The gold cap in World of Warcraft is just under 1 million gold pieces. At the end of my active life as a Wolf of Ogrimmar Street, I had 3.5 million gold spread across 4 chars. Or as Gordon Gecko would say (if he were a goblin and not Michael Douglas): Greed, for lack of a better word, is indeed at its best in World of Warcraft.
Here, I will share a few tricks on how you can also become a gold-sprinkled riding wolf, own a really stylish villa in the trendy district of Thunder Bluff, and have your own clip on MTV Cribs: Ogrimmar!
Disclaimer: Even though the mentioned tips mostly refer to WoW, they can also be useful for most other MMORPGs with a bit of common sense. However, mein-mmo.de is not liable for any damages that occur if any dilithium bubbles burst or millions of Ewoks become unemployed due to failed mining ventures on Tatooine!
Goblin Acquisition Rule: Distrust is the Mother of Gnaargh!
Recently in Tera: I had just turned 40 when someone kindly contacted me, made small talk about where the best hairdressers in Lumbertown are, whether we should go to an instance together, and how I liked walks on the beach.
I naturally thought: That’s just my charisma; there’s nothing you can do about it. But then the guy dropped the bomb: Whether I had a few of those things from the level loot of level 40. My noob scammer alarm went off.
I said: No, I wouldn’t know.
He: Oh, come on, look.
I said: Yeah, here’s something.
He: And? Are you selling them? I’ll pay you 10,000 for it!
At that time, I only had about 30 gold or so – so 10,000 sounds like a lot. But because my noob scammer alarm went off like nothing good, I checked the auction house in Tera to see what those things are really worth. Answer: Of course, much more than just 10,000, more like 40,000.
The guy wanted to pull one over on me.
What did he do right? He knew that most level 40s in Tera are pretty much noobs. He knew that everyone at level 40 in Tera automatically gets items that are tradable and valuable.
What did I do right? I was suspicious. Nothing more. I had no idea how much the items were really worth or anything else (because I am a noob). But I know: If someone wants something from you and thinks you’re a noob, they will try to pull one over on you.
2. Goblins Acquisition Rule: Greed is great, but don’t let it blind you!
The most valuable items in WoW are the spectral tigers, as everyone knows. They are available through this failed magic clone as “real existing” trading cards – and people are crazy about them. Now, every now and then in Ogrimmar or Stormwind, English-speaking level 1 characters log in and sell the spectral tiger for a relatively low price: Perhaps 180,000 gold or so. If you engage in a conversation with them, it turns out that they don’t have the mount itself but are selling a code.
Now, many an inexperienced greedy guy might have the following movie running through their head: The dollar signs flickering cartoonishly in their eyes, the leap into the gold pool from an 8-meter tall kodo executes with top marks, and they see themselves cruising through the streets of Ogrimmar on a sparkling spectral tiger, while the new hot thing of some goblin boy band blares from the speakers, blood elf women lounge on the kodo front spoiler, and their posse provides escort with goblin trikes.
In reality, however, you would pay a level 1 character 180,000 gold, they log out and never come back. If you receive a code, it won’t work. This is an extreme example. This form of fraud, called scams, exists by the hundreds, and there are dedicated forums where malicious math students concoct such schemes. The worst part is that at some point during the purchasing process, you had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t right. But the profit is so high that you tell yourself: What the hell? I’ll do it anyway!
If it works, it’s worth it!
In reality, it never works and you kick yourself afterward for not listening to your gut feeling but rather thought there was still a rat on the spit from the day before.
3. Goblin Recruiter Rule: Many little talbuks produce as much mess as a big kodo!
Most traders dream of that big deal. Buying something for 10,000 gold and selling it for 80,000 gold. In reality, such things happen rarely. The most profit comes in small steps. Whoever manages to buy 40 items for 10 gold and sell them for 180 gold, without sending themselves into click-nirvana, will become rich over time.
The nice thing about it is that these niches often seem unattractive because “it’s not worth it” – hence the chance to make money here is relatively high.
4. Goblin Acquisition Rule: Know the market, know the clientele, trust their weaknesses!
The most important thing to make a profit: Know the demand! Ask yourself when you buy something from the auction house and when you don’t care about the price. There are 5 concrete cases:
1.) The raid has just ended, you’ve received new items, it’s 11 PM at night, you’re totally exhausted because the raid leader yelled through the last 8 tries, and you just want to log out and go to bed. But wait! Of course, you want to enchant your new item and put a socket in first. You go to the AH, realize that stuff is much more expensive than usual, but buy it nonetheless. This has happened to all of us before. What does one learn from this as a trader?
On the first raid days of a week, when people get new items, they will list gemstones and enchantments. The day after the instance reset, when PVP players also get new items because the pros fill their points on the first day, that is the day when enchantments for items bring in insane amounts of gold.
2.) The raid is about to start. You log in 2 minutes before raid start, and the guild chat is full of “Get here immediately and don’t you dare show up without flasks again!”, you look in your inventory and there’s yawning emptiness, except in the last pocket where there are about 24 possibilities to transform into something else, but you still only ever take Noggenfogger for the skeleton. So, you rush to the auction house and buy ridiculously expensive buff food and flasks. This has happened to all of us before. What does one learn from this as a trader?
On raid days in the evening, list enough buff food and flasks.
3) You have a new twink at max level and have trouble getting into raids and instances because you don’t yet reach the item level. You know exactly how to get quest items and starter gear, but you’ve already gathered that with 3 other chars and this time you don’t feel like doing it again. So, you go to the auction house and buy max-level starter items. Everyone knows this too. What does one learn as a trader?
Exactly these items always sell, especially at the end of an expansion.
4) You log in an old twink you haven’t played in ages. You take him to the starting area of the new expansion, and the yellow pigs kick you in your sweet goblin behind because with the expansion came a new itemization threshold. What do you do?
You know the game; you trudge into the AH with your head down … What do you learn as a trader from this? Items that facilitate the transition between two expansions always sell. These are perennial favorites throughout the entire lifespan of an expansion, especially if they are easily craftable.
5) You made the mistake of telling yourself: Oh … nothing is going on today; I think I’ll try PVP! Only to get your butt kicked and now you sneak to the auction house with your tail between your legs. You know you shouldn’t, but you buy crafted PVP items. What does one learn as a trader from this?
Crafted PVP items always sell and can make you incredibly rich, especially if the supply on the server is low.
These were, of course, just the first tips to get you started. Depending on how the response to this is, there may be deeper insights into the beautiful new world of gold later!
