no longer be required.

However For those who already earned Exalted reputation with this faction ... In a future patch, we'll be adding in a separate Feat of Strength to recognize your deep love of Dire Maul..

By definition, anyone seeking insanity is a completionist. Blizzard has just told them that they don't need to spread themselves out to get all the achivements now, they only have to worry about Dire Maul to have that extra achievement. Serious contenders are likely to already know about this change. Those I know who want to be insane also want to have Exalted reps, and one is about to become unobtainable.

WoWwiki lists the requirements of the Shen'dralar, including the Pristine Black Diamonds and the librams.

It is my expectation that instead of madly panicing over getting all the achievements will now concentrate on Shen'dralar, including some that had previously thought they had left their run too late.

TL;DR
I expect a small drop in price for Librams and Pristine Black Diamonds, but one that is likely to have occured by the time you read this post. If you see either of these being panic sold, I would flip them.

Sell, but dont dump those diamonds

Very quickly - other bloggers (breevok, cold) have highlighted the fact that we will be able to do insane later

However they are encouraging almost panic selling of diamonds/librams.  I disagree

By all means they will beome useless on 7 Dec.  However there is still "the separate "Exalted with Shen'dralar" feat


Anyone going for insanity will make a priority to get the reps for those factions that are going away.

More on this here

Always question your assumptions.

The easiest way to lose a lot of gold is to assume something that everyone else knows to be true, but might not be.  For me personally, the most useful blogger posts are those that challenge assumptions.

I remember a little while ago when the cooldown was removed from the Alchemy titanium cooldown.  Everyone 'knew' that now was the time to buy saronite ore and sell it to all the alchemists because saronite supply was going to dry up.  Huge fortunes were spent, the price of saronite went up untill the patch, then crashed hard.  Too many bought saronite before the patch, with too much supply after.

How about the expected removal of the Epic Gem transmute.  The cooldown was removed from the PTR.  Serveral large sites advertised this. 'Everyone' expected that there was going to be a boom time for transmuters. Many players stockpiled large amounts of mats, but the cooldown was not removed.

Most of the time the gold blog sites get it right.  If we get it wrong we suffer both reputationally and financially, and we know it.  However most of us explain not only what - but why as well.  We got glyphmas down pat.  We got tailoring cooldowns right too.

If you want guaranteed gold, do dailies.  If you want to make more gold (on average), do what we do.  If you want to make a lot of gold, challenge our assumptions and do it better than we do.

The reason for the above rant is the percieved necessity for Breevok to post part 3 in his followup for his netherweave bags post.

Breevok made a judgement call about what might happen. He called it as it was - a hunch, in bold.  His advice to store netherweave as bolts is sound (they stack better anyway).  You may even like to store it as cloth to allow you the option of making bandages.   If he is right you have plan (B).  If he is wrong you still have not lost anything.

Breevok - thank you for your post.  In my opinion it was one of the most usefull posts I have seen for a while.

What should professions should I level?

TL;DR.  If you need the too long didn't read version, choose two gathering skills and do dailies.

There is a small amount of speculation, assuming that in the main similar themes from the WoLK expansion will continue in Cata. For 'breaking news' on cata tradeskills, follow Kaliope's site.

See this post on why to take an alt.  In my opinion, taking an alt just for new tradeskills is a bad idea.  That said, I am on my 5th alt working towards 80.  (A level 1 bank alt is always a good idea)

Before you can know what professions to level, you need to know what type of player you are.  Not only that, I am not even going to tell you what to level.

Some players like their reward now. It doesnt matter too much how much you get as long as you get it reliably and quickly.  You think that you could make more gold but can't/won't be bothered.

• If you are levelling your first toon, take two gathering skills (skinning, mining or herbalism) and gather while you do your dailies. You can now have both mining and herbalism on your minimap at the same time.
• On a primary raider you should still take at least one (preferably two) tradeskills - possibly something that traditionally has a cooldown, like Tailoring or Alchemy. Use your trade cooldown regularly - you can also sell these on trade. 
• One alt (assuming you have one) should be the same as the the first levelling toon just above.
• Add fishing for a diversion. The fishing daily, with it's vendor bait has the best return of all the dailies
• Sell your gathered stuff on the AH for the 'mid range' of what you see it listed for.
• Mail all your gathered mats to a bank alt, and post them on the day you gather.
• Take cooking (getting a leg up with training using the Pilgrims festival), do the cooking daily and sell all your cooking tokens - especially cata tokens (there is a surplus of northrend tokens at the moment).

Some players know it is better to wait a little for a bigger reward.  You want more gold/hour than instant gratification.  Large scale manufacturing is not for you, nor is the idea of taking up trade wars

• On a first levelling toon, consider either two gathering skills, or possibly taking enchanting into the mix.  If you take enchanting, you are going to disenchant lots of items (many bought of the AH), and will think about selling those enchants you do make using enchant
• On a primary raider you should take two tradeskills - possibly something that traditionally has a cooldown, like Tailoring or Alchemy. Use your trade cooldown regularly, buying and selling the mats yourself.  Keep an eye on regularly bought items - starter PVP or raiding gear and sell them
• Diversification is better than duplication.  On different alts take different skills.  I would recommend no more than one farming toon (per realm).
• All max level alts should have maxium skills
• Mats are not free - even if you farmed them. However, having an alt with gathering skills lets you control whether to spend gold or time.  On an alt take two gathering skills (skinning, mining or herbalism) and gather while you do your dailies. You can now have both skinning and herbalism on your minimap at the same time.
• Add fishing for a diversion. The fishing daily, with it's vendor bait has the best return of all the dailies.
• Sell your gathered stuff on the AH for the 'mid range' of what you see it listed for.
• Mail all your gathered mats to a bank alt, and post them on the day you gather.
• Take cooking (getting a leg up with training using the Pilgrims festival), do the cooking daily and sell all your cooking tokens - especially cata tokens (there is a surplus of northrend tokens at the moment).

Some players want it all.  You are working towards a gold cap (or at least wondering if you should). Bring it on.

• You are not on a first levelling toon. Really.  You might be an experienced player doing 'rags to riches', but you are still not on your first levelling toon.
• Tradeskills with lots of complications and daily quests and research are best.   In Wrath, Jewelcrafting, Inscription (and even cooking at the start) were all good options.  (edit) Enchanting isn't bad either.
• You know that you can make gold from any profession.
• Alts may start off with gathering skills but will end up with unique trade skills.
• You probably know most of this anyway because you spend as much time reading gold blogs as you do in the AH.

I will be writing another post on how I would make gold by skill as the above people.  This will be done Soon(tm).

Insane in the Membrane

Egamad's missus here to talk about the Insane in the Membrane title and all the fun things associated with it - specifically things you can make money from. For those that are unsure this title requires the following:
Honoured with Bloodsail Buccaneers
Exalted with Ratchet
Exalted with Booty Bay
Exalted with Everlook
Exalted with Gadgetzan
Exalted with Darkmoon Faire
Exalted with Ravenholdt
Exalted with Shen'dralar.

In going for this myself, let me tell you it is a pain in the arse and I do not recommend doing it for the faint hearted. Here is a list of the factions that require bought items, and some better ways to potentially make money from it:

Shen'dralar:
The main problem I had with this faction - as I'm sure everyone else does - is the Pristine Black Diamonds (PBDs). As a Human, to get from 0/3000 Neutral to 999/1000 Exalted with these guys, you need a total of 77 PBDs + one turn in of your class book (for me, it was Harnessing Shadows). Now - according to Wowhead.com these pretty guys have a highest drop rate of 1.1%. The most annoying thing for me was not being Horde. I had a friend regularly check the AH prices and they varied from 200g-300g, whereas Alliance was upwards of 400g at any given point. I would advise not actively farming these for gold unless you are that bored, as you can make the same money from less-rare items.
This brings into play the Librams that are needed for the 3 Shen'dralar quests - Focus, Protection, and Rapidity. These are unique and you can only have 1 of each kind in your bag at any given point. But! Alas! They are stackable in a Guild Bank. If you find yourself in Dire Maul, keep any of these that you have, because they go for 100g-400g on the AH.

Ravenholdt:
This is the most annoying faction to get Exalted with. The Syndicate mobs are farmable from 0/3000 Neutral to 11999/12000 Honoured. Then you need to turn in Heavy Junkboxes to reach Exalted. Each quest turn in requires 5 Junkboxes, and (as a human) you need 1275 Junkboxes to reach exalted. Being a Warlock, this is going to be the most hardest thing for the title. Not many Rogues are willing to farm these Junkboxes, gold being rewarded or not. The Junkboxes are not BoP, so they are able to be sold on AH. Depending on how desperate people are, you can probably get away with selling these from 10g+ each on the AH - this is providing you wish to farm them yourself). I've read reports that the best places to farm these are Tyr's Hand in EPL and BRD and BRS.

Darkmoon Faire:
Aside from Darkmoon Faire (DMF) only coming around once a month, this is pretty easy. I myself have stuck to making the Northrend decks, due to more people farming Northrend herbs, etc. If you regularly go farming for herbs and AH them, great! If not, try and do it for an hour a day or something, and chuck up whatever you farm. If you have an Inscrpitionist, mail these herbs to that toon and mill them down and create Snowfall Ink and Ink of the Sea instead of putting the herbs themselves up - take it from someone who knows, people would much rather buy the Inks than have to buy the herbs and get them milled down. Another thing that will sell very well for this faction is Eternal Life. On the Alliance AH at the moment, these are going for 13-16g/Life. I would recommend farming WG for these if you have the guts, or just stick with what you have from herbing.
If you come across any of the cards required for DMF decks (Northrend decks only) I would recommend putting them on the AH for 50-100g. I know personally my limit to spend per card was about 80g. I guarantee if you find yourself collecting the cards during runs, etc - or just making them yourself from the Inks - they will sell faster if you don't overprice them at 200g+ like I have seen some people do.

Signing off,
Nundaii the Slowly-Going-Insane :)

Should I level an alt

Recently there have been various blogposts about this, especially where professions are involved.

Markco likes levelling alts, and recommended using them to gain a variety of tradekills.

Gevlon thinks that levelling an alt (for profession's sake) is a waste of time and you should concentrate on a main toon, especially as the opportunity cost of levelling an alt is so high (100 hours played at even 200g/hour doing dailies or farming is a lot of gold).

My take is that the best reason for levelling an alt is so you can tank or heal (all toons can already DPS). Even if your main is a ranged or melee DPS, understanding how tanks and healers play will make you a better raider. For most players becoming the tank or healer is the best way to understand the role. I have my tank, healer and DPS toons, but I am levelling my 5th 80 because I can (not because I need to).

Your primary raider should have two 'primary' professions at maximum level (i.e. in addition to cooking, fishing, first aid or archaeology). You should know what your bonuses are, and use them. In most instances a raiding toon should have two tradeskills (instead of gathering), but consult a class/role forum or website for specific information.

Losses or learning opportunities

I was chatting with Breevok the other day about gold 'stuff', expressing my jealousy at his gains in the 4.0 patch.  (I merely made a stuff load of gold - he made so much more).

He said something that struck me as odd.  "Don't worry - I made a loss over the last two days".  But did he make a loss, learn something, or merely add to his stockpile?

Regular AH players will make occasional losses.  Every time we buy something, there is the risk it won't sell, that we will be undercut by a new player/strategy or Blizzard will change the rules.  If you get it right you will make gold.  If you get it wrong you will lose gold.   (Just don't be this guy)

I am never happy with my gold making strategies, and am always tweaking them.  Read up on upcoming changes, observe the market. Do I have more/less time.  Am I accomplishing goals and/or burning out.  What can I change to make it better/easier/faster/richer?

Buying Darkmoon cards

This is pure unabashed speculation.  As I often do, I note what I know, and what I think.
What I know:

• WoW is awash with cheap snowfall ink
• At least one reputation is disappearing come Cata, making Insane harder.
• Many new levelling toons (Worgen/Goblin)
• There are not a lot of trinkets for levelling toons
• Raiding toons have BOP options for trinkets that levelling toons do not. 
• The emphasis will move from finishing raids, Insane, miscellaneous achievements to levelling and the new dungeons and raids when Cata hits.
• Most high end 80 raiding gear will be replaced by about level 83 questing greens.

What I think:

• There will be a soft 'gold' reset in Cataclysm.  The repair bills in Cata for premade starter gear is about 500g to repair red armor. (This topic alone deserves a series of post from different authors)
• People wanting to be Insane the main are purchasers of Snowfall, and the main providers of Darkmoon cards.  
• Darkmoon cards are being dumped below cost. I have not done the sums with the new prices, but my recollection of crafting costs for cards (even with cheap snowfall) made them much more expensive.
• Trinkets won't be replaced by questing.  This is the least researched of my 'thinks'.

In summary:
When the emphasis moves from raiding to levelling, I expect a bigger market for trinkets with a much smaller supply.  This, combined with a general devauling of gold (size of which is to be determined), means I will be stockpiling cheap trinkets for Cata.

Replacements for elitist groups?

TL;DR
I know about Bimbo to spot missing enchants & gmes.  I am after replacements for some of the rest of Elitist Groups.



I don't like gearscore.  For me it is a largely useless addon.  I barely care if your gearscore is 3000, 5000, or 10,000, but then as a rule I don't run random lvl 80  'heroics' either.

I am far more interested in :

• Minimum Ilvl - and what the item is.  It's worth keeping an eye on this to upgrade sooner rather than later
• Average Ilvl - This suggests the best raid for you.  ICC 10 normal drops Ilvl 251.  If you average Ilvl is less than this, consider earlier raids, first 4 ICC bosses (or heaven forbid - dungeon farming).  If your average Ilvl is higher than this, consider hard modes (or at least extended raids)
• Correct stats for your role.  Intellect for DK's is so last season. (Even if I did roll on it last ICC run - oops).  That said, I am not after something as strict as ElitistGroups was.  Elitsist Jerks (and the addon) are primarily interested in the 'best' on the hardest fight, with nearly the best gear.  My toons spent a long time in Ulduar wearing Nax gear, and had different needs to the ICC crowd.

You can tell your own ILvl (and other stats) easily from your character sheet, and click on the arrow on the bottom right. (though I hear it also includes gear in your bags).  I would love to be able to see this for /inspected toons. Bonus points for allowing me to specify what I am looking for by role.

I also spend some time in levelling dungeons.  Many players accidentally miss taking their talent points.

I would like to know what bosses you have downed (both the current tier and previous tiers).  While I don't mind if you are new to a boss, it is good to have an idea so I can make adjustments as needed.

If you know an addons that would give me some of the above, please leave a comment.