500k gold

  I just passed 500k gold the other day. I attribute my success so far to doing several things:

Inscription Updates: Research Done, Mists Speculation, More Whiptail

  I've finally finished Northrend Inscription Research on my Horde Inscriber. This, of course, allows me to start using Books of Glyph Mastery, which I am greatly annoyed are still necessary. There was supposed to be a fix so that all glyphs could be researched, but that never happened. I still need 32 books, so I'll have to step up buying efforts on both factions if I want to finish before Mists.

Warcraft Wealth, "Interview" 4

  I had no luck tracking down anyone in the 300k-700k gold range, so I'll just muse a bit on what it's like to play with 450k gold.

  Nothing on the AH is out of my price range. Reins of Poseidus has been on the AH for a bit, at 75k. If I wanted it, it's mine. I could buy 5. If I spent like that, though, I'd run out.

  I buy or craft BoE gear for my new 85's (I look for a deal though), fast flying for all, Stonedrake for my Priest (She earned it most) but not anymore than one, since it will be account wide, a Chopper for my Hunter Engineer, self-made, of course. I bought a few guild banks for good prices, maxed out the tabs, and started stashing for Mists. I always buy frugally, and I think that's part of how I got this far, but for a while I was feeling the expense of having 5 85's to fund.

  The only dailies I do are Cooking and Fishing dailies on a few alts for points and TB dailies on my Pally for the trinket. Dailies are just not good gold per hour. I also don't do dungeons after the VP cap, since I see that as a waste of time.

  I level professions for new 85's from scratch, usually costing me no more that 6k-8k gold. I see dropping a maxed profession as inconvenient, but sometimes worth the loss.  Since I have one of every crafting profession, the only things I buy from other people are potions and flasks, since I am not specialized in those, and they sell below cost-of-mats for non-specced Alchemists. I also buy VP BoE's since I prefer to trade my excess Valor for Conquest, for whenever the PvP bug bites.

  I'm at the point where making gold has become it's own game, so driving up the number is a source of inner satisfaction. I have long term plans for the Mists mounts, of course, but that's a ways away. I'll also be taking full advantage of Glyphmas to come, along with the new DMC trinkets. Honestly, I think I might double cap a few months into Mists.

  I think the minimum I could play comfortably at would be about 2k per max character per week after an initial large amount of spending when hitting cap (maybe 10k?). So I think, and this is just conjecture, that I'd want about 20k on hand and about 10k a week income, if I played without gold making as a priority.

  I think there's no real upper limit to how much I'd be ok with having, since anything after 100k is just a number to me. My first 100k was the moment where I first really felt I could hit cap, since going from 10k to 100k was a short, steady grind, and I believe going from 100k to cap will be a long, steady grind, but not 10 times as long since I perceive an exponential aspect to gold making.

Warcraft Wealth, Interview 3

  My third interview I took off-realm, as I'm now getting into the amounts where I might come across serious competitors. Surprisingly, my interviewee would not be an AH competitor at all. Karjash from Forge Camp Sunshine in the Alliance side of Scarlet Crusade replied:

Warcraft Wealth, Interview 2

  For my second interview, I asked for someone who has had more than 10k gold, but not more than 40k. Shockabrah from Knights of the Shadows answered:

Warcraft Wealth, Interview 1

  My reply to the reply to my last post inspired me to interview some players about how much gold they have and what their gameplay is like. I posted in Alliance trade chat looking for some one who has not had 4k gold, and Viirus from Avenging Pandas was my first response.

Random Ramblings: CTC and Trinkets, Pally vs DK Tanking, DS10 pugs, 450k gold

  I've been running LFR weekly on my Pally tank, and now I'm fully kited out. I've got 4 piece T13, the off-set shoulders (Finally), Souldrinker and Blackhorn's Mighty Bulwark. I also have Indomitable Pride and Soulshifter Vortex, though the proc on that second one is mostly wasted. If Resolve of the Undying drops, it would bring me close to full cap, but I wonder if 609 Stamina would quickly be a greater boost than 780 Dodge after reaching CTC. If I bought Fire of the Deep, I'd be capped already, even without the on-use, but I think that would be wasted VP.

  I'm only 4.45% under block cap when buffed, so I need to make some gearing decisions (i.e. hope for drops) based on that. For now I'll continue stacking Mastery, and using Elixir of the Master and Fortune Cookie (No Lavascale on the AH and my fishing isn't up yet). I know I'll have to start trading out for stamina soon, but I'm not quite there yet. As for trinkets, I'll stick with the one's I have, ignoring the Mastery proc for the most part. I'm sure a few DS regular drops will bring me to cap soon enough.

Role Call: July 2012

  I changed my alt line up a bit, after realizing that my setup was not ideal for various reasons, chief of which was that I realized I did not have a Dwarf shield tank. This would not do. Sometimes a particular race/class/spec combination just clicks. Dwarf Enhance Shaman was like that for me, as was Tauren Prot Pally. Dwarf Prot Warrior is my newest click, and I'm looking forward to pushing the class further than before (mid-40s). I suspect Dwarf Monk will click in such a way, but I'm open to having a Tauren Monk. I guess I should just try one out on the beta. I'm not sure what can make the Mage or Warlock classes click. One will likely be Dwarf, but which one, I don't know. I guess I should figure out what non-Tauren Horde race I'm ok with playing (likely Troll) and figure which class fits it better.

  I've also been neglecting my older 85's horribly, but I guess that's natural in this part of the expansion cycle. I don't want to be that guy who just endlessly levels alts, but never plays endgame (LFR doesn't count). My favorite specs so far for each class are Survival, Disc, Blood, Enhance, and Prot. Typically, I prefer to tank if I can, if not, then heal, if not, then DPS. How I decide between specs typically is a matter of which one performs best in a given situation. For example, I stick with Marksman in PvP, and before 4.3, played Marksman in PvE as well. It's not my favorite Hunter spec by any means, but when it's the best choice, I take it. Between Disc and Holy healing, I keep both specs on hand, but usually stick with Disc. The matter of choosing between Enhance and Elemental, however, comes down to a matter of gearing (can't switch between them easily) and that I leveled a Dwarf Shaman for the expressed purpose hitting things.

PSA: Don't Trash the Flag

  I'll cut to the chase. Independence Day brings around my biggest pet peeve: Mistreatment of the American Flag.

  My friends know me as the kind of guy who will walk into a business for the express purpose of informing them that the flag they are displaying needs replaced, as it's torn or faded. I work in lawn care right now, and whenever we mow a cemetery, I collect a pocketful of torn or faded mini flags. It's these mini flags that, for some reason, people think it's ok to leave laying on the ground during this holiday.

  Please, do not turn the American Flag into litter.

  If you drop one, pick it up. When you're done with it, dispose of it.

  How to dispose of American Flags seems to be a source of anxiety for many people, as they have the vague sense that throwing it in the trash is wrong, but burning it also seems wrong. Well, burning the flag in a respectful manner is precisely the preferred manner of retiring unserviceable flags. It's quite simple, and only takes a few minutes. If you really don't feel comfortable retiring a flag this way yourself, any VFW post, Boy Scout troop or similar organization should be happy to take it off your hands.

  Drive safe, be careful with fireworks, and enjoy your holiday.