Our feature interview this month is with Emerald Dreams very own walking pile of gold Magpawacar. Here we will be discussing the whole affair and the effort taken to hit that magical figure of 214748g give or take a few silver which stands as the WoW gold cap.

Many of us struggle to make enough to keep our items in gems and our kit repaired but to some unique individuals such as Magz everything they touch turns to gold, read on for some hints and tips to turn yourselves into banker on the rise!

Tell us a little bit about yourself the man behind Magz and your character?

I started playing WoW on March 1^st 2005 and haven’t looked back. Magpawacar was the first character I created and while I played a warlock and mage for most of TBC, WOTLK felt like the right time to rekindle a love for the old shaman. Throughout WoW I’ve always been in small guilds, mainly because I prefer the company of friends as opposed to acquaintances. It was the hero of the horde, Bonzo himself, who invited me to Embers of Honour, and along with Malborn, Diet, and Sazon, we rapidly formed a friendship within the game which remains unbroken. Throw a Boynk and a few others into that mix and you have my reasons for never wanting to join a larger more raid-focussed guild. We all left the game for a short period to play Hellgate London but the lure of WoW was too great and we all rejoined, forming Twenty Percent Sober, our current incarnation. In simple terms, having been through so much together as gamers and more importantly, close close friends, if they left the game, then so would I.

I have two accounts, with 4 level 80’s which I play regularly. The remaining chars all perform a function geared towards making gold, be they low level crafters, gatherers or bank alts. It’s a bit excessive but it’s invaluable if you have your fingers in as many pies as I do.

In real life, I live in Northern Ireland though I’m from the Republic and am married with 2 kids.

Hey Magz, give us a loan huh! So come on, tell me, did you set out to intentionally to hit the gold cap or did it just happen?

Round about August last year I was made redundant and having a bit of spare time I did a little reading into how to make gold. I just fancied making enough to be able to afford the finer things in game, be they mounts or gear. Then I learned about the gold cap and wondered what it would be like to have that amount of gold and not have to worry about ever having to scrimp and save in game. I came back from a holiday to Portugal in September and started in earnest to make a charge for the GC. All in all it took about 3 months although it can be done a lot sooner with more focussed effort. I tend to take the Irish approach to gold making for “ if you throw enough shit at a wall, some of it will stick”, so for the first month I spread myself far too thinly. Though you do learn quickly what works and what doesn’t and then it’s all systems go. I hit goldcap on the 29^th November 2009, 2 days after my son was born.

How much money roughly do you make in a week?

It varies and really depends on how much effort I’ve put in in a given week or as mentioned above, if it’s a patch week. On average I make about 40k a week in sales although some weeks I spend about 20-30k in materials etc. So there are some weeks, as a result of aggressive purchasing I’ll make a loss but then the following weeks are usually a gold fiesta. There is a thrill logging into the game, opening the mailbox and hearing the kerchink kerchink sounds through the headset. I have a screenshot I took a few weeks back, prior to updating my UI (which borked the figures in Auditor), that shows I have made 1.2 million but spent about 1 mill. Whilst being extremely proud of that fact, It did make me wonder whether I could have been a little more efficient. IF I can work out how to hide a few details on a screen shot, the pic will be included with this post. I’ll explain though in a later question, though that’s it’s not just me who has benefited from this endeavour, and I’m not talking about gifts for me muckers.

Ed: He worked it out and here it is!

Which professions do you have on your characters and why did you choose them? Many people choose professions to enhance there character but your reasons could possibly be different can you elaborate?

I have all professions on the go apart from LW, Skinning and Engineering. I have two JC and two Miners and one of each of the rest. I was meaning to get another alchemist for Transmutation procs but in the end I couldn’t be arsed. Anyone can make gold without a profession by buying low and selling normal-high but using your professions is the easiest way in my opinion. The only profession I levelled specifically for gold making was inscription, the rest were all initially for character enhancement. Gold can be accrued with all professions, some more than others, it just requires a little research. I could go into great details as to the best areas of each profession but in all honesty it would take a week to write it all down. Seriously! There’s no shortage of ways through using professions. I would say that you should be prepared to think outside the box. The “saronite shuffle” is a perfect example of this. Through using mining and jewel crafting you can level an enchanting profession really easily and subsequently make a lot of gold via scrolls or just selling the mats. A word of caution though. This method is not as profitable as it used to be as a result of a number of patch changes surrounding disenchanting.

Do you have any regular methods for making gold and what addons, if any, do you use?

I use a whole rake of addons, but the predominant ones are, Auctioneer, Postal, Quick Auctions, ATSW, Lil Sparky’s Workshop and Tiny Tip Wealth. LSW tells me the cost for producing a particular item, very handy for determining profit margins and Tiny Tip Wealth is for fun. This tells me the most wealth a character has had on their person at any one time. I don’t imagine it’s 100% accurate as it doesn’t read a seller’s guild bank but it gives me a general impression of who has had what. It helps identify potential competitors as well as suppliers.

The most common method I use is the simple methods of manufacturing. I source mats from AH and then start production. This covers virtually all mats required in the professions mentioned above. If I find something cheap on the AH that I use regularly I’ll buy everything I can find. It’s not uncommon for me to buy 250 stacks of saronite or adder’s tongue at a time. This is where having a multitude of alts comes in very handy, especially if they’re decked out with Frostweave bags. To give another example of what it takes to sustain a particular market, I currently have enough materials to mass produce 5000 glyphs. And that’s a bloody slow process. ON occasions I’ll flip items, i.e. buy low sell at a reasonable price (more on this later) but I find that too time consuming. I used to farm a lot of my mats before realising that this was a sure-fire way to burnout, especially if you have a target like the Gold Cap. You might need to farm some things from time to time but if you’re are mass producing goods for sale then buy your materials. Especially if you have a little gold at the beginning to bankroll yourself.

Do people always ask you for gold, are you expecting after this interview to have many more requests!?

Thankfully no and I may well get some requests from people reading this but  unless I know them personally they’ll get short shrift from me. If they’re persistent and courteous I’ll give them a tip on how to make gold. I’ll even ask them if they have a profession that’s gathering orientated and if they would be interested in farming mats for me. It’s about creating a situation that’s beneficial for both parties. If this lazy-assed Paddy can make pots o’ gold then anyone can. All it takes is half a brain and a little commitment.

How much time a day do you spend on making gold and how does it effect the rest of your gameplay?

Twenty Percent Sober is a social guild and we only raid ICC 2 nights a week. So outside of these raids and the customary daily heroics I devote a fair amount of time to making gold. The Saronite shuffle and milling herbs takes quite a while, particularly when yer dealing with thousands of items. Although a lot of these processes can be macroed it still requires constant button pressing. Now this may seem tedious and it can be but it’s also a productive way of passing the time instead of sitting in trade chat spamming retarded bullshit about Anal(I’m a 18yr old Vegetable) and Your Mom jokes.

It have affected certain areas of my gameplay. I used to run a lot of BG’s during TBC and this is now non-existent. I reckon that if I’d spent as much time levelling chars as I do on making gold I’d have another 3 -4 level 80’s. Then again you can only raid with one char at a time!

The economy Horde side is not the greatest, do you have Alliance characters that you make gold on as well?

It’s a misnomer that the Horde side economy is slow. Considering we’re a fairly small population, the AH is fairly active. I know of 5-6 other characters Horde side who have hit or about to hit the gold cap, and that’s not possible in a slow economy. There’s a fine line in this scenario. On one hand The number of items available to buyers Horde side is small. There are small amounts of 264 epics  etc on our AH as opposed to the Ally side. Funnily enough, there might be more supply on the Ally AH but the prices are not much cheaper, and certainly not worth the effort and cost, in my view, of working the neutral AH. Mind you I’m not into selling pets so I may be wrong where that business is concerned.

I have a lvl 5 Dwarf who sits in Stormwind but he’s there really for curiosity value. The thoughts of levelling an Ally char to 80 fills me with a innate sense of dread.

Do you bulk buy items to keep the auction house prices high?

I stated earlier that I do bulk buy items on the AH but it’s not to inflate prices, it’s more to keep my costs down. I happily admit to not being unscrupulous enough to list a stack of titanium ore for 2000g or something similar. I pride myself on being fair to sellers of mats and the buyers of my produce. They’ve been good to me and I cannot see the value in garnering a reputation for being a greedy twat. However I will not turn an opportunity to make fair profit on a particular item. Most will be aware of an acute Lichbloom shortage on the Horde AH. Well about 6 weeks ago I bought 250+ stacks of the herb on the AH for 12g a pop. In the two weeks prior to that, there was another shortage so I decided not to allow this to happen to me again, hence the bulk purchase. What it did mean, was that I was able to keep my Flask prices low and in plentiful supply something which benefits everyone. Okay other flask sellers might not be happy, but I’m sure they would have done the same  a) had they thought of it and b) had they the money to bankroll it. I would also like to add that as a heavy buyer on the AH as well as a seller, I’m making money for many others in the game.

What one item do you think has made you the most gold?

There’s no one item  but if ye are talking about something which is a surprising seller for very little cost, then the Rituals of the New Moon is a clear winner. Depending on the price of Eternal Shadow, it can cost between 10-30g to make and I sell 8-10 a week for 170g each. Mind you it’s an item I have to promote via trade chat, easily done whilst crafting something else. I’m surprised that even after 7 months of making that item I’m still the only seller of it. It’s worth the abuse I get from the invertebrates who think it’s a crap item. They obviously have no clue on the personal value of vanity items to a lot of people.

Come on then, give us some of your best hints and tips for making gold on WoW!

1. Think about what items you need for your own characters. Then make them for everyone else. Examples are Belt Buckles, Enchantment threads, Scrolls, flasks, glyphs, Gems and many many more.
2. Treat any suppliers you have fairly and with respect.
3. Don’t be afraid to lower your profit margins to make sales.
4. Learn to use the addons I’ve mentioned above. They’re invaluable.
5. Read the latest patch notes.
6. Diversify. If a market is becoming flooded – look at new angles. Be prepared to sit it out and wait from the storm to pass. If prices are dropping rapidly, don’t panic and even consider purchasing items to replenish stock.
7. Experts in WoW gold making say the best trading cycle is generally after maintenance day. Personally all days are good is you trust your products and know your server’s economy. I purchase more a the weekends but I also make more sales then.

All that cash mmmmm what do you spend it on?

The short answer would be whatever takes my fancy. I have a hog and traveller’s mammoth on Magpawacar, and have spent quite a bit on gearing up him as well as various alts. I don’t raid in 25mans so the best way for me to acquire quality 264 gear is via the AH. If a necklace appears on the AH for 15k then the decision doesn’t take long. It also means that I can gem and enchant my main characters to with the best available rather than have to compromise.

I’ve spent large amounts on my longtime closest muckers in game, mainly on valuable gear. It’s not real money and if it helps others then why not?

Though like all “business” enterprises, I mainly spend my gold reinvesting. If it means levelling a new profession or just simply buying up materials in advance of the expansion, then that’s what I’ll do. And am in fact doing ;p. One thing I considering doing is trying for a server first in some profession once Cataclysm arrives. I haven’t decided yet which one.

What are your long term aims in World of Warcraft?

To keep having fun and enjoying the craic with my friends. People moaning about the state of the game etc etc really should take a step back and realise just what a wonderful experience Blizzard has created for us.

I’ll keep on making money as it’s fun to do and AH pvp sure as hell beats the various Arenas anyday for me. I’d love to be able to say I’m aiming for a million gold, but that’s not a target that’s on the immediate horizon. Then again, with WoW, one should never say never!

Readers Questions:

Molpadia: I wants a pony, can I has one?

Mol, are you looking for the shitting in a field type of pony or £25?

Bonzo: g1ef gl0d pl0x kkthx?

The last time I did that mucker you only cleaned the windows out the front of the house, so for now I’ll have to decline. (The temptation to use a risqué analogy was overpowering but had to be resisted.)

Gothmogs: Which profession do you find the most profitable?

A lot of professions have boom and bust periods. A consistently profitable trade is jewelcrafting, which has been helped greatly by the release of TOC and ICC 5 mans as well as the raid instances. An avalanche of epics  = an avalanche of gem sales, both blue and purple. This probably will taper off a little though the closer we get to Cataclysm. I buy uncut epics off the AH and via the trade channel and cut them myself on my two jewelcrafters. I don’t have all epic patterns though, only the ones I know sell well. And I won’t purchase and uncut gem if I cannot make at least 20-30g profit on the final sale. An important factor to note when entering the AH is the fees for certain items and it’s pricey to list gems.

Sazon: Do you need to adapt and change to keep making money?

Constantly. One of the main causes of change in playing the AH is the release of a new patch. No surprises there. But what many people don’t realise is that if you read the patch notes thoroughly and are quick enough off the mark, you can make a quick killing in the first few days, especially if certain mats costs lower dramatically or become more plentiful on the AH to purchase. You could also say you need to adapt to other sellers on the AH but there are ways and means to deal with that, sometimes via certain addons, sometimes through a certain amount of AH camping (something I am loathe to do and do so very rarely) and generally through just using your wits. The one thing I would advocate to anyone looking to make a few bob on the AH is to research gold making strategies and to adapt them to suit your needs. Also you do not need to spend $40 on a guide either.

If you would like some more advice on how to make moar monez amongst other titbits visit Magpawacars blog which can be found at www.gombeen.wordpress.com

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