Motes of shadow, and their drop rate.
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 26th 2007 at 8:11PM
More mote issues going down on the forums. Hildebrand says the recent changes to Mote of Shadow (in which Blizzard removed them from all demons everywhere to just void-based creatures) have caused the droprate to go too low. Removing them from demons wasn't a bad move, because considering the expansion is based on fighting the Burning Crusade, they're everywhere. But void creatures are pretty rare, and while you can pick up tons of motes just killing the Hellfire Peninsula void crowd, you just don't run across them in normal grinding anymore.Drysc says that even though the drop rate was lowered, something strange has happened-- the Mote of Shadow prices have generally stayed the same. Either someone had a stockpile, or the demand just isn't there. Of course, prices in the AH on every server are different (one server's trash is another server's treasure, so to speak), but Blizzard doesn't see a problem with Mote of Shadow right now-- if anything, they want them rarer.
I think the center of this argument really lies in how crafters are supposed to come across these items-- is farming supposed to be part of the game? I'm a big fan of the "you should get every craft item you need just by sweeping the landscape while you level," but obviously many more players go above and beyond that, and actually spend hours just farming craft items. Should Blizzard tune the drop rates for the farmers, or for the grinders?
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Making money
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Blackjack21 Jul 27th 2007 12:16AM
For the love of all that his horde, up the frikin drop rate! Some of us don't have hours to spend farming motes to make a blue belt!
Tumples Jul 26th 2007 8:25PM
I am yet to see Blizzard alter something without someone whining.
Argent Jul 26th 2007 8:35PM
well, i've seen primal shadow prices go up somewhat since the change, but they are still WAY behind any other primal.
i suspect this has to do with the fact that there isn't much demand for primal shadow at the moment -- and what little demand there is is easily balanced by the heavy supply. this might change in 2.2 when one of the AQ enchants is ported over to use primal shadows, but i doubt it'll be a big impact.
making shadow resist gear is propably the single biggest reason to stockpile primal shadows, but i dunno how much use that stuff is (not in BT atm.)
that said -- if i had to farm primal shadow, i'd just circle around oshu'gun a lot. in the end, i don't think the quantity of mobs for shadow is any worse than say, air.
DrunkenPandaren Jul 26th 2007 8:46PM
Why does Shadowcloth needs primal Fire when it's used in a set that has nothing to do with fire?
Ugkul Jul 26th 2007 9:20PM
I thought the prices have gone up a bit. Not too much but still higher.
Tiforix Jul 26th 2007 9:36PM
I discovered the Primal Shadow to Primal Water transmute just days after the patch that changed the drop rate. I thought "Cool! I'm in the money now!"
Well, the way prices are now, I'm better off continuing to transmute Earth to Water rather than Shadow to Water.
Just my luck. :P
Grimtar Jul 26th 2007 9:48PM
Auction House Primal Shadow prices (on Korgath, at least) are much higher now. They were on par with Primal Earth at 3-5g each a month ago. When they announced the change, I bought up a couple of stacks predicting a hike. Prices are now up to 10-15g, which puts them on par with Life.
Pook Jul 26th 2007 9:39PM
The Spellfire robe for instance requires 23 primal fire... you don't just happen across 230 motes of fire, while playing the game.. you are obviously supposed to farm them..
Regis Jul 26th 2007 10:32PM
On my server the prices has gone up. From under 1g / Primal Shadow before the change to 5-7g / Primal nowadays.
thegarz Jul 27th 2007 12:08AM
Subtlety to Cloak = 8 primal shadow.
watch 2.2 as the price skyrockets. i've already stockpiled 70 (i am an enchatner too)
IKT Jul 27th 2007 12:38AM
6pm: Get home from work and turn on wow
6:10: Daily quests in tekkor
7:00: Head to Kara/Gruul/Mag
10:30: Head to Ogrilla and complete dailys there
11:30: Start farming motes of water/fire/shadow/dreaming glory/netherbloom/fish/whatever
3am: finish
a couple weeks later:
6pm: stare at my epiced out self and realise I've still got 4k more gold to acquire for an epic mount :(
Qualm Jul 27th 2007 1:00AM
Personally, I spent countless hours finishing my Windhawk set.
As a Resto Druid who raids, it was difficult, to say the least.
Push came to shove, and I literally leveled my warlock (then 65) to 70, just to making farming a bit more easier.
Overall, I needed
42 Primal Airs,
6 Primal Waters,
6 Primal Earth
6 Primal Fire
6 Primal Mana
48 Wind Scales
18 Heavy Knothide and
3 Primal Nethers.
Not to mention I'm not a skinner, so I had to farm WITH three separate people for the leather/scales
(And I had to level leatherworking to 375. Just an example, I had to make 10 pairs of Heavy Clefthoof Boots just for the last 5 skill points. Which in case you didn't know, is about 1000+gold worth of mats alone.)
I broke down and bought or transmuted most of the Primals needed for this and my warlock's Frozen Shadoweave.
Hopefully, this is the last big thing I'll farm for.
Zghuk Jul 27th 2007 2:41AM
I am horde on a RP-PvP-server with a low/middle population.
Before the patch you couldnt sell any primal shadow, but now we have prices about 15g. primal fire is about 20-25g.
poster Jul 27th 2007 3:19AM
I bought about 500 shadow for approx 2g ea before the patch that lowered droprates.
I now sold them all bar about 150 for average 12g. If there are plenty on AH I dont bother listing any.
I love the lowered droprate. Paid for my epic flyer.
Grodzan Jul 27th 2007 8:01AM
Primal has gone up somewhat on my server but is still very cheap. I think some of it is demand. The reason primal fire is so expensive is because it is used in so many crafting patterns. Also, there just aren't very many good places to farm fire. I see no problem with shadow. It's fire I have issues with. Just add another place where we can grind them plz....
Tnik Jul 27th 2007 9:18AM
Do not be fooled, Blizz is going to do whatever it takes to keep you paying your monthly subscription. The effort to acquire materials for crafting will always be a grind.
Race Bannon Jul 27th 2007 9:47AM
Well as I wasn't yet at the primal farming stage when the shadow nerf went into effect, I'm not sure where prices were. However needing 36 Primal Shadow for my Ebon Netherscale set, and finding drop rates on Void creaters at 20% or lower, I did check my AH prices after the nerf. They were going in the 20+G range. For those prices I farmed... :(
@12 I feel your pain on the clefthoof boots. I'm still trying to AH a few pairs and make back 1/3 of the mat cost. :(
Wasyl Jul 27th 2007 11:25AM
@16: The price of my subscription is the same whether I play 10 minutes or 10 days every month, so money is no justification for a heavy emphasis on grinding.
ErsatzPotato Jul 27th 2007 6:20PM
"'you should get every craft item you need just by sweeping the landscape while you level,'"
It's a pleasant dream. Never been that way in WoW. There's no story here.
Jason Jul 27th 2007 9:17PM
@19
!FT
after doing my time being a hardcore tradeskill grinder in EQ(just shy of the 2100 club :( ), even i don't agree with that comment...
tradeskills/professions are not mandatory to play your class...they simply make life easier...got a few holes in your gear? make a new item to fill something out...don't feel like buying food? make it!..problem solved...
any person who claims that professions should be handed to them on a platter needs to be slapped...it's sickening to see more and more games get dumbed down for the (insert choice word here...i suggest idiotic, retarded, lazy, ignorant, etc etc)...
endgame professions should be *HARD*....you shouldn't be able to walk out, kill one mob, then be able to bankroll your epic mount in a matter of minutes...
you want the big payoff, you need to get off your fat lazy ass, invest the time, and get it done...otherwise, maybe you need to go play something easier...like rock paper scissors
@10...
if you don't have hours to spend farming motes for a blue, then maybe you need to spend your time doing something more productive that doesn't involve doing something OPTIONAL....go cry emo kid...
--j