I rarely do alt in MMOs that I expect to level up to maximum. World of Warcraft remains the big exception because of the length of time I played. I had two characters in EQ2 but only one was for adventuring. I had two characters in Rift, where the second one was specifically to level with a friend who came to play well after launch. Even then, I redid the cleric and flipped back to my original toward the end since she was already geared for T2. The friend I made my second run through Rift with came to try GW2 over the holidays. Creating a character to use for that purpose reminded me of two things.
My first hurdle was deciding on a new class between the three I had in mind to try, Mesmer, Engineer and Necromancer. I had a hard time choosing between them during beta until I tried the Guardian who quickly stole my heart. Once again, I created one of each with the intention of playing until level 5 to help decide. It was hard decsion. I enjoyed them all for different reasons. I kept flipping back and forth between them but still couldn't make up my mind. When two of them hit level 8, I didn't want to go any further so I simply picked the Mesmer.
I have a Victorian styled holiday dress... Victorian styled holiday dress!!! They got me at the dress. That combined with the awesome gear dye system is pure heaven. If I did nothing more than prance around in this until Wintersday is over I'd be fine. I did however, test out more than just the Gem store.
I know I can't do jumping puzzles worth a damn but I still gave it a few goes. I didn't make it very far but that's okay. I came. I tried. I fell. And fell, and fell again, until I moved on to other things.
Next up was slaughtering mobs in Tixx. Now this is something I'm capable of doing. The first time I was in a group where none of us had done it before. Initially, we assed it up a bit figuring out what to do and where to go until we noticed the map was giving us indicators. After that it was just a mad dash to complete objectives and get loot. Luckily someone had at least heard about the achievement to be gained by staying after the boss kill and wrecking the joint. I found this list after the fact, for you achievement lovers. I made sure to alert other groups I was in and stayed with whoever after to help anyone who wanted to obtain it.
I repeated the instance a few times when it was in the Grove and Divinity's Reach but not since. I'm short on time and still do my farming routes. I need way more snowflakes than I've obtained so I can cook up the holiday recipes. I'm not sure if I'll bother trying to unlock the holiday jewelry recipes.
These days, I spend the vast majority of my harvesting and chasing down dragons. I’m very pleased with the returns I’m getting for the portfolio of crafted items I’m focused on selling, and nothing breaks up farming runs like dancing with dragons.
There are 3 dragons as world bosses in GW2. You can read about them here. They are part of dynamic events, are hella fun and drop decent loot to use, sell or salvage. These continue the “come as you are” activity I’ve enjoyed most about playing GW2. I don’t need a group. I don’t have to be available on specific days at pre-set times. More importantly, I’m not obligated to stay for prolonged periods of time to complete the activity. I simply work them into my gaming session as possible.
My fastest and most profitable selling items are the Exotic accessories jewelers create using exquisite jewels and Orichalcum components. Depending on the stats, exotic accessories sell for upwards of 2.5 gold, where the items with healing stats sell for the least amount. The items themselves are easy enough to harvest for with the exception of one item that can only be salvaged (Ectoplasm) for and the rarest type of ore (Orichalcum).
Each time the servers reset the location of Orichalcum nodes change. You can search for a player made map on the web or run through the level 70 to 80 zones and note the new locations yourself. Since I’m out farming anyway, I do the later by taking a screenshot of each location. I also do this for Omnomberries which are another less abundant resource needed for my best sellers. I mine ore like crazy, so having ore and the gems necessary to create the items isn't a problem. The real limiting factor for me, is acquiring enough Globs of Ectoplasm.
Neccessary Evil
Ectoplasm is the one component that can’t be crafted or harvested. The only way to obtain it is by salvaging level 68+ gear that is rare or higher in quality. Players running the high level dungeons and farming level 80 world bosses for chest loot have a higher probability of having spare items to burn for salvaging. I suspect the largest groups of players with available Ectoplasm are those that leveled crafting professions that produce gear. I’m not among that group, leaving me to obtain them via my low salvaging opportunities and/or purchase them from the Trading Post.
Looking to expand my crafting repertoire, I decided it was time to make a date with Zommoros and the Mystic Forge. I had a ton of Mystic Coins in the bank and more Skill Points than I could shake a stick it. Aside: what the hell does that phrase mean? Is there a limit to the number of things you can shake a stick at??? Anywho, I was all dressed up in Skill Points and coins with no place to go.
A visit to GW2 Spidy and live research on the Trading Post showed that cooking trays and feasts sell for a decent profit. Depending on the type of food, the tray can go for double the profit of having sold the same 10 items individually. In case I hadn’t mentioned, cooking is one of my primary crafting professions. It’s like a tick. If cooking is available in a game I MUST COOK. Even though it’s generally among the lowest in overall profitability, I mentally and emotionally enjoy doing it. Besides, GW2 cooking is the best cooking has ever been done in any MMO EVER. I reached level 400 without looking up a single recipe. I've been at max for a couple of months at least and I'm still discovering new items. With cooking, I have no idea how many more recipes there are to be discovered and I love that about it.
You either loved or hated, Turbine's Asheron's Call successor, Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings. I was in the LOVED IT crowd. AC2 was the first MMO that captured a piece of my heart and soul. I'd dabbled in EverQuest, AC1 and Horizons. I was awaiting Middle Earth Online, which eventually became Lord of the Rings Online, with baited breath. But AC2 became my first virtual-world-home, from the day it launched until the servers went dark. It was the first time I experienced forming virtual world friendships that transitioned into my real life, in permanent and lasting ways. It was the first online game I played with my son, who'd just turned 12.
Fathers and Daughters. Mothers and Sons
I realize that my vivid memories and affection for AC2 are very tightly connected to my emotional state and circumstances in 2004. I'd been diagnosed with cancer. I'd had one operation and was awaiting the pathology report for a second opinion. It was the longest 3 weeks of my life. The swing between fear, despair, hopefulness and being in lots of pain was difficult. I felt my daughters would be "okay" if the worst came to pass. I was worried about my son, so quiet and shy. Who until he was 6 years old, didn't speak to anyone but me, his father and our youngest daughter. A child so sweet, I had to explain to him several times that he couldn't go into other people's yards on his way home from school and take their flowers to bring home to me. Oh my, he made my heart melt.
Losing steam or not, Tyria is much too beautiful to abandon. Rift feels a bit old school after the open questing style and more active combat in GW2. It might feel better in a static group or guild. Soloing felt very lackluster. I suspect other games would now feel ancient in comparison to what I’ve quickly become accustomed to as far as questing is concerned. I missed playing GW2 while I was out of town last week. Just before leaving, I was determined to find “my something” to do at max level in GW2.
In my post raiding life, crafting is what I like to do as end game. Unfortunately, the profitability of the LARGE AMOUNT of recipes I labored to discover in GW2, sell for less than the materials needed to create them. Silly desperate constant under cutting sellers notwithstanding, I decided to take another look. I mean seriously, with that many freaking recipes at my disposal there must be some money-makers in the bunch. With the help of GW2 Spidy and a spreadsheet, I found several winners.
GW2 Spidy is a browser-based tool that aggregates the sales taking place on the Trading Post and provides min/max selling price, average profitability per item, etc. It’s like the NASDAQ of the GW2 economy. Using the information on this site and validating prices on the live market, I identified profitable items for my professions.
GW2 Spidy Home Page
I listed the items I identified on the Trading Post. Using the “What I’ve sold” option data, I recorded my actual sales into a spreadsheet. After a few days, I averaged my actual sales per item and ranked them based on profitability. These rankings help me to decide which items to create first when I’m short on materials, as well as providing a focused list for farming. Granted, I farm everything within a reasonable distance when I’m in a zone but this list of items takes precedence. Within 5 days, I was able to double the modest amount of gold I have deposited in the bank. “Ah, sweet sweet loot. All mine!”
Snippet of some transaction history
I’m not rich by any means. Players who are doing repeated dungeon runs or are in active WvW teams are bringing in more. However, this allows me to have my own end game, based around an activity that I enjoy and it is done 100% in my own time and fashion. Sure, I could farm and sell all the materials and possibly make more gold. But the gold itself isn't the point for me. The point was to fashion a viable end game for myself in GW2 as I have in other games.
Word of caution when using the GW2 Spidy Margin data. I find the calculations flawed in that they assume the cost of purchasing everything from the Trading Post, and for many items, don't let you choose that you've harvested it yourself. You can easily deduct those cost from the handy list of costs displayed on the individual item sheets. However, this means that you can't accurately sort your Watchlist by margin. *Sad panda face*
Since my crazy nights and weekends of hardcore raiding in WOW, my end game is about creating a business of sorts out of crafting and/or player housing. I’ve found that post WOW, if a game can’t provide either of those options, as in has a busted crafting design/market and lacks player housing, I’m generally gone a couple of months after hitting max level.
Tyria is gorgeous. I’m still not tired of wandering leisurely through the zones and discovering new nooks-n-crannies. The difference now, is that I have a focus for myself that keeps me entertained and invigorated in between content patches.
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