This is a Been-There-Done-That testimonial to the efficacy of RedGuides.
When I discovered RedGuides, I had already bought 400 gold from E-Bay. I had also run all the way through it attempting to increase my pile and had become totally frustrated at my lack of success. I was a pathetic Auction House wannabe
After joining Redguides, I quickly learned, upon study of the Guides and through reading the forums, how this game works. I immediately began a program of building my in-game wealth from use of the strategies and exploits I learned here.
It has been said that money is like sex, it is only important if you don't have enough. I now have enough money, it is no longer a big deal. My characters each have a minimum of 10 gold on them at all times and my mules have over 100 g.
After my first Gold buy, I mailed my son's main character 5 g. just to surprise him. His response was, "Gee Dad, that is more gold than I have ever had before." He also was clueless. In contrast, last week he wanted the +22 Int enchant for his Warlock's staff. He spent almost 200 gold for the materials - no big deal. giving him a huge chunk of the money depleted my mule's stash temporarily, but it is now back where it needs to be.
All this is well and good, but I wondered if my success was due to a critical mass of characters at levels up to 51 and the relative cash earning power of the big main.
So I ran a test. I went to a server where I had no presence to taint the results and rolled two new characters, the putative Main and the Mule.
I have never played rogue well. So I rolled a Rogue as my main. Upon reaching lvl 5 in the Valley of Trials, I ran to Orgrimmar and learned my chosen professions. At this time, the character only had the cash earned in the noobie zone and crap weapons and equipment.
I arrived in ORG with the clothes on my back and a few trade goods, which I immediately put on Auction House for a total of 12 silver. I spent most of my stash on cheapo linen bags. I then ran to the trainers and got their skills with my last copper. I then logged.
Next, I rolled a priest who was to be my mule. I got her to level 4.9 and headed for ORG. On the way, based on all the wonderful new places she discovered, she got to level 5 with about 25 XP to spare. I logged off for the day.
Next day, the Rogue collected his small stake of 11s and change from the AH mail, which, at the time, was my total stash, but enough to begin. I bought the best dagger available for that money and went to work. I hearthed back to Razor Hill and began working in earnest. At the end of the session, I mailed every vendorable thing I had to the mule and logged.
Next day, on logging back in, I put the Mule to work converting the mail into AH cash. I then went back to the Rogue and did a few more grinding sweeps, taking care to do the Kolkar and Razormane quests, mostly because there was both good XP and resources to be found there. I also killed as many Sailors and Marines as I could and got Benedict's head, certainly for the XP, but also for the drops, which I had established as a good money maker by then.
I won't bore you with details. I grinded mostly. But the results were very heartening. Upon getting the Rogue to level 10, I declared the experiment complete. He is in Thrall's chambers right now ready to do some Burning Blade quests if I ever decide to animate him again.
Numbers:
When I finished the experiment, The Rogue had played for 5 hr. 37 min.
The mule had played for 1. hr. 40 min., 40 min to level 5 and the rest doing Market duties. She is level 74 and 49 in her professions.
The mule has 5g. 97s. on her, the Rogue has 89s. He also has the best blades available, topnotch, buffed armor and a full compliment of 10 and 12 slot bags.
Total game time, just over 7 hours.
Total cash, just under 7 gold.
btw, because I was running a test, my mule liquidated her entire inventory to provide the ending numbers on cash return. If I had left her in the market, I would have realized much more income just from her investments alone. Stopping, in fact, imposed an artificial downturn in the cash flow. The mule was just coming into her full maturity as a market force, with enough cash to really start the profits rolling.
Conclusion: THE SYSTEM WORKS.
In comparison, when my first character arrived at level 10, after 12-15 hours of play, she was all alone with no other character in the family. She had crappy equipment and only the armor she could build herself. She also had a couple of dozen corpse runs to her credit. My test Rogue died twice.
Do RedGuides pay for themselves? Absolutely. I have spent less on my subscription than I paid for the gold which I bought prior to becoming a member. That gold trickled through my fingers because I didn't know how to keep it. Now, you want 100g? Gimme a day, I will have it for you.
One final anecdote: When my main, a NE Hunter, was lvl 13, she was 'adopted' by a lvl 17 NE Druid, whose peep is a young teenage girl. By the time Main reached lvl 27, the Druid was lvl 26. I quested with her from time to time and once she asked me for some gold. I was a RedGuider by then and could have given it to her, but instead traded her Heavy Leather for the cash at heavily inflated prices. Shortly after that, I lost touch with her. However, last week, as I am clearing bag space from a "cash and trash" run, I get a whisper from her. "Hello, GF," I say, "Long time, no see! How are you?" "Bored." came back the answer. So I invited her into a group, met her lvl 32 character (I was lvl 51) in Duskwood. I invited her to join my guild, and she and I hand carried a lvl 20 guildie Hunter through the wolves and Spiders while we gathered Medium Leather to make him some decent armor. By the time we finished, my young friend was smiling, said she had a great time, and the other Hunter was gaga over his new armor and the half level of XP he got during the grind. Why do I share this? Because it emphasizes the difference between knowing what you are doing and just being a deer-in-the-headlights like my Druid buddy. She has no purpose in being in-game other than to pass time. I showed her how to have a goal and work for a purpose. At the end of the session, I bought her a guild tabard and gave her 5g. What had been a stretch for me earlier had become Chump Change. She went ecstatic. Of course, during that session, I got ZERO XP and very minimal cash. Why did I spend the time? I have discovered the pleasure that comes from helping others learn what I know. The emotional satisfaction of making two people happy was more than enough pay for me.
Thank you RED, I love you!
Value of RedGuides? - Its in the power it gives you to make your gaming FUN!
When I discovered RedGuides, I had already bought 400 gold from E-Bay. I had also run all the way through it attempting to increase my pile and had become totally frustrated at my lack of success. I was a pathetic Auction House wannabe
After joining Redguides, I quickly learned, upon study of the Guides and through reading the forums, how this game works. I immediately began a program of building my in-game wealth from use of the strategies and exploits I learned here.
It has been said that money is like sex, it is only important if you don't have enough. I now have enough money, it is no longer a big deal. My characters each have a minimum of 10 gold on them at all times and my mules have over 100 g.
After my first Gold buy, I mailed my son's main character 5 g. just to surprise him. His response was, "Gee Dad, that is more gold than I have ever had before." He also was clueless. In contrast, last week he wanted the +22 Int enchant for his Warlock's staff. He spent almost 200 gold for the materials - no big deal. giving him a huge chunk of the money depleted my mule's stash temporarily, but it is now back where it needs to be.
All this is well and good, but I wondered if my success was due to a critical mass of characters at levels up to 51 and the relative cash earning power of the big main.
So I ran a test. I went to a server where I had no presence to taint the results and rolled two new characters, the putative Main and the Mule.
I have never played rogue well. So I rolled a Rogue as my main. Upon reaching lvl 5 in the Valley of Trials, I ran to Orgrimmar and learned my chosen professions. At this time, the character only had the cash earned in the noobie zone and crap weapons and equipment.
I arrived in ORG with the clothes on my back and a few trade goods, which I immediately put on Auction House for a total of 12 silver. I spent most of my stash on cheapo linen bags. I then ran to the trainers and got their skills with my last copper. I then logged.
Next, I rolled a priest who was to be my mule. I got her to level 4.9 and headed for ORG. On the way, based on all the wonderful new places she discovered, she got to level 5 with about 25 XP to spare. I logged off for the day.
Next day, the Rogue collected his small stake of 11s and change from the AH mail, which, at the time, was my total stash, but enough to begin. I bought the best dagger available for that money and went to work. I hearthed back to Razor Hill and began working in earnest. At the end of the session, I mailed every vendorable thing I had to the mule and logged.
Next day, on logging back in, I put the Mule to work converting the mail into AH cash. I then went back to the Rogue and did a few more grinding sweeps, taking care to do the Kolkar and Razormane quests, mostly because there was both good XP and resources to be found there. I also killed as many Sailors and Marines as I could and got Benedict's head, certainly for the XP, but also for the drops, which I had established as a good money maker by then.
I won't bore you with details. I grinded mostly. But the results were very heartening. Upon getting the Rogue to level 10, I declared the experiment complete. He is in Thrall's chambers right now ready to do some Burning Blade quests if I ever decide to animate him again.
Numbers:
When I finished the experiment, The Rogue had played for 5 hr. 37 min.
The mule had played for 1. hr. 40 min., 40 min to level 5 and the rest doing Market duties. She is level 74 and 49 in her professions.
The mule has 5g. 97s. on her, the Rogue has 89s. He also has the best blades available, topnotch, buffed armor and a full compliment of 10 and 12 slot bags.
Total game time, just over 7 hours.
Total cash, just under 7 gold.
btw, because I was running a test, my mule liquidated her entire inventory to provide the ending numbers on cash return. If I had left her in the market, I would have realized much more income just from her investments alone. Stopping, in fact, imposed an artificial downturn in the cash flow. The mule was just coming into her full maturity as a market force, with enough cash to really start the profits rolling.
Conclusion: THE SYSTEM WORKS.
In comparison, when my first character arrived at level 10, after 12-15 hours of play, she was all alone with no other character in the family. She had crappy equipment and only the armor she could build herself. She also had a couple of dozen corpse runs to her credit. My test Rogue died twice.
Do RedGuides pay for themselves? Absolutely. I have spent less on my subscription than I paid for the gold which I bought prior to becoming a member. That gold trickled through my fingers because I didn't know how to keep it. Now, you want 100g? Gimme a day, I will have it for you.
One final anecdote: When my main, a NE Hunter, was lvl 13, she was 'adopted' by a lvl 17 NE Druid, whose peep is a young teenage girl. By the time Main reached lvl 27, the Druid was lvl 26. I quested with her from time to time and once she asked me for some gold. I was a RedGuider by then and could have given it to her, but instead traded her Heavy Leather for the cash at heavily inflated prices. Shortly after that, I lost touch with her. However, last week, as I am clearing bag space from a "cash and trash" run, I get a whisper from her. "Hello, GF," I say, "Long time, no see! How are you?" "Bored." came back the answer. So I invited her into a group, met her lvl 32 character (I was lvl 51) in Duskwood. I invited her to join my guild, and she and I hand carried a lvl 20 guildie Hunter through the wolves and Spiders while we gathered Medium Leather to make him some decent armor. By the time we finished, my young friend was smiling, said she had a great time, and the other Hunter was gaga over his new armor and the half level of XP he got during the grind. Why do I share this? Because it emphasizes the difference between knowing what you are doing and just being a deer-in-the-headlights like my Druid buddy. She has no purpose in being in-game other than to pass time. I showed her how to have a goal and work for a purpose. At the end of the session, I bought her a guild tabard and gave her 5g. What had been a stretch for me earlier had become Chump Change. She went ecstatic. Of course, during that session, I got ZERO XP and very minimal cash. Why did I spend the time? I have discovered the pleasure that comes from helping others learn what I know. The emotional satisfaction of making two people happy was more than enough pay for me.
Thank you RED, I love you!
Value of RedGuides? - Its in the power it gives you to make your gaming FUN!
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