Project Lore

Heartbourne brought up some excellent and not-often-talked-about points in his recent post on the logic and thought process behind the use of frost emblems to buy gear versus their use for gold. Depending on how you play and what you value in-game, there's a lot of aspects to consider before spending those emblems. Read it - it will get you questioning whether you're spending your emblems right.

I'd like to bring a bit of a counterpoint as to why I choose gear over gold. As Heartbourne contends, using your Frost Emblems for gear is pretty much standard despite the fact that they could instead be used to buy and then auction off Primordial Saronite and earn yourself a nice profit. Despite the gold that you and I could be earning from that, I'm here to champion the case of using your emblems to buy gear.

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Patch 3.3's addition of the Dungeon Finder has been nothing short of a game changer.  There's been no single feature added to World of Warcraft in its illustrious five year run that has changed the daily lives of so many players.  People are using the tool to gear alts for raiding that would have never of been geared before, creating new characters to experience the early dungeons, reaping achievement after achievement from dungeons that were rarely seen before and soaking in, dissecting and analyzing dungeon participation on a whole new scale.

I've been a part of the revolution, using the Dungeon Finder on three characters (rogue, holy/shadow priest and frost mage) on almost a daily basis and I've noticed a few trends, some nice, some annoying and some design mistakes.

• Queue discrepancy - Everyone who's used the Dungeon Finder knows about the queue discrepancy.  If you're a healer or a tank you'll be placed in a group within five minutes, but more likely within one.  But DPS spots generally take between 10-15 minutes, at least a 200-300% increase even though there are three spots.  It's lopsided because of the population numbers; the ratio of DPS to tanks/healers is greater than 3:1.  This leads us to...
• "I'm special" complex - So you're a hot commodity.  Groups need you to complete their mission.  To some people that means they can abandon their team at a moment's notice.  Actually, it's usually no notice. My rogue has been left sitting in a half completed, DPS-filled run on numerous occasions because the tank or healer had had enough.  Because of their desirable nature they know that the next group is only a few moments away, so their far more likely to abandon the group than the DPS.  Those three are then left waiting in queue for another ten minutes.  For a tank/healer combo that just abandoned some other group.  A vicious cycle.
• Social dynamics - But it's unlikely we'll ever see those people again, or remember their slight against us if we do, so it's okay.  The greater anonymity of cross-faction play tends to promote childish acts at a higher frequency than normal.  But I have meet some fun, entertaining people during my runs.  Too bad there's no (easy) way I can keep up with them after the run is complete.  Despite the highs and lows of the WoW community, occasional clearing of throats and crickets remain the most common form of interaction that precipitates from the Dungeon Finder.
• Being carried dispute - Player X's DPS sucks, player Y went AFK for half the run and player Z is naked.  We've all half-assed it during a run here or there, and as long as the run is completed who the hell cares if someone, be it tank, healer or DPS, is carried?  As long as it isn't the tank and healer, or all the DPS being carried the job will get done.  It might take 3% longer, but the end result will be the same.
• Meters - Whether they are being pasted to complain about above, to extend your e-peen or put someone down, they suck.  And no one hates it more than your tank and healer. Once a meter is displayed all group play goes out the windows.  No more waiting for the tank to grab aggro,CCing or any group mechanics at all.  The DPS will crawl over their dead comrades in an attempt to top that meter, which means next to nothing nothing in a dungeon.
• Heroic to raid gap - Awesome, my alt is decked out in badge gear from head to toe.  I've got enchants and gems out the wazoo.  But I still can't get into most raids because of my non-badge gear.  They seem my mediocre non-welfare gear and realize that I can't link to any achievements forTotC or ICC.  Everyone chuckles at the thought of me starting a full Ulduar or Naxxramas run to fill those gaps.  My alt logs off and hopes theguildies finish their alts for alt night ASAP.
• Min/maxing - The idea that casual players are now min/maxing, not their stats but their time spent in an instance, is awesome to me.  The sheer volume of runs has lead to players of all shapes and sizes teaching each other small tricks to finishing a run as quickly as possible.  It reminds me of my childhood gaming; sitting in the playground sharing tips and tricks for beating The Legend of Zelda and Contra.  And those were the days.

That's three issues brought on by the community, two by design, and a pair of positives.  Can't blame Blizzard for all those problems.



Here's a nifty little announcement that got me even more excited for Patch 3.3. On the forums yesterday, Blue Poster Bornakk announced that Emblems of Conquest will be replaced with Emblems of Triumph as the main drop from dungeons as of Patch 3.3. Here's his words exactly:

General reminder: Things can still change. The current plan is to make Emblems of Triumph the "base" of emblems so everything that drops Emblems of Conquest would be changed to Triumph and then the new raid content would drop the new highest emblem along with things like the heroic daily and such.

He just had to add that addendum that "things can still change," reminding us that this may not still be the case come the full release of the patch. But it makes sense to make the higher-tiered gear more readily accessible with the coming of Icecrown Citadel so that more players will be able to participate - which I would say is good all around. I can understand how some people are upset that this makes it easier to get gear that they had to farm like hell to get in the past few months. But, you also have to keep in mind that the addition of the much higher-level gear that drops from all the new content will give players something new and shiny to work toward. So, if farming is what you enjoy - have at it. As things currently stand, Emblems of Conquest are much easier to come by, and they allow players to purchase items more around the iLevel 213-226 range. Emblems of Triumph, which now drop from daily heroics and certain higher-level content, will be the new easy ones to come by, instead allowing us quicker access to the level 232-245 gear available. Personally, I've been drooling over the Arena Season Six set (iLevel 232) Furious Gladiator's Vestments. They're not the best raiding pieces out there in the game right now, but damn they'd look hawt on my female blood elf. Up until now, the cost of 50-75 emblems of triumph a pop has been too expensive and time-consuming for me to get any pieces (except for the legs, a lucky 25-man VoA drop). Another big piece I've been looking toward - the iLevel 245 Mark of Supremacy to help me out where my hit rating is lacking. What does everyone else think of this change? Do you also have items you're scoping out come the implementation of the new system?

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With patch 3.2 on the horizon, this will be the last post in the Preparing for Patch 3.2 series. Be sure to check out the posts on Tradeskills and Battlegrounds as well! One thing you should be aware of in patch 3.2 is that all dungeons and raids outside of the Crusader's Coliseum will be dropping Emblems of Conquest. You can buy Emblems of Valor at the cost of 1 Emblem of Conquest, and you can buy Emblems of Heroism at the cost of 1 Emblem of Valor. Emblems of Heroism will still be useful for a variety of things, such as epic gems, heirlooms, and mounts. Emblems of Valor will not be useful; they already buy hardly anything useful. I suggest that if you have any leftover Emblems of Valor or Emblems of Heroism, you start looking saving these for epic gems if you need some cash or other non-gear rewards. Emblems of Conques will be easy to come by, and that sweet BoE bracer you get will not only be easily replaceable in patch 3.2, but also worthless. Who would drop hundreds of gold on gear when you can do a couple dozen heroics or a Naxxramas run in a few hours and get something much better? If you need to gear up for patch 3.2, my suggestion is simple: wait! The patch will be upon us any day now and with Emblems of Conquest being so easily accessible, crafted and BoE gear will bottom out in price, and if you are willing to put in some time, Ulduar 25 level gear will be yours from heroics. In addition to Emblems of Heroism and Valor no longer being accessible, the achievements associated with looting lots of them will be removed and likely made Feats of Strength. If you are a few Emblems away from any of the Emblem-related achievements, go grab them now, before it's too late! What are you doing with your excess emblems, and what is your gear situation for patch 3.2?

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One of the fundamental things that players should understand about the WoW economy is that there is massive deflation. Items, in general, become less valuable over time as new items are introduced. Players no longer want iLvl 200 or even 213 crafted gear, as well geared players from high level raids can easily carry them through heroics or Naxxramas. As such, materials for crafted gear are less in demand than they once were. Blue gems should lose value once epic gems become accessible. Additionally, once an item is introduced, the players that want it the most will pay ridiculous prices to get it first. Prices lower over time as supply ramps up for non-top tier raiders. In general, its a bad idea to stockpile items. However, understanding how new changes will affect the economy and acting early can lead to huge profits. There are two major changes that will affect the economy in patch 3.2. The first is the introduction of epic gems; the second is that Emblems of Conquest are now obtainable in all pre-Crusader dungeons and raids. We will talk mainly about epic gems for now. Epic gems are obtained in a few different ways. Lets review:

• Alchemy Transmutes
• Icy Prism. You can't save them up now, so don't try
• Prospecting Titanium Ore
• Buying with Honor or Emblems of Heroism

Buying them with Honor and Emblems will probably be very unpopular, as everything will be dropping Emblems of Conquest and players will be eager to grab new gear before they will grab new gems. The other three will have a profound effect on the market. First, lets look at Alchemy transmutes. Most Alchemists are Elixir Masters. As as Alchemist myself, I can vouch for how useful this is. I make dozens of flasks a day, and this generates tons of gold. If I can get a friend to craft my elixirs who is elixir specced, Transmutation Master for myself might be profitable. Since transmutations are on a 20 hour cooldown, its hard to share that ability with anyone, but a group of a few alchemists could have 1 elixir master and all the rest be Transmutation Masters to optimize overall output. I know my guild is organizing something like this. Transmuting an epic gem usually requires a blue gem of the same color as the desired epic gem and a specific Eternal. The following is a list of transmutes as they are now on the PTR:

• Transmute: Flawless Amytrine: Monarch Topaz and Eternal Shadow
• Transmute: Cardinal Ruby: Scarlet Ruby and Eternal Fire
• Transmute: Dreadstone: Twilight Opal and Eternal Shadow
• Transmute: Eye of Zul: 3 Forest Emerald
• Transmute: King's Amber: Autumn’s Glow and Eternal Life
• Transmute: Majestic Zircon: Sky Sapphire and Eternal Air

The first thing to note is that players will be getting epic gems from a few sources. Players will largely be consuming the same amount of gems overall, as they will have about the same number of sockets. Some of the new recipes require epic gems, but it won't have a huge impact on the market. Since only some portion of the epic gems being consumed use current rare gems as a material means that consumption of rare gems is going to go way down. There will still be a market as the poor man's gem and as reagents for transmutes, but the prices of uncut and cut rare gems should drop significantly. Get rid of any stock that you have. The exception may be Forest Emerald, which requires 3 gems for the transmute. Only time will tell relatively how valuable they will be, but blue gems are used a lot by tanks, so I'm predicting a good market for the epic blue gems and hence Forest Emerald. Also, expect Eternal consumption to go way up with lots of new recipes and the transmutes. Its unclear how often Icy Prism will give epic gems. It will be the only thing keeping Frozen Orbs valuable. It will continue to be the only thing keeping uncommon gems in consumption. There are lots of these in Titanium Ore, so expect them to lose even more value in patch 3.2. We are looking at vendor trash level of value. According to WarcraftEcon's results, they are getting around 6 uncommon gems per prospect, and people will be prospecting a lot to get epic gems. Speaking of prospecting Titanium, this is going to be the game changer. People are stockpiling Titanium now, which may or may not be a good idea. It might be overvalued right now; it's risky to do. However, with rare gems losing demand and rare gems being the result of Titanium prospects as often of epic gems, rare gems should lose a significant amount of value from this alone. The flipside to this is that the value of Saronite and Cobalt should crash, as they will no longer be valuable to prospect. This is going to be a huge window of opportunity for Blacksmiths, who can potentially make lots of BoE stuff and disenchant it. Expect Enchanting supplies to increase in supply in the long run and prices to drop. Finally, note the materials for the new crafted items, including a new orb from the Argent Coliseum: Crusader's Orb. This list was complied by the writers at WarcraftEcon:

• Titansteel Bar
• Saronite Bar
• Arctic Fur
• Heavy Borean Leather
• Icy Dragonscale
• Nerubian Chitin
• Moonshroud
• Spellweave
• Ebonweave
• Crusader Orb
• Various epic gems, Eternals, Enchanting materials
• Deadly Saronite Dirk
• Corroded Saronite Woundbringer

These will probably enjoy a small price boost in the first month or so of patch 3.2. Remember, the first two weeks will be crazy, as everyone will want epic gems and consumption will be through the roof. Expect it to level off within about 6 weeks. What are your plans to profit in patch 3.2?

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Like you guys and gals, I have been poring over all the exciting info coming out of the PTR right now. New gear, dungeons, and battlegrounds are so much fun and what keep this game exciting. But I can't help feel that the most significant change in this patch is something we found out about a while ago, and will change the way we play this game more than you might realize. The change I am referring to is the changes that Blizzard is making to the emblem system. In case you missed the blue post, here is the section I am referring to.

• Emblem System Changes
• Both the 10 and 25-player instances of the Crusaders' Coliseum drop a new Emblem of Triumph.
• Any dungeons that previously dropped Emblems of Heroism or Valor, such as Naxxramas or Heroic Halls of Stone, will now drop Emblems of Conquest instead. Emblems of Conquest can still be converted to Valor or Heroism.
• The Heroic dungeon daily quest will now reward 2 Emblems of Triumph and the normal daily dungeon quest will reward 1 Emblem of Triumph.
• The existing achievements to collect 1, 25, 50, etc. Emblems of Heroism, Valor, and Conquest have been converted to Feats of Strength since Heroism and Valor Emblems are no longer attainable.
• New achievements have been added to collect various amounts of any combination of emblems.

So what does this mean for our daily play style? Simply that we now have lots of reason to run heroics. Currently there is virtually no reason for me to step into a heroic. I don't need heroism emblems, gear, or rep. I, like many others, have progressed past this. But now things are different. With every boss dropping Conquest Badges the first few weeks of 3.2 are going to be full of heroic runs. This will let us get all the T8 tier gear, runed orbs, and deadly gear that we could possibly want in a very short period of time. Eventually we will all get all the conquest gear we can handle, but for a short time heroics will be very important. What is even more exciting is the details regarding daily quest rewards. Both the daily and heroic dailies will no give us Emblems of Triumph, which will purchase the next highest level of gear and, presumably, T9 tokens. To me this means I will be doing both of those dungeons every day that I can. It will certainly be an adjustment, but I must say I am sort of looking forward to it. I have always been a big fan of 5-mans, something about that groups size lends itself to a fun relaxed atmosphere. It is something I have missed. With this news I know I have lots of heroic dungeons ahead of me, and more importantly heroic dungeons worth doing! How do you feel about this change? Looking forward to getting back in those 5-mans? Or would you just as well leave them behind?

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