WoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gifWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comen-usCopyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/WoW Insider ShowEvery week, the WoW Insider Show brings you news and views from the World of Warcraft and the site that covers it all, WoW Insider. We introduce a panel of rotating guests, including bloggers from WoW Insider and other WoW blogs, and many popular personalities from around the WoW community. From the live listener chat and polls during the show, to the emails direct from listeners (reach us at theshow@wow.com), right on to the "meat" of the show -- in-depth discussion of the most popular news and posts on WoW Insider -- the WoW Insider Show is a terrific source of news and entertainment about what's going on with Blizzard and their World of Warcraft. Listen live every Saturday at 3:30 pm Eastern on our Ustream page (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wow-insider-show) or subscribe to the feed and let us know what you think by reviewing the show right here in iTunes.A First Look at Mists of Pandaria Professions: Engineeringhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/21/a-first-look-at-mists-of-pandaria-professions-engineering/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/21/a-first-look-at-mists-of-pandaria-professions-engineering/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/21/a-first-look-at-mists-of-pandaria-professions-engineering/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him.

I've said it before and I'll say it again -- if you're not having fun while playing World of Warcraft, you're doing it wrong. Sure, raiding is great, and so is having pockets full of gold. But if you don't find either of those fun, then why bother? Find something that is fun.

Fun, of course, is what the engineering profession is all about. It's certainly not about money, after all -- engineers make very few things that non-engineers can use. But while you're struggling to make money in MoP, you'll at least be getting a lot of new perks to enjoy while doing all that struggling. There are cool new pets, new conveniences, new gear, a new world-altering device, and even new mounts -- yes, mounts with an s!

Exciting times are most definitely ahead for engineers. So strap on your goggles and have a robot roll up your sleeves -- we're going to dive right in.

Continue reading A First Look at Mists of Pandaria Professions: Engineering

WoW InsiderA First Look at Mists of Pandaria Professions: Engineering originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 21 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>blingtron-4000depleted-kyparium-rocketeasy-goldengineeringengineering-previewfarming-guidefeaturedg91-landsharkgeosynchronous-world-spinnerghost-iron-dragonlinggoblin-glidergoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsmechano-hogmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-engineeringmists-of-pandaria-professionsmoprainier-wolfcastleretinal-armorsteam-filled-balloonthermal-anvilworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewormhole-generatorwow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideFox Van AllenMon, 21 May 2012 16:00:00 ESTGold Capped: Things that still sell at the end of an expansionhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/18/gold-capped-things-that-still-sell-at-the-end-of-an-expansion/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/18/gold-capped-things-that-still-sell-at-the-end-of-an-expansion/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/18/gold-capped-things-that-still-sell-at-the-end-of-an-expansion/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen and Fox Van Allen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Check out Fox and Basil's reboot of Call To Auction, and email Basil with your questions, comments, or hate mail!

The end of an expansion is a tough time to make gold. There's a lot more competition for a lot less demand. Many people see gold-making as a nice casual way to play while they wait for the next content dump, and fewer people are playing seriously (which is the root of demand for a lot of popular and profitable markets). To top it all off, we know that inflation is going to take a huge chunk out of our net worth when Mists launches, and there are a bunch of new things to save money up for. What kind of things can you still sell to make a profit?

Continue reading Gold Capped: Things that still sell at the end of an expansion

WoW InsiderGold Capped: Things that still sell at the end of an expansion originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>altsend-of-expansiongoldgold-makingmarket-makerpetssell-transmog-geartransmog-setwow-goldBasil BerntsenFri, 18 May 2012 12:00:00 ESTWowscan: A new tool for making goldhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/wowscan-a-new-tool-for-making-gold/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/wowscan-a-new-tool-for-making-gold/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/wowscan-a-new-tool-for-making-gold/#commentsFiled under:

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I have had my hand in the cookie jar that is the Auction House a few times during Cataclysm, and if there's one thing I learned, it's that information is your best friend. I downloaded Auctioneer / Auctionator to spot cheap bids and track how my own sales were doing. I browsed The Undermine Journal for data like average prices, standard deviations, and recent auctions. Even WoW Insider's own Gold Capped column helped me identify potential markets and provided general advice. All of these things made my profits possible.

Well, a new tool has entered the mix: Wowscan. I have to admit, at first it struck me as a bit too much like The Undermine Journal. Certainly Wowscan works very similar in that it scans auction data and posts it on its site in a searchable format. Now, I'm no Basil or even a Fox, but after some experimentation it seems to me that there are a few advantages and disadvantages to a site like Wowscan in comparison to TUJ.

First of all, and probably the biggest difference that I've noticed, is that Wowscan has the ability to compile all of its realm data into one searchable list. For example, if you wanted to find the absolute cheapest auction of Reins of the Swift Spectral Tiger, all you have to do is select All Realms and search for it. From all of my dealings with TUJ, I have never found the option to search all of the realms at once. Since most of my use of TUJ was focused on a single realm, searching multiple realms at once never really became an issue for me. This function becomes valuable when you are looking to buy an ultra-rare item and don't care how much money you have to spend on realm transfers to get it.

Continue reading Wowscan: A new tool for making gold

WoW InsiderWowscan: A new tool for making gold originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>auction-housebreakingwow-goldwowscanDan DesmondTue, 08 May 2012 17:00:00 ESTShould you change professions for Mists of Pandaria?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/should-you-change-professions-for-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/should-you-change-professions-for-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/08/should-you-change-professions-for-mists-of-pandaria/#commentsFiled under: , ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him.

Last week here in Gold Capped, I gave you a sneak peek at the alchemy profession in Mists of Pandaria, including some of the new potions, flasks, and transmutes available to those willing to put in the work. That column apparently got a lot of you thinking, because immediately afterward, I got no fewer than three emails from players asking if they should change their professions to alchemy -- or more generally, whether or not they should switch to a better profession.

It's a question to which there's no easy answer. Each profession has the potential to be profitable -- some more so than others, sure. But one person might make millions of gold from inscription, for example, while another player struggles to make a few silver.

Aside from knowledge (which you're all getting right here from Gold Capped, natch), what's the biggest factor regarding a profession's profitability? It's your playstyle. Certain professions lend themselves to the weekend Auction House warrior, while others reward daily persistence. So what profession is right for you? And should you change to that profession for Mists of Pandaria?

Continue reading Should you change professions for Mists of Pandaria?

WoW InsiderShould you change professions for Mists of Pandaria? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 08 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>easy-goldfarming-guidefeaturedgoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipshow-to-make-money-in-mists-of-pandariamists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-professionsmopnew-professionsprofessionsswitching-professionsworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideFox Van AllenTue, 08 May 2012 09:00:00 ESTA first look at Mists of Pandaria professions: Alchemyhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/30/a-first-look-at-mists-of-pandaria-professions-alchemy/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/30/a-first-look-at-mists-of-pandaria-professions-alchemy/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/30/a-first-look-at-mists-of-pandaria-professions-alchemy/#commentsFiled under: , ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him.

One of the most common questions I get as WoW Insider's (other) resident Auction House guru is this: What professions are going to be the best in Mists of Pandaria? Arguably, there's no absolute right or wrong answer to the question -- after all, each profession is going to have its pros and cons. (I like to hedge my bets by giving different alts different professions to have a max level of each profession.)

That said, one of my favorite professions for the early days of any expansion is alchemy. It's likely one of your favorites, too, and there's no mystery as to why -- transmutes. In the earlier days of Cataclysm, it wasn't rare to see Truegold sell for more than 1,000 gold apiece. That provided a small profit to any alchemist, but for those lucky enough to see bonus procs, a single transmute could turn a 4,000 gold profit or better. Not bad for about 20 seconds' worth of work.

Of course, that was then; this is now. Will alchemy remain as stupidly profitable in the early days of Mists of Pandaria? Only one way to find out -- ladies and gentlemen, it's time to datamine! To the beta!

Continue reading A first look at Mists of Pandaria professions: Alchemy

WoW InsiderA first look at Mists of Pandaria professions: Alchemy originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>alchemistalchemyalchemy-specializationseasy-goldelixirsfarming-guidefeaturedgoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsmaking-money-through-alchemymists-of-pandaria-elixirsmists-of-pandaria-flasksmists-of-pandaria-potionsmists-of-pandaria-transmutesmop-eliixrsmop-flasksmop-potionsmop-transmutestransmuteworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideFox Van AllenMon, 30 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST3 items to unload and 3 to stock up on before Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/3-items-to-unload-and-3-to-stock-up-on-before-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/3-items-to-unload-and-3-to-stock-up-on-before-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/3-items-to-unload-and-3-to-stock-up-on-before-mists-of-pandaria/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him.

As we approach the end of the Cataclysm expansion -- there are maybe four months left -- playing the Auction House gets a bit trickier. There's less enthusiasm on the part of buyers. More scary, though, is that the launch of Mists of Pandaria is about to render a lot of markets obsolete. It happened in Wrath and in The Burning Crusade too -- those potions and flasks that were top of the line suddenly became worthless. Gear that once cost thousands of gold could be had for hundreds. It's the nature of our in-game hobby. If you sit on stock, you're going to lose a fortune. (Shamefully, it happened to me out of laziness.)

But not everything is set to crash. A few select items are going to increase in value, if not in the days leading up to MoP, then shortly after launch. These are the items you need to fill your bank tabs with. But which ones are they? What should you sell ASAP, and what should you buy?

Continue reading 3 items to unload and 3 to stock up on before Mists of Pandaria

WoW Insider3 items to unload and 3 to stock up on before Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>buying-petseasy-goldEmbersilk-Clothfarming-guidefeaturedgoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsinscription-inklow-level-inkmaelstrom-crystalmists-of-pandariaMOPmysterious-fortune-cardspandatimequeens-garnetselling-petsvanity-petswhat-to-buywhat-to-sellworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideFox Van AllenMon, 16 Apr 2012 14:00:00 ESTMeet the new million-gold jewelcrafting mountshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/meet-the-new-million-gold-jewelcrafting-mounts/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/meet-the-new-million-gold-jewelcrafting-mounts/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/meet-the-new-million-gold-jewelcrafting-mounts/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him.

I had an absolute blast with Mat McCurley, Mike Sacco, and Alex Ziebart at PAX East 2012 this weekend. If you've been living under a rock, the four of us put on a great live panel discussion in front of about 200 to 300 excited fans. We met our fans (you!), gave away a ton of crazy awesome prizes (including immortality as a WoW Trading Card Game card), and had a lot of fun. We also discussed the big news of the day, which was the new Mists of Pandaria beta patch.

There's a lot of news in there for class columnists. But of interest to us as those who make and break the WoW economy, we've unearthed a new mount for jewelcrafters. And another mount for jewelcrafters. And another. And another. And yet a fifth. Yes, you heard me -- there are no fewer than five new JC mounts in the beta files.

If any jewelcrafters in the audience are salivating, they have a right to be. These new mounts could be a veritable bonanza for those who take the time to craft them. And they could wind up saving the World of Warcraft economy at the same time.

Continue reading Meet the new million-gold jewelcrafting mounts

WoW InsiderMeet the new million-gold jewelcrafting mounts originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>easy-goldfarming-guidefeaturedgoldgold-capgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipshow-to-make-money-from-jewelcraftingjewelcrafting-mountjeweled-onyx-panthermillion-goldpantherworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideFox Van AllenTue, 10 Apr 2012 19:00:00 ESTTaking charge of your gold in the first days of Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/06/taking-charge-of-your-gold-in-the-first-days-of-mists-of-pandari/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/06/taking-charge-of-your-gold-in-the-first-days-of-mists-of-pandari/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/06/taking-charge-of-your-gold-in-the-first-days-of-mists-of-pandari/#commentsFiled under: , ,

chopper monks
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen and Fox Van Allen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Check out Fox and Basil's reboot of Call To Auction, and email Basil with your questions, comments, or hate mail!

The first few days of an expansion are a little like the wild west. This week, Gold Capped received an email about these first days:

I love your column on WoW Insider. It's been an eye opener for me on just how easy it can be to make some serious gold. That said, I didn't discover it until well after Cataclysm had launched, and so my question to you is; what were the first few days of the Cataclysm launch like economically, and what do you think I can expect from Mists of Pandaria? I had a blacksmith at the time of the Cata launch, and I remember spending exorbitant amounts of gold on ore/bars (he wasn't a miner). Is it a situation where, for the first few days, farming actually is worth doing, or are goods still worth making then? I have a bunch of 85s, all with worthwhile trade skills, and I'm just wondering what the best way will be to capitalize on the newness of the expansion.

The first few days of every new expansion, including Cataclysm, were a little crazy. The first thing you need to prepare for is the hyperinflation. Everyone will have more money, and they will all be spending it. Nothing gets people spending their savings like a new expansion. Pets will be battleable, new glyphs will be available, and everyone will be leveling professions. All this new demand is going to overwhelm the farmers, and for a while at least, the only cheap way to get materials will be to farm them yourself.

Continue reading Taking charge of your gold in the first days of Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderTaking charge of your gold in the first days of Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>expansionfirst-daysgoldinflationmake-goldmists-of-pandarianew-expansionpandariaBasil BerntsenFri, 06 Apr 2012 09:00:00 ESTMists of Pandaria: Glyphmas 2012 for scribes is right around the cornerhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/02/mists-of-pandaria-glyphmas-2012-for-scribes-is-right-around-the/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/02/mists-of-pandaria-glyphmas-2012-for-scribes-is-right-around-the/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/02/mists-of-pandaria-glyphmas-2012-for-scribes-is-right-around-the/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him. And be sure to catch the return of Basil and Fox's podcast, Call to Auction!

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?

Continue reading Mists of Pandaria: Glyphmas 2012 for scribes is right around the corner

WoW InsiderMists of Pandaria: Glyphmas 2012 for scribes is right around the corner originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>easy-goldfarming-guidefeaturedglyphmasgoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsinscriptionmaking-money-through-inscriptionmists-of-pandariapatch-5.0patch-5.0.1scribesworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideFox Van AllenMon, 02 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST3 things that will become more expensive in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/30/3-things-that-will-become-more-expensive-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/30/3-things-that-will-become-more-expensive-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/30/3-things-that-will-become-more-expensive-in-mists-of-pandaria/#commentsFiled under:

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen and Fox Van Allen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Check out Fox and Basil's reboot of Call To Auction, and email Basil with your questions, comments, or hate mail!

If you save every gold you have right now until the next expansion, you won't actually be any poorer than you currently are, but you sure will feel like you are. Assuming there are no new gold sinks, the amount of gold entering your characters' pockets is going to skyrocket, and they will all buy stuff you want, raising prices across the board. Farmers will make more from crafters, who will charge more for crafted goods.

World of Inflationcraft

Inflation is one of those universal truths like taxes and hunter envy. Unlike hunter envy, though, it can't be avoided by simply upgrading your main from a support class to a hunter. The best way to deal with it is to plan ahead and tie up as much of your money on things that will go up in price. You want to aim for things that will rise at least as much as inflation will erode the value of your savings.

Continue reading 3 things that will become more expensive in Mists of Pandaria

WoW Insider3 things that will become more expensive in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>goldgold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsmists-of-pandariaworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-goldwow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideBasil BerntsenFri, 30 Mar 2012 15:00:00 ESTHow I made 3,000 gold by level 30http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/22/how-i-made-3-000-gold-by-level-30/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/22/how-i-made-3-000-gold-by-level-30/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/22/how-i-made-3-000-gold-by-level-30/#commentsFiled under: ,

I rolled an alt a few weeks ago -- nothing special like the Ironman Challenge, but I had a moment where I wanted to level a character from 1 to 85 on another realm just for the heck of it. So I picked a random realm, medium population, and rolled a worgen. Why a worgen? Well, it had been a while since I'd played through the worgen starting zone, and since I'd recently seen just about everything the Horde had to offer on the 1-to-60 front, I wanted to replay the Alliance experience again.

So I rolled a worgen -- no heirlooms, no gold from outside sources, just me and the quests, like the old days of vanilla WoW. The most important part to me was that I was going to forgo buying any upgrade gear from the Auction House, instead using only what dropped from quests or instances. Call it a moment of vanilla nostalgia if you will, but that's exactly what I had to do on my first character back in 2004, so I was going to do it again. I expected it to be tough; I expected it to take a while before I could even afford a mount at level 20.

I was so, so wrong. By the time I hit level 30, I had a little over 3k gold on my random alt, with little to no effort on my part. And I'm going to tell you exactly how I did it.

It all started with a pair of boots.

Continue reading How I made 3,000 gold by level 30

WoW InsiderHow I made 3,000 gold by level 30 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>auction-housegoldlevelingquestingtransmogrificationtransmogrification-guideworld-of-warcraftwow-goldwow-gold-makingwow-gold-tipsAnne StickneyThu, 22 Mar 2012 21:00:00 ESTGold Capped: Transferring to a new serverhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/21/gold-capped-transferring-to-a-new-server/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/21/gold-capped-transferring-to-a-new-server/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/21/gold-capped-transferring-to-a-new-server/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him. And be sure to catch the return of Basil and Fox's podcast, Call to Auction!

In the game world, just as in the real world, prices of even the most basic of materials fluctuates based on your location. A hamburger in Beverly Hills costs more than a hamburger in Milwaukee. Heck, just about everything costs more in Beverly Hills -- that's just the way it goes. Your dollar is simply worth less there.

But what if we were going to move from Milwaukee to Beverly Hills? We could just brace ourselves and accept that we're going to have to pay more for hamburgers. Or, we could load up our car with hamburgers and resell them for a profit when we arrive.

That concept is probably a bit disgusting -- I wouldn't recommend a cross-country trip with a car filled to the brim with ground meat. But when it comes to realm transfers, the idea's right on the money. On some realms, gold is worth more. On other realms, the stuff you buy with gold is worth more. Making the most out of a server transfer (or indeed, making a realm transfer with the goal of making in-game money from it) is a skill that could make you rich overnight -- literally.

Continue reading Gold Capped: Transferring to a new server

WoW InsiderGold Capped: Transferring to a new server originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>easy-goldfarming-guidefeaturedgoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsmaking-gold-by-server-transferingserver-transfertransferring-serversworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideFox Van AllenWed, 21 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST3 things that need to change about WoW's auction househttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/16/3-things-that-need-to-change-about-wows-auction-house/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/16/3-things-that-need-to-change-about-wows-auction-house/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/16/3-things-that-need-to-change-about-wows-auction-house/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

ah interface
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen and Fox Van Allen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Check out Fox and Basil's reboot of Call To Auction, and email Basil with your questions, comments, or hate mail!

Of all the many things that could be done to make the Auction House a less frustrating and intimidating experience for players, three stand out to me. First, Blizzard needs to fix the insane inflation in the economy. Second, it needs to fix what people see when they click on an auctioneer, and lastly, it needs to allow farmers to fill buy orders instead of posting stock for sale. These three changes, if made, would greatly equalize the economy and serve to reduce the drudgery that the vast majority of players have to deal with.

What the heck are buy orders?

I'll start with buy orders because it's the least obvious issue. Right now, when a farmer wants to make some gold for a BoE or a mount or whatever, they go and farm and then come back to a city and dump everything they've made onto the AH. Nobody likes waiting for their money, and most farmers have been burned by a huge batch of goods coming back, minus the auctioneers' listing cut, unsold due to too much competition. In order to have to wait to lose money for all the hard work they did, they'll list their goods more cheaply than they're perhaps worth.

Continue reading 3 things that need to change about WoW's auction house

WoW Insider3 things that need to change about WoW's auction house originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>easy-goldfarming-guidefeaturedgoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideBasil BerntsenFri, 16 Mar 2012 09:00:00 ESTHow to fix professions for Mists of Pandaria: An open letter to Blizzardhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/how-to-fix-professions-for-mists-of-pandaria-an-open-letter-to/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/how-to-fix-professions-for-mists-of-pandaria-an-open-letter-to/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/12/how-to-fix-professions-for-mists-of-pandaria-an-open-letter-to/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him. And be sure to catch the return of Basil and Fox's podcast, Call to Auction!

Ladies and gentlemen who love the economic arts, today's column isn't for you. It's an open letter to Blizzard's game developers, with me begging on bent knee for them to improve our collective professions for Mists of Pandaria. Of course, you're free to read it too. In fact, I hope you do and add to it in the comment section.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a letter of complaint. Blizzard got an awful lot right this expansion, and I'm not going to be shy giving credit where credit is due. But there's always room for improvement. So let's roll up our sleeves, point out what needs fixing, and then hold the folks at Blizzard responsible for what we get next expansion.

So, you with me? If so, let's begin.

Dear Blizzard,

Continue reading How to fix professions for Mists of Pandaria: An open letter to Blizzard

WoW InsiderHow to fix professions for Mists of Pandaria: An open letter to Blizzard originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>easy-goldfarming-guidefeaturedfixing-professionsgoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsmists-of-pandamists-of-pandariaprofessionsworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideFox Van AllenMon, 12 Mar 2012 15:00:00 ESTCan the WoW economy tolerate a cartel?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/05/can-the-wow-economy-tolerate-a-cartel-monday/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/05/can-the-wow-economy-tolerate-a-cartel-monday/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/05/can-the-wow-economy-tolerate-a-cartel-monday/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him. And be sure to catch the return of Basil and Fox's podcast, Call to Auction!

One of the coolest things about studying the WoW economy -- at least for me -- is that there are a lot of interesting parallels between the fictional game world of Azeroth and the real world. Today, we're going to examine a very curious topic we've never discussed here before: cartels.

Writer Nick sent in an email last week, posing a very interesting hypothetical question:

Let's say you have a max level druid, I use druid as an example as they can fulfil all roles. To the best of your ability, you contact as many druids as possible on the server, which ideally would spread via word of mouth, and recruit your server's entire populace of druids into a single guild, a druid cartel if you will. From then on, if ANYONE on your server wants a druid for their raid, arena etc. they pay a premium to the guild in which profits are pooled, and all benefit. Perhaps you could have a comprehensive price structure in which say an ilvl 397 druid is at a higher premium than an ilvl 384 druid.

Do you think this idea is at all feasible, and does it go against any Blizzard rules? I can't help but giggle at the potential repercussions of something like this on any given realm.

Continue reading Can the WoW economy tolerate a cartel?

WoW InsiderCan the WoW economy tolerate a cartel? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>easy-goldfarming-guidefeaturedgoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideFox Van AllenMon, 05 Mar 2012 19:00:00 EST2 crafting professions that won't make you richhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/04/gold-capped-two-crafting-professions-that-wont-make-you-rich/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/04/gold-capped-two-crafting-professions-that-wont-make-you-rich/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/04/gold-capped-two-crafting-professions-that-wont-make-you-rich/#commentsFiled under: ,

glyph heat map
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen and Fox Van Allen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Check out Fox and Basil's reboot of Call To Auction, and email Basil with your questions, comments, or hate mail!

If you're trying to decide which professions to put on your character and you are considering their gold making potential, you'll want to avoid engineering and inscription. While they're not terrible if you consider their stat bonuses, they're not ideal for gold making on many realms.

Of course, every realm has its own ecosystem, and as with all advice you'll read from this column, you should check that the assumptions hold for your realm and faction. That said, by far the most common problems I have trouble helping people with are related to these two professions.

Inscription

I'll start with the one that's going to get me the angry comments first. Inscription has long been touted as a cornerstone of the money making meta game -- heck, it earned my esteemed colleague, Fox, his first million gold on Darkmoon Cards. Before that, we had "glyphsmas" when 4.0 hit and a steady level of demand for glyphs before that. We still have the stupidly profitable fortune card market that lets anyone open a tiny, Blizzard-sanctioned casino. So what's not to like?

Continue reading 2 crafting professions that won't make you rich

WoW Insider2 crafting professions that won't make you rich originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sun, 04 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>chopperdarkmoon-cardsengineeringglyphsgoldgold-makinginscriptionmysterious-fortune-cardspetsprofessionsranged-weaponsrelicsBasil BerntsenSun, 04 Mar 2012 20:00:00 ESTHow to make gold on a small realmhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/27/how-to-make-gold-on-a-small-realm/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/27/how-to-make-gold-on-a-small-realm/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/27/how-to-make-gold-on-a-small-realm/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him. And be sure to catch the return of Basil and Fox's podcast, Call to Auction!

Last week, you responded surprisingly well to my column about fixing the economies on smaller servers. There are some big ideas in there, from merging Auction Houses to allowing the creation of buy orders.

But there's a problem with big ideas -- they're unlikely to be embraced quickly. A lot of you are stuck on slow, economically depressed realms, and little about your realm's economy is going to change soon. But don't give up hope. It is possible to make money on a smaller realm that sees low economic activity.

How? With a little bit of creativity, you can actually turn the problems of a smaller realm into avenues for profit.

Continue reading How to make gold on a small realm

WoW InsiderHow to make gold on a small realm originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>easy-goldfarming-guidefinding-AH-buyersgoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipshow-to-play-ah-on-small-servermaking-money-on-small-serverssmall-serverworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guideFox Van AllenMon, 27 Feb 2012 20:00:00 ESTPreparing a money making strategy for Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/17/preparing-a-money-making-strategy-for-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/17/preparing-a-money-making-strategy-for-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/17/preparing-a-money-making-strategy-for-mists-of-pandaria/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him. And be sure to catch the return of Basil and Fox's podcast, Call to Auction!

Yes, I know, Mists of Pandaria is a long way off -- too long for most of us WoW addicts. But in terms of making money, no event will mean more to your bottom line than the MoP launch. New patches and expansions are where fortunes are won and lost. If you dream of getting to 1 million gold (or even a more modest figure), the best time to do it are the few days and weeks following the launch of a new expansion.

If you're going to take advantage of the Mists of Pandaria gold rush, you're not going to want to wait until the last minute. You're going to want to work out a plan now, so you know exactly what to buy and what to make.

Continue reading Preparing a money making strategy for Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderPreparing a money making strategy for Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>easy-goldfarming-guidefeaturedgoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-making-guidegold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsguidemists-of-pandariamoppreparing-for-mists-of-pandariaprofession-guidewhat-to-stock-up-on-for-mists-of-pandariaworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-craftwow-craftableswow-craftingwow-crafting-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-makingwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-guidewow-itemswow-makewow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guidewow-professionsFox Van AllenFri, 17 Feb 2012 13:00:00 ESTTrade skill crusader brings back customer service and sweat equity to craftinghttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/16/trade-skill-crusader-brings-back-customer-service-and-sweat-equi/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/16/trade-skill-crusader-brings-back-customer-service-and-sweat-equi/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/16/trade-skill-crusader-brings-back-customer-service-and-sweat-equi/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Vial of the Sands
WoW players today tend to consider the deterioration of the in-game community in terms of relatively recent influences like the Dungeon Finder and then the Raid Finder. We sometimes forget that design tweaks and new systems have been chipping away at the paradigm of Azeroth as a place to forge ongoing personal relationships for years now. Take a gander at the beginning of this analysis I wrote on the death of the Azerothian salesman all the way back in the hyper-modern era of The Burning Crusade circa 2007:

Forget the endless debate over hardcore versus casual -- there's another moniker that we here at Insider Trader hold dear: salesman. What's that? You don't know any salesmen in WoW these days? You're not alone. Times have changed since craftspeople toiled to build reputations as the go-to traders on their servers ... when Ironforge was the hub of civilization, where a few elite enchanters held court over the entire server with coveted formulae from such exotic locales as Stratholme and Scholomance.

It's a brave new world in today's Outland. Most enchanters don't enchant for the general public at all, unless you provide mats and a tip. And in any profession, with so many other players on the servers who have the same patterns (even rare patterns are generally available from more than one player) and so many easy ways to make money (hello, daily quests!), there's little reason to hang around town to build a regular clientele. Components provided or created by other professions are readily available on the Auction House -- there's no need to seek out and nurture relationships with another player from a complementary profession.

Have the conveniences Blizzard has developed for today's crafters meant the death of the salesman?

Most WoW players would agree that convenience and self-service is the way of today's game. But for one stubborn tradesman on Sentinels (US), life as an Azerothian salesman is anything but obsolete. Daen, a dedicated craftsman and proprietor of Daen's Crafting Emporium, single-handedly maintains what may be one of World of Warcraft's last remaining bastions of personal craftsmanship and trade skill service -- with a twist. This proprietor not only aims to provide personal service, but he does it at no charge, with the insistence that customers devote sweat equity to their mutual creations as well.

Continue reading Trade skill crusader brings back customer service and sweat equity to crafting

WoW InsiderTrade skill crusader brings back customer service and sweat equity to crafting originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>clientscommunitycraftingcraftsmanshipcustomer-servicecustomersdaendaens-crafting-emporiumfacebookfeedfeaturedprofessionsrelationshipssweat-equitytrade-chattrade-skillstradeskillsworld-of-warcraft-interviewswow-communitywow-interviewswow-peopleLisa PoissoThu, 16 Feb 2012 14:00:00 ESTWhat days should you buy or sell on the Auction House?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/07/what-days-should-you-buy-or-sell-on-the-auction-house/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/07/what-days-should-you-buy-or-sell-on-the-auction-house/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/02/07/what-days-should-you-buy-or-sell-on-the-auction-house/#commentsFiled under: ,

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him. And be sure to catch the return of Basil and Fox's podcast, Call to Auction!

There's no question that time is a very powerful influencer of prices. Most typically, time affects prices via inflation, the natural and inevitable tendency of things today to cost more than things cost yesterday. But that's far from the only way that time affects prices. A Love Is In the Air holiday pet is likely going to be less expensive to buy now than if you wait nine months from now. The cost of i397 BoE gear is going to continue to decay right up to the launch of the next expansion.

It's not a phenomenon unique to the game, of course. Those Super Bowl cakes are going to be a lot cheaper at the supermarket today than they were on Saturday. And if you can wait until January to shop for your winter clothes, you're going to get a far better deal than if you do it in October. A lot of prices are cyclical.

But how do those cycles work in the game? If you're a buyer of mats, when should you head to the Auction House to grab what you need? If you're a seller of ore, should just skip listing it certain days to maximize your profits? Let's see what the data say.

Continue reading What days should you buy or sell on the Auction House?

WoW InsiderWhat days should you buy or sell on the Auction House? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>easy-goldfarming-guidefeaturedgoldgold-farminggold-guidegold-makinggold-making-guidegold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsguideinferno-rubiesinferno-rubyprofession-guidevolcanic-potionswhen-to-buy-auctionswhen-to-list-auctionswhen-to-shop-for-matswhiptailworld-of-wacraft-money-makingworld-of-warcraft-easy-goldworld-of-warcraft-goldworld-of-warcraft-money-making-guidewow-craftwow-craftableswow-craftingwow-crafting-guidewow-easy-goldwow-goldwow-gold-farmingwow-gold-guidewow-gold-legalwow-gold-makingwow-gold-reviewswow-gold-strategywow-gold-tipswow-guidewow-itemswow-makewow-moneywow-money-guidewow-money-making-guidewow-professionsFox Van AllenTue, 07 Feb 2012 17:00:00 EST