Mists of Pandaria: Glyphmas 2012 for scribes is right around the corner
by Fox Van Allen 
Apr 2nd 2012 at 12:00PM
Once upon a time, all was quiet throughout the land. Players had made glyph choices throughout Wrath, and they were good. Scribes made decent money.
Then came patch 4.0.1. The opening salvo of Cataclysm, the Shattering, didn't just break the world. It broke players' glyph setups, as well. A slew of new glyph options were added to the game. Players had to choose nine glyphs, up from six. At the very least, everyone had to buy three new glyphs. For glyph sellers, times were good -- so good, in fact, that the magical time post-patch 4.0.1 was dubbed Glyphmas.
We've already been told that major changes will be coming to glyphs once more for the pre-Mists of Pandaria patch 5.0.1. Prime glyphs are disappearing. A whole slew of new minor glyphs are being added to the game to promote fun. The opportunity for another Glyphmas is clearly present.
But will scribes experience the same kind of gold rush they did at the end of the last expansion? What's different this time around? And what, exactly, is the best way to prepare to cash in?
Glyphmas 2012 versus Glyphmas 2010
So, clearly, there are going to be some differences between the upcoming Glyphmas 2012 and the Glyphmas of yore. Namely, Blizzard is removing a class of glyphs from the game (prime glyphs) instead of adding one. That's not really a compelling point when it comes to making money -- Blizzard's removing something from the game is hardly going to make us rich.
At the same time, though, Blizzard is adding a large number of new minor glyphs. Predictably, some of these new minor glyphs will be replacing some old ones being taken out of the game. That's exactly what happens when you sign in to the beta under your existing account -- some of your old glyphs are gone, but your character already has new ones in place.A lot of glyphs are being added to the game for Mists of Pandaria, including Glyph of the Stag, Glyph of the Orca, Glyph of the Chameleon, and Glyph of Claw. All of these have unique six-digit item identification codes on Wowhead. But when my max-level scribe logged on to the beta server, he already had the ability to craft all of them.
Glyphmas 2010 was profitable largely because people were required to buy a minimum of three new glyphs if they wanted to have all slots filled. That's not the case this time. But aside from that, all other aspects of Glyphmas 2010 are going to be in play for Glyphmas 2012. There will be plenty of new players rolling new pandaren characters, and they'll all need to buy glyphs. Existing players will be looking for the new, best glyphs.
Glyphmas 2012 is going to be very merry indeed.
Brace yourself for the flood now
Regardless of whether or not there's a huge rush on new glyphs by level 85 players, there will definitely be a rush on glyphs by newly minted pandaren. In short, we know that glyphs will be in high demand immediately after Mists of Pandaria launches, and likely, in the months preceding the launch as well. Smart players will brace themselves for the changes now.
What does that mean? Well, if you're not a scribe, the best tack for you may be to learn all the available glyphs now while they're still cheap. The less desirable glyphs can often sell for mere silver or even copper, depending on how many leveling scribes are trying to unload their wares. And as we said, many of these lamer glyphs will be turning into something more useful.
For scribes, the route ahead is a bit more tricky. Using what happened in the lead-up to Cataclysm as a guide, we know a few things. First, we know that prior to the launch of the current expansion, Ink of the Sea was no longer usable as currency to trade for other types of ink.
In Wrath, scribes would often trade Ink of the Sea for other inks, much the same way scribes trade Blackfallow Ink at the Ink Trader today. But if you'll recall, Blizzard stopped allowing these types of trades in November 2010, a full month before Cataclysm launched. That caused price increases across the board; inks got more expensive, low-level herbs got more expensive, and glyphs got more expensive.We don't know if a similar change will hit prior to the launch of Mists of Pandaria, but there's no reason why you shouldn't be prepared for it now. Cinderbloom and Whiptail are relatively cheap right now and relatively plentiful, to boot. If you're thinking about trying to cash in on Glyphmas 2012, or even if you just want to be ready to avoid higher prices for when you're outfitting your own pandas, the time to act is now. Buy up herbs, make Blackfallow Ink, and trade down for some lower-level inks. Or, if it's cheaper to do so, buy the lower-level herbs now and make the low-level ink directly. There's very little risk involved here -- maybe a few hundred gold's worth. But the reward could be huge.
If you don't have a scribe, or if your scribe isn't leveled up to 525 ... well, what are you waiting for? Leveling the profession is cheaper and easier now than it's ever been before. Take advantage of those Darkmoon Faire quests offering those free five skill points. You don't want to be scrambling to level your profession when everyone else is churning out glyphs.
Maximize your profits with advice from Gold Capped. Want to know the very best ways to earn 10,000 gold? Top gold making strategies for auctioneers? How about how to reach 1 million gold -- or how one player got there and then gave it all away? Fox and Basil are taking your questions at fox@wowinsider.com and basil@wowinsider.com.
Filed under: Economy, Gold Capped
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
LordVashtal Apr 2nd 2012 12:13PM
Man, you got my hopes up. Figured there was news on the "Book of Glyph Mastery" situation...
Rust Apr 2nd 2012 12:21PM
As someone not in beta and not around for the last Glyphmas (although it might not pertain), what happens to existing crafted glyphs? Let's say I have a Glyph of Metamorphosis in my inventory, and since Primes are gone, will this be automatically converted? Will it become useless?
wow Apr 2nd 2012 12:28PM
Each item in the game has it's own individual number assigned to it. If Blizzard didn't assign anything to that number and just deleted it, then that glyph will most likely disappear from your inventory. Or, if the assigned one of the new glyphs to that number, it may change to the new glyph.
Though, my money is even if a new glyph is assigned that old number, it'll still be deleted. They don't want to give anyone an unfair advantage. Though, it may be nice to be surprised.
Then again, I could be way off base here.
Shinanji
suzurambles Apr 2nd 2012 12:35PM
Last time I believe that some of the glyphs automatically changed to their new forms, others that no long existed turned into some gray item "brunt glyph" or "faded glyph", something like that.
Artificial Apr 2nd 2012 3:16PM
@wow: Yes, you're way off base. If the new glyph has the same ID as an old one, the item is simply transformed, because it's not really a new glyph in that case, it's just the new version of the old glyph; even if the old version was "Glyph of Hot Fireballs" and the new one is "Glyph of Tasty Popsicles", as far as the game is concerned, it's the same glyph.
icepyro Apr 2nd 2012 3:17PM
In the previous Glyphmas, any glyphs that were no longer used turned into a grey item that sold to vendors for 10 silver or something. There really weren't that many, but there were some.
G01851 Apr 2nd 2012 12:26PM
How about making all glyphs available by research? The slew of WOTLK glyphs learned from the books is a PITA to level nowadays, the books are few and far between, and rather spendy on AH.
twbrienn Apr 2nd 2012 12:35PM
One thing I'd like to point out. My transferred toons, my lives toons that I copied over, had all the glyphs already learned. While we are getting new glyphs, Blizzard has in the past simply converted old glyphs into new glyphs when the old ones went away. And there are a lot of old glyphs going away. Glyphmas may be a lot shorter than originally considered.
twbrienn Apr 2nd 2012 12:38PM
One thing I'd like to point out. My transferred toons, my lives toons that I copied over, had all the glyphs already learned. While we are getting new glyphs, Blizzard has in the past simply converted old glyphs into new glyphs when the old ones went away. And there are a lot of old glyphs going away. Glyphmas may be a lot shorter than originally considered.
twbrienn Apr 2nd 2012 12:39PM
Damn lack of confirmation of posting.
Daedalus Apr 2nd 2012 12:41PM
Personally, I'm not expecting anywhere near as big a haul.
One of the biggest things about 2008's glyph-pocalypse was a fundamental change to how glyphs worked; instead of needing a new copy of the glyph every time you wanted to get it back, now, you knew them forever. Before 4.0.1, for each class there were a handful of glyphs that sold very well, and a whole lot that never sold. Once the patch hit, that meant that there was much less demand for the "popular" glyphs, but that there was much more demand for the ones that previously had languished.
An important thing to consider is: in my experience, a lot of players are completionists to one degree or another. When 4.0.1, there were absolute tons of people who wanted to go out and buy every single glyph for their characters, needing to see all those grayed out icons go away.
Nothing like that is going to happen with MoP. Sure, there will be a ton of new characters, pandas and monks alike. Sure, we'll see a resurgence of characters, also adding to the market. Sure, the new glyphs that don't automatically replace older ones will sell like hotcakes for a while. However, when 4.0.1 hit, I ended up sitting up all night making and listing glyphs, because they sold as fast as I could create them. I just don't see that happening in 5.0.
In other words, yeah, the glyph business will be great (and cutthroat) at launch, but not necessarily more so than any other profession. (Except engineering, which, to my everlasting chagrin, will never, ever be hugely profitable.)
Nina Katarina Apr 2nd 2012 12:54PM
Just you wait. Someday, Blizz will take up my suggestion of a BoE Portable Anvil for engineers, and every non-engineer will go broke buying them to drop on worgen heads while shouting "Meep meep!"
Daedalus Apr 2nd 2012 2:48PM
And on that day, I will consider all years as a suffering engineer worth it.
Oh, who am I kidding? I'd still take it as my main profession, even if all we got was the goggles... There's simply no more appropriate headwear for a gnome. (And they're one of the few headpieces that still let me show off my pink mohawk.)
Orrine Apr 2nd 2012 12:51PM
That stag model is hideous. They should use Malorne instead http://www.wowhead.com/npc=52665#screenshots:id=236909
greenskye Apr 2nd 2012 1:23PM
Agreed. I don't know why they decided to replace an outdated, blocky cheetah model with an outdated, blocky stag model. Doesn't look anywhere close to the same level of polish as the cat/bear forms.
Hopefully they change it, but I doubt they will. Looks like this was just a fun thing they threw in.
Still I rather have blocky stag model than no options. And the fact that you become a ridable mount is awesome as well.
Orrine Apr 3rd 2012 2:48AM
Well, since we can be mounted now, there must be a glyph which allows us to be tamed.
predets Apr 2nd 2012 12:55PM
Question about Northrend Inscription Research and Minor Inscription Research - Are there any factors that play for how often you get a new glyph? I'm @525 and have one minor left to get but have been unsuccessful at least 30 times....The same goes for NR. I have well over 20 glyphs to learn but haven't learned a new one for the past 4 days.
Toliman Apr 2nd 2012 1:17PM
For scribes that are having awful RNG, just persevere. And buy some of the books. Or farm lv80 heroics once a week, the loot is terrible, but the chances are higher of getting books of glyph mastery via halls of stone loot, etc. some of the glyphs will be locked to BoGM, and others, well, will take months. It is not designed to be a fair profession, just tedious, especially the unlock RNG
And then you get the fun of trying to sell the damn things.
PonTelon Apr 2nd 2012 2:30PM
Pretty sure the research will work 100% of the time as long as you have something left to learn.
I'm thinking the only ones you still need are the ones from Book of Glyph Mastery, which is a super-rare drop from WotLK drops, and this stupid-expensive on most AHs.
eel5pe Apr 2nd 2012 2:39PM
I'm pretty sure research has a 100% success rate until you learn everything. There's no RNG involved other than what glyph you get. If you're missing one minor glyph, I'm guessing it's one available at a vendor somewhere, go Wowhead it.