Hall of Fame: Bloodbank of Executus-US

Posted by Warcraftecon | December 13, 2009 .

The Warcraft Econ Hall of Fame is a column featuring the few elite players that have hit the World of Warcraft gold cap of 214,748 gold 36 silver 46 copper. We have with us, Bloodbank of Executus-US, who will be sharing their stories with us today.

Please tell us a little about yourself and your gaming experience.

Hello, I’m Bloodbank and I play on Executus-US. I’ve been playing MMOs since Everquest and I’ve been playing WoW since late 2005. I started off on Executus and haven’t found a server I’ve liked as much since, so I’m still there after 4 years.

Do you raid or PvP most? Both? How do you enjoy the game?

I basically have designated “mains” for raiding, PVP, and AHing. I mostly split my time between raiding and playing in the Auction House–Bloodbank is my main for gold generating. Due to time constraints imposed by RL, I haven’t had time to keep up with my mage (PVP toon)–I hope to reverse that soon. When I’m raiding, I play a main tank for a 10 man guild.

Why did you choose to collect this amount of gold?

Burnout. I was bored with playing my alts, raiding had slowed down, and I still didn’t have time for PVP. I’m a goal-oriented person, so I decided I should challenge myself by achieving the gold cap.

How did you go about getting to the 214k? Did you use professions? Auction House arbitrage? Any creative ideas?

I used professions–in particular, I bought raw materials from the AH, sent them off to various toons to process, then posted the finished product on the AH for a modest mark-up. I have Alchemy, Inscription, Enchanting, Blacksmithing, Tailoring, Engineering, and Jewelcrafting at max level. I mostly sold epic gems, glyphs, and enchant scrolls. I also sold various consumables from my other professions–if there was a niche where the product sold for more than the cost of mats, I found it. As I acquired more gold, I kept investing it into expanding into more AH markets. I’m afraid I’m not really the creative sort, I just made a basic system and adhered to it. It so happened it worked rather well and I hit the cap!

How did you learn to do it?

I read the official wow professions forums, greedy goblin, just my two copper, wow econ, and so on. Basically I had my simple buy => process => sell method, but I kept looking for ways to improve upon it. Any time someone posted a new idea or strategy, I would try to see if that would work for me–and if it wouldn’t, I’d look for a way to apply some of the principles of the idea to improve my own methods.

What addons, if any, do you use to help you make gold?

Auctioneer, Quick Auctions 2, Postal, Bagnon, KTQ, Skillet, Lil’Sparky’s Workshop, Altoholic. I also keep a spreadsheet to keep track of assorted details.

Are you still going for more gold? If so, do you have a new goal? Are you close?

Yes, mostly because I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I wasn’t making gold. I think I’m addicted. I plan to spend a LOT of gold on frivolous and pointless things, so my first goal will be to hit the cap again. After that, we’ll see. I’m comfortable with the idea of buying all the luxury items I can think of, hitting the cap again, then retiring from the AH till cataclysm.

Do many people know you have this amount of gold?

Just my guild. I’m sure they’re sick of hearing about the play-by-play of my AH antics.

Did you spend your gold on fun things? What have you bought? What things would you like to buy?

Yes. Before I hit the cap, I bought a mechano-hog, a tundra mammoth, a kirin tor ring, and epic flying for 6 toons. I’d like to level this toon to 40 and then buy it a tundra mammoth. I’d also like to get some of my guildmates things for their encouragement, tolerance, and support. Lumps of coal, perhaps?

Do you have any special tips that you would like to share?

Make a system and stick to it. What works will vary from person to person and server to server. For example, I have no skill at AH arbitrage, so I don’t do it much. Focus on your strengths! You should find out what works for other people (the various wow econ blogs are good for this) and then make it your own. If you mindlessly copy someone else’s system, then you’ll be out in the cold when the system stops working. Any system functions based on the environment it was created in, so when the environment changes, the system may no longer work.

Personally, I work by setting threshholds. I designate the minimum profit I would like for a given transaction (e.g. buying an epic gem, cutting it, and selling it) and then set a price above which I will not buy the raw material and a price below which I will not sell the finished product. Sometimes it means I go for extended periods without posting product, but to counter that I expand into as many markets as I can. Even when some markets aren’t profitable, others are. I offset variations in the market by diversifying.

Do you have any fun stories from when you were grinding?

I wish I did.

What was the best deal you ever came across?

Not so much a deal, but patch 3.3! In the month before the patch hit, the price of epic gems, both cut and raw, was cratering. I bought up about 420 epic gems of various colors during this period at dirt cheap prices–when 3.3 hit, the market revived. Prices went back to normal levels and the gems sold like hotcakes. I’ve made 95,000g since 3.3 hit and a large percentage of that came from my epic gem investment.

Do you remember any of your worst deals?

No–it’s not that I haven’t made any, I just try very hard to forget they ever happened.

What are your future plans with WoW?

Kill Arthas, maybe get back into PVP. Otherwise, just kill time until Cataclysm.

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview for Warcraft Econ. Do you have any last words?

Be persistent and you’ll hit the cap. All it really takes is some common sense and patience.

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4 Comments so far

Any December 18, 2009 2:03 AM

0
gz,

This site has challenged me to get goldcap, so in 3 months, if im not mistaken, i did it, found it easy, mostly JC + enchanting and AH price raising for certain materials, leveled inscription thinking its cool for gold getting, found out thats a crap comparing time investments vs gold income…

Sorry for my english
Warcraftecon December 19, 2009 3:48 PM

0
Would you like to do an intereview with us about your journey to the gold cap?
Any December 21, 2009 2:21 AM

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Yes , i can do it, but i dont want to give my real nick, just for my protection, accounts are hacked every day.
Of course i can provide you a printscreen if needed for proof.
If questions are the same ill try to make it till cristmas, busy at work now
Warcraftecon December 21, 2009 2:26 AM

0
Sounds good, just email us whenever you are ready.