Why do you want Gold?

Ok so today I wanna step to one side a little from "Serious" Gold making and look at a very simple question I want you all to ask before you decide how to make gold.

This simple question will always give you the next step for making gold.

The question is

"Why do I want gold?"

Ok so you've decided you want to make some gold, and you're wondering where to start. Now many gold blogs will talk about addons and auction techniques as a starting point (Myself included:My 1st post). However we have missed a very vital step in looking at making gold.

WHY Do I want to make gold?

I asked some of the listeners and other bloggers after recording this weeks JMTC weekly gold meeting, why they started making gold, I also asked some the players in my guild and some who have contacted me via email, and the most common responses where as follows:

"I want to be able to buy mounts and pets whenever I see them"

"I want to be able to buy anything I need for raiding/pvp when I need it"

  

"I like playing the Auction house for fun"

 

"I just like gold"

 

"I get sick of not being able to buy new enchants/gems or pay repair bills when I'm raiding"

 

"I see gold making as a mini-game to wow and enjoy it"

 

Now to me these answers fall into three categories of gold making; Serious Gold Makers, Target Seeking Gold Makers, and Casual/Flow Gold makers. Now I hope people do not find these terms offensive or in anyway a put down, as one of JMTC forums members Whitewolf put it when I discussed these terms on team speak "These aren't a status but more of a mind frame"(not a direct quote but i hope the point still fits).

It is these mind frames that we need to understand in order to understand how to start gold making, so lets discuss them in a little detail:

Casual/Flow Gold Makers

I see players that make gold in order to pay off repair bills, counter potion/flask costs and enchant and gem PVE gear or PVP gear as "Flow" gold makers. the reason for this is that they want gold to flow in to counter the consistent flow of gold out. They have no real target for X amount of Gold, or to buy that shiny new Mount. They simply want a little gold on a daily basis to cover there costs, and maybe a bit left over for a nice top end enchant when the new Shiny Purple of Awesomeness drops off the big bad dragon.

These players love the game for non-gold related stuff be it farming achievements, killing other players in PVP/Arena or hunting down the big bad guys threatening the world. Their Mind frame is not single minded upon gold.

 

Target Seeking Gold Makers

These are the guys that usually start of aiming for a specific mount/weapon/pet or other similar desirable shiny. They have no need for consistent gold necessarily, but have seen there guild mate riding around on a cool mammoth or motorbike and decided "I GOTTA GET ME ONE THOSE BABIES!" (a direct quote from a guild mate whilst on my travellers mammoth with an Elixir of giant growth active :P )

They Start out with a specific amount in mind to buy a specific item 20k for the new epic helm that's on the AH each day, or 15k for the cool motorbike, whatever it may be they have a price and the goal is to hit it.

These players tend to end up learning how to make gold and move into the "Serious Gold Makers" title, but not always. They are not single minded on gold, but instead upon getting the target they have set, and if gold is how they will get it, then they will concentrate on gold until they do!

Serious Gold Makers

The JMTC reading Blog writing, AH farming, Altoholic loving gold makers. The guys who love making gold as a mini-game, or because they love big numbers. Many started out as Target Seekers after mounts or pets, and found they made gold easily and enjoyed it so continued and branched out and had the gold flowing in so fast they couldn't spend it!

This is a simple single minded love of gold making mentality! nothing complicated or in depth can be said, they love gold and wanna make more.

So we have a rough overview of most players reason to make gold, and if your idea of "why" you are making gold then lets look at what can happen next in order to start making gold.

Flow Gold

Ok so the advice I give to "Flow" gold players is look at your daily routine, think about your professions, and think of a way to combine these with gold making methods. The reason to do this is so that gold making doesn't become a chore.

Too many bloggers forget that not all readers are hard core gold makers, and some just want to enjoy the game and make more gold than they are. So keep it simple, make gold farming part of your daily routine and you will forget you're doing it and gold will "flow" in as you do what you do. A good step to take is to make notes of specific things you do alot and search gold blogs for posts on these locations/activities etc. Also check out the awesome video series "WoW Gold Rush" about simple ways to make gold from different areas, created by Faid from www.NerfFaids.blogspot

Some examples:

Tol'Barad Dailies and Skinning - After every TB battle hit the Swamp zone of the battle island and skin skin skin some Crocs, players will be killing crocs left right and centre and be leaving loads of un-skinned corpses around, throw in some kills yourself and watch the leather pile up in your bags (Especially if you have Bountiful Bags) 

Farming Herbs to make Flasks for raiding - Farm extra materials and sell them raw or make extra flasks to sell.

Playing an Alt for fun - Check near by vendors for rare items, recipes, pets to throw on the AH(video help on this coming soon)

Doing Fishing/Cooking Dailies - Once you have all the patterns you need use your cooking dailies to buy Imported Supplies which will give you some Cocoa Beans to either sell raw or use for Chocolate Cookie

 

Target Specific

Ok now this area is a little more tricky to talk about as it can be very flexible based upon the target amount of gold the player wants and how quickly they want to meet the target in question. I'd advise that if the amount is under 10k and time isn't a rush then follow the same methods as Flow gold. However if the target is over 10k or the gold is needed quicker then this is where the big gold game begins!

For this mindset or methodology there is no "GET RICH QUICK" scheme!

However there are lots of reliable and consistent ways to make gold, and this is where research, knowledge and patience come into play. These type of Target Specific gold makers are the type that become 95% of the time (I have no real figures to support this % but I'm talking freely so stick with me) Serious Gold Makers

 

Serious Gold Makers

Ok so you've decided you wanna make big gold, be it because of a target, or because you just plain enjoy seeing large numbers in your backpack, what do you do next?

Level 10 chars and max every profession? NO!

Download Every Auction House addon you can find? NO!

Sit in Goldshire inn on a female Night Elf and sell lap dances? HELL NO!

It's Simple, do some research and gain some knowledge. There are Blogs upon Blogs of gold to help with specific techniques, Guides to professions, Addon lists to download, and most of all a whole community of players willing to talk to you about turning that 10k into 20k, and then into 100k and so on.

I know as long as people come to me with some prior research and basic understandings from my own and other players blogs then I will willingly sit and chat about gold all day! So check my Blog Roll, Head over to all the amazing guys I link:

Alto's Goldish Advise - Straight up dude with awesome info!

Bangkik Bill's World Of Goldcraft - A laid back relax look at gold making

The Gold Queen - A true British Lady showing you how its done, and with Manners to boot!

Nerf Faids

Faid's NerfFaids - A truly fun and exciting blog, she makes gold and does "REAL" game stuff like Bear ZA runs!!

PrncessPwn where there's no I in PRINCESS! - Another awesome lass sharing her original ideas on gold!

Xander's Gold Mine - Where he doesn't duck away from telling you how simple gold making can be!

Auction House Addict - Another British Lady sharing a wealth of info on how she makes gold!

Power Word: Gold - Flux is simply amazing! Pages of info and a podcast to boot!

So if a friend asks you tomorrow or even today, dam how do I start making gold, ask them "Why do you wanna make gold" and then point them to this post!

As always keep it simple boys and girls, and remember HAVE FUN!

Gimp