Flying mounts are going to require some farming
by David Nelson 
Oct 12th 2006 at 3:45PM
One of our beloved readers sent in a tip (thanks Kyle!) that the beta forums are now open! Good news.He also sent us a link to a post in the beta forums stating that training to ride the fastest flying mount will cost 5000 gold. Not so good news.
I hope that...
A. Blizzard is making gold a lot easier to get via trade skills or quests in the Burning Crusade.
B. This is only a placeholder price and that in the final version the price for the flying mount training will be cheaper.
C. This post is completely wrong.
A price of 5000 gold simply encourages more and more gold farming, bots and other undesirable side effects of the secondary gold market. I get that Blizzard wants to make flying mounts a status symbol, but just slapping a high gold value on it doesn't make it so. I guess I was hoping Blizzard would make the process to train for these much-anticipated mounts a little more creative and rewarding rather than what essentially boils down to a gold farming exercise.
And even with all this complaining, regardless of the price, I am still looking forward to my flying mount. What do you guys think? Too pricey?
Filed under: Economy, Expansions
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DrDiesel Oct 12th 2006 3:51PM
5k G is a bit steep, and yes, this would completly throw our ecconomics into a head dive again just as all the foreign gold farmers did.
Ishi Oct 12th 2006 4:47PM
100g is hard to get at level 40, but attainable with work.
1000g is hard to get at level 60, but attainable with work.
I expect no less of a fast flying mount at level 70, and 5000g sounds fair.
Neikem Oct 12th 2006 4:05PM
I find that 5k gold would be retarded for a mount you can only use in the Outlands. Blizzard is a mental basket case if they think I'll pay for that.
Bugmaster Oct 12th 2006 4:08PM
seriously i hoped blizz would make some nice quest line or anything for the flying mounts this is gonna be again a retarded farm exercise
Sam Irving Oct 12th 2006 4:11PM
Do you get the same amount of money per mob at level 40 as you do at level 60?
No.
You never know, you might get 50s per mob at level 70, or even 1g per mob.
Money isn't relevant on paper, only when the actual expansion released and the economy sorts itself out.
They'll balance it accordingly, dont worry.
lookmark Oct 13th 2006 11:41AM
Er, that's 5000g for an *epic* flying mount.
800g for a regular flying mount.
I'm sure gold will accumulate *far* faster in the expansion, too.
Grunt Oct 12th 2006 4:26PM
"I'm worried that many people won't be able to afford it or might resort to buying gold. We might as well start saving up now... go check out http://easygoldguide.com for some easy ways to make that kind of cash."
I'm worried... oh my... so why not head over to your site and BUY YOUR GUIDE instead of some other ones gold right?
Rediculous! Besides, as someone who plays WoW since over a year you should know how to make a little money in a reasonable amount of time or at least have some contacts who can give you a hand.
Advertising this is lame.
Grunt out.
Prophetik Oct 12th 2006 4:34PM
I think you're over-reacting. We'll be making more gold off each mob kill, vendor trash will sell for more, and the BoEs will be worth more as well.
You're not thinking about the future.
vlad3060 Oct 12th 2006 4:44PM
The amount of gold dropped is going to have to scale conversely with mob levels past 60 if anyone outside of a gold farmer or a gold purchaser is going to be able to buy this skill.
If not, this is a very bad decision by Blizzard. They could have made this an epic quest with many different parts, such as the Warlock epic mount.
Physical Original Oct 12th 2006 4:56PM
Damn, damn, damn, damn.
Make the expense broken up as part of a quest. I love doing the tier 0 quest line (except of course the baron run). Yes, it costs a lot of money to do the quest line, but its in chunks and pieces, and each purchase makes you feel like you are moving further toward a goal. Do that with more epic stuff, it'll be a more enjoyable game for the "casual" gamer (accomplishing lotsa steps is better than accomplishing nothing but gold grinding).
Therizo Oct 12th 2006 4:58PM
Getting 800g for a flying mount is certainly not a big deal. and working up to 5k for an epic flier certainly seems reasonable to me. I'm expecting 20-40s per kill on level 70 nonelite mobs, with elites closing on 2g per. Quest rewards of 15g or more easily once you hit max level, and raid bosses with tons of gold split amongst 25 instead of 40.
Even for the ~800g it takes to get an epic ground mount now folks are turning to offline gold purchasing, there's no reason to think that folks wouldn't do the same for an epic flyer at any price above the cost of a regular one.
I don't think getting gold 2-4 times faster than you do now while farming is too far a stretch, which puts farming your epic flier at just around twice as long as your epic ground. Of course, this is just math based on progression up to this point, we don't know anything for sure quite yet. As has been said several times, consider the rest of the changes before griping about a number or a particular item; we're in a whole new world here.
Maron Oct 12th 2006 5:00PM
I saved up enough money for 4 epic mounts AND the runecloth to get exalted with the 3 main factions over several months of saving. That is at level 60 with no purchasing of gold.
5000g sounds like a lot, and it is, but it is certainly obtainable. Plus gold will be easier to make at level 70 and prices may be changed before the final release.
Oh BTW, I am a rogue so that helped a bit with the gold farming. :-)
Necröpunk Oct 12th 2006 6:53PM
If I recall correctly I remember seeing a post either on this site or on the official forums saying that the flying mounts will be considerably cheaper than the current grounded mounts... I do not have a link or anything at this time because i am on a computer at work :-(
warforge Oct 12th 2006 7:10PM
I wish they would just scrap the gold trading and mailing
system. Yah it may hurt twinking alts but you can always pre buy and send the gear anyway.
I wish they would can the abillity to trade gold ...and make all gold exchanges happen via Vendor and AH only.
Now a gold farmer may try a work around like sell a crap item for XXX Gold in AH and we will trade this way...but this makes Gold Farmer purchases Trackable ...Buying some grey glove for 5000 gold should flag GM's yah think?
It's too bad there isnt some kind of WoW IRS System in place to track gold exchange on servers. Like in the USA ...spend over 10k and IRS wants to know where that 10k came from....and proof of it.
Sheesh....well...guess ill be ground mounted ...for a long while...im burned out on grinding...already paid out the ying yang for few epics as it is.
foip Oct 12th 2006 10:22PM
I'd be much happier if a flying mount requires a special quest to be done instead of stupidly high gold prices.
Something along the lines of the 45 minute baron run where you actually need to play well (or have a bunch of overgeared buddies) to succeed.
Makes more sense than giving more incentive to gold buying.
Aaron Oct 13th 2006 4:49AM
Some of the reports I'm reading from the Beta seems to indicate that 1000gp a day is possible in Outland.
Nigel Oct 14th 2006 10:31AM
I think epic mount prices are ludicrous to begin with, and, if the 5k price is accurate, then Blizzard has lost it's damned mind.
I'm one of those who can't afford to play for 16 hours a day every day. I can't spend all the time in the world with a good mix of PvP, instancing and farming. I have to delegate my time to doing only those things I love most, which leaves me nearly broke all the time.
There should be another system by which people who don't farm all day every day can get these items as well.
Anthony Damiani Oct 14th 2006 11:59AM
Faster to just level a druid to 68!
Xianda Jun 24th 2007 5:54PM
well as resto druid i had to use a lot of time grinding for my epic mount, but 5k gold should be doable with in 4-5 weeks
5 man instances gave around 10-20g per run
20man 10g
40 man 15-30g depence on how much you whipe i normal make 25g per Bwl run
arch Oct 16th 2006 4:34PM
Actually, My RL girlfriend has managed to earn 10k gold all on her own. No cheating or buying, just farming and investing. It's definitely possible, I just think you have to really work for it, and take chances. Me personally barely have 600g after buying epic mounts and stuff, think 5k is absurd, but she was preparing for it. The way she saw it, 100g for non-epic mount, as compared to 1k for the epic one, made it a 10x jump... and she wanted to be sure she had enough for the flying mount.
Course, now she won't settle for the regular flying mount.