Wednesday, January 18, 2012

OFFLOAD or hold? what is worth holding till 5.0

As I have languished and whined many times over, I made a mistake on my 4.3 stockpiles... I collected far far far far far more volatiles than I could use or needed for the patch and prices have done nothing but fall ever since...

At this point there are many things I am considering on how to procede for the maximum gold return on my guild banks...

I have unloaded most of my stuff that was specifically stocked for the 4.3 release...   I did that in a little over 10 days.. in about 2-3 weeks I went from big piles and 10K liquid to 1.4 million...

I hate the idea of selling the volatiles that I have thousands of each type at 20% of purchase margin in most cases... the thinking process... They Only take up one of the 6 guild bank tabs... (maybe a tad bit more...)  There are going to be for certain A PILE of leveling Pandarens and other characters and races as specifically PROFESSIONS in the 2 weeks-3 months (estimated time frame).  The consideration that I have all but talked myself into is to hold them till 5.0.  The logic I have for this is there are going to be a lot more required for the leveling of professions than the current markets and volumes of farming going on.  Farming will decreas on Cata mats, supply goes down, and initially after 5.0 demand will drop sharply, but then later in following weeks and months as those newly leveled monks and pandarens look to boost their professions w/ their savings... I may be able to get more out of the warehouse...

I am thinking the miscelanious piles of BC mats and other things I have will also sell better later on durring that same period...

hrmmm... randoms considerations...

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Looking at old data for new strategies....

Its easy to say thing about what coulda would been to boost your own ego about things, saying things like, "Oh, I knew that, I just did not want to do it." or "I could have, I just thought it was too much risk"  or make up any excuse to boost your ego, does not change the fact that I did not look deep enough at the right time to make the better call...

I continue to hesitate at trying to offload all the thousands of volatiles I have since the would be a massive loss.  I continue to empty out banks and clean up space slowly to make it usable for future ventures...

I completely failed to look and recognize that w/ 4.3 there is really... very very little use of volatiles... not in any massive volume that I prepared for.  I would have to quit doing my normal gut feeling, but ATM, that is still what I am going with... volatiles were flying around at rediculous volumes earlier in the expansion.. Now, not so much... in that prices i was paying pre 4.3 wer 500-700% more than what they are now... like I was paying 12-15 gold each for them and they are now at 2-3 gold each... I guess now would be the time when the demand exists to unload them even at a loss, however, I am considering holding them for 5.0.. there are going to be a LOT of new leveling professional Pandarens... I am equating, the demand on mats early in the expansion to the massive curve of leveling professions that was still going on in 4.3.  Then 4.3 hit and that has all changed.  People are just biding their time for the next big thing... which is 5.0,  a lot more time doing other things besides leveling alts and professions, rather those things are in game or not, the demand on the market is gone... with 5.0 a new demand will arrise, and a lack of supply will exist... I think and hope... a wowhead search of "crafted with" will give me a better idea,  If there are a ton of low level/leveling craftables that people are going to need and want to make to level professions from 425-500 or even beyond... then I should hold them and unload in the weeks that follow 5.0 release...  ATM the only markets really out there I feel (more unsubstantiated gut feel) are enchanting, JC, and leg armor/threads...   all the gear is coming from the new 5 mans, LFR and DS...  very little in perspective from crafting... and that is a pretty low volume all considered... I guess I COULD have seen it, but I did not look... I thought that the enchants and leg armors and PVP gear would place a lot higher demand on the market for them than the farming element would provide...  The truth is, I never looked at what the big users are... Now I am in a situation to make an unload strategy...  In 5.0, will demand outrun supply on volatiles?  basically am I better to unload now and massive loss, or better to wait and minimize that loss/ actually make a profit?

Another question of what do... what will supply and demand with farmers for MFCs do... they will continue to require Cata level mats unless they update the receipe... or create a new one.  I am trying to decide if I want to stockpile stacks and stacks of MFCs at the current lower prices, in hopes that they will increase in value as the mats become more expensive in 5.0?  more research to do...

Another thing is how will the new pet system work... stocking up on more available low cost pets like the elementium geode now... and reselling later at a higher price when the supply goes to the tank? hrmmmm

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Habit forming

I can not seem to stop making more gold.

Though less time invested at it is less overall growth but, I have the habits that just won't go away...

Really this is only IMO a one time thing you have to do.  Do it once and do it right and you will unless you have crazy spending habits, never have to really do it again.

However, this does not happen over night, nor in a week or even a month...  for me, though many will skip steps and do more in a lot less time, these are never the less the step and evolving process that got me to the point I am at now..

Skip to
Summary... The habits I have formed that continue to make me gold...
at bottom if you are short on time... READ THE PARTS IN CAPS...

In the beginning I was a beginner and knew nothing, but imagined many great things... I would be unto myself an empire of crafting toons all my own and be able to make myself any and all gear I wanted and needed...

Then reality slowly creeped in... The time to level all those crafters.. O.o  and all the good gear did not come from crafting anyway... And all my friends were focusing on one toon at a time and higher level than me... the whole one man empire was failing as I regularly got help in my own empire...

Stage 2... I was new to the MMO world, had only played console games in the past... And I began at the pressure of my friends to imagine myself and pursue one toon and raiding... I was evolved, from a beginner to a NOOB...   I was the hunter in Kara that did not understand macros, did not know about shot clipping, and managed about 400 dps when 7-1000 was the norm, w/ my gear level... I could not chain trap, did not know what it was, and had some very gracious people point me in the right direction and with in a couple weeks, I more than doubled my dps, and could effectively CC my target chain trapping a mob durring a boss fight 6 times over durring the same fight.. Back when that was hard, and required planning since your CD was 30 seconds and your trap was 20 in BM spec... preloading traps, and conc shots and set bonuses...

Anyway, now I was firmly in the world of needing to enhance my gear and found myself always working to that and not to the "Nether Drakes" I wanted... and always broke...

It continued this way, and I found to raid, a hunter was a bad choice there were a lot of them, not much has really changed, but a tank became the focus.. and so I was a Pally tank... FOR THE LIGHT... yeah, w/e it was still the same old game..  

Step 3: Wrath hit and I was on the train when she left the station w/out an epic flight mount.  still had my trusty moped... I learned the value of an expac release and the value of farming for seed money... Eternal fire... The pally was a Blacksmith/Engineer and the only thing I found that would make me money was my trusty Zapthrottle Mote Extractor...  I could make about 1,000 - 1,500 an hour zapping clouds for crystalized and ultimately eternal fire, w/ some low value water thrown in for a bit more.... EPIC FLIGHT... The next step was getting more toons as I reverted to the original plans of an army of alts...  to craft and save my way to riches... I had more gold than most I knew.. and was happy with that... I managed every crafting profession except tailoring, and every gathering profession, 6 level 80s... and 30K...   I was on a roll...  still wanted more than the ~90 mounts and pets I had on one toon... but I was still always farming for more stuff... it was just part of my game at the time...

Step 4: The final change and push... I left everything but my knowledge behind... I started a new server a new toon and new faction, and made focused and planned steps to get to the current place, most of that is in the last couple months blogs... in short, I rode the DMC trinket train while the getting was really really good in early cata... I jumped off and got on the revolving train, that only slows down sometimes, but always picks up speed again.. the Enchanting train and rode it to the one million...

Summary... The habits I have formed that continue to make me gold...
The orriginal plan of an army of alts was the right one, but how I planned to get there was wrong... focused effort towards fewer goals at one time, or:

FEW SHORT TERM GOALS TO FOCUS ON

planning and thought out vision for the short term goals, both gold making and game playing.. you have to balance them IMO... and you probably want to do both if you are reading this...
For me this was raiding and gold making...

HAVE A PLAN, IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU REALLY ARE PLANNING TO FAIL

BALANCE YOUR MONOTONOUS ACTIVITY WITH YOUR FUN ACTIVITIES IN YOUR SHORT TERM GOALS

Data analysis and data gathering was huge... it allowed me to sometimes see very scary number like my estimated worth drop from 450K to about 100K... as inventory devaluated... but I also had a lot more info pertinent to the cost of mats the purchase history of mats and the over bottom line I wanted to sell at to make a profit...  This was key to making gold and not losing.

EFFECTIVE DATA GATHERING AND ANALYSIS

Patience and persistence, when the data tells you that its not profitable... you can join the masses in an exodus, or you may be able to wait out a wave and still make a profit... Wait has always been my policy...
I failed every time I really tried for quick flip gains... so I quit trying... I just kept doing what worked and at the time, that was selling gear UGs in the form of leg armors and enchants... (a little bit of JC for fun, and later I added belt buckles and BS/LW PVP armor, but that was really late in the game)

PATIENCE AND PERSISTENCE... WHEN COMBINED W/ DATA ANALYSIS, IT PAYS TO WAIT MORE OFTEN THAN NOT IMO

With the army of alts, and a lost interest in the big money sinks of mounts and pets in the game, I found saving money was a helpful component to hitting the 1million cap, but it is not the holy grail.. its just not possible to save your way to riches.. You have to generate wealth... to to a sale at any store w/ your visa card, and read your reciept when your done.. usually it says "Savings: $XX.xx"  then check your Savings account.. and see how much you really saved... you did not you really spent money...

SAVING, OR LIMITING SPENDING ARE KEY COMPONENTS TO MAINTAINING WEALTH, BUT THEY ARE NOT THE COMPONENTS OF GENERATING WEALTH...

THESE ARE SOME OF THE OVER ARCHING HABITS I DEVELOPED THAT HAVE PLACED ME IN A POSITION IN A GAME OF GREAT DIGITAL WEALTH, AND TOO MANY HOURS SPENT IN ALMOST POINTLESS AMUSEMENT, EXCEPT THE POINT THAT IT AMUSED ME.  MANY HOLD TRUE IRL..

wish you the best of luck in your continuing endeavors and again Happy new year all

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Server Size and Faction Population

Server Size and Faction Population as well as what that population does (casual, hard core, PVP, raiding, the types of guilds etc.) is a huge play in your WOW Wealth building efforts.

I have often said YMMV, and see similar comments on many blogs because its important to consider the factors that impact your server economy.

Background, I am playing at more exploratory gold making, more non AH grinding, and generally less playing.   A few things have happened that got me to thinking about the impact and how one may attempt to predict some futures acuaratly, or at least be able to do some exploratory investigation to get data about how you use your time...

I read alto the other day and have decided to go look for the raptor nests occasionally.. found one so far on 4-5 trips Org > S. Barrens > Dustwallow > Un'Goro... and their have been several up on the AH at relativly low prices IMO...  Large pop server, most are on the Horde side, very heavily diverse crowd, but there is a lot of raiding... Raiders get bored and go for achieves, raiders need money, and the two of these with the general nature of decent raiders being a bit more capable of finding and using a decent website or addon to track and find out what they are missing in the Non Combat Pet Collection and how to get it, they find money making oportunities and its hard to fine the above mentioned nests on my server...   End observation, the 10 minutes or so it takes me to fly south and search barrens quick for the nest that is in a small area, pretty quick, taking a good look for the nest in Dustwallow is a bit more time,  but close by the location in S. Barrens.  Then the large area, and the many false nest to look for in Un'Goro.. gahh.. wadda pain... Not worth the time for the potential income, maybe fun for a bored hobby, while waiting for raiders to log on, or waiting for an LFR que, then maybe its something to do in that dead down time.. but otherwise, on my server not time well spent IMO...

Further thinking back to Goblins I have read blogs on and servers and competition, I recal a few other things.. Many were spread out into many many markets... I found I could gross 1.1 mill estimated in about 10-14 days on enchants alone, I made another couple hundred K in gems, Belt buckles and leg armors... but the big money was in the High volume, high demand, market of enchants.  I would need to be more diverse to make that much in anywhere close to that time frame if I was on a lower pop server... Or a server that is more casual where raiders dont go through piles of gold for the sake of raiding, but are instead patient and willing to hold mats and look in trade for an enchanter, or wait for a guildee to log etc... the other possibilities as to why they keep their gold are extensive...

Something to keep in mind, just saying... You can find and read, look up your server on wowprogress or any other raid score tracking site and consider how much progress guilds have, by your server and then compare it to other servers... and if you really want to know more, go to a couple servers and run a low level toon into a capitol and check trade.. you will almost certainly find major differences...  and probably learn something unless you have already played on multiple servers in multiple guilds and other expansive experiences that only come with a lot of /played time on your account(s)...

YMMV... Learn to read the markets, and know what will and might and wont work.. then check back at it in 3-6 months...