Month: November 2005

Something Awful is at it again with a new article on WoW. Most of the article is standard SA bashing fare, but I just find one particular quote amusing:

Suitable mage names: Calistoga, Aquavita, Evian, Dasani

Too close to home. On that note, also wanted to post this as a reply to a previous entry(but who checks replies?):

Lafieru 43v4r.

So, in an effort to craft myself a weapon that’s really nice (Heartseeker), I’ve embarked on an epic journey to the far side of Azeroth (Winterspring) to mine for exotic rare ores (Arcane Crystals). And through these journies I’ve learned many a facts about gold farmers that I’d otherwise never learn. It also brings me to a closer understanding of why people hate gold farmers – it’s never about the fact that they’re selling in game currency for real money, it’s because where they’re getting their gold from, don’t you even think about touching it.

There are two types of farmers:

-Campers, who find a suitable area with moderately generous amount of ores and just run in circles, mine away every ore that spawns, and kill every living thing in the way.
-Roamers, who run around all possible resource nodes in a patrol route style, covering large grounds in a relatively short time.

You can tell that a farmer had been to an area in two ways:
-Trails of mobs chasing after the exit of an area left by a farmer who ran a mount into all the possible resource nodes and then run straight back out. That also mean sorry Bob, if there’s any ore that was in there it’s gone.
-An area that’s left clean and untouched save for selected spots where mobs seemingly exploded and died. Usually that’s the work of a rogue sneaking to an ore and then killing the mob guarding it, but just today I’ve seen a priest that’s able to pull of the same deal. I’ll at least give them credits for inventing creative ways for farming.

Other interesting tidbits:

-Farmers can make you paranoid. Everytime you see another player running around an ore area with a remotely asian character name, you’d grow weary that he or she might be “yet another farmer”. In most cases, the answer is “yes”.
-Farmers can be of any class and any race. Pet classes like Hunters and Warlocks can use their pets to pull aggro while they mine; priests can shield themselves and run through thongs of mobs, then shield again to mine; warriors farmer exist too, even though they tend to be camper types who keeps entire areas clean of mobs. Finally there’s rogue types like me who can sneak and disappear, but all things considered it’s not that big of an advantage over others.
-Just because you think you’re logging on during a server’s “off” hour means nothing to gold farmers. They are on 24-7, ever camping, ever patroling, like machines, like NPC mobs.
-This is just a speculation, but I think farmers do carve and mark territories and other farmers would at least respect that, mostly because the resources there will get snuffed out by the other farmer anyway.

In conclusion:

-I lose.