Hobbies And Interests
Gold Farming Truths
There is no quick-fix for farming gold. The majority of gold bought and sold on a given realm is acquired from stolen accounts. These accounts are hacked through a number of methods including phishing and keylogger infections. Each character is carefully stripped of all of its possessions and currency, and then the account is used to bot or teleport hack until it is shut down by Blizzard's automated hack-detector, Warden. Buying gold simply reinforces this practice, so farm your gold the legitimate way instead of taking advantage of the injuries of other players.
The Materials Myth
Many "World of Warcraft" players think the most efficient method for farming gold is gathering materials scouting for ore or herbs and then crafting these items into expensive commodities. The logic behind this thought is simple: If the materials are "free," what you make is all profit. What these people do not take into account is that the materials are not free -- they cost your time. If you can buy the materials on the Auction House in 10 minutes and make a profit of 200g, or gather the materials in two hours and make a profit of 500g, it is clearly more efficient to buy your materials. Overall strategies on this depend heavily on the supply and demand on your realm.
Quest Hard
Once you hit the level cap, any quests you have not completed will reward you with gold instead of experience. Go back through areas you may have missed and try to complete as many quests as possible. This is not the most efficient method for farming gold but will help break the monotony of working with the auction house. You will be rewarded with gold and items that can be sold for a healthy profit.
Collect Everything
When you are out and about in the world, you will encounter plenty of beasts, monsters and enemies. Each of these will drop some loot when killed. You should loot everything, regardless of how useful the materials may be. Once your bags start to look full, swing by a local city or town and sell all your junk to the nearest vendor. All that garbage can often add up to a nice sum of gold, and every bit counts when you are trying to save toward something big.
Game the Auction House
If you are serious about farming gold, the best method is working the Auction House. Learning to buy low, sell high and manipulate the market can take months of practice and is almost a game in of itself. Pick up the Auctioneer add-on to help index traditional AH prices and spot interesting opportunities to make a quick profit. You would be surprised how many players place items up at low prices because they either do not know what the item is worth or do not have time to do the research. You can snag these items and repost them to make mountains of gold.