Sunday, July 31, 2011

Speculation and Steampunk

Nice hat.

"In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

My fancy turned lightly to love in the springtime. Now it's almost August and I'm ready for romance to show up already - the sooner the better. The last time I was remotely serious about a relationship was in March, and that ended horribly. It was doomed from the beginning, much like my attempt to reset Truegold on the day after the Molten Front vendors were unlocked... just a poor choice on my part, despite my dogged efforts to make it work. She just wasn't right for me, and no matter how sweet and patient I was, it would never have worked because she wasn't a good fit for me at all.


(cue soundtrack)

So, today I'll tell you about one of my early speculative ventures. I stumbled across this one right around the time Cataclysm launched, before I started reading gold blogs. Although I later found out that Alto blogged about it, I feel cool that I figured it out on my own. See that lady pictured up there? Wouldn't you like to have a stylish top hat like that?

I stumbled upon the following recipe, no clue why or how, but I did: High Society Top Hat. Check out the mats: Bolt of Woolen Cloth (8), Heavy Leather (4), Black Dye (6), Green Dye (2), Fine Thread (6), Polished Bronze Rivet (8). Wait a minute, what's a Polished Bronze Rivet? Glad you asked! It's a 1-3% drop from pickpocketing Cataclysm-level humanoids, if Wowhead data is to be trusted. I've never looted a single one; I simply identified it as the hardest-to-find reagent in the High Society Top Hat recipe, and decided to gobble up all the Bronze Rivets I could find on the AH. Who wouldn't want to outfit their bank toons with a classy looking top hat?


That's a dandy idea, to be sure, but where does one acquire the pattern for such fine headgear? Well, nobody knows, not yet anyways. In patch 4.03, someone asked a GM, and was told that it's not available yet, but to be patient. That was patch 4.03, and we're still waiting. It's still possible that it could get added, or it's possible that it will never be implemented. I've picked up 3 stacks of them at 5g-20g apiece, and I'm okay with that investment, even if I end up having to vendor them for 2s50c eventually.

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky

I realized why my love life hasn't taken off yet. I've been a huge flirt, as usual, but I haven't taken any steps towards an actual relationship. Since my failure in March, I've had a mental block towards actually falling in love. While it's true that I'll never get hurt that way, I'll also miss out on opportunities to grow and learn and love. I will always be of the opinion that love is worth taking a little risk.

However, that doesn't mean you can be reckless about it. The main reason why my last relationship felt so bad is that I kept trying to fix it when I should have just let it die. I was over-invested in it emotionally, while the object of my affections didn't seem to care one iota. In Azeroth, you'll get rich much faster if you take a few risks, but once in a while you make a bum investment. To keep this from wrecking you, don't invest more than you're willing to lose, and try to diversify so your not putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak. I could go out and buy 6 guild tabs full of pyrite over the next week or two, but that would tie up my gold that I would rather spend on other ventures. Other ventures, which will be the subject of other blog entries in the future. Stay fresh, my friends, and don't be afraid to try new things, both in the Auction House and RL. Just remember to invest smart and diversify.

Speaking of trying new things, in the past two weeks, I went on dates with three girls, one of whom is quite interesting, and will be getting further attention.*wink*

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Introducing Braindead Industries

Bloodsail Admiral Danebread, Captain of Braindead Industries
Welcome, friend. Today is the official launch of Braindead Industries, the journal where I share the tales of my quest for wealth and adventure. There are two reasons why I'm holding the official launch today. First, I have finally hoodwinked somebody into following my blog, and it's none other than fluxdada of Power Word: Gold. It's pretty exciting to be noticed by somebody you look up to! Second, I've finally finished fiddling around with my alts, and I'm ready to start making gold in earnest. Time for balls-to-the-wall, no-holds-barred wheeling and dealing; the Auction House is now my personal Everest, and I'm all geared up for the climb.

(cue soundtrack)

So, who or what is Braindead Industries? I'm glad you asked. I'd like to introduce the starting lineup:
Crafters of Braindead Industries
This week, I achieved one of my biggest goals in Azeroth: I maxed every crafting profession. From left to right, I have a JC/Enchanter, Scribe/LW, Engineer/BS, and Tailor/Alchemist. I've invested a lot of time in this "human capital" to get these various alts to level 75 and their tradeskills to 525. Now, I just have to put their professions to good use! The dashing undead pirate is my main Danebread, and the ruggedly handsome orc  Death Knight getting his boogie on is Xagoraphobe, his co-captain and Chief Financial Officer of Braindead Industries.

Bankers of Braindead Industries
Here we have my bankers and inexperienced alts. Between the four of them, I have two 4-slot guild banks and two 5-slot guild banks. As of right now, they're mostly empty, but when I find a good deal in bulk, like a couple hundred stacks of Azshara's Veil at half of the typical market value, it's nice to have a place to store it.

Right now, as far as capital goes, I have those four guild banks, some inks, a little bit of herb, some flasks and potions, a few sets of crafted Bloodthirsty gear, and a handful of stacks of each color of uncut rare gems. Oh, and about 20k liquid. I can only go up from here. Gold cap, here I come.

So, what can you expect from this blog? Fun stories of my journey to wealth and glory. I read an article recently about a group of prisoners at the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center who are rehearsing and staging a production of Hamlet. While these performers weren't very well educated and definitely not trained to perform Shakespeare, which I'm sure frustrated their director at times, she found that their personal experiences made their performances much more engaging and more real. Hamlet is a story about an emotional youngster contemplating vengeance, violence, and death: who better to relate to that kind of story than people who have tasted the consequences of such crimes of passion? Similarly, I'm not a trained professional when it comes to auction house domination. I'm just a passionate young goblin who happens to be a storyteller as well. Hopefully the young and old alike can find something valuable and entertaining from my adventures, even if I don't have the wisdom of the multi-millionaires to scry out future profits from the tea-leaf readings on the PTR. You can watch me struggle my way to the top and hopefully identify with my concerns, my thought processes, and my triumphs. I can't guarantee insider trading tips or profit-expanding advice, but I can give you my best shot at a fun read.

Time to hit the auction house. Hope you come back soon!