Friday, September 30, 2011

WoW TSM Add-On Option: Show Auctions | Auction House Junkies Episode #16

TSM Show Auctions Option
Auction House Junkies Episode #16

One of the things we discuss in Episode #16 of Auction House Junkies is my conversion to using Trade Skill Master (TSM) along with Auctioneer as my primary WoW gold making add-ons.  One of the concerns of WoW gold makers who are not currently using the WoW add-on, Trade Skill Master, is that you lose touch with your market.  We discuss this a bit on the podcast and I recommend using the "Show Auctions" option on the TSM add-on.  I've highlighted the "Show Auctions" option in the image at the top of the post.

TSM - Show Auctions

TSM-Show Auctions Competition Watch
I was also hesitant at switching to using the Trade Skill Master add-on because I mistakenly thought that TSM add-on use would lead to a loss of your market knowledge.  As I said on the podcast, I like to click the "Show Auctions" button as it allows me to see the posts that are currently on the auction house.  As highlighted in the second image, using the "Show Auctions" option extends the TSM posting window to show everything you may want to track mentally as far as your market competition is concerned.

This allows you to track:

  • How many already are posted?
  • What is the selling price?
  • How many do you have posted?
  • Who has undercut you?
This simple option to display in your TSM posting window is your tool to keeping in touch with your market.  It allows you to monitor everything you would like to see to stay on top of the new market competition and old market foes.  I am still learning how to use it effectively, put I'm loving the TSM posting module.  It is a real time saver inside the WoW auction house.  As Wes put it, "I have cross over into the dark side".  


Be sure to head over to Auction House Junkies.com and check out Episode #16 with Wes of Capped By Cata, myself, and special guest @MSherritz.

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player Or Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

10 Reasons It Sucks To Be A WoW Gold Maker

Being able to support all of your characters by your own financial success is a great feeling within World of Warcraft.  Being able to afford anything is excellent, but being a gold maker isn't always a positive thing.  I present to you today the top 10 reasons it sucks to be a gold maker.

Top 10 Reasons It Sucks To Be A WoW Gold Maker
  1. If your friends / guild members know you are rich, they will ask you for loans, free gold, or pricing discounts.  Hey were are friends right?  Sorry.  Business is business.
  2. You get home from work, log into WoW, and go right back to working in game.  Um, isn't this game supposed to be fun?  I'm paying Blizzard to do more work in my free time.  Fail!
  3. If I shuffle another stack of Obsidium Ore, Saronite Ore, Elementium Ore or Pyrite Ore I will go crazy!  Every day I'm shufflin'!
  4. Dealing with idiots in the trade channel who believe that /2 trade is not for advertising your crafted goods.  Get real!  It's the damn Trade Channel after all.
  5. You often miss out on entire content patches before they are nerfed into the ground.
  6. The life of a pure gold maker is a solitary one.  Raiding?  What's that?  PvP?  Huh?
  7. Size does matter!  Stacking size that is. Bigger is always better, but you will never be satisfied.
  8. There is always someone with more free time than you that will undercut your every move.
  9. Being in major cities with auction houses most of your play time, leads to overexposure to the vile wretchedness that is the trade chat channel. Anal this, Chuck Norris that.
  10. You can't be dancing nekkid on top of the WoW mail boxes, if you are always stuck in the auction house.
Got another idea?  Add it in the comments.

Similar Reads:




Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player Or Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Patch 4.3 Epic Gems From Alchemist Transmutes & Cut By Jewelcrafters



Patch 4.3 News on Epic Gems

Hooray!  More news released on Epic Gems in Patch 4.3  We now have data-mined information from the Public Test Realm (PTR) for Patch 4.3.  Check out the complete coverage of Patch 4.3 items, maps, gems, recipes and more over at Wowhead.

Disclaimer:  PTR data-mined information is subject to change

Epic Gems Will Be Crafted By Alchemists

Although Pyrite Ore will not provide Epic Gems from Prospecting, Epic Gems will be able to be crafted by using Alchemy Transmutes.  This is good news as raid drops will not be the sole source of Epic Gems in WoW Patch 4.3.  Alchemists will be able to get 6 new recipes in Patch 4.3 and those recipes will be for Transmuting the Epic Gems.  The current data-mined Alchemy recipes do not show what materials will be required for the Epic Gem transmutes, but at least we know raid bosses will not be the only source of Epic Gems.  I'm going to assume that the Alchemy Transmutes will share the cooldown with all the current Alchemy Transmutations.  And you can bet that the Epic Gems transmutes will require multiples of Cataclysm Herbs and Cataclysm Rare Gems.

Epic Gems and Their Transmutes


Red Epic Gems:  Queen's Garnet  -  Transmute: Queen's Garnet
Blue Epic Gems:  Deepholme Iolite  -  Transmute: Deepholme Iolite
Yellow Epic Gems:  Lightstone  -  Transmute: Lightstone
Purple Epic Gems:  Shadow Spinel  -  Transmute: Shadow Spinel
Green Epic Gems:  Elven Peridot  -  Transmute: Elven Peridot
Orange Epic Gems:  Lava Coral  -  Transmute: Lava Coral
Note:  No Prismatic Gem Found Yet

Epic Gems Will Be Cut By Jewelcrafters

Jewelcrafters will again be able to cut raw Epic Gems into their cut versions, which is great news for those of us that make a lot of gold with our Jewelcrafters.  There doesn't appear to be a new source of currency, so we can assume that the current JC Daily tokens will be required to purchase the new Epic Gem Recipes or a new item that awards Epic Gem Recipes.

Tome Of Burning Jewels

There is an item listed in the data-mined information called the Tome Of Burning Jewels.  The Tome Of Burning Jewels is a Bind-On-Pickup item that could be a raid boss drop, or a vendor purchased item.  I doubt it is a world drop since it is soulbound.  Since it is soulbound, there is no way to sell these Tomes to other JCs.  So it is NOT a Jewelcrafting equivalent of the Book of Glyph Mastery.  Is it possible that Jewelcrafters can only purchase the Tome of Burning Jewels with their JC Tokens?  Will Jewelcrafters only be able to learn their Epic Gem recipes at random choices, instead of picking which Epic Gem Cuts to get first?  Wouldn't that make for some crazy random distribution of Epic Gem cuts where your profits or market control will be based off of the random number generator?  My bet is that the Epic Gem Recipes will be added to the near empty JC vendor out in the Twilight Highlands.

So with the current Patch 4.3 PTR data-mined information we can see gold making options will be available for Epic Gems.  So keep saving up those JC tokens and start looking for a variety of Cataclysm Herbs to pair up with rare gems to start Transmuting Epic Gems.

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player Or Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide.

No Epic Gems: Pyrite Ore Unloading Options

No Epic Gems From Pyrite Ore

Now that Ghostcrawler himself has confirmed that Epic Gems will NOT be coming from Pyrite Ore in WoW Patch 4.3, you might be seeing players unloading their stockpiles of Pyrite Ore on the auction house.  This mass exodus of stockpiled Pyrite Ore has already led to a drop in prices of Pyrite Ore across many WoW servers.  Pyrite Ore just hasn't been able to hold its value now that we know Prospecting the ore will not yield any epic gems.  What should you do to unload your stockpiled Pyrite Ore?

Pyrite Ore Options

Pyrite Ore isn't just for Prospecting.  Pyrite Ore can be smelted into Pyrite Bars.  Bars are often selling for more than the Pyrite Ore cost to smelt and produce your own Pyrite Bars.  Some of the crafted products that require Pyrite Bars include Truegold Transmutations, Ebonsteel Belt Buckles, Pyrium Weapon Chains, and Pyrium Shield Spikes.

Pyrite Ore Options
  • Sell as stacks of Pyrite Ore
  • Prospect Pyrite Ore for Gems and Volatile Earth
  • Smelt Pyrite Ore into Pyrite Bars
Pyrite Bar Options
  • Transmute Truegold
  • Pyrium Weapon Chain
  • Pyrium Shield Spike
  • Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
  • Crafted epic weapons and armor (as Truegold)
If you are sitting on a massive stockpile of Pyrium Ore, then you probably will need to use all of the available avenues to unload your Pyrite Ore.  Depending on how much Pyrite Ore you are looking to unload, you may want to sell it raw just to be rid of it.  The value is surely going to steadily crash until it levels out to a normal acceptable price level.  All of the items that are crafted from Pyrite Ore or Pyrite Bars should see some prices drops as well, due to the crashing prices of Pyrite Ore. 

If you are looking to unload your Ore stockpile, you should already be working on unloading your Pyrite Ore and the products created from Truegold and Pyrium Bars.  Truegold required items will see less loss of value thanks to the restrictive once per day cooldown.  If the Truegold cooldown were removed, the value of those crafted items will drop much more quickly.  The current 24 hour crafting cooldown creates a safety buffer against the massive influx of Truegold Bars from alchemists should the cooldown be removed.

Then there is always the option of long term storage.  Maybe the best use of your Pyrite Ore stockpile is to just sit on your stock and wait for the supplies to dry up.  I wonder how much Pyrite Ore will be worth deep into the next expansion when no one is farming it up anymore?

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player Or Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Spotlight On New WoW Gold Blogs



New World of Warcraft Gold Blogs

Many of the WoW gold making blogs have either grinded to a halt, slowed their posting schedules, or quit blogging completely.  A look into anyone's blog roll will show only a handful of new posts coming out each day.  With the lull in content and fresh ideas during Cataclysm, there just isn't as much to write about.  What we need is a few fresh faces to help breathe some life back into the community.  Here I present to you a few of those new fresh young writers just getting their feet wet in the blog pool.  I've added a few new sites into my blog roll here at Cold's Gold Factory and this is your introduction to them as well.

Mountain of Gold
Url:  http://leez.eu/wowblog/
Gold Blogger: Leez

The Gold Mint
Url: http://thegoldmint.blogspot.com/
Gold Blogger:  MoxNix

Critical Goblin
Gold Blog:  http://criticalgoblin.blogspot.com/
Gold Blogger:  Critical Goblin

The Auction House Grind
Gold Blog:  http://ahgrind.blogspot.com/
Gold Blogger:  Jafo

Warcraft Looks (Mogging)
Gold Blog:  http://warcraftlooks.blogspot.com/
Gold Blogger:  Fluxdada

Be sure to check out these 5 new sites, leave some feedback, and participate with comments.  Got a new WoW gold making site yourself?  Send me the link or leave it in the comments.

Thinking of starting your own gold making blog?  Here are a couple of nice posts to get you thinking:



Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player Or Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

When Auctioneer Lies... I Turn A Profit

Auctioneer Market Value Isn't Always Correct

Regardless of what auctioneering add-on you are using, your displayed market value is only as good as the average of your scans.  If you are not scanning the auction house, then obviously your market value data is going to be incorrect.  If you are constantly scanning the auction house multiple times per day, then you are going to have more accurate auctioneer data to base your decisions on what to sell on the auction house in World of Warcraft.  The more scans you perform over time, the closer your data will be to becoming accurate.  A website like theunderminejournal that is based off of hourly scans is going to have a more detailed and accurate breakdown of what is closer to the true market value over time.  Scanning hourly is much more accurate than scanning twice per day.

There are times when the market value given on your tooltip is accurate from a historical data collection standpoint, yet is completely off for the actual value of an item.  Remember prior to Cataclysm, when I told you to stock up on the low level Vanilla WoW greens that were turning blue in Cataclysm?  Well, those items had been scanned as green junk low value items for years.  When they were changed to blue items and gained upgraded stats, we made a killing selling those now blue leveling items.

If you think back to the beginning of Cataclysm when they were selling to all of the fresh characters leveling in the new WoW Cataclsym content, these items were still showing up on the tooltip with the low market value that had been scanned multiple times prior to the change.  We had to manually jack the prices up on these fresh high demand blue gear pieces.  Many of the items I had bought while green (prior to the Cata change) for less than 2 or 3 gold. I was then able to unload them( once they turned into their blue equivalents) for 60-125 gold each.  Even after the change into blue items, anyone who just used the drag and drop auto-price fill posting method, would have been mistakenly posting those items at the old market value.  Even after the change, I was able to snatch up a few underpriced pieces of the blue gear.

Enchant Shield Vitality

Here is an example of another item that currently can be seen posted on the auction house listed at far below the actual value.  Because of the same scanned market value of the old version of the scroll, many leveling Enchanters will craft 5-10 Enchant Shield: Vitality scrolls while leveling their Enchanting Profession.  They just toss them onto the auction house at whatever Auctioneer tells them it is worth, but that market value is way off from the true value of the Enchant.

Enchant Shield: Vitality is now Best-in-Slot for any shield carrying twink as it now gives +10 Stamina and +10 Spirit.  Many times these enchants can be found for well below the cost to craft, since Auctioneer and other add-ons still base their market value off of the old value when no one bought them.  I recently found 40 of the Enchant Shield: Vitality scrolls on the auction house all for under 1 gold each.  I bought every last one of them and reposted a few on the auction house, which sold for 75 gold each.  These do require some expensive Enchanting materials to craft after all (4 Illusion Dust and a Greater Eternal Essense).  I continually toss a handful of them up on the auction house and the sales continue to come in.  I also keep an eye out for any more that show up at stupid low prices so I can buy them up and sweep them out of the hands of potential competitors.

Buying Poorly Priced Scrolls (Click to Enlarge)
Selling Scrolls For Correct Price (Click to Enlarge)
I paid 45 gold for 42 scrolls.
2 Scrolls sold for 75 gold each.
That leaves me with plenty profit already and 40 more scrolls to sell.

Check into this on your server, especially if you have a nice twink population.  Remember to always use the most important add-on of all above all other WoW add-ons.

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player Or Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Thanks Twizz For The Pic! | Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery In Action

Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery In Action


Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Guide In Action


Thanks Twizz!  TwizzleTank of The Rep Grind Radio Podcast did a segment on Episode #9 about his easy gold making experiences using the Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery gold making guide.  Be sure to catch Episode #9 of Rep Grind Radio at Eviscerated.net or over at iTunes.


Check out the image sent in by Twizz at the top of this post.  Click on the picture to enlarge it.  You can see the nice chunks of gold rolling in from using the tips provided in the Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery gold guide.  Notice the wall of yellow "A Buyer Has Been Found For Your Auction Of Mysterious Fortune Card" text scrolling by as the sales just roll in?  My methods are proven and work effectively.

Mysterious Fortune Cards Guru In Action


You can see similar results in this older picture of me selling Mysterious Fortune Cards myself on my scribe, Primerib.  The great thing about Mysterious Fortune Cards is that they will never become obsolete.  Players will always want to try and win a nice chunk of 5000 gold.


Thanks again Twizz and Res of Rep Grind Radio!  Keep your shows coming.  We love 'em!

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Raking In The Gold. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player Or Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Reader Submission: Multiple Markets, Chimera's Eyes, & How To Make More Gold


Reader Submission / Assistance With Gold Making

Here is an email I received from a reader at Cold's Gold Factory and an avid listener of The Auction House Junkies Podcast.  Read along and follow my responses at the end of this post.  Got questions or ideas you would like covered?  Send em in!
Cold,
I heard of your site from your podcast, Auction House Junkies. I’m a goldmaking addict. I’ll log in some nights and just play at the Auction House for hours and not even venture out into WoW. I currently have just over 1 million gold liquid. Much more in commodities. I just enjoy it immensely. Your suggestions for diversification amongst the professions and jumping in and out of markets at key times have been very helpful. I thoroughly enjoy listening to the podcasts both while I’m gaming and in my car driving to and from work. I have yet to find a podcast to match yours. I do listen to the others you recommend. I just wish there were more of them.

I enjoy your suggestions for upcoming patch changes and how to take advantage of the market during that time period. I have taken your advice and been investing Chimera’s Eyes, buying up any for what I consider cheap. One of the biggest contributions you have made to my goldmaking has been the Undermine Journal. That site is AWESOME! I have my profile set up observing the different commodity prices all the time. I haven’t downloaded the addon yet. Do you use the addon?

I have an engineer btw. :P But, I haven’t used that profession in my goldmaking, yet. I’ll make more of an effort.

I would be interested to know what other markets I could try out. I’m sure there’s portions of markets I’m not using that I am unaware of. These are the crafting professions I have at 525 and what aspects of each I use in my goldmaking:
  • Jewelcrafting (Rare gems. Waiting for Epic gems. Very saturated on my server.)
  • 3 Alchemists – I have 1 of each: Potion Master, Elixir Master, Transmute Master (All potions, flasks, & elixirs)
  • Tailoring (Netherweave Bags, Frostweave Bags, Cloth Lvl 80 gear, Embersilk Bags)
  • Leatherworking (I don’t do anything in this market)
  • 2 Inscriptionists (Mysterious Fortune Cards, Glyphs, occasional Darkmoon Card)
  • Blacksmithing (I don’t do anything in this market)
  • Engineering (I don’t do anything in this market)
  • 2 Enchanters (Do Obsidium shuffle and sell Enchanting mats. Don’t do much in the scroll market, but I’ve kind of wanted to.)
I also have several gatherers (Skinners, Miners, Herbalists). But, I’m not that into farming. Would rather sit at the AH and make gold.
Anyways, keep doing what you do!

Thanks!

Ryan
Ixaon (pronounced Zion) on Cenarius

Thanks for the email submission, Ryan.  I appreciate the kind words about my site and our podcast.  Look out for a new episode of Auction House Junkies soon.  Wes (of CappedByCata.com) and I are planning on recording this weekend as my computer is back and working better than ever.  Thanks again to all the generous and helpful readers and listeners that assisted with either donating funds or purchasing guides to help me raise the funds to get the computer fixed.

Chimera's Eyes may not be used in creating a new Prismatic Gem after all.  We've just found out that Epic Gems will only drop from raid bosses.  We still don't know if those gems that will be dropping are going to be pre-cut or are going to be required to be cut my Jewelcrafters.  So it is possible that Chimera's Eyes could be used in a recipe, if the epic gems are not soulbound and drop in their raw forms.  I was buying up Chimera's Eyes as well and only at cheap prices as I suggested.  Now we may have to find another route to unload those Chimera's Eyes, but that's a post for another day. 

Looking over your markets and professions that you use for making gold in WoW, I will give the following ideas for expanding into other markets.
  • Jewelcrafter - Look into buying Dragon's Eyes and selling Nightmare's Tears and other WotLK rare and epic gems.  Try Delicate Copper Wires too.
  • Tailoring - Rich Purple Silk Shirts (very rare pattern) are great. I'm still the only provider and have raised my prices to 35 gold per rare crafted shirt and sales are still coming in.  Add the pattern to your Undermine Journal watch list and snatch it up for cheap.  Highly recommended!
  • Leatherworking - Are Leg Armors and Leather PvP sets dead on your server?  Have you looked into Mammoth Mining Bags?  Barbaric Bracers and Deviate Scale Belts (if you go the pattern before it became obsolete) are also major sellers.
  • Enchanting - Start hunting for mispriced lvl 82+ blues to Disenchant and sell as Heavenly Shards.  you gotta start selling scrolls as many of the Enchants will earn you more sold as a scroll than if you just sold the Enchanting materials raw.  Try some of the Twink / BoA enchants to get started safely and then expand into rare and high end enchants.  Anytime there is a massive influx of new gear Enchants can make sales in the same ballpark as Gem sales.  Also check out some cheap ways to craft and disenchant to create Infinite Dust (The WotLK dust).  I am Shuffling Saronite Ore from my pre-Cataclysm guild bank stockpiles into Infinite Dust, which I am selling singles and stacks at 10 gold per Infinite Dust.  As already mentioned, the wave of alts and levelers are buying it up in droves.  I had to spend a whole Sunday (this last weekend) Shuffling Saronite Ores into Infinite Dust just to keep my stock up with the massive wave of Infinite Dust sales. 
  • Blacksmithing - You are leaving a lot of money on the table by not utilizing your Blacksmith more.  Enchanting Rods are still a huge seller, especially now with many players leveling alts and new professions.  PvP Plate mail and Tanking gear are also solid options.  I also use my BS/ Miner to make a hefty profit selling Hardened Elementium Bars when Elementium Ore dips stupidly cheap.
  • Engineering - It isn't as hard to make gold with Engineering as many players make it out to be (they probably exagerate the difficulty to scare competitor's away).  All of the Engineering crafted pets are good to start crafting.  The new Gun from the Firelands unlocked recipe is a nice way to bring in a big chunk of gold at once and use up some of those extra Chaos Orbs.  The new scopes are still selling well along with Ethers, Fused Wirings, Bolts, Khorium Power Cores, Adamantite Frames and other odd ball items.
  • Alchemy - Never forget about transmuting Arcanite Bars.  Materials are cheap and I am currently selling a lot of Arcanite Bars at 75 gold for a single Arcanite Bar and they are selling 5-10 times a night in the overnight market.

So I hope those ideas help either jog your memory of a forgotten market or help you find a new market to make gold in WoW.  Thanks again for the reader submission!


Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player Or Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Cataclysm Patch 4.3 Epic Gems - Pyrite Ore Is Fool's Gold After All

"I Pity The Fools That Stockpiled Pyrite Ore For Epic Gems!"

Cataclysm Patch 4.3 Epic Gems Will Come From Raid Bosses Only

Yup. That's correct.  Ghostcrawler (Greg Street) has finally spilled the beans on where Epic Gems will be coming from.  It is confirned that Epic Gems will be added in WoW Patch 4.3, which is also the last major content patch for the World of Warcraft Cataclysm expansion.  Epic gems are going to be coming from the new Deathwing raid content and will drop from normal and heroic mode bosses only (and not at all for the new easy difficulty raid option that is coming too).

These raid bosses will offer a rare drop "geode" for killing a raid boss in the new Patch 4.3 Deathwing raid content.  If the "geode" drops from a rare boss, each raid member will get their own "geode", which can then be opened to see what gems are inside.  There can be an epic gem or a rare gem.  This reminds me of the individual holiday boss loot bags (Like the Keg-Shaped Chest from killing Coren Direbrew, the Brewfest Boss), where you get your container and open it to see what you got.  Everyone gets one and everyone gets their own RNG roll when they open their "geode" container.  This helps eliminate the loot getting divided up in groups as everyone will get their "geode" and a chance at getting an epic gem.

Cata Epic Gems Unanswered Questions

That is a quick summary of what we currently know based on the various Blizzard staff interviews and Patch 4.3 information releases.  There are still some things that are unanswered that pertain to Epic Gems.  Hopefully we will see a Patch 4.3 PTR soon and learn more information on the fate of Epic Gems and Gem Cut Patterns.  These are the main questions that still need to be answered.
  1. Will Epic Gems inside the "geodes" be raw Epic Gems or cut Epic Gems?
  2. Will these Epic Gems be soulbound (BoP) or tradeable (BoE)?
  3. Will there be Jewelcrafting recipes for cutting these Epic Gems?
  4. What will the currency be that is used to purchase these Epic Gem recipe cuts?
In the notes there was a mention of new crafting recipes coming in WoW Patch 4.3, but there wasn't a specific reference to what professions would be getting new recipes.  Maybe there will be new recipes for Epic Gem Cuts or maybe new recipes for multiple professions.  We just have to wait and see to find out when more information is available.

Jewelcrafting in Patch 4.3 is not going to be the big gold earning profession that we all assumed it would be once Epic Gems were added into Cataclysm.  Even if Blizzard adds Epic Gem Cuts into the game and the Epic Gems from "geodes" are tradeable, they will still be rare and not a widely distributed commodity.  Only raiders will be able to obtain them.  As Jewelcrafters we may be stuck working mainly just for tips on cutting Epic Gems and we all know what a nightmare that fee pricing / tipping model that can be.

Pyrite Ore Is Fool's Gold

Pyrite Ore is also dubbed "Fool's Gold" in the real world.  You didn't invest too heavily into Pyrite Ore hoping to get rich when Epic Gems became available from Prospecting did you?  Pyrite Ore as a source of Epic Gems was nothing but pure speculation.  Today that speculative bubble burst and ruined the risky plans of many who choose to stock up on Pyrite Ore.  Today the prices are already crashing down and stacks are already under 100g for full stacks of Pyrite Ore on my server.  I feel bad for the foolish players that stocked up too much on speculation.  As in anything, it is a lesson to be learned.  Speculation is all about High-Risk taking in hopes of a High-Payout Reward should that speculation become true.  As with any major stockpile on speculation, you simply must have an escape route in case things don't work out as planned. 

If you didn't stock up of Pyrite Ore, then you can take advantage of the incoming Pyrite Ore crash.  Truegold Transmuting, Ebonsteel Belt Buckles, and Pyrium Bars are 3 outs you can take to unload your Pyrite Ore without losing too much gold.  You can also prospect and sell the rare gems you get, but be careful.  Volatile Earth and the current gems markets should both see prices continuing to drop as players churn through their massive stockpiles of Pyrite Ore.  I would hold onto Chimera's Eyes at this point until we know more.  If there is a new Prismatic Gem, it is possible that the "geode" would contain 1 piece that needs a Chimera's Eye added to it to become a full Prismatic Tear type gem (that is if the "geode" drops uncut epic gems).  I will work up another post to show ways to unload Chimera's Eyes for those of you that need tips on moving any that you may have stocked up on hoping for a new Prismatic Tear Epic Gem.

As of now, we just have to wait it out and look for more answers to our unanswered questions about Epic Gems in WoW Cataclysm Patch 4.3. 

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player Or Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Which Epic Gems Cuts To Buy First For WoW Gold Profits?


Note: Epic Gems In Patch 4.3 Are Going to Drop Inside Of Raids (Info just released today Sept 19th).  This post was written as speculation on epic gems prior to the announcement.  You can still benefit from this post, if you are a newer Jewelcrafter looking for which rare patterns to start selling.  The gem pre-fixes are the same for rare gems and epic gems.  Pyrite is Fool's Gold after all.  What is still up in the air is whether the raid boss dropped epic gems will be dropping as cut or uncut epic gems.

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Which Epic Gem Cut Recipes Should I Get First?

If WoW Patch 4.3 brings us Epic Gems as we are hoping for, many of us will have a surplus of saved up Jewelcrafting daily tokens from Jewelcrafting dailies ready to spend on the new epic gem cuts.  Hopefully Blizzard sticks with the same epic gem recipe formula and makes the cut epic gem patterns available for Jewelcrafting tokens.  It is speculated that each epic gem recipe will require 5-6 Jewelcrafting tokens.  (Remember everything is pure speculation at this point.)  If epic gems do come to World of Warcraft within Patch 4.3, there will be another massive wave of gold making opportunities.  Which patterns / recipes / cuts should you buy first to maximize your investment of Jewelcrafting tokens?

The Gem Array at The Undermine Journal is a great starting place for deciding which gem cuts to sell.  When using the Gem Array at The Undermine Journal, you can get a quick snapshot of the current gem cuts and what they are selling for on your server.  Remember that every server is different.  What sells for top gold on your server may sell for much less gold on another.  There can even be heavy price fluctuations between each faction's auction houses on your same server.

Epic Gem Cut Recipe Choices

Epic gem cut patterns, regardless of how they are introduced into WoW, will not all be available to you as soon as they are added to the game.  Which epic gem recipe cuts you purchase first is very important for maximizing your gold making possibilities.  Buy the correct epic gem cuts early on and you can make a hefty chunk of WoW gold.  Buy the wrong epic gem cuts and you may squander away some major gold making chances.

I would suggest starting with purchasing the recipes for the main epic gem cuts for each color.  By main cuts I mean the epic gem patterns that tend to sell in great volumes because of the awesome and highly desired gem stat combinations.  I suggest that you first acquire 1 epic gem cut in each color, as well as all 3 of the major red gems that provide solid primary stat boosts.

Main Cuts To Buy First:

Red
  • Bold (+ Strength)
  • Brilliant (+ Intelligence)
  • Delicate (+ Agility)
Blue
  • Solid (+ Stamina)
  • Rigid (+ Hit)
Yellow
  • Fractured (+ Mastery)
  • Smooth (+ Critical)
Purple
  • Purified (+ Int and + Spirit)
  • Veiled (+ Int and + Hit Rating)
Green
  • Jagged (+ Crit and + Stamina)
  • Puissant (+ Mastery and + Stamina)
Orange
  • Reckless (+ Int and + Haste)
  • Potent (+Int and + Crit)
Prismatic
  • The New Tear (+ All Stats)  - This is going to be a nice gold making epic gem cut and it is going to be a major gold maker for those that took my advice and stocked up on cheap Chimera's Eyes
I would grab all 3 of the red gems, then work on getting at least 1 in every color (so you don't have epic gems piling up on you waiting for a epic gem cut pattern of the chosen color).  Once you have all 3 red epic gem cuts and 1 in each color, then you should start looking to expand even further.  An options of starting out filling an epic gem niche market early into the days following the release of the epic gems could be a very profitable adventure as most players will head for the main cuts first.  If you pick up some of the main cuts and then focus on a specific niche (like the tanking or PvP niches) you may see less competition and more profits.  So pick your patterns wisely, plan ahead and venture on into the gold making bonanza that will be epic gems.


Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started In A Unique Niche. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player Or Check Out My New Favorite Gold Guide For The Best All-Around WoW Gold Making Guide.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Status Update (Again) & Questions For Readers


Blood Bowl Bruiser
The computer is now in the shop with an estimated return time of 7 days.  Ugh!  It's already been forever and a day with no home computer, now I have another 7 days to wait.  The break from blogging has actually been quite refreshing and I have all sorts of ideas jotted down for posts once I get completely up and running. The break has been a nice reduction in stress, but I'm getting to where I am missing blogging.  I am missing the reader / author interaction.

Once I get my computer back, I will be taking a few days to get everything re-installed, updated, and back to top shape.  I'll actually be able to log into World of Warcraft and start researching markets and trends again.  The first order of business once my computer is back and running properly, is to record another episode of Auction House Junkies.  As mentioned previously, I will announce on that episode the official day that Cold's Gold Factory will be back in business posting daily WoW gold making tips.

QUESTIONS FOR ALL READERS:

I've had some readers email me or try to leave comments calling me an idiot for my statements regarding the server population status on the Opening Day of the NFL Football Season.  My questions is this:

  • Did you see any noticable change in your server's player population yesterday during the NFL Football games? 
  • Was your competition less than normal as I predicted? 
  • Were you able to make extra gold from the lack of competition on the auction house?
  • Or was there no noticable effect?
  • Did you accomplish anything easier on NFL Opening Sunday?

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Wasn't Northrend Inscription Research Supposed To Replace Books Of Glyph Mastery in WoW Patch 4.2?

Confused About Inscription Research?
Northrend Inscription Research Vs. Books Of Glyph Mastery

There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the ways that new scribes must learn recipes for their Inscription Profession.  I have been fielding multiple questions via Twitter and email asking what is up with Northrend Inscription Research.  This has become a common question lately, so I took some time to look it up.  I seem to remember and expected the same changes in Patch 4.2 that these players are now stumped over. 

Wasn't Patch 4.2 Supposed To Allow For All Glyphs To Be Discovered With Research Only?
Is Northrend Inscription Research Bugged?
Why Is Inscription Research Not Awarding New Glyph Recipes?

Wait, Hold Up!  REWIND!

The confusion is coming from this statement released by Blizzard during the Professions Dev Q&A

Quote:

Will you provide a way to speed up the acquiring of glyphs usually acquired through research and glyph books? Glyph books (Book of Glyph Mastery) are hard to come by now that people spend so little time in WotLK content.


Yes. We will be changing the discovery spells so they can teach all possible glyphs, and the books will simply provide a no-cooldown method to do the same thing.
The confusion is coming from the fact that many of us assumed that this change would be coming in Patch 4.2, since the Developer's Q & A on Professions took place before the release of WoW Patch 4.2.  Then WoWInsider warned us to sell off our Books of Glyph Mastery because the Inscription Research change was "coming soon."  This just further led to the assumption that Patch 4.2 would bring the Inscription Changes.

The change would allow a newer character leveling Inscription to bypass the need for Books of Glyph Mastery, which are very expensive on most WoW servers.  When this Inscription Research (Discovery) change is implemented, the goal will be to allow Scribes to learn all glyphs from Northrend Inscription Research or Minor Inscription Research and not be limited by the fact that a ton of the good selling glyphs are only available from purchasing the expensive Books of Glyph Mastery. 

The problem is that they never said it was going to be added in Patch 4.2.  As of now it will still be added at a later date, if the plan continues as originally stated.  These Inscription Research changes never made it into the Patch 4.2 patch notes either.  So it never happened.  You currently are limited by the number of Books of Glyph Mastery that you are able to purchase.  The value of the Books of Glyph Mastery also has remained high on most WoW servers since they are still a requirement for learning some Glyph recipes.
Hope this helps to clear up the confusion that some of you are experiencing.



Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player.

Friday, September 9, 2011

How NFL Opening Day Is Good For WoW Players


Class Rivalry - Dwarves Vs Orcs
 Images from the Blood Bowl Video Game - The Real Fantasy Football!

NFL Opening Kickoff Is This Weekend

This Sunday, September 11th, is not only my birthday, but also is the kick-off of the 2011 NFL Football season. From past experience I can vouge that the servers tend to be much slower (Alliance side may be booming though - lol) with many players watching football all day long. NFL Kickoff is an awesome day to perform acts that you benefit from when there are less WoW players online.

I won the Booty Bay Fishing Derby on NFL opening day (Strategically planned of course).  Other ideas for things that are easier with less competition include Hunting Rare Spawns and Farming.


Excuse Me Sir, This Linebacker Stops The Running Game

NFL Opening Day is also a great time to make some serious cash on the auction house in World of Warcraft.  Since there will be so many players logged off all day thanks to the NFL Football season starting, there will be less competition on the auction house.  Less competition usually translates to more sales and those sales tend to be for higher prices.  Less competitors can also mean better odds of snatching up those cheap resources like Skins, Ores, and Herbs.

NFL Opening Day is just one of my 10 Super Secret Days For Easier Gold Making.  Be sure to take advantage of this Sunday and the lack of players and competition.  Even if you plan to watch NFL football all day long, make sure to post your auction before and between games.

Let The Games Begin

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player.

Order Blood Bowl - Legendary Edition From Amazon.com

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

August Recap of Top Gold Tips & Posts

Top Posts From August

Ha!  Manager is gone and I snuck in the office and got a quick post up for you guys.  As I do every month, I like to do a recap of the top articles from the previous month.  This gives a chance for you to catch up with some of the top articles from the month prior and helps the newer visitors find some extra reading material.  So just like every month, the recap is still live.

Most Popular
Most Discussed
The Gold Blogging Carnival here at Cold's Gold Factory is coming soon.  I will find time to hit the library and get the carnival post slated for the 11th as usual.  So the Gold blogging Carnival is still on.  Get your articles written and send those links in.

The topic is "Why We Play The Auction House / Emotional Feelings Of Auctioneering." If you don't have a blog and would like to participate in the blogging carnival, you can send me a guest post on the same topic and I will host your article at Goldgrub's Goblin Academy. Bloggers, get your carnival entries in to reserve your top spot on the list of entries (First come, First listed). 
It is also a great time to sign up to become an affiliate for the MFC Mastery guide. Earn some cash by referring this awesome guide to your friends, guild members, or readers. I pay 40% of the sale total (which is a 50/50 split after fees are deducted) when you refer a buyer. Sales are continuing to come in. Why not refer others and get paid too?  I also have another guide in the works that will be launching by the end of the month hopefully.  Sign up and learn the ropes of affiliate marketing and you can make some extra cash during the launch of the new guide.

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Computer Repair Status Update

Computer Repair Status

Just a quick note (from my phone) to let you know how the computer repair fundraising is going.  I am almost to my goal of the $200 I am trying to raise from selling guides and accepting donations.  Just a few more guide sales or some more $5-$10 donations and I will be at my target. 

I have had a handful of generous readers and podcast lovers that have sent in direct cash donations.  Words cannot express how very grateful and thankful I am for all of your support.  Those who have purchased a guide or have sent in a donation have been a major help in getting this fund raising going.  I appreciate every last one of you.

Anyone who has sent in a cash donation will be receiving a complimentary copy of my second WoW gold making guide once the computer is fixed and I can finish the project.  Anyone else who sends in a cash donation will also receive a free copy of the same gold guide.  I hope to have the guide out by the end of the month. 

As soon as I get the last of the money either donated or available from more guide sales, I will take the computer in for the repairs.  As soon as I get it back and restored to working order, I will be resuming daily posts here at Cold's Gold Factory and will be back posting at Goldgrubs.com.

Stay tuned for the next episode of Auction House Junkies (after repairs are done).  I will be announcing the re-launch date for the site here on the Auction House Junkies podcast's next episode.

Thanks so much for all of your support in this rough time.  Hope to be back sooner than later.

-Cold

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player.

Friday, September 2, 2011

"But I'm Not Dead Yet!"

Have You Tipped Your Bloggers Today?

Home Computer Is Down

Unfortunately I have quite an issue with my ability to engage the gold blogging community via the podcast and this blog.  In the previous post on the status of this site, I mentioned how I haven't been able to use my home computer due to Charter working on the line for a couple of weeks.  That work is over now, but I have even bigger issues.  My home computer is now down until I can save up enough money to have it completely fixed.  I have a quote to get it repaired and upgraded to working condition again.  Unfortunately, I don't have the extra money to get it fixed.  I might be able to scrape enough money together by the end of the month to get it fixed. 

The end of the month, maybe.  Problem is that I no longer can write posts from work either.  As I mentioned on Auction House Junkies Episode #15, I have been promoted to a new position at work.  Today is my last day training my replacement before I move to the new department.  The new department does not have internet access, so I will not be able to do any blog posts from work anymore.  Yes, that sucks, but wouldn't be a big deal except that my home computer is going to take $200 to get it running where I can start posting daily gold tips again.

So what does this mean?

Until I get my $200 saved up for the computer repairs:
  • There will be no new blog posts at Cold's Gold Factory (there may be an occasional post, if I can find time to hit a library).
  • There will be no new Monday posts (that's my day) at Goldgrubs.com.
  • Diablo3GoldTips.com will be on hold unless Wes gets a post up.
  • There will be no new episodes of The Auction House Junkies podcast until my computer is fixed.  (Wes and I tried to record Tuesday evening, but I come across as robo-voice speed talker.)
  • My current project of a second gold guide, which is already in the works) is on hold as well.
You can see it is a sad day for Cold's Gold Factory and my other blogging and podcasting projects.

What Can You Do To Help Out?

I need to try and raise $200 total as soon as possible, so that I can get back to posting daily and providing content for all of my wonderful readers.  Wes and I are also itchin to get another Auction House Junkies episode out as well as release our initial Diablo 3 podcast teaser episode.  Can't do either until I can raise the $200 and get my computer fixed.

I had mentioned how I was a #sadpanda after relaying the news to my followers on Twitter yesterday.  I had an Auction House Junkies listener contact me asking for my Paypal address because he wanted to help out.  This loyal fan of the podcast sent me $50 to my Paypal account to get my $200 computer repair savings project underway, so we can get more gold making podcast episodes out as quickly as possible.  Thank you so much for your generous contribution, sir.

If you too would like to help out and help us get back on a regular posting and podcasting schedule, then these are the following options that will assist in raising the cash needed for the computer repairs. 
  1. Purchase a MFC Mastery Gold Guide.  This guide has helped nearly 100 players so far and has been very well received.  MFCs continue to be hot sellers and there is less competition now that school is back in session.
  2. Buy a guide from either the WoW gold guide page here at CGF or from the shop at Goldgrub's.
  3. Send a donation via Paypal to email address SSmith0911 (at) Live (dot) Com.  Any amount no matter how large or small will be greatly appreciated.  If you would like a shout out on the blog or on the podcast, please say so with the donation message. 
  4. Buy something from Amazon.com with my referral link.
  5. Tweet this post, post it to Facebook, or any other social media site.  Tell your friends.
  6. Contact me for various advertising ideas for your own site, podcast, or blog promotion.
Thanks in advance for anyone who decides to help out.  The faster I can get money earned and saved up, the sooner the blogs and the podcasts will be back in business.  I will be back ASAP.  Thanks for understanding.  In the meantime, there are over 520+ posts here at Cold's Gold Factory to keep you busy with gold making tips and tricks as well as strategy discussions.

PS:  If you are wondering where the money is from all of the MFC Mastery guides I've sold.  Every last penny went to pay for a root canal for my girlfriend who has no job and no insurance.  Major dental work without insurance is outrageous.
Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started In Gold Making. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player.