Breakfast Topic: Gambling with prospecting?
by Amanda Rivera 
Jun 6th 2007 at 8:01AM
The other day I got a message in-game from Sigrdrifa. He mentioned that he had been spending the day spamming the trade channel offering his services prospecting ore. In his advertisement he stated that he could virtually guarantee a blue gem from each stack of Adamantite ore. Some players mentioned that this could never be a guarantee and so in a way he was gambling with other people's ore.
Now, I'm not exactly sure if we could call this a game of three ore monty, after all he is saying that on average he receives a blue gem with every stack of ore. But it brings up an interesting idea. If there are possibilities of failure with prospecting, can you ask for tips for such a service? And if there is a gamble, could there by extension be a bet on such a risk? I don't know if this sort of thing is frowned upon by the devs or not, but I would definitely be curious to see how a betting system would work within the game. Not with actual money, but rather with virtual gold.
Is prospecting more gambling than not? And if there are assumed risks in the game we deal with, would you ever consider betting on them?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Jewelcrafting
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rhadagast Jun 6th 2007 11:43AM
Note he said virtually. This is not all that different than a transmute master getting 3 from one. do they keep the other 2 for free, do they give to the provider of mats?
All of this is a gamble at some point, it is just how daring are YOU willing to be with THEIR ethics.
Dur13l Jun 6th 2007 9:22AM
i have a guild mate that said the same thing and so i thought to give it a try....
out of 4 stacks of ore i got two Blue gems and a bunch of Greens.
to me it wasnt worth the trouble. I can sell the ore for 30g a stack and the gems only bring about 40-50 on my server. so in hind sight i lost almost 20 gold.
but that is just me so....i know each server is different.
Athryn Jun 6th 2007 9:23AM
Just like Disenchanting, it's a service. And there's no longer a chance for failure with Patch 2.1. So getting tips for doing it is perfectly acceptable.
As for getting a blue per stack? It's possible, but definitely not guaranteed by any means. I prospected 20 stacks (of 20) of Adamantite ore or someone the other day and it averaged out to a blue every 2 to 3 stacks of 5, but like any other gamble with the RNG, you're going to get streaky results.
irishstu Jun 6th 2007 9:48AM
here's a question for you - if you are making someone elixirs with mats they have supplied you, who should get any bonus elixirs?
nav Jun 6th 2007 10:03AM
@3: In my opinion, unless it's been agreed otherwise before hand any advantage from a particular specialisation or non-guaranteed proc should go to the crafter. Others may differ, but that's why you should always agree in advance.
Sean Jun 6th 2007 10:49AM
@3: Unless otherwise specified, the alchemist should receive any extras. Some alchemists are nicer than that, though.
With transmutes, I never "give" the proc to the person providing mats (unless it's a guildie). I can only transmute once a day and I had to put 4xPrimal Might into getting that spec. With potions/elixirs, if you provide the service to someone else and give them the procs, you can still make your own potions/elixirs and receive the benefit of your own procs. With transmutes, you are locked out by the cooldown and can be stuck for 24 hours not being able to take advantage of your own spec.
So, I usually offer to sell any procs for 50% AH price to be nice.
@Amanda Rivera: Prospecting guarantees a gem post patch 2.1. So, it's a little better now. If a person says that they guarantee a blue gem per stack, then they better have extra blue gems to give away if a full stack doesn't produce one. It's a gamble of sorts, but if no players are betting gold, then I don't think that Blizz will get involved.
I know that they disapprove of gambling in general. Does anyone remember the huge /random betting "casino" spammers? Blizz cracked down on them somewhat quickly.
Ryanoth Jun 6th 2007 10:51AM
I tried gambling on Ore. My first few days I did very well. I would wait until I saw a cheap stack for around 20g. I even got 3 blues out of one stack. However, the next day I bought 5 stacks of ore and did not get a single blue. Kind of wiped out the previous couple of days. Not worth it overall it seems.
Meriones Jun 6th 2007 10:51AM
The thing about elixirs is if a bonus elixir procs and the person you are making it for isn't in your group, they can't see the bonus. So it's up to you at that point.
Znodis Jun 6th 2007 10:55AM
... please don't put betting in peoples heads. Does no one else remember the spam from the casios? IMO that was much worse than the /w gold-sellers.
As for the prospecting for g, my opinion is that if you want someone to prospect it for you, it should be a flat rate and you get what you get. 4 blues or 4 greens or nothing all the same price. You're paying for the time and skill not the results. Of course you need the JC to be trustworthy too. He might prospect those 4 blues and just give you 4 greens he already had.
ben1778 Jun 6th 2007 11:23AM
I suppose if you are honest about the chances at the beginning, I wouldn't have a problem with it. He mentioned that he gets a rare gem VIRTUALLY every time which should indicate its not a certainty.
As long as he says it's possible to end up with the 4 adamantite dusts and a bunch of greens, then I think its a decent idea. It's a good way to make a few extra G or even some green gems/dust as tips if they are happy with their rare gems.
Sometimes the amount people tip is surprising. I think it's fine as long as he never claims that you ALWAYS get a rare gem. I say go for it.
As a final note: with all the spam blocking and such going on now, I highly doubt the casino days will be back.
annoula Jun 6th 2007 12:02PM
The easy solve is always group with the person prospecting for you. That way you can see what they (and thus you) should get.
wowinsider.qsh Jun 6th 2007 4:35PM
There is a fairly consistant pattern to prospecting... see:
http://www.wowwiki.com/ProspectingBut if you do the math, it's one
blue gem out of roughly 33 Adamantite Ore
wowinsider.qsh Jun 6th 2007 4:37PM
erm, sorry the link there should have been http://www.wowwiki.com/Prospecting
lolwtfstfu Jun 6th 2007 8:15PM
okok im Sigr so ill clarify what i said
my deal is that you gimme a stack of adamantite ore, you get the blues, i keep the rest. if there are no blues then you get the greens. not really a tip basis but ive been on average getting 1 blue gem per stack.
Elra Jun 7th 2007 3:32PM
that explains why i havent gotten a single damn fucking gem since 2.1 patch.
Satarus Jun 7th 2007 9:42AM
I figure its just like enchanting. If you enchant a stack of stuff for someone after the essences and all you get is dust then that was their risk.