Breakfast Topic: What's your character's job?
by Andrew Ross 
Nov 12th 2011 at 8:00AM
No no, this isn't about roleplay. You've got gold in your pockets, but it didn't just magically end up there. You've done something to earn it (unless you've, you know, bought it -- for shame!).
In-game gold's always been easy for me, but I think it's partially because I love gathering. Yeah, you heard me. I'm the guy who has a bank character, bank, and mailbox full of ore, leather, gems, and odds and ends. Sure, I do my share of adventuring, getting dailies done while I search for blood and glory -- but you better believe that if I find someone messing with my Azshara's Veil when I'm trying to do an escort, there will be blood. I'm a farmer, plain and simple.
It wasn't always this way, though. There have been times where I offered my services for a significantly reduced fee so that people would buy from me instead of the Auction House. I'd gather loads of ore and gems, find the AH prices of them, and offer them at a much lower price than what was on the AH (but still at a profit compared to the cost of crafting). It got to the point where I didn't even need to use trade chat to get customers -- they'd PM me while I was gathering resources. My ignore list was filled with names of my AH-PVP victims who wanted to make higher profits with less effort. I was a jewelcrafter for hire.
What is your character's job? Do you make money by teaming up with lesser-skilled PVPers for Arena ratings? Maybe you lead raids for cash? Or perhaps you run a shady tavern in Elwynn Forest doing odd jobs for people?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mycroft Nov 12th 2011 8:30AM
Me, I get most of my gold through trade goods flipping. Any time trade goods (light leather, sungrass, saronite, etc) dip below a certain percentage of estimated market price, I'll snap them up and resell. I especially like it when farmers post a week's worth of gathering all at once, for a low priced-to-move point, as it lets me build up a stock and resell in smaller chunks, to prevent the market price from dipping too low due to oversupply.
I haven't gotten far with advanced AH stuff, like leveraging professions to turn raw mats into finished products to resell for a profit. I especially shy away from the gem and glyph markets. I hear it's pretty cutthroat with a lot of canceling and relisting.
hotek Nov 12th 2011 8:37AM
My main, Hotek, is a disc priest. Due to his dab-handiness at tailoring, he makes his money where he can by stitching spellthread into people's trousers. Of course his income is supplemented by the gold he earns by running (often tedious) errands for the general Horde public, and the ever-present demand for bags certainly helps. He always meant to pick up a gathering proficiency along the way, but never got around to doing it. Perhaps he could start picking flowers while he's on his travels...
razion Nov 12th 2011 8:36AM
Odd jobs tend to consist of being the judge for costume contests, being the moderator of other RP groups (acting as a 'computer' to determine events, such as "did that guy get trampled by the mammoth or did he get tossed into the ravine". I ran a charity project (on the same RP realm) two years ago, with the people who helped last year skimping the following year for reasons never clarified. This year, as it will be mostly a self-run campaign, I'll be constricting it to the guild, as I don't see as many donations (I'm not too good at the whole advertising shindig, and I honestly don't make the most jolly Saint Winter's Veil).
I'd held fishing events off the coast of Northrend back in Wrath, and a dungeon soloing contest as well as character leveling contest more recently. People will come in, put gold in the pot to be given to the winner, with people given the option after the event to donate to future projects and such. Admittedly most of the time the gold is small, but every ten events or so an anonymous contributor will send a huge wad of gold my way via alts for thanks for making the realm "brighter" with all the things I do.
Normally I just do them to have a good time, but the gold is sometimes a good bonus. Admittedly I enjoy not having to run dailies when I don't want to fund buying new gems, buckles, etc.
Meighan Nov 12th 2011 8:48AM
My main is a specialty goods blacksmith. I run enough heroics to have chaos orbs, and did the hyjal dailies for long enough to have the patterns. When I feel low on funds or interested in the AH game, I buy ore and sell cut gems and/or belt buckles. And of course, the heroics to keep me in chaos orbs are worth about 100g each.
Of course, that's only my main. My shaman made a pretty decent chunk of gold from selling darkmoon cards earlier in cata, but has been unsuccessful so far in breaking in to the glyph market. My mage is a skinner/herbalist, mainly for purpose of passing herbs to the shaman and my priest, and leather to my druid.
The priest is an alchemist, but I haven't really played around with selling things she can make.
My warlock runs a brisk business in enchants, enchanting mats and boe items. Sometimes she sells a spellthread, if she's really broke.
toofat2serve Nov 12th 2011 8:57AM
What is that addon that dims the repeats in trade?
Ice Nov 12th 2011 2:35PM
One that can do it is Badboy and its plugin called BadBoy_CCleaner which filters all an**l and dirge (and other realm-exclusive things of your own choice) spam from trade if you so desire.
Theres choice of either being transparentish grey (pictured) or going totally away..
Oh and CCleaner also removes the spam of "has marked X with SKULL" spam it seems
Ominous Nov 12th 2011 9:06AM
It doesn't matter what your job is.
If you're shouting about something other than trade, in trade, you have issues.
babywhiz Nov 12th 2011 9:43AM
Did you say 'Thunderfury....."?
Revnah Nov 12th 2011 9:23AM
I'm a gatherer as well, I especially love mining but I enjoy herblore too. Skinning is not really my thing, but I do it too on occasion.
Typically I'll mine and then prospect and sell cut gems (keeping the green ones for fire prisms). I'm a pathological collector of JC designs from old expansions and I swear that one day, I'll have all the patterns!
My net worth goes up slowly but steadily :-)
mibu.work1 Nov 12th 2011 9:38AM
*read in the voice of Tychus Findley, or perhaps Governor Pappy' O'Daniels*
Well, ah dunno about all ya'll, but I make mah living as a simple, country baker. Mah Cocolate cookies are known throughout the isles, and jess so you know, they're good for the achievment 'You'll Feel Right As Rain'. It's gotten to the point that when ah advertise mah wares, all kindsa folks come outa the woodwork to say 'Oh boy, Sticks is at it again'. Nobody can compete with mah prices, as ah sell more cookies than anybody else, ah created the market! So mosey on down to the echo-isles auction house, buy up a whole mess of mah famous chocolate cookies, and ah guarantee, you'll feel 1000% better!
Swifteye Nov 12th 2011 9:57AM
Skinning! Skinning skinning skinning skinning! I can keep at it for hours!
I usually farm the dragons in the Pale Roost in Deepholm; between the leather and the scales they drop, I sell a boatload of the DPS leg armors. I sell the leathers and the Pristine Hides just raw sometimes, I also make a decent amount of gold selling the volatiles from the Bloated Stomachs, and since those dragons have an elite loot table, they drop greens way more often than most other mobs. So I also can make pretty decent gold from DEing all those and selling the mats, particularly the essences.
I also love how killing/skinning remains the hardest gathering method to bot, so my competition is largely nonexistent! :D
lolikitty Nov 12th 2011 12:48PM
I'm like you, to me there's something inexplicably satisfying about killing and skinning, not to mention discovering a place full of dead skinnable mobs scattered around after somebody's been questing / farming, which pretty much feels like Christmas' eve (thar may or may not be an overreaction)
EverythingRuned Nov 12th 2011 10:09AM
I'm really not sure where my money comes from. Sure, I sold belt buckles in wrath and would buy ore and vendor the green gems back when you could do that.
I think most of it comes as a side effect from solo activities- grinding reps/running through old quests/etc. To be honest I like doing whatever I can on my own rather than depending on the auction house, it makes me feel like i'm in an immersive world somehow. It's also necessarya on a dead server. I farmed up those pearls for enchanting rods in old azshara, and I liked it.
I really should find a niche in the economy- I don't have enough money to buy the various gold sinks. A couple of alts still have slow flying ;_;.
B1ue Nov 12th 2011 10:14AM
Because I am an enormous dork, I made up a healer's oath for my main during a raid last week. That's my main's job, putting various bits of my guildies back into their armor where it belongs. Between 5 mans, raids, and the odd JC job, I make ends meet.
"I am a healer. I stand between darkness and light, between life and the grey, between stupidity and consequence. My enemy has no face, no uniform, no faction, no health pool, and I will fight him until to the last ditch."
hotek Nov 12th 2011 10:31AM
Our comrades our our weapons and we are their shields. While we draw breath they shall not perish!
Andrew Nov 12th 2011 10:59AM
I think I love you both.
Massumma10 Nov 12th 2011 11:02AM
I've never been exorbatantly rich in WoW gold. Never broken 15k. My paladin makes ends meat as a scribe, selling the occasional darkmoon card to someone trying to complete a deck, or by selling fortune cards. On my DK tank, I always list the pets I get from the satchel on the AH. Recently sold an Emerald Whelpling for 10k. He's also a blacksmith, and sells the occasion crafted epic.
bountyhunterah Nov 12th 2011 11:06AM
My main's an engineer/Scribe, I have a JC alt, a BS alt, a Alchemy/LW alt, and a Tailor/Enchanter alt....... and like 2 gathering alts. But I make my golds (as I need them) from either making pets (from eng or tailoring) or Questing (which is what I do mostly).
Spiderz Nov 12th 2011 11:17AM
I usually just farm Ore and make Hunter weapons/scopes main is Engi/Miner makes decent money when I grind it out for a few hours a week when I need it.
VioletArrows Nov 12th 2011 11:44AM
My main in true hunter fashion is an animal trapper. Although I'll confess not a very good one (Wednesday, I finally saw my second Pristine Hide of the entire expansion). The hides are good gold, though. She also deals in refurbishing good and rare equipment taken from some of her kills...