12:00 AM
Admin
Now I have a "poll" question for you all. Over the last few days, I have received around 20 emails from you folks, which I greatly appreciate. However, there were two that stood out to me....
One consisted of one sentence. That's it. No name, no nothing. It was sent from a "generic" gmail account, one with random numbers and letters @gmail.com. Now I like to think that someone just beat their head on the keyboard to choose the name of the account, but unless their head was like Stewie of Family Guy, I guess that is an unreasonable thought.
Anyways, this is the cut and paste:
I challenge you to go a week without using addons for the auction hause.
Now this one took me by surprise. And hatred towards this, as this is a tough challenge. I hope you guys don't choose this one, as we all have access to the addons, and I truly belive that I will be lucky to AH my way to a few grand a day. If I am lucky. Ugh.....Ready for number two?
This email was directed at the "start with 1,000 gold, and walk us through what you do day to day to make more money". Now this email was about a page long, talking about how the things that I cover on my blog are more for the "rich" folks, and I leave out the "poor" AH'ers.
Now this one seems more fun. I think I would go with a level one'ish toon (no professions), with no bags, no bank, no nothing, but toss him/her 1K gold to see what they can turn it into. Now the issue with this, is I believe I have seen this done before, but not sure if these were the terms.
So now I turn to you. It's as easy as leaving 1 or 2. You can state why if you so desire, as I think it will be interesting to see why you choose either way...
1. Kill off all the Addons in my WoW folder for a week and play the AH (daily posts on what I did)
2. Start a level one toon with only 1K and see what happens in a week (daily posts on what I did)
So basically I am asking you, what do you want to see? I have a feeling that #2 would be the most effective for the masses due to I don't see us ever without addons, but it's up to you what to do.
Now I will accept votes as basic as 1 or 2, so please take the time to comment which number you are voting for (or if you want something completely different, or if you think I should scrap both of them, and just stick with my "normal" posts, you can say that too!). I will tally up the votes tomorrow evening and will tally the votes for Wednesdays post.
Thanks for taking the time!
20 comments:
You're gonna hate me for this one, but the first thing that popped into my head, was why not do both ? assume the role of a "new'ish" player no add-ons 1k gold. and away you go for a week. AH and market knowledge only ?
/Ducks from Thrown add-on folder.
The email did make a very good point in that a majority of gold-making blogs are geared toward higher level toons with maxed or near maxed professions. However, any player can install any of the add-ons that we use on a daily basis to help us with profit generation, so I really don't see what this challenge would prove.
What would seem to be more effective is to start a new player with 0 gold (yes I am talking from absolute scratch) and show how you would begin to generate gold while using add-ons with detailed instructions on how to use the add-ons effectively, what steps you took, and the reasoning behind each step you make. Remember many newbies are just that and don't have 1000g to fund their new toons with.
I agree with Ali that using no addons wouldn't prove anything as they are easy to get and guides etc are absolutely everywhere.
In terms of option 2 I would definitely prefer this however with one small change. I feel like 1k with no professions would just be a week of flipping items and using the auctioneer vendor search so I'm not too keen on that.
Could you maybe give a toon 1k and use the professions on only that toon to increase your funds. I feel like this would be the most realistic situation for someone just starting out in the gold making game as it is reasonable to assume that they would have at least 1k from leveling as well as at least one semi-leveled profession. Realistically, if a player had only a level one character with nothing but 1000g they would probably be more interested in leveling than making gold straight away.
Anyway that's just my two cents, either option would be interesting to read.
ok, I'd say do both but as Ali suggested, zero gold startup - many players don't get auction addons very early - the first addons they look for are questing help or maybe toolbar mods. Start a new one on a new server, with no banker alt so you don't mess up the rest of your set-up. Level a little, flip a little & pick some profs - see where you get to in a week :) Why no banker alt? because most really new players just don't do that either.
Or as Sealskjaer suggested, take a lowish/mid level toon with a semi levelled prof & only use the prof to make gold.
I started my blog with just the level 1 scenario AH Alt & then changed it to prof only, in case anyone wants a look :)
I like all of the comments so far!
It would be nice to see you starting with 1000g, without add-ons (if you want to use any add-ons, you would explain how you use them)
I also like the fact of not just doing this with only flipping, without professions. However, I don't want to see yet another glyph project...
Maybe do something else, like only use some professions that are (almost) never blogged about? I'm thinking Blacksmithing!
(my only professions are mining and blacksmithing, and it's hard to find any blog posts on BS :) )
Looking forward to this project anyway though, even if it's not BS ;)
Xylaria
Alto,
Some great comments here but I'm going to be contrarian here. I say neither. 1 is just terrible. Effective use of addons is an important part of making gold and not using them doesnt prove anything about your skill at making gold. All it does it make it even more tedious. If anything, relying on your addons to guide your pricing, etc, can actually be a recipe for disaster. If anything, the skill lies with knowing when to ignore what the addon is telling you about pricing, profit, etc.
2 is a better challenge, but frankly, its been done before. Many times. Unless you think of a way to put a unique spin on it, dont do it. Stick to your regular posts, which are fantastic of course.
Super Casual
Addons, lvl 1 toon, different server on a different coast, not a goblin, go...
I have to agree with the majority here, #1 is just an all around awful plan. While it is certainly a unique and interesting challenge, if the point of this challenge is to educate aspiring goblins, it will do nothing for them. Completely new players might not be using AH addons, but they're also probably not reading gold blogs. AH addons are essential in making gold, so removing them won't benefit anyone. Of course, if you want to do it as a random personal challenge, by all mean go for it! It would be interesting to see.
The second challenge is a much better idea, though I'm not particularly interested in another "Rags to Riches" experiment. Nev of Auction House Addict (see her link above) is an excellent example of the experiment, especially since she was fairly new to the AH game when she started. My vote is for is for something closer to what Xylaria suggested. 1000 gold on a toon that's more representative of what I at least imagine is the average WoW player (one gathering profession, and Tailoring/BS/LW), and see how much you can make from just that. 1000 gold isn't a lot, but it's enough to start, and seems somewhat accurate for a new lvl 85 who has recently maxed a profession. That, in my opinion, would be the best challenge to do to educate new goblins on how to make gold with what they have access too.
I did a video for the 20kleveling gold guide of going from 3 silver to 300 gold in around an hour of playtime without addons, you should look into doing something similar.
I wouldn't delete your addons though... that's just insane! You can make your point without ruining all your saved scans.
If you want, you could TURN OFF your addons instead of deleting them, that's what I did for my video.
I discuss the strategy here.
I'd have to agree with challenge #2 being the better of the two. Doing no addons for a week is a challenge it won't really teach us something, while challenge #2 will teach low level players how to make gold when they're just starting. Yes it's been done before but with Cataclysm changing the zones and all It'd be interesting to see how you could turn that 1,000g into something bigger.
Point blank - people not using add-ons have made a conscious decision to be poor. There's a reason these things were developed. Challenge #1 is not informative. Of course, I'm not exactly riveted by Challenge #2, either, but it'd be a better read.
Why does everyone think that add-ons are required to make gold?
Simple fact is they are not a requirement.
I gold capped without add-ons. Yeah its tedious, but I guarantee you learn and understand market fluxes much better without using any add-ons.
I only use add-ons to streamline what I learned prior to using them. A new player using add-ons may cause more harm than good until they understand market changes and demand cycles.
Very true, Cold. I posted my comment before I had finished my coffee. You definitely learn a lot from not using add-ons. I personally learned more from using clean add-ons like Auctionator than I did from using automation add-ons like Trade Skill Master or Auction Profit Master.
Once you have that requisite understanding, though, not using add-ons is a big handicap. Nowadays, everybody and their grandma's dog uses add-ons. Not using them just puts you at a disadvantage.
I vote for option 2 - I think that's a great idea, really looking forward to seeing it if it happens!
For fun I started a toon on the opposite faction as my main. I started with 50 silver. Screen shots to prove it and have worked myself in 1.5 weeks to 5,000 gold. Which is the same amount I had when I started playing the AH on my main. I plan to continue playing the AH on the alliance side with no professions to see what I can do. I do this mainly by buying low and selling high. So poor players CAN get "rich"
2
2!
I actually do this with any of my new toons that I make. No BoA's and no gold. Just send all materials to my banker to sell for her so that she can stay out questing longer before returning back to Ironforge.
I flip over to my bank toon, collect everything that sold, send my new toon the exact amount that she aquired, and post the next batch. She had over 100g by the time she was 20 without doing anything more than what you would do at that level. Quest!
Can't wait!
<3 your Friendly Neighborhood Fuubaar
First of all, I'm selfish (why do you think I'm reading a gold making blog?)
Second of all, I'm rich (it would be a pretty poor gold-making blog if I wasn't after reading it and many others for a bit)
Third of all, I love addons and have more than almost any player I know (about 87 total, if you eliminate duplicated, like dbm counting as 13, I still have around 70) and I think that getting rid of them would just be stupid. I've played with addons since 2.4, and rarely have had a "all my addons are borked omg" day, so I really don't care about how to make gold without addons.
Now that I've established that this experiment can be of no real use to me, I might as well find entertainment in it.
I've seen a bunch of gold bloggers do the "start with 1k" or "start an alt with nothing" experiment before. There are a few basic tips that get reused, and it's nothing groundbreaking or really interesting.
But watching someone try to make gold without addons sounds painful, and so I choose number 1, because I might just have a slight sadistic streak in myself.
Good luck sir, and may you survive without clawing out your eyes at the horrible default AH UI.
And have fun opening your mailbox. :(
#1
I'd have to agree with "neither".
#1 is interesting until you really stop to think about it. I also strongly disagree with Cold that you learn the market better without addons. Without addons you might gain the illusion of knowing the market, but it's just not possible as you really can't see the big picture without trending and number crunching. Unless of course you're doing all that stuff manually, which is beyond tedious. Not to say you can't be successful without addons, but everything else being equal, you will be better with them, AND you'll learn the markets better, contrary to Cold's opinion.
#2 - This has already been done so many times. I think if you're going to take this approach, it would be more beneficial to do it on a level 80 character with a couple professions. Most people wanting to learn the AH aren't newbie characters. They are higher level characters that may have gotten a bit bored of the grind or have realized they need more gold for something and that's what turned them on to the Gold blogosphere. A true newbie character is very unlikely to realize all these awesome blogs even exist, so I don't see how you would have much of an audience for #2 as originally described. It might be fun, and it might be interesting, but not new, and probably not that beneficial for most readers.
WoW! What a turnout! I appreciate all the comments, and I will be doing a post tomorrow on my final tally.
Till then, I just added a post for your viewing enjoyment until then. Keep Goldin!
Post a Comment