Gold Snobs
I’m pretty angry at the elitist attitudes that can grow up around gold making in World of Warcraft. Â I’m not shocked, because everyone knows that normal person + internet = drooling idiot, and that “open” can become “open sewer”.
However, I am disappointed that a friend and fellow gold blogger, Flux of Power Word Gold felt intimidated by this “elitists” and that he had to use the words “my secret shame” in a post which should celebrate him reaching a gold making milestone.
I started writing this gold blog, and I’m sure Flux did the same, out of a desire to help players. Â WoW is not a win-lose game, where some elitist jerk gets to rub his/her massive amount of gold in the face of a losing player. Â There is enough gold to go around, and you do not need to have even 100,000g to be a real gold gamer.
This is one of the several reasons why I refuse to hit gold cap. Â One million gold is not only the end-of-the-game and end of the fun for me, but it would also put me up there with the snobs who think they are better than other players because of some number in game.
It’s more than numbers
I can still crack out a seriously high dps, but I’m no longer highest dps on recount. Â Back when I was a regular raider, I could put out stupidly high numbers, but I also prided myself on being the druid who would pop out of catform to res, innervate, or take over offtanking. Â I was also the guy who would whisper those who looked like they were slacking, only to find out that they had a problem that we could sort out together and that would increase their input into the raid. Â I used to say I was not a cog in the mechanism of the raid guild, I was the oil that helped the cogs work better together.
The point is, screw the numbers.
What Being Rich Really is
Being “Rich” in world of warcraft means that you have enough gold to buy what you need when you need it, without worrying where the bloody hell the gold will come from.
Being rich is knowing enough strategies, and having an instinctive feel for the ebb and flow of the market.
Being rich is an ability to make gold, not an ability to hoard coins.
Being rich is knowing you can rely on your competence.
Flux is rich. In fact, he was richer than those a-holes before he even hit 250k.
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About the Author
The Gold Queen is written by Alyzande. With many level 100s, 9 years expertise in making gold, 10 garrisons, 16k achievements, 1505 days played, and over 18m gold earned. The Gold Queen blog teaches you how to make gold playing World of Warcraft using ethical trading, auction house flipping, crafting, reselling snatch lists, and farming gold making.
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Hi everyone,
Amen and Halleluiah! Well said. I too am distressed by the ‘HEY, LOOK AT ME, I AM THE GREATEST’ gold bloggers. They are not better or smarter than everyone else. Mostly, they just came to the game sooner or have spent more time at it. This is a social game. Try to be socialble.
Lifedream of Black Dragonflight
It wasn’t really aimed at bloggers, just at anyone who thinks they are better than others to the point that they make others feel bad.
In defense of the bloggers, it’s really hard to establish any sort of ‘authority’ or become known as a gold making expert without showing any sort of proof. I think that might be where Flux of Power Word Gold might be feeling the pressure, to display, to prove.
I’ve typed out exactly how much gold I have a few times, and then deleted it, because I too want to be looked up to. It’s a human thing, to want to be thanked for your effort. I felt bad when I saw a response by a blogger on Twitter, thinking I was talking about him and calling him names. 🙁 It’s a hard line to tread, between humility and self-promotion, so I think that’s why I’m so bloody grateful for you guys who take the time to comment and help bloggers like me feel like I’m saying something worthwhile or useful to someone.
thanks Lifedream
A frequent gold blogger like Flux just now reaching his 250k milestone sounds like he just enjoys a risk averse strategy in gold making. Blogging about making gold when you don’t have silly amounts already probably resonates quite well with many readers since i’d suspect that most readers are looking for ways to move up from the 10-20-30k mark.
I for one am starting to feel disconnected with ordinary poor players. Having sub-250k probably keeps your gold making strategies more relevant to the casual gold maker. Anyways keep up the GUD WERK!!!
Hi Director,
I’ve also been feeling disconnected with “ordinary poor players”, but I cheat by asking my son’s opinion on things. He’s just made his first 2g and bought his level 20 mount, bless him, he keeps me on my toes!
Got any other ideas I can reconnect with the poorer guys? Except giving it all away, of course…!
Hmmmm… A few quick things i still do to pass the time since i was a poor ‘lil nub are DE’ing weapons and armor in the level 51-60 range for greater eternal essences and illusion dust (ilvl sub 65-ish to make sure they arent BC quality) and monopolize those markets by buying out everything because its usually in small supply.
50g illusion dusts and 100g greater eternal essence sting your customer and really feel good gouging. I also like to DE cheap green weapons in the 81-85 range for greater celestial essences because they keep rising.
You have any old skewl techniques you still use today as a rich baller gold-making nerd?? 😀
Loads and loads and loads! The big problem for me is remembering and getting them down in writing. One such is the Gordok Ogre suit. Then of course there is all the old primals and eternals.
Twink enchants. We all thought that twink bgs had died, but they seem to be still thriving!
Pets are eternal, which is why I wrote a miniguide about it.
http://www.thegoldqueen.com/petshop.html
Ore! Thorium ore, thorium bars! Arcane Crystals, arcanite bars!
Herbs: Goldthorn, purple lotus, briarthorn…
I absolutely agree!
The number more interesting to me is the amount “earned from auctions” in the statistics tab of the achievements screen. Fast flying, rings of Kirin Tor, power leveling professions, epic gear to level alts – are all expensive, but make the playing of the game very enjoyable.
Who wants to level an alt to start another gold making profession, using only quest reward items. Twink him out and enjoy the grind you’ve already done 1 or more times.
I was at 35K between all my toons (a milestone I set for myself). I’m now down to 12K. My main has earned over 265k from auctions over the last year. Only my main had skinning and leatherworking maxed out, all other alts were below lvl 60. I’ve been working hard at leveling alts and professions both and I don’t care if the amount of gold on my backpack doesn’t reflect what I’ve achieved to this point.
Hi Calaren, have you seen http://www.wow-professions.com ? Only problem with follow a guide like that, though, is that us sneaky gold makers check to see which raw materials are needed by levellers, and try and raise the prices to fill our greedy pockets.
Having reached a big gold milestone myself I know that a lot of people lose ingenuity and real drive for making gold once they reach the goal that they ultimately set for themselves. I was one of those people who thought “why should I listen to this person if they don’t have x amount of gold?” Immediately after reaching x amount of gold I realized, it’s those people still working towards their goal who have the most motivation to share and discuss their ideas about making gold. Ultimately, everyone’s “x” is different, and it’s supremely foolish to judge a person for not having the exact same goal as you. It doesn’t in any way affect their ability to share ideas, and isn’t that what blogging is supposed to be about?
When you have a lot of gold, I think it’s because you do a lot of work. Which can mean doing the same thing over and over again. Easy to burn out!
Blogs can be about ‘authority’ and being an ‘expert’ but the ones I enjoy the most are the ones where you take the journey =with= the blogger 🙂
There are far too many people in this game who forgot where they started. We need more mentors and helpers. Keep up the good work.
I’m trying! Feel free to throw some ideas by comment or email (contact form) if there’s anything in particular you’re interested in
Agreed. Gold making is far more of a liquid area then say, DPS or tanking ability, or pvp prowess. Aside from the simple fact that some people have more time then others, there are other factors, such as how many 75+ toons you have, how much you have invested, the competition on your server, how hard you try, and far too many others to list.
Take me, for instance. I’ve been playing since January of 2011, and have 2 level 85’s, and a goblin who I’m leveling. (72, and 450 mining/JC). I don’t have inscription, so glyphs are out. No leather working, and only 1 xmute alchemist. Yet I’d consider myself a good gold maker, as I made 150k in the first month of trying, which included getting things set up and leveling my goblin.
But even that aside, gold making is, as TGQ said, about both having enough to buy what you want, and having fun. For me, its about the journey. I enjoy what I sell, and which markets I control. There is nothing to buy after say 150k. Having more money won’t help me in any way, so I just enjoy the journey.
Although, the proof may be in the pudding, evidence is good enough for me. Any smart player can make money off the AH. You don’t need a set number to be pro. Heck, much of what I make is reinvested, into training new skills on other toons, buying/stockpiling, etc. Liquid gold isn’t the be all. Elitisim is fine when it comes to min-maxing in raiding, being an a-hole never is. You can be one without being the other. Enjoy the journey, don’t hate on your compatriots.
Thank you for posting, especially as it was requested over twitter, hehe. I’ve put your new blog http://fortuneandfighting.blogspot.com/ up on the blogroll now, so it should show up in the RSS whenever you post something new. The whole blogroll is here btw http://www.thegoldqueen.com/resources/
How are you finding transmuting? I’m in two minds about transmute spec, because my realm is flooded with truegold. I was thinking about going back to elixir/flask spec, or maybe trying out potions, as mana potions are always in demand with every patch.
It would depend on your raider population. As xmute, I make v water or v air, and have a few people who pump it out for me as well. As potion, it depends. Pre potting, as I do, I easily use 40+ golemblood potions a raid night. But competition on those is often from people who think “I farmed the mats I’ll post cheap”. SO it depends. Same for flasks. Since most raiding guilds use cauldrons, they need fewer flasks, and often the guild provides those.
A side note of things to try would maybe be elixar of water walking, pygmy potion (Sell those in stacks of eight, turns you into a pygmy, people love ’em) potion of treasure finding. I’m not sure how well those sell, or if you can proc extra with the right spec, but they can be quite profitable.
The potion of illusion also went for Big Money on my server recently, are you seeing that?
About two years ago, I made an absolute fortune supplying a raiding guild with all the flasks they could need for raiding. I’m thinking about whether I have the time or connections to do that again.