Monday, October 29, 2012

Kite Pets - Not Just WoW TCG Loot Anymore

WoW Kite Pets
Not Just From WoW TCG Loot Codes Anymore

DRAGON KITE WOW TCG
Dragon Kite
The Dragon Kite and the Tuskarr Kite are just a sample of  the WoW companion pets obtained from loot codes from the WoW Trading Card Game.  Until the launch of Mists of Pandaria, these were the only 2 available Kite type companion pets in the World of Warcraft.  The Dragon Kite from the WoW loot code has always been quite popular and quite expensive as well.  The value and price of the Dragon Kite is sure to continue to climb as the WoW Patch 5.1 PTR Notes are listing that the Dragon Kite is going to become useable as a WoW Battle Pet after the new patch drops.  The Dragon Kite should become a rare battle pet, like all of the other WoW TCG companion pets that turn to rare battle pets.  So if you are lucky enough to find a Dragon Kite on your Black Market Auction House (BMAH), keep that in mind, as the value and re-sellability should vastly increase post Patch 5.1.


TUSKARR KITE WOW LOOT
Tuskarr Kite
Enter The New Scribe Crafted Kites In MoP

In addition to the Tuskarr Kite and the Dragon Kite, we now have a new pair of Kite companion pets to add to our collection of companion pets.  Note, I didn't say battle pets, because neither of the new Kites are useable in Pet Battles.  The inability to be used in pet battles definately hurts their perceived value as they are only desired for their aesthetic value as non-combat battle pets.  Since the Dragon Kite is being added to the Battle Pet ranks, we can only hope the new MoP Inscription crafted Kites get similar treatment, which would greatly increase their value in the eyes of players.  Regardless, the new Kites do still sell.

WOW LOOT KITE PET
Chi-ji Kite

WOW LOOT KITE PET
Yu'lon Kite
















Chi-ji Kite & Yu'lon Kite

The two new Scribe crafted Kite companion pets are the Chi-ji Kite and the Yu'lon Kite.  Both of these require just a single common parchament and 4 Ink of Dreams to craft.  They are made by Mists of Pandaria trained Scribes and require an Inscription level of 600 (max).  The recipe is learned from the Inscription trainer, so no special farming, grinding, or reputation is needed to start crafting these new MoP Kite pets. 

Keep an eye out for new patch notes, in case the Yu'lon and Chi-ji Kites are to become Battle Pets as well.  If they are so lucky, then you may be able to snatch up a few for cheap to flip for a higher price once they become battle pets as well.

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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Gifts For Gamers - Gamer Movies - Cold's Top 15 DVD List


GIFTS FOR GAMERS - A weekly column at Cold's Gold Factory that focuses on bringing you some of the coolest gifts for gamers of all types. Remember to check back here for ideas for Gamer Birthday Gifts, Stocking Stuffers for Gamers, and Gamer Christmas Ideas.

Gifts For Gamers

Movies For Gamers

Cold's Must See Old School Gamer DVD List

I've been a gamer for almost my entire life, with my early childhood roots deep within the fantasy, anime, and science fiction genres.  This week on Gifts for Gamers, I've compiled a list of the Top 15 movies and animated motion pictures from my childhood.  These are all excellent movies for any gaming fan and many of them can be enjoyed by children as well as gaming adults.  Many of these are hard to find rarities or are movies that you may never even have been exposed to, especially if you aren't as old as I am.  Trust me, this is an amazing collection of gamer type fantasy, science fiction, and animation movies that you are bound to enjoy just as much as I always have and still do.  So be sure to check these titles out, whether you purchase or just rent, these are great films.

Cold's Top 15 Old School Gamer Friendly DVDs
(In No Particular Order)

Record Of Lodoss War

  1. Dungeons & Dragons: The Complete Animated Series - The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon was a must see every Saturday!
  2. Record of Lotus War: The Complete Series, Vols 1- 13. - The Best DnD based fantasy anime cartoon series ever.  Super Rare and Hard to Find, but Worth It!
  3. The Dark Crystal - Created by Jim Henson (of Muppets fame) combining puppetry, animatronics, and amazing storytelling to create the coolest movie I ever saw as a child. 
  4. Ghost In The Shell - An amazing blend of drawn animation and computer-generated imagery made this science fiction mystery a huge hit.
  5. Vampire Hunter D - Another super rare animatEd classic features a main character whom is half-human, half-vampire and hunts his own kind, while battling his own internal evils.  For mature audiences due to the undercurrent of sexuality and sadism.
  6. Ninja Scroll - Simply the best Ninja based Japanese Anime ever that combines supernatural fantasy with a samurai action adventure.
  7. The Beastmaster - Similar to Conan (some would call this a rip-off), but the Beastmaster is ranger instead of a Barbarian.  The Beastmaster enlist the help of animals to avenge the destruction of his village and death of his father.  This is also the movie that Diablo 3's Ferrets are based off of.
  8. Legend - Early fantasy at it's best.  Still a great movie after all these years and who would though that about a Tom Cruise film!
  9. Labyrinth - Jim Henson & George Lucas join forces and have David Bowie as the main villian living in an M.C. Escher inspired castle. WoW!
  10. Time Bandits - A band of time traveling midgets in true Monty Python-esque style storytelling by Terry Gilliam.  One of the best early 80s movies that you've never seen before!
  11. Krull - A Sci-Fi / Fantasy Hybrid with crazy visuals, costumes, and sets.  Another must watch every time it was on TV type of film.
  12. Watership Down - The animated tale of the book by the same name.  Follow the band of rabbits as they illegally leave their warren after a prophecy of doom, in search for a place safe from humans and predators.  Warning: This is NOT a cutesy rabbit cartoon made for children. It is violent, brutal, and gorey.  Characters die, get eaten alive, are torn to pieces by dogs, etc.  Do not show this to children unless you want to give them nightmares about the Black Rabbit of Inle!  This one is a tear-jerker too, so you have been warned.
  13. Conan: The Complete Quest - Includes both Conan The Barbarian and Conan The Destroyer.
  14. Flash Gordon: Saviour of the Universe - Based on a 1930s comic strip with Music by Queen, this film features Flash and Dale Arden racing through space to battle Ming the Merciless, to save the Earth from total destruction.
  15. The Adventures Of Sinbad - Seasons One and Two detailing the adventures of the hero from 1001 Arabian Nights.

I hope you found a few movies or animations on this list that have peeked your interest.  Are there any other great 80s-90s gamer friendly movies that I've missed?

A few Honorable Mentions are: The Princess Bride, Tron, Voltron, Transformers the Movie, Clash of the Titans (Original), Willow, & The Hobbit (Original Animated).

Friday, October 26, 2012

Farming Ghost Iron Ore - Greenstone Quarry

Farming Ghost Iron Ore In MoP
 
Where Is The Best Place To Farm Ghost Iron Ore?


Ghost Iron Ore Farming
 
In my opinion, the absolute best place to farm for Ghost Iron Ore is within the Greenstone Quarry.  The Greenstone Quarry is located within the Mists of Pandaria zone, The Jade Forest.  It is a small cave to the Southeast of Tian Monastery and North of Dawn's Blossom.  If you check the Jade Forest zone map and you drew a line from Tian Monastery straight to Dawn's Blossom, the line would pass through the entrance to the Greenstone Quarry.  It is also easily identified on the zone map because there is a cave entrance icon showing the location. 
The Greenstone Quarry in the Jade Forest is also the very first place I would take any mining character looking to level their Mining skill.  There are plenty of reasons to take your Miner straight to the Greenstone Quarry.
    Ghost Iron Ore Farming In Greenstone Quarry
    Dual Rich Ghost Iron Ore Veins In Greenstone Quarry
    
  1. Mining Trainer - Just outside the entrance to the Greenstone Quarry is a Mining Trainer.  You can train up the ability to smelt the Ghost Iron Ore that you will be farming, as well as learn the new smelting abilities of the higher level ores.  Unfortunately there is not a Forge located near the entrance, so it is a good idea to bring along a stack of Thermal Anvils, the new summonable anvil that is crafted by Engineers.  The Anvils will help to decrease your down time as you won't have to travel back to town just to smelt ores to make room in your bags, which means more time for farming ghost iron ores and leveling your Mining skill.
  2. Ancient Pandaren Mining Pick - The Ancient Pandaren Mining Pick is one of the nice items that are part of the new Lost and Found system added into WoW during Mists of Pandaria.  The Ancient Pandaren Mining Pick is a rare spawning item that appears within the Greenstone Quarry and once obtained, it will give a chance for your Miner to find MoP raw gems within the ore veins of Mists of Pandaria.  So while running around the Greenstone Quarry farming, you should always be looking for the pick to have spawned.  More specifically look for the Ancient Pandaren Mining Pick within the little square room in the SW corner of the Gueenstone Quarry on the lower level.
  3. Tons of Ghost Iron & Rich Ghost Iron Ore Veins - There are an absolute ton of spawn spots for Ghost Iron Ore farming inside the Greenstone Quarry and even more if you have the Mist-Piercing Goggles that I talked about in the post on Spirit of Harmony Crafting Equivalents.  These Goggles increase the number of raw material nodes that you can see in Pandaria zones.  There are so many Ghost Iron Ore veins within the Quarry itself, that I never see less than 2 on the mini-map (whiling farming with other miners as well), but normally see 6-8 Ghost Iron or Rich Ghost Iron Ore nodes up at once.  You can even go back out the entrance to the Greenstone Quarry and the surrounding hillside has a large number of nodes that can be seen directly upon exiting the Quarry.  Let me repeat; there are a ton of Ore veins for farming in here.
  4. 
    Farming Ghost Iron Ore In Greenstone Quarry
    Greenstone Quarry Corpses Are Mineable
    
  5. Mineable Corpses For Even More Ghost Iron Ore Farming - If having a ton of quick respawning Ghost Iron Ore veins wasn't enough, there are also creatures within the Greenstone Quarry that leave behind corpses that can be mined for even more Ores!  The Deepstone Gorger corpses can be mined for a chance at more Ghost Iron Ore.  I've even, on the vary rare occasion, been able to find Trillium Ores on these Greenstone Gorger corpses as well.  These mobs die easily and since there are a few quests that are completed within the cave, there are often times when there are corpses just waiting for you to mine thing, which increases your own Ghost Iron Ore farming speed.  On a rare occasion these guys will award you some vendor trash that sells for over 7 gold each, which is a nice bonus, since we are mining the corpses for their ores anyway.
So the combination of having a ton of fast spawning Ghost Iron Ore nodes to farm, Minable corpses that are often left for you to mine, a nearby mining trainer, and a chance at the super Ancient Pandaren Mining Pick make this place hard to beat for Ghost Iron Ore farming. 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

November Gold Blogging Carnival Topic

Share the Topic | Share the Traffic

Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival - November 2012 Topic

A big thanks to all of the participants who submitted entries for last month's blogging carnival. Everyone is welcome to write a post for the blogging carnivals at Cold's Gold Factory. Again, thank you to all the bloggers who submitted posts for the October Blogging Carnival on MoP Launch Strategies & Results. If you missed the last carnival, be sure to check it out! 
What If I Don't Have A Blog And I Want To Participate?

If you don't have your own site, you can still participate in the gold blogging carnivals. Sometimes a topic may tickle your fancy or you may have a unique spin on a blogging carnival topic that you would like to have read by others. Well, you are in luck. There are 2 blogging sites that will post and host your content as a guest post. Just follow the normal blogging carnival rules that the others follow and get your post hosted and live prior to the carnival. Then, just submit the link to me for inclusion in the upcoming gold blogging carnival.  

Be sure to check out How To Get More From Blogging Carnival Participation.

The friendly sites willing to host your content are:
  1. Goldgrub's Goblin Academy - Contact: Me (Cold)
  2. Squidoo - Join up and make a lens on the topic and earn money too.
  
November 2012 Gold Blogging Carnival Topic

The World of Warcraft developers have been starting to hint at a possibility that may soon become a reality.  The notion of combining auction houses across servers (probably within your current Battlegroup) has become a very hot topic, with players weighing in on both sides of the debate.  I've already written about the possibility of Cross Realm Auction Houses in WoW, but now it's your turn. 

Cross Realm Auction Houses?  What's Your Opinion?
Is the CRAH a good or bad idea? What would you predict would happen to the auction economy?  Does the notion excite or horrify you?  Would a CRAH we good or bad for WoW?
 
I'm dying to hear everyone else opinion on the issue.  Remember, if you aren't a blogger, you can still participate, just send me a post on the same topic and I'll post it for you.
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Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide. Also Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide and J!inx - Clothing For Gamers And Geeks.

Check out some of my Squidoo lenses:  Alliance Vs Horde - Come Vote! | Diablo 3 Gifts For Gamers | Getting Started Podcasting 101 | Play Money by Julian Dibble | Auction House Junkies | Fluxx - My Fav Card Game

Recommended Guides: Secret Gold Guide | Journal of Marcus Ty | WoW Secrets | Zygor Guides

Monday, October 22, 2012

Spirit of Harmony Equivalent Crafting Values

Spirit of Harmony & Gauging Value

The Spirit of Harmony and Motes of Harmony are new additions with the Mists of Pandaria expansion.  The Spirit of Harmony creation process requires 10 Motes of Harmony to be turned into a single Spirit of Harmony.  These motes are available as potential drops from any of the mobs within the Mists of Pandaria content.  Early experiences have been pointing towards a better Mote of Harmony drop rate among the higher level mobs, but they still do drop off of the lower level mobs, as long as you are killing creatures from the MoP expansion. 

The completed Spirits of Harmony are used in a myriad of recipes across many of the WoW crafting professions.  Since they are acquired while killing mobs in Pandaria, their perceived value is often misaligned from their true value.  The requirement of farming them yourself on the character who needs them (since they are BoP) has lead to many players buying into the old fallacy of "I farmed it, so it's free".  Which in turn often leads to improper pricing of crafted items that require Spirits of Harmony as part of the recipe materials requirement. 

Let's look at an example. 


Kobolds Have Poor Math Skills

Mist-Piercing Goggles - These are the kickass Goggles that Alto has already mentioned in a post earlier in the week.  The are a must for any Miner or Herbalist because they add around 10% more herb and ore nodes to your mini-map, when in Pandaria zones.  These are nodes that other players without the Goggles can't even see!  So they are truly a must for any Herbalist or Miner and they only need to be in your bags because you don't even have to equip them for the benefit.

These great Mist-Piercing Goggles are crafted with the Engineering profession and only require 8 Ghost Iron Bolts and 2 Spirit of Harmony.  Yet, I constantly see players selling them for far below what they should be selling them for.  The Kobold movement is alive and well on many servers and this Goggles market is no exception.  And we all know Kobolds are horrible at basic math skills.

Using just a few market prices as examples, I've seen many auction house market snapshots that look like this:

Mist-Piercing Googles listed for 800 gold.
Golden Lotus selling for 250 gold.

Without even knowing the prices of Ghost Iron Ore or Ghost Iron Bars, I am 100% positive that the person selling the Goggles for 800 gold is a dumbass.  How so?  Because the wise goblin understands the Spirit of Harmony Equivalent Crafting Values, where a lowly Kobold obviously does not.  Kobolds are bad at math, remember?
  1. 1 Spirit of Harmony can be traded to a vendor for 3 Golden Lotus, which can each be sold.
  2. Mist Piercing Goggles require 2 Spirits of Harmony in the recipe.
  3. Therefore, if you are using 2 Spirits of Harmony in a crafted item, that item needs to be selling for more than the price of what 6 Golden Lotus would sell for or YOU ARE COSTING YOURSELF PROFITS.
So in the above example, if the Kobold would have just cashed in the two Spirits of Harmony for 6 Golden Lotus, they would have (6 x 250) 1500 gold worth of Golden Lotuses to sell, instead of adding Ghost Iron Bars to sell a crafted item for only 800 gold!  Think smart like a Goblin, not silly like a Kobold who farms for free.

MoP Engineer Gold Making
Proper Mist -Piercing Goggles Pricing

Spirit of Harmony Equivalent Crafting Values

The Golden Lotus is just one of the options for purchasing crafting items with a Spirit of Harmony.  Here is a master list of Equivalent Values of Spirit of Harmony for those who are better at math than the Kobolds.

One Spirit of Harmony Will Buy:
  • 5 Black Trillium Ore
  • 1 Ethereal Shard
  • 20 Exotic Leather
  • 20 Ghost Iron Ore
  • 3 Golden Lotus
  • 20 Kyparite
  • 5 Mysterious Essence
  • 20 Prismatic Scale
  • 1 Serpent's Eye
  • 20 Spirit Dust
  • 1 Starlight Ink
  • 5 White Trillium Ore
  • 20 Windwool Cloth
While these aren't always the best ways to purchase materials for crafting, one must still be aware of the Spirit of Harmony possible vendor trade equivalents because they should be setting a floor price for the value of your SoHs in a crafted recipe.  If you can't craft with a value equivalent or better to what you can trade the SoH for, then maybe you should just trade it to the vendor and sell the raw materials for a better profit than wasting the SoHs in crafting recipes. 

And please, please, please don't think like this Kobold, I found on Wowhead with his fail strat for underselling Ghost Iron Dragonlings & Tinker's Gear.

Kobold Fallacies

Check out some of my Squidoo lenses:  Alliance Vs Horde - Come Vote! | Diablo 3 Gifts For Gamers | Getting Started Podcasting 101 | Play Money by Julian Dibble | Auction House Junkies | Fluxx - My Fav Card Game
Recommended Guides: Secret Gold Guide | Journal of Marcus Ty | WoW Secrets

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Gifts For Gamers - Ready Player One by Ernest Cline


GIFTS FOR GAMERS - A weekly column at Cold's Gold Factory that focuses on bringing you some of the coolest gifts for gamers of all types.  Remember to check back here for ideas for Gamer Birthday Gifts, Stocking Stuffers for Gamers, and Gamer Christmas Ideas.

Gifts For Gamers

ready player one by ernest cline

"Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline

"Ready Player One" is a must read book for Gamers of all types and makes a great gift for the gamers in your life.  This awesome book was released in June of 2012 and quickly rose to become a New York Times Best Seller despite its roots in gaming and 1980's culture.  I can't recommend this Gamer Must Read Book any more.  After hearing about this book from a fellow Auction House Junkies co-host, Mike, I was quick to purchase my own copy and have thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this novel. 

Ready Player One takes you on a mysterious treasure seeking journey with plenty of twists, turns, and suspense along the way.  The book takes place in the year 2044 where much of the world is jacked into an online playground called OASIS, which was created by self made billionaire, James Halliday.  The whole story revolves around a treasure hunt for the riches of now deceased James Halliday, who left clues to his life's riches hidden within the OASIS online environment that he created.  Treasure hunters scour the OASIS far and wide searching for the next clues that will lead them closer to the fortunes. 

OASIS creator James Halliday was enthralled by gaming and game environments, as well as 1980's pop culture, so many of us will recall a large portion of our childhood references while reading Ready Player One.  This truly is a great book and should be on any true gamers' bookshelves.

Ready Player One Is
Available In The Following Formats:
Are You Ready?

Friday, October 19, 2012

Ghost Iron Dragonling & Tinker's Gear (New Cogwheels)

MoP Engineering -
Ghost Iron Dragonling and Tinker's Gear

The new Engineering crafted trinket, the Ghost Iron Dragonling, has plenty of potential to be a strong gold maker in the Mists of Pandaria World of Warcraft expansion.  Notice I said "has plenty of potential" for gold makers?  That's because of the polarizing differences amongst our various WoW auction houses across the multiple WoW servers.  It basically boils down to the newest war between Goblins and Kobolds that is so common on many WoW servers these days. 

Ghost Iron Dragonling

The Ghost Iron Dragonling is a new trinket that is crafted by Engineers and unlike previous Engineering trinkets, it can be equipped by all characters level 87 or higher.  With an item level of 450, the Ghost Iron Dragonling is a great gear piece to help boost a character's average item level, which will assist in meeting the average item level requirements for dungeons, heroics, and raids. 

Ghost Iron Dragonling Tinker's Gear Cogwheels
Ghost Iron Dragonling Trinket
 The Ghost Iron Dragonling is a pretty damn good trinket too, which contains 3 Cogwheel sockets that can be customized with the appropriate Tinker's Gear gems based on your class specialization's secondary stats of choice.  In addition to the customizable cogwheel gem slots, the Ghost Iron Dragonling also has a chance to summon an actual Ghost Iron Dragonling to fight be your side for 20 seconds.  The Dragonling is a nice dps boost that shoots lighting and can hit multiple targets with his AoE lightning attack.

The Ghost Iron Dragonling Trinket requires the following materials to craft:  12 Windwool Cloth & 14 Ghost Iron Bars (28 Ghost Iron Ore)


Tinker's Gear Gems - The New MoP Cogwheels

The new cogwheels, which are now called Tinker's Gear Gems, are also useable by all characters instead of just Engineers like the previous versions.  A Tinker's Gear Gem exists for all of the secondary statistics, but they are unique-equipped, so you can only socket one of each type. 


Engineer Cogwheels Tinker's Gear MOP
Tinker's Gems For Sale
Tinker's Gear Gems in MoP:
  • Flashing Tinker's Gear - 600 Parry
  • Fractured Tinker's Gear - 600 Mastery
  • Precise Tinker's Gear - 600 Expertise
  • Quick Tinker's Gear - 600 Haste
  • Rigid Tinker's Gear - 600 Hit
  • Smooth Tinker's Gear - 600 Critical Strike
  • Sparkling Tinker's Gear - 600 Spirit
  • Subtle Tinker's Gear - 600 Dodge


Strike Smart, Strike Fast Young Goblin

The main problem with these markets is that although the value of the Trinkets and the Tinker's Gear Gems are high, the swarms of Kobolds leveling Engineering are crashing the prices down to stupid levels on the auction house.  Both the Ghost Iron Dragonling and the Tinker's Gems are good items to level the Engineering Profession with so many players will just toss the crafted items up for stupid prices regardless of what they could actually get based on the true value of the items.  On my server the Tinker's Gear Gems are holding at a nice profit level, where the Trinkets are all over the place.

Ghost Iron Dragonling Kobolds
Dumb Ass Kobolds!

I post my Dragonling Trinkets when there are no others posted and I charge what they are truely worth, which is 4k gold.  They still sell, despite the Koolds who sell them for a fraction of my sales price on other days.  Grabbing these poorly priced ones to save for a day when there are none available is a valid strategy and as more players get their skills leveled up the prices will hopefully rise as well as leveling Engineers leave the market.

WoW MoP Ghost Iron Dragonling Trinket
Don't Settle For Kobold Prices

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Check out some of my Squidoo lenses:  Alliance Vs Horde - Come Vote! | Diablo 3 Gifts For Gamers | Getting Started Podcasting 101 | Play Money by Julian Dibble | Auction House Junkies | Fluxx - My Fav Card Game

Recommended Guides: Secret Gold Guide | Journal of Marcus Ty | WoW Secrets


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Restored Artifacts, Brann Bronzebeard, & Easier Vial of Sands Recipe Farming

Restored Artifacts For Brann Bronzebeard

The Restored Artifacts addition in Mists of Pandaria has been a great addition for those of us sick and tired of farming for the damn Vial of Sands Alchemy Recipe.  Gone are the days of flying all over the continent of Kalimdor hoping for a Canoptic Jar as your next Tol'vir Archaeological find, only to be disappointed that it contains nothing but vendor trash.  Well, it still isn't easy to get the Vial of Sands Recipe for your Alchemist, but it sure as hell is a lot less annoying and nowhere near as hard as it used to be during the Catalcysm expansion.  Why?  Because of Brann Bronzebeard and the addition of the Restored Artifacts option for your Pandaran Archaeology Fragments.

Restored Artifacts

When you complete a grey Archaeology Artifact from the Mists of Pandaria zones, you now have two options.  You can sell these Pandaren Artifacts and Mogu Artifacts as vendor trash or you can choose to crate the artifact, thus creating the Restored Artifact.  The Restored Artifact can then be turned in to Brann Bronzebeard for a Crate of Archaeology Fragments.  Brann Bronzebeard can be found at the Seat of Knowledge, which is on top of the Mogu'shan Palace entrance in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

One Restored Artifact Can Be Traded To Brann For One:
  • Crate of Draenei Archaeology Fragments
  • Crate of Dwarven Archaeology Fragments
  • Crate of Fossil Archaeology Fragments
  • Crate of Night Elf Archaeology Fragments
  • Crate of Nerubian Archaeology Fragments
  • Crate of Orc Archaeology Fragments
  • Crate of Tol'vir Archaeology Fragments
  • Crate of Troll Archaeology Fragments
  • Crate of Vrykul Archaeology Fragments
  • Each Crate of (Insert Race Here) Archaeology Fragments will award you 5-9 Fragments of the chosen type, which is the same amount you would get from 1 digsite dig, except you don't have a chance to get the corresponding Archaeology Keystones.  So instead of selling those newly found Pandaren and Mogu artifacts to the vendor you can use them to complete your older Archaeology Artifacts.  I'll be using all of mine on Tol'vir Fragments to try to finish off farming the Canoptic Jars in hopes of finally getting my Alchemist her Recipe: Vial of the Sands.  Other good uses would be for quickly completing your Archaeology pets and mounts.  Regardless, you can try for those older dig site rewards without ever needing to return back to those actual sites!  NOTE: You must be at maximum Archaeology Skill (600) in order to use these Crates, but you can purchase them prior to reaching maxed skill level.

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    Check out some of my Squidoo lenses:  Alliance Vs Horde - Come Vote! | Diablo 3 Gifts For Gamers | Getting Started Podcasting 101 | Play Money by Julian Dibble | Auction House Junkies | Fluxx - My Fav Card Game

    Monday, October 15, 2012

    Dust of Disappearance Still Selling Strong! LOL

    Dust of Disappearance Still Making Me WoW Gold

    It's no secret to most of us WoW gold making goblins that Dust of Disappearance is easily purchased from the vendors of Azeroth, but please don't tell my customers! 

    Scribes are able to use their Inscription profession to craft 3 Dust of Disappearance for the lowly cost of 1 Blackfallow Ink.  While we can still craft the Dusts, it isn't recommended as a profitable strategy.  It used to be a very profitable option for Scribes looking for a better use of Blackfallow Inks.  Hell, on my home server it was often more profitable to craft and sell Dust of Disappearance over crafting Glyphs of any kind thanks to the invasion of kobolds into the Glyph market.  Now it isn't recommended at all to craft the Dusts for selling. 

    Why?  Because as of the MoP expansion Pre-patch (WoW Patch 5.0.4), the vendor price got nerfed and more vendors are selling them.  A single Dust of Disappearance now only costs 45 silver (before applying faction discounts) from the in game vendors and there are 196 vendors that currently sell the Dusts! 

    Prior to the Patch 5.0.4 that nerfed the vendor price of the Dusts into the ground, crafting Dusts and selling them for under the vendor costs was quite profitable.  I was a major proponent of also barking the Dusts of Disappearance in the trade channel to increase awareness that players could find them cheaper on the auction house.  Players weren't stuck paying the vendor prices, which at the time were 7+ gold each, depending on the players' reputation with the vendor.  Barking helped to increase awareness and urged players to save gold by purchasing from the WoW auction house.  This Dust of Disappearance Barking Strategy made me thousands of gold and allowed me to rival the good days of glyph sales, with only crafting and selling Dusts and MFCs and leaving the Glyphs to the Kobolds and White Knights.

    My main Dust bark was:
    "[Dust of Disappearance] is cheaper in the AH than on the vendor. Swap Those Glyphs & Save Some Gold Too!"
    Then the vendor change came in Patch 5.0.4 and the sales of Dusts on the auction house died along with the cheaper vendor prices, right?  NOPE!  Although, I have quit using my Dust barking strategy, because that would be lieing, the sales continue to roll in.  Not only do I still make a nice profit off of selling Dusts of Disappearance, I no longer have to craft them myself.  I just buy stacks off of the vendor for the dirt cheap prices and sell them on the auction house for the same prices that I used to charge pre-patch, making even more profit per sale with each transaction.

    How can I do this?  It's pretty simple.  By barking that they were available for cheaper than the vendor cost for so long prior to the expansion and the pre-patch changes, I've trained my server to first look on the auction house for their Dusts of Disappearance.  I bet many of the players on my server are unaware that the price has even dropped at the vendor, at least my buyers must be full unaware.  Why else would they be paying be 7+ gold per single Dust, when 7 gold would have bought them more than 14 for the same price as what I charge for a single one? 

    Remember, those markets that you expect to be dead, can be quite profitable when others expect them to be dead too and vacate your market.  Sure, this can't go on forever because most players should eventually learn that I have been overcharging them on the auction house, but I'll keep making easy gold off of them until they wise up.

    Anyone else still making gold off of Dust of Disappearance too?

    **********

    Check out some of my Squidoo lenses:  Alliance Vs Horde - Come Vote! | Diablo 3 Gifts For Gamers | Getting Started Podcasting 101 | Play Money by Julian Dibble | Auction House Junkies | Fluxx - My Fav Card Game

    Recommended Guides: Secret Gold Guide | Journal of Marcus Ty | WoW Secrets

    Saturday, October 13, 2012

    Gifts For Gamers: Sinister Squashling 14" Poseable Plush


    GIFTS FOR GAMERS - A weekly column at Cold's Gold Factory that focuses on bringing you some of the coolest gifts for gamers of all types.  Remember to check back here for ideas for Gamer Birthday Gifts, Stocking Stuffers for Gamers, and Gamer Christmas Ideas.

    Gifts For Gamers

    
    Poseable Sinister Squashling Doll
    Sinister Squashling Poseable Plush Pet
    14" Poseable Sinister Squashling WoW Pet

    The Hallow's End  in game holiday is almost here in World of Warcraft and the Halloween holiday is quickly approaching in the real world.  Here's a great little item to help celebrate both the in and out of game holidays!  While you may be swimming in Sinister Squashling companion pets, I bet you don't have this cute little poseable plush version of the Sinister Squashling.  How cool would it be to have this little guy sitting in your window greeting all of the trick-or-treaters who come to your door? 



    
    Check out the Poseable Sinister Squashling from Amazon.com
     

    Friday, October 12, 2012

    MFC Barking In Mists Of Pandaria

    Mysterious Fortune Cards & Barking MFCs in MoP

    Mysterious Fortune Cards continue to be a strong seller on my server in World of Warcraft.  With my recent increased work hours (covering co-workers vacations), I have been very limited in overall game time as well as time that I am able to spend working markets in the WoW auction houses.  While I have been making hefty profits flipping my stockpiles of blue leveling and twink gear, I am seeing some amazing profits within my main market, the Mysterious Fortune Cards market.  Earlier this year, I wrote about how Mysterious Fortune Cards will never die.  Not only was I right, but sales have started to become way more profitable than even I expected. 

    The MFCs that I created prior to Mists of Pandaria where being undercut into oblivion during the end of expansion lull.  Nowadays, those same Mysterious Fortune Cards that cost me less than 4 gold to make are now selling for 25 gold each and sometime faster than I can relist them.  Last night I made about 2,000 gold in 15 minutes of barking.  It's so easy, even a kobold could do it!  Well, dumbass Kobold would probably crash the market to 5 gold each again.

    Why are my MFCs performing so well? 

    There are a few key factors in the rise in price and the influx of more sales.

    • Competition has become nearly non-existant - As new expansions are released many auctioneers abandon old markets looking for the greener grass of the most up to date markets.  A wise goblin understands that old markets can be just as, if not more, lucrative than during previous expansions.

    • The ink trader fiasco - The Inscription Ink traders were finally updated today to accepting Ink of the Seas as the exchange currency for new Inks.  The extra 7 or so weeks of Blackfallow Ink trading has helped to dry up the supplies of Blackfallow Ink, which is the primary material for MFC crafting.

    • New players  - Every expansion launch brings new players into WoW and helps bring old players back to the game.  These fresh faces may be hearing about MFCs for the first time and will be more willing to try a shot at winning the big fortunes. 

    • Fresh MFC Barks - I've been working on some brand new barks for Mists of Pandaria.  Barking the same thing over and over can get very stale very fast.  It's always best to keep your MFC barks up to date and always evolving.  Fresh is best!

    New Mysterious Fortune Card Barks

    I'm currently working on a massive collection of my newest MFC barks and am pumping out new ones every day.  Here is a sample of a few of my new favorites.

    "Can't Decide Which Faction To Join With Your Panda?  Flip Some [Mysterious Fortune Card]s.  If You Win, Join The Horde.  If You Don't, Go Alliance With The Rest Of The Losers!"
    "What's Black, White, & Purple?  A Pandaren Monk Rolling In Epic [Mysterious Fortune Card] Winnings!" 
    "Hey I Just Met You, And This Is Cray-Cray, So Buy Some [Mysterious Fortune Cards], And Flip 'Em Maybe!"


    This is just a sample selection of some of the great barks, I've been working on.  Stay tuned for more great Mysterious Fortune Card barking ideas to come!

    Make sure to check out the Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery guide to get you started understanding how this easy-as-hell WoW gold making strategy works.  With a little guidance from the guide, you'll be making easy gold too. 

    **********

    Other Recommended Guides: Secret Gold Guide | Journal of Marcus Ty | WoW Secrets

    Thursday, October 11, 2012

    MoP Launch Strategies & Results - October Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival

    How To Make Gold In WoW
    Cold's Gold Blogging Carnivals


    Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival - 2012

    Welcome to another 2012 edition of Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival. These carnivals will continue to take place the 11th day of every month and will be hosted here at Cold's Gold Factory. All World of Warcraft bloggers are welcome to participate and feedback both here and on the original authors' sites is strongly encouraged. So show some support and please leave some feedback in the comments section. These bloggers put a lot of time and hard work into these blogging carnival posts so please tell them what you think.

    If you would like to be included in the next month's carnival, please review the guidelines for Cold's Gold Blogging Carnivals and submit your live post link via email (ssmith0911 at live dot com) before the 10th of the month. Read up on the benefits of participating in blogging carnivals at my other blog designed to help new bloggers, Blogging Vitals.  (Lots of tips for those of you starting out or interested in blogging.)  Articles for the CGF carnival are listed in the order they are received. Thank you to all the bloggers participating in this month's carnival!

    If you are not a blogger, you can still participate in the monthly carnivals as you can have a post hosted at Goldgrubs.com. Now I present to you this month's participants on the topic of:

    Pick A Market Or Strategy That You Focused On For The Mists Launch and Share Your Results.

    We've been stockpiling for Mists of Pandaria and planning our launch day strategies for weeks well before the actual expansion's launch.  Let's take a look at how some of those markets turned out.



    Making Gold In Mists of Pandaria by Marcus Ty of Journal of Marcus Ty


    Mists of Pandaria Results So Far by Nev of Auction House Addict


    Early MoP Results Of Bargain Blues Flipping by Cold of Cold's Gold Factory

    Thorium Is Still WoW Gold by Carrie of WoW Gold Girl

    Thanks again to all of this month's participants.  Be sure to check back later for next month's carnival topic and remember to look for next month's gold blogging carnival on the 11th.  If you have a topic idea, don't be afraid to send it in.  We may use your idea, which will get you proper credit as well.  

    Until next month,

    Keep on Keepin' On!



    If you enjoy the monthly carnivals, spread the word and help support the carnival as it continues to grow:



     
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    Check out some of my Squidoo lenses:  Alliance Vs Horde - Come Vote! | Diablo 3 Gifts For Gamers | Getting Started Podcasting 101 | Play Money by Julian Dibble | Auction House Junkies | Fluxx - My Fav Card Game

    Recommended Guides: Secret Gold Guide | Journal of Marcus Ty | WoW Secrets

    Wednesday, October 10, 2012

    Bargain Blues Flipping - Early MoP Results

    Flipping Blue Gear In The Early Weeks Of Mists of Pandaria

    For the monthly Blogging Carnival at Cold's Gold Factory, I chose a topic on our launch strategies for Mists of Pandaria and asked the writers to look at their pre-MoP attack plan and discuss how it turned out.  This is my entry into that same carnival.  Be sure to check out the other entries on October 11th, 2012.

    Catness the Alliance Auctioneer

    I have a fairly new character, a Worgen Warrior name Catness, on the Alliance side of my World of Warcraft realm.  She is my only Alliance character on the main account and her main job was originally to buy out cheap items and then transfer them over to the Horde side.  As Mists of Pandaria approached, I decided to start her on a career of flipping items within the Alliance auction house.  She was a bargain blues shopper, designated to just sit in the auction house and look for deals and steals that would be good items to flip.

    At the end of an expansion there is always a flood of goods onto the auction house.  Gear is often posted for very cheap prices as players roll new alts during the end of expansion lull and start finding blue gear as they level or run dungeons.  Many times the seller has no clue of the real value of the item and therefore posts the items for very cheap.  That's where Catness came in.  I would use her pre-launch to build a nice stockpile of items that were dirt cheap and had potential for flipping for much higher, once Mists of Pandaria was actually released and live on the servers of WoW.

    She found a ton of good deals.  Many items were posted for only a small fraction of what I knew they would sell for.  I specifically stocked up on as much leather based rare agility gear as I could find, in order to profit on the new Monk characters that would be shopping on the WoW auction house.

    Catness bought and sold 90% of her items via the WoW Remote Auction House, which is now free.  Although I tried my best to get all of her gold and items actually collected in game, as opposed to with the Remote AH, so that they would all register within my TSM accounting or my MySales data, but I goofed somewhat.  You see anytime you buy an item on the Remote AH and flip it, you won't get any accounting data because your add-on never sees the transaction.  The same is true for collecting gold via the Remote AH function.  Anything collected there is excluded from your accounting module as well.  So the image below is missing a lot of the items, but it does give you a general idea of the kind of things I was targeting to flip.  I also did the same thing Horde side, but I'm only writing about Catness and her flipping for this article.



    Sample of Items Bought to Flip

    Flipping Bargain Blues Into Major Profits

    When you look at the image below, you can see some examples of the highly profitable item flips I've been working on since the launch of Mists of Pandaria.  As I've previously written about, the Blackwater Cutlass has been a huge seller since it is a great early level monk sword.  That data shows 12 bought and 22 sold, but is missing the 10 I bought for 2 gold.  Turning a 6 gold item into 76 gold is pretty easy profits on a minuscule investment.  While I have been crafting the Darkmoon Tarot Cards and Decks on my Horde Scribe, Catness was reduced to just buying the blue items themselves to flip.  Boy, did fools not know what they were doing when they were selling these for 8-30 gold prior to Mists of Pandaria.  Of course Catness gobbled those up and has been selling them from 150-225 gold each since the expansions start.

    You see, flipping is all about know what something is really worth or knowing when it will see a spike in demand and therefore an accompanying spike in the sales price.  My background in leveling multiple alts, being a twink specialist Enchanter, and having twinked multple classes at multiple Battleground brackets has me very knowledgable about low level gear, choke points, and BiS twink items.  And anyone with half a brain should have known to hold on to leveling leather gear with Agility on it, but of course not everyone gets it.  4g Helms of Fire?  Thanks!  Sold em for 209 gold each.  5 Gold for Gloves of the Fang?  Easy money on Day 1 of MoP for 427 gold!  I was cherry picking a ton of blue crafted rings that players were selling for way too low as well.  Those have been bringing in some serious bank because I only stocked up on pure agility or agility hybrid jewelry.




    Bargain Blues Flipping Results

    Once you know what to look for and what can be flipped for extra gold, you are able to repeat this same strategy yourself.  The only problem with a mass flipping strategy like this is that it can take a lot of bag and bank space since the items do not stack.  It's similar to flipping Transmogrification gear in that you need a ton of space and get a lot of returned expired auctions.  Just as with Transmogrification item selling, you must be patient.  These items have to be slowly unloaded over time.  Of course a lot of things sold quickly as the expansion launched, but they items will continue to sell because many players are playing their mains and will try out the new Monk class later.

    I also was able to snatch up about 12 Books of Glyph Mastery for around 200 gold each that I was able to flip for huge profits at 800-1200 gold per book!  From the data that is shown below I made about 5k profit in the last 30 days with Catness.  I only started selling off the items once Mists of Pandaria launched and she's well into the profit levels already and she has only went through about 25% of what she bought to flip!  Items are continuing to sell daily, slowly but surely.

    For me, this is a great market to use the Remote Auction House for buying and flipping.  Since I'm stuck taking the buses & train to and from work, I have a lot of down time on my commute to play around on the Remote Auction House and Catness was were successful at earning me gold on my commutes.


    Q:  Why did I name her Catness?
    A:  She's Alliance.  So I thought of the stupidest, lamest name I could think of and low and behold Catness the Worgen Warrior was born.

    PS:  This is by no means all I've been doing since launch, but I wanted to feature something easily seperated from the rest of my gold-making strategies.



    Check out some of my Squidoo lenses:  Alliance Vs Horde - Come Vote! | Diablo 3 Gifts For Gamers | Getting Started Podcasting 101 | Play Money by Julian Dibble | Auction House Junkies | Fluxx - My Fav Card Game

    Recommended Guides: Secret Gold Guide | Journal of Marcus Ty | WoW Secrets