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

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 :)

That's insane

http://www.worldofraids.com/wow-blue-tracker/us-forums/27401643624-blizz-the-insane-and-cataclysm.html

Insane in the Membrane is a feat of strength, not an achievement. Feats are things that you can't be guaranteed to complete, which is why they're feats and not achievements. ... It's possible that in some very specific situations where someone has completed the reputations which are being removed, but not others that will still be in the game, that it can still be completed. But it's something we're waiting for clarity on, and will let you know as soon as we do.

If you are running for Insane - have a look at what reputations will be removed when cata drops, and concentrate on them first.

If you supply to the 'Insane' crowd, point them at the above thread, and encourage them to quietly panic, and buy lots of stuff.