Goals and WoW
This post was divided in two or else it would be way too long, even in my own opinion. I think. Part two can be found
here. In this two part series I discuss ideas and weigh in the goods and the bads of various options when it comes to gold making and gaming in general. When I say gaming I mean doing the things that a newbie would think of when playing WoW, which is questing or killing bosses or even more oftenly, chase loot.
I see "WoW or Gold" as a camera that shows my inner struggle between choosing the Auction House or focusing primarily on gaming. I claim that a max levelled toon is necessary to make gold, although I know for sure that I could spend time farming on my slacking Alliance hunter named
Grayz on Agamaggan EU. Farming is very viable, and in my book necessary, when having a first toon that's making gold on a realm, but having a max levelled toon that can farm while doing dailies suits me alot better since I enjoy multi tasking.
Ever since I chose to go all in for gold at the expense of gaming (happened during the Lich King era cause of the lol-its-too-easy-mode) i've been wondering what my motivators are. The one obvious reason that I know for sure is that i'll become financially independent in real life, since it's my main economical goal. People can say what they want with whichever arguments they have, but it's simple; I choose a goal, learn what I need to get there and do it. Every single time that I choose a goal and shoot for it, I reach it, without fail. It's all just a matter of how long it takes to reach the goal, if you do the same things that other succesful people do. You can't fail if you're on a successful path. And success is simply "the realization of a worthy ideal" -Earl Nightingale. Brian Tracy would argue that you can reach any goal, "within reason", which may hold true, but most of the time human beings hold themselves back more than they push forward, so I simplify it and say if you can imagine it, you can do it.
What a worthy goal is is up to the individual, but having one and moving towards it is the fastest way to feel better. Heck, when I was on a roll two weeks ago in-game the feelings I felt reflected back onto the real world. Now that can backfire when you get too emotionally involved in something in-game and have a hard time letting go, which is what i'm feeling this week. Sleep can't be neglected or it will hurt you. I'll most likely slow down on the BDF Auction House and become more active playing my Alliance hunter. Since she's level 76 I still have some levelling to do which should be a good way to focus on something else completely.
About setting goals and achieving them?
My first in-game goal was levelling so I could start raiding. And alongside that goal I knew that I wanted gold, but didn't have a set amount, but I did what I could to increase my earnings with the Auction House and various professions. When Wotlk came I had learned a bit and thought that I could get all JC designs from BC and make a killing once LK would drop. This was my first expansion as a max level toon, so I learned a lot from the mistakes I made during that period. My plan failed since Blizzard added uncommon gems that hade the same stats as the rare designs that I had bought. Plan failed.
During Wotlk the goal changed from 50k, 100k, 150k to the old gold cap which was 214k + some silvers and copper. I reached that goal at the 30th of October 2010 which was the date that I had set as a deadline, 1 week before Cataclysm release, just in case I wouldn't make it and would need to change my plans a bit in order to make the gold cap before the launch of Cata.
Random side note: In hindsight, the main reason I didn't reach the gold cap sooner was that I bought 5 Tundra's and a chopper. 3 of those Tundras were bought between December and March at the beginning of Wrath... What a waste! Never again haha. I learned my lesson, but I can feel how the Vials of the sand comes closer, simply cause I can buy it and my main has turned into a semi mount farmer, especially when i'm bored. At the end of LK I was either farming Stratholme or doing the Auction House dance. When I was done and got that mount I was chasing the damn egg in Sholazar Basin which had some very interesting RnG... against me.
Random screenshot - Mysterius Fortune Cards barked by Chorey
Chorey was a nice player that I never, ever grouped with except for when I sold him the 5k Fortune Card. He had whispered me a few days earlier and wanted to buy it. I kindly told him no and the reasons behind it. When he told me that he was moving to another realm I got soft. Also he never showed any kind of attitude, that most players do when you say no to them, so I told him that i'd sell it to him after a few days. This is what Trade chat looked like a few days before I sold it too him.
