I'm just a newbie, but I'm so far I like the money system in WoW. There are quite a few things to spend money on, but I never seem to run short. Here are a few points on money in WoW and a few tips on how to make it:
Money in an MMORPG
If you're new to MMORPGs, you might find making money is not what you're used to in single-player games. Money in MMO has a different sort of value. Whereas money in a single-player game is just another challenge for you (being a single person, the only person using that money), money in an MMO is an actual medium of exchange between real people. Thus, in an abstract way, money in an MMO has real value. (If you don't believe me, check out an FFXI or EQ money selling site online - you can pay hundreds of US$ for online money if you were inclined).
As a result, money does not typically just come to you. Now, one thing that I have found (so far) in WoW is that just by going about your questing/leveling business, you generally will earn enough money to get by. Skills are not cheap, but I have found that the money than can be earned both through rewards from quests and drops from mobs while questing pays just enough. For those of you who are new to the MMO genre, Blizzard deserves much praise for this. In FFXI for example, there was no way you could level and make money at the same time. Those who did not realize this were always poor and terribly equipped. In FFXI, you had to take time off of leveling to farm. In WoW, you can very efficiently farm and level at the same time.
Grey Items
Typical "Junk" (as more experienced players call it) dropped from mob are called "Grey items" because their name is grey. For the most part, these items should be sold to NPCs for quick money. The exceptions are popular items used in skillcrafting (such as stacks of 20 Linen cloth). These items can be sold at the Auction House for quite a bit more than they are sold for to the NPCs, and you will be supplying something important for craftspeople. When you make it to your Auction House (quite a journey for some races), take a look at the tradeskill items and get a feel for what is worth saving.
Some weapons and armor are grey. At low levels, if you can use the item, and it's better than what you have, it's definitely a good bet to use the items. Once you get past about L10, you will start to find enough better items to equip, and you will find that the grey weapons and armor seem to get obsolete. At L17, I find that all grey weapons and armor are NPC selling items.
Green Items
Green Items are rare items. There are also Blue and Purple Items (I think those are the colors) which are rarer, but I don't think you'll see them early on. I didn't. You should generally not sell green items to NPCs. If you can use them, and they're better than what you have, I'd recommend using them. However, myself for example, I'm a Hunter and so I can not wear any of the Mail armor I find, nor can I wield most of the weapons. If you don't need it for yourself, save them in your bank! When you are next at the Auction House, put them up for auction. You will find that other players who need these items will pay a lot more for them than NPCs.
Other green items, aside from weapons and armor, include tradeskill scrolls and crafting items. These are also rare and very much in demand, so I would strongly recommend saving them in your bank until you make it to the Auction House.
By the way - the bank (for the alliance anyway) is located conveniently near the Auction House. Also, you get plenty of room in your bank to store these items.
The Auction House
The Auction House (AH) in WoW is very different from FFXI (my own previous experience). It works e-Bay style, rather than the FFXI way (which was basically when you bid, you bought, provided someone had listed it for less than your bid).
The way the AH works in WoW you set a starting price, a buy-out price (optional) and choose an auction duration (2hrs, 8hrs or 24 hrs).
There are a LOT of items for sale, and you can choose a category and set certain parameters to do a search, so you don't have to sift through pages and pages of things to find what you're looking for.
Also (and this confused me as well as many other people) - when you buy something, the item gets sent to your mailbox. When you sell something, the money gets sent to your mailbox. You can't take anything straight from the AH.
I have only used the AH a handful of times so far, but so far I really like it, and I have found it a good tool for earning good money on the green items I've found while exploring.
Crafting for money
I have started to really like the crafting system in WoW. The tradeskills are pleasant to me, basically because there is no "failure" (no lost materials while building skill). You can also choose two crafts that compiment each other (I.e. Skinning/Leatherworking, Mining/Smithing).
I'm not going to share my secrets, but I have found that once you get crafting to a higher level, you can buy/quest high end recipes and sell the products on Auction for a good profit.
For raising skill, you are generally going to want to:
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Another hour at work successfully passed posting on Allakhazam! I hope it's useful. If you want me to add/change something, please post or send me a PM.
Cheers and Happy Hunting!
(P.S. 1 hour 56 mins of work left ... must ... play ...)
Edited, Tue Nov 9 19:12:06 2004 by kingjord
Edited, Wed Nov 10 04:05:34 2004 by kingjord
