About Me

So what is this anyway?

EDIT: This piece of the site is under construction.


So, there are a lot of World of Warcraft gold-making blogs, and I like several of them. There is a lot of good advice all over.

However, what about gold information for those who are just starting or who are just starting on a new server? Certainly, gold in World of Warcraft isn't too hard to come by, but I want to make a blog for those who just started a level one on a server and are trying to get some gold for their mounts. That is what I am trying to do here.

My goal is to start a new character on a new server and examine some piece of gold making. I am not going to go into the high level gold making stuff, that is for others. This is to help you get started on gold making. Not all of the ideas are new, and when I post something, I will try and give credit to the place I read about it.

That is about it. If you want to contact me, you can send me an email to WoW.Ohnekase@gmail.com

You can also follow me on twitter: @WowOhnekase




Tuesday, February 28, 2012

#onemonthonetoon Twitter Following.

Ok, so this isn't a blog post about making money, but let me explain.

So @Powerwordgold had a challenge for himself to only play one character for a month.  Well, when I was discussing this with my wife and the concept of it, she  told me that she thought it would be difficult for me to actually follow this as well.  Well, I took this as a challenge from her and jumped on it.  So I am working on this challenge.

Do not fret or anything.  I am still going to do the blog.  That is the one time I can play a different character, is if I need something for the blog specifically.  And I do intend to write up a post.  However, due to a lot of real life changes for me, I have been slacking on this.

For the challenge of playing one character, however, I have been discussing my daily things on Twitter.  I am going to copy those here do you can see them.

Tweets (From @WoWohnekase)

 So, it is happeneing. I am also doing this one month one toon thing. Working on going through my stuff. too much stuff.


 Day 1 (Feb 20): Did Blasted Lands run, Did 2 dungeons, and tried 3 times for a LFR for the first time, suceeded once.


 Day 2 (Feb 21): Didn't play too long, but did Blasted Lands again and Did a Well of Eternity Dungeon.


 Day 3 (Feb 22): Didn't play for more than 10 minutes in the morn. Instead, went to my card shop and played some M:TG.


 Day 4 (Feb 23): Did Blasted Lands and worked on Consortium Rep by running Mana Tombs. Also, did some LFD and LFR.



 Day 5 (Feb 24): Did not log on. As a side note, been messing around with Magic the Gathering online.

 Day 6 (Feb 25): Played a bit. More blasted lands and a LFD again.

 Day 7 (Feb 26): Did a little Consortium rep leveling. Trying to get me an allowance of BC gems. reminded me.

 Day 8 (Feb 27): Listened to the podcast and tried to farm up a Baradin Fox Kit. So far, no luck.

 Day 9 (Feb 28): Listened to  & tried to farm up a Baradin Fox Kit. Did an LFD and then some PVP. Had a great AV


 Day 10 (Feb 29): Started to do some PVP, then decided I didn't feel like playing WoW.


 Day 11 (Mar 1): Did not play. Thursday is my DnD night.


 Day 12 and 13 (Mar 2 and 3): Did not play. Spent time finishing Uncharted 3 and Playing some Mass Effect 1 to get achieves

I will keep this updated.  Cause it is fun.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Meet Ohnekase: Why Transmog BoEs sell really really well.

Meet Amastacia

Oh, look it is Ohne....wait, what?  Not Ohnekase

Ohnekase is around, and I will be referencing him, but I decided to start with meet Amastacia today.  Why?  Well, honestly, I like her look better.  I love the fact that she matches and looks really different.  As such, she is a great introduction to this blog.

Ok, so you saw my blog post earlier about Ohnekase's foray into transmogriphication.  It didn't work as well as I wanted it to, but I still made money on it.  And I kept at it (albeit using @DEAzeroth's mog list), and I have been making money.  Well, I logged on this morning and checked my mail.  Wouldn't you know it, I broke 3000 gold.  Not only did I break 3000 gold, but I smashed it and went up to 5000 gold.  Seriously, take a look at Ohnekase's Gold Amount and my sales data for the past little bit.  Its crazy.




Bloodscale Guantlets sold for 1500 gold.  Crazy awesome and crazy good.  I haven't left Orgrimmar in weeks.  And if you do the math, I have earned more than 3500 gold just on Transmog alone.  Why has it been so profitable?  Because BoE transmogriphication sells.  Transmog gear sells really well.

Well, if that was all I wanted to write about, this would  be a really short and boring blog post.  However, @Faidtastic asked if there was a site around about the theory of transmogriphication.  When I could not think of any, I decided to make something myself.

Before we begin...

Before we get started lets go over some ground rules. 

First, this is not a primer on what BoE Items to go out, buy and make a bunch of money.  If you want that, there are other sites that do it so much better.  My big recommation is to follow @DEAzeroth on Twitter.  My other big recommendation the Power Word:  Gold blog.  @DEAzeroth (the Mogfather or Keelhaul, whichever you choose) put his specific money making ideas on PW:G and a lot of people have been good about it.  Alto's Goldish Advice and Vile's Auctions blogs also have great things to say about transmog.  I am just going to talk about why BoEs can and should sell for high.

Here are a couple of specific posts that have specific sales advice from the experts:
PW:G and PW:G Hatchery

http://www.powerwordgold.net/2011/11/confessions-of-mogging-fiend.html#more (@DEAzeroth defense of transmog, this might be what I am writing, but I am still writing it)
http://www.powerwordgold.net/2011/12/keelhauls-big-flippin-mogging-list.html (@DEAzeroth's big list.  I use this a lot).
http://www.powerwordgold.net/2012/01/mogging-item-search-and-pricing-with.html (@Powerwordgold helps with Auctionator and using it to make your life a little easier.)
http://www.powerwordgold.net/2012/01/guide-to-farming-instances-for-mogging.html (yay, me.  Hopeless self promotion, but if you want to farm stuff, this will help.)
http://hatchery.powerwordgold.net/2012/01/unabridged-cloth-mogging-flip-list-by.html (@DEAzeroth Cloth mogging list)
http://hatchery.powerwordgold.net/2012/01/unabridged-mogging-plate-flip-list-by.html (@DEAzeroth Plate mogging list)
http://hatchery.powerwordgold.net/2012/01/unabridged-mail-mogging-flip-list-by.html (@DEAzeroth Mail mogging list)

From Vile

http://vilesauctions.blogspot.com/search/label/Transmogrification (this is his label).

From Alto

http://altosgoldishadvise.blogspot.com/2012/02/selling-transmog-items-how-to-price-for.html

Second, my information, while it will be written in my own words, was not gotten on my own.  I did not come up with the golden ticket of Mogging.  @DEAzeroth did.  In fact, he said a lot of it on the Power Word: Gold Podcast # 24 (I believe also # 25 or 26, don't remember).  However, because I couldn't think of a blog that talks about the theory, I thought I would.  So, yeah, credit to him, cause he is awesome.  I wouldn't have done this without looking at him.

Ok, ground rules done.  Here we go:

So why do BoE Transmog items sell so highly...

OK, so as we have talked about, transmogriphication is simply a system where you can take one type of armor and make it look like another item of that same type:  Plate can look like other plate, etc.  You also have to be able to wear it.  Where does that get us?

Three words:  Unique player look.

As @DEAzeroth has pointed out, Transmogriphication give players an untold level of customization on how they look.  I don't have to look like every other player in Cataclysm.  Why would I want to look like I am wearing Rock Plate, when I am a Death Knight and want to look generally creepy?  Why would I want to look like Deathwing (Warrior T13) when I can look like a spiked warrior?  Transmog can do all of that.

Because transmogriphication gives the ability to look like few others in the game, you can show up to the party in style.  Wanna look like a Stormwind Guard or an Orgrimmar Grunt?  There are looks for that (Imperial Plate set and Sentinel Leather Set + Cabalist Shoulders).  Hell, WoWInsider.com just ran an article to look like High Inquisitor Whitemane.  It is really neat.

Let me give you a real world example of the idea of Transmogriphication.  Have you ever looked for an Ipod/Iphone/Ipad/Nook/etc. case?  Ever seen how many there are?  I have.  During the Christmas Season, I worked at Barnes and Noble.  We had probably 40-60 different Nook Cases.  We had a few strong sellers, but pretty much all of them sold.  Why?  Because people were going for looks.  There were a few feature differences, but people wanted certain looks for their Nooks.  From leatherbound book to Organizer black cover to looking like a hardbound book, there were a ton of different styles.

Buying a case for your gadget is no different than buying transmogriphication gear.  When you buy an iPad or Nook, you want them for their features, there price, and how they benefit you.  But, you want them to look different, unique, and/or cool.  You wouldn't willingly settle for something else that is weaker just cause it looks different.  You want the look as well, which is why cases are so expensive and sell so well. 

Transmogriphication is the same idea.  I will give you an example from WotLK.  Back when I was playing Wrath, I got Tier 9 sets with Justice points after ICC came out and I liked the way my rogue looks.  However, I thought Tier 10 looked aweful.  I thought that T10 looked like a Big Daddy reject from Bioshock.  However, the stats were better, so I bought a couple of pieces when I could, while still trying to keep my T9 look as long as possible.  I even threw a tabard over the chest to get away with what I could.  The reason was cause I wanted what I thought was the better look with the better stats that came with T10.  Now, I can keep whatever look I like without having to worry about stats.

In terms of bad looks, here is another example of a single item that I hate.


 This is my Mage.  Level 85 Blood Elf Mage.  I haven't played him much recently (other than for gold making purposes), but he is still fun to play on occassion.  Now, lets look at his ascetic look.  To me, it looks ok.  Not great, not terrible.  The shoulders look a little off, but only a little, and I kinda like the Robe.  But...oh my god, his belt.  I hate that damn belt.  Why the hell do I have a girdle on?  It looks awful.  While wearing it, I expect people to come up and ask me if my Mage is pregnant.  Or, I expect Stone Cold Steve Austin to come and challenge me for the heavy weight championship.  It is just bad.  Would I pay an ethereal to make it look like something else?  Yes, Yes, Yes, 1000 times yes.

OK, great, transmog is good, but who really pays 10,000 gold for a piece of plate mail

If you have been reading @DEAzeroth, lots of people.  But why would people pay for specific items.  Well, in order to answer that question, I will use a few rules.

Oh yeah, pure badass
1) It has to look cool or iconic:  The set needs to look good.  I remember back in Classic, I saw this set and just went "Wow, that is so cool."  Hell this set almost made me play a Paladin and start raiding back in classic....almost.  But that is the idea.  This set shows the idea that some sets are just iconic, which is why rogues where Bloodfang and Paladins wear this.

Another quick example of this is the Bucaneer set.  People like looking like pirates.  They like looking like they would love to start singing "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me".  It is very inconic and something a lot of people can relate too (just watch out for ninja's they are everywhere).  I put up the Swashbuckler's Eyepatch cause it is iconic.  Guess what?  It sells for 1000 gold.  Cause people want the iconic look.






2) The set has to look unique (See below for example):  Wanna know why I say that?  Look at this:

Sweet, I look unique...just like every other Wrath Armor.
Seriously, look at the Wrath of the Lich King Green items.  They look the exact same.  Sure the color is a little different, but they look largely identical.  I kinda chop it up to the amount of content they put in that these suffered, but you need a set to look unique.

The short answer to why the Mogfather tiered his gear the way he did boils down to that.  You want it to look unique.  You want a player to be able to show their awesomeness without getting outshone by everyone else for their awesomeness.  Hell, the lack of uniqueness is why people loved this feature in the first place.

Oooh...Flesh!
3) Sex Sells: Yes, it is true.  Deny it all you want, but sex sells.  How many men play female characters?  a lot of them.  You know what my response has been (like a lot of others when I have done it)?  Well, if you have to look at someone's butt while you are running around, it might as well be female.  Take a look at the Glorious set to our right.  It is cool, unique, and is plenty sexy on the female form.  Males don't look bad in it either, but lets be honest, females look great in it.

Something else to note is that there are not a lot of tier sets that look like this.  Most of the tier sets cover a lot more than this.  So if you want to go with the sexy look (Black Mageweave also comes to mind), then you aren't really gonna be able to farm the sexy pieces.







I like it, it looks good, but it is easy to get.
4 (correlary of 2) The set cannot be easy to get:  So, one of the things that I was looking at when I first started (and didn't do Transmog right) was to just buy up all of the interestingish looking items on the Auction House, turn around and flip them for high prices.  But most of those didn't sell.  Why?  Well, I broke these rules.  But one of the rules I broke was that I was buying items that were easy to get.

An example from that is the Darkmoon Robe.  I had one sell, which was good, but the other 4 I had bought sat on the Auction House for several months not selling.  Why?  Well, you get them from Rogues Decks.  The Inscription Decks that people use.  Those aren't hard to get.  So they haven't sold.

Another example has been some weapons.  Weapons have not sold well and they have higher deposit fees on the AH.  So they have been sitting.  There are some cool weapons, but people seem to rather get those from instances.  And they aren't too hard to get.


So, those are the rules for what the Mogfather has pointed out has made for good transmog sales.  So lets put them together and talk about why certain items sell.

So, if you look at the Plate Transmog list and look at the first tier (Lets take Glorious as an example), why would anyone pay for it.  Well, first off, lets go over the rules.

1) It looks cool.  It is gold plate.  Even discounting females, it looks unique.  How many others have gold armor that looks like that.

2) It is Unique:  Most the other gold stuff is kinda paladin-like.  This is definitely that way, but any class can use it.

3) It looks sexy:  I mean...come on, did ya see the picture.

4) the Set is not easy to get:  This set does not show up on the AH often.  In fact, I have yet to see it on my main server.  Where do you get it.  AQ 20 and AQ 40.  Who do you know that runs those?  Not many people.  So, if no one is running it, and those that do are still working off of RNG, how often will you see it?  Never.

So, if you wanted something super unique and sexy, Glorious is a good choice.  Would you pay for that set?  Absolutely.

Now the other piece of the price tag (which you don't need to continuously undercut people to sell): there are 2 factors at play for the price tag.  First, Farming the whole set would take a lot of time.  I have run AQ several times and I haven't seen a single piece.  Now imagine I am farming several of these pieces.  Would I pay 10k to save myself hours of farming?  Absolutely.  Money isn't as important to some people as time. 

Second, how many times do I have to buy a tranmogriphication item? Once.  If I buy one set of armor for a super unique look, I am only buying this once.  I don't have to buy it for each set of armor.  Think about that.  How much does one person spend on enchantments over the course of 1 expansion.  I guarantee it is more than 10k.  With a 1k+ weapon enchant, you can spend 3 or 4k just on that.  Add in the added boots, gloves, shoulders, and helm enchants and it adds up quick.  And how often do you buy 1 item that you never have to replace (for what you are using it for).  Transmog offers that.  Your unique look will last you forever.  The only way it won't is if you DE it/sell it/etc.  Is that worth it...for some, absolutely.

Back to Ohnekase...He got the grade...

So real quick before I conclude this.  Ohenkase did it, he got the 3000 that would get him the A.  Hell, he is probably at an A+ grade.  Woot, great.  So, am I done?  Hells no.

But where do I go from here is an interesting question.  I have a little debate for myself.  I can keep the Earthen Ring Ohnekase and keep him making money.  No reason not to really (other than time).  I might also open up my activities on Earthen Ring and use it as a staging ground for the look on the inside (you would see my characters and my experience).

On the other hand, I am considering doing the same thing, but on Lightbringer, US.  That way, I can play with the Power Word:  Guild Crew.  I know it is a huge market, but a Market I can use and meld to what I want to do with it.  It is a tough choice.

So if you have thoughts on this, let me know.  It could be a fun debate for me.

Fine, Fine, but Trolls are still gonna hate on you for putting a level 50 green up for 3000 gold...

Yeah, you are right.  Trolls will always troll.  It is what they do.  They like being their trolly troll self.  But for every troll I hear about, I get at least 10 times the sales, I would normally get.  So why is it a problem.  Who cares If I get hate mail.  Guess what, I got someone calling me a noob yesterday (I really don't know why he did, but he/she did).

So next week, I want to discuss gold mining peaks to get past.  As you notice, I put the poll up on my blog to ask where you all think the hardest peak of gold to get is.  Guess what?  The answers were super varied.  I want to explore why the different peaks are the way they are.

So, until then

See ya next time...

Friday, February 3, 2012

Meet Ohnekase: WoW, Adam Smith, and the Invisible Hand.

OK, so no, Ohnekase will not be joining us today.  He will be referenced, but will not be joining us.  Instead, I have a different kind of article today.

Hey I resent that.

So, before I get into the meat of the question this week, I will give you a little background on myself.  I attended the University of Utah (Utah Connection) and received my Bachelor of Science in Economics.  One of the classes I took was the History of Economic Thought (I have a second degree in History, so yeah it really fit).  The class was extremely intersting, revolving around the different Economic thinkers:  Smith, Marx, Keynes, etc.  I felt it was really intersting.  One thing I found fun was looking at WoW through these particular thinkers.  It makes for some fun philosophy.

Now, I don't claim to be an expert.  I am just a man who had a bit of knowledge from them and I really enjoy a good debate.  So, I will admit I can have facts wrong and I will admit that there are other viewpoints.  These are mine, and that is that.

So, with that out of the way, if you want to debate this, I welcome comments.  However, I do not welcome trolling.

So, lets look at one particular piece of economics and see how we compare:  Adam Smith and the Invisible Hand.



Invisible Hand?  Is that like when I tell my Footman to go attack that tower in Warcraft 3...?

First things first, let me educate on what I am talking about for those that do not know.  Granted, a lot of this is taken from Wikipedia.org, so it may not be 100% accurate, but for the discussion it should be pretty close.

The Invisible Hand Argument comes from a man named Adam Smith.  Adam Smith was a social philosopher back around 1750-1775.  He is considered by many to be the father of modern economics and is quoted by an awful lot of people.  Whether you agree with his views or not, I would say he is a pretty smart guy and has some interesting points.

The Invisible Hand Argument comes from his book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (We will call it The Wealth of Nations for short).  The passage I am referring to is here, taken straight from Wikipedia:

As every individual, therefore, endeavours as much as he can both to employ his capital in the support of domestic industry, and so to direct that industry that its produce may be of the greatest value; every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it. By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other eases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good. [emphasis added]. 
Ok, that is a lot of text, and it is written in the old-timey language.  So, let me try to summarize.  In short, people do not work to promote public interest or improve the economy.  They do not really realize that they are doing it.  They are doing it out of their own self-interest.  However, by pursuing their own self interest, they are helping these other things.

So does the person who goes to work construction everyday do it because they want to make a building because he/she wants to contribute to the economic life blood of the city?  Primarily, no.  They want a paycheck so they can feed themselves and their family, or go get drunk, or whatever.  They aren't doing it for the greater good.  They are doing it for themselves.  However, even though that person is acting in their own self-interest, that skyscraper is being built and contributing to the economy.

So, does this function in WoW?  Do WoW players follow this super Invisible Hand?  I would say yes.

Does the WoW Economy have a "Greater Good"?

The WoW Economy is, on the whole, somewhat messy.  So much money is created every day it is insane.  For proof, lets say that you are on a small population server (say, 2000 Horde and 2000 Alliance).  Lets say that 50% of those people do at least 10 daillies and that is the only way they make money.  That is 2000 people doing 10 x 10 gold dailies, or 200,000 gold added to the economy, just from that.  That is a lot of gold being poured in and that isn't even counting loot, sales of items, etc.  With those added in, the numbers get even bigger.

However, on the flip side, how much is the economy affected?  In theory, according to supply and demand, because there is all this money, this money should be making the worth of goods more.  After all, why isn't an Inferno Ruby 1000 gold by now?  If that much money is pumping into the economy, it should mean that the average person is seeing a gold bump of 500 gold per day.  But largely, gold still seems to hold its value in WoW.

I would say that the WoW economy, on most servers (I realize there are some servers where this is broken), still functions and still has a "Greater Good" idea.  The Economy gets more robust, but doesn't make the currency completely worthless.

There are a couple of reasons I would say that this is so.  First, Blizzard has natural gold-sinks, both in player and out of player.  If I go and spend money on the AH, I effectively take 5% out of the Auction House.  That is a huge amount of money.  Sure, spending 100 gold on a stack of Heartblossom only means that 5 gold is taken out, which isn't much, but it does mean that 5 gold is taken out on each stack of heartblossem.  The farmer also took some out of it in the Repair bill they sucked up, which is another 10 gold per farmer.  When I take these Heartblossom, I am also going to use them to make some potion, which is a crystal vial (20 x 50 copper ea).  Again, all of these are really small amounts, but they do amount to a decent amount of money.  Every time you gem your gear, you have given Blizzard a gold sink (because that is an item that is forever out of the game).  Every time you enchant your gear, learn a glyph, buy dust to change glyphs, use a potion, you pull money out.
Another reason I would say the economy doesn't bloat is that we have a huge amount of people hoarding it.  On bad days, I may only make 2000 gold worth of sales in the AH.  But I don't turn around and pour that into the economy.  All of my profit goes into my magical piggy bank where I am trying to work up to 1 Million gold.  Sure, I spent a couple thousand here and there, but not every day, or at least not in the amount I horde it.  And when I spend a couple thousand on stuff on the AH, the economy loses 5% every time.

Finally, the last reason I would say that we don't have horrible economy bloat is that vendors do not really change.  Merchants have set values for everything, and that value rarely changes.  In reality, how many Small Spider Legs does a Barmaid need.  So, assuming you could sell one to her, I doubt you could sell her 12 for the same price.  Or 20.  or 700 Zephyrites, or whatever.  She might take them off your hands, but for less money.  And with the influx of adventurers with these gems and such, it would get even worse.  Merchants in WoW effectively keep the currency relevant.  They will repair your gear for the same amount of gold/damage every time.  They wont double the price because you have done 4 dailies today.

To make a long story short (too late), I don't think the economy is overbloating too fast.  Will it?  Quite possibly, but there are still checks and balances, even unintentional ones, that keep the inflation in check.

OK, so greedy goblins act in their own self interest, but does everyone...?

Ok, here is where I say the Invisible Hand Argument Works.  People play wow for their own self-interest.  It doesn't matter the WoW Player, we all play for our own reasons, but they are our own "selfish" reasons.  And for that, we are participating in the economy.

"But wait," you say, "I don't play for my own reason, all my money goes into my guild for them to raid...."

Well, congratulations, there is some self-interest there.  Maybe not specifically for yourself, but you want to see something for you guild.  Even if you are donating to the guild cause you are required to, there is still the self-interest of your guild.

Are you a raider?  You are playing to down a boss.  Therefore, you have self-interest to do whatever it takes (within your own reason) to down boss XYZ on difficulty whatever.  If that means expensive enchants, you will buy them.  If that means Gems, you will buy them.  2 Poitions of the Tol'vir (1 before combat, 1 during), you might buy them.  By you acting in your own self interest, you are stimulating the "Greater Good" (and being a damn good gold sink while you are at it.

Are you an altoholic?  You play your alts.  You are self-interested in experience the game in fun and interesting ways.  You stimulate the economy by moving currency.  You have likely shopped in the low level AH market to buy your level 10 - 15 Rings (buy from Ohnekase.  He is a great Jewelcrafter).  You have likely jumped in to grab those last 2 stacks of Iron for your Blacksmith alt.  You might even have looked into buying more pets.  In your self-interested way, you are encouraging the economy and the "Greater Good"

Are you a Goblin who plays the Auction House?  You are definintely acting in your own self interest.  Whether it is to own the market, or have more money than Ghostcrawler (not sure if that is possible.  Ghostcrawler is like Chuck Norris, he has not gold cap).  You are a hoarder.  You are also a gold sink in your own way.  I do it myself.  The other day, I spent 20000 gold on Avengers of Hyjal Cloaks for Maelstrom Crystals.  Did I make my money back?  Yeah, but it was off of other people.  So I took money out of the economy by taking 20k from an NPC and hording the profit I got form the other players.

PVPer?  Gems, enchants, Vicious Gear, etc.  Stimulating the Economy.

Do you give away your profession crafting as charity (I have someone on my server who basically does this)/  You are not stimulating, but you are encouraging other to stimulate the economy (I think there is a self-interested argument to be made here, but it is harder).

Ok, Ok, Ok, break it down now.

So, lets go over the pieces of the quote and apply them.

...every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it.

In short, no one in WoW is completely in it for the "public" interest.  They want to do what they want to do.

...he intends only his own gain, and he is in this...

They are doing it for their own gain (or the gain or their guild, etc. which I would argue is very similar)

...led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention...

They help the economy without trying to, so in reality, it is like an invisible force is helping them to promote the economy, even if they weren't trying to do that.

By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it.

In WoW, this seems to work.  The game works because people work in their own self-interest.  They want to experience content, they want to take down that end boss.  And because everyone is trying to do this, they end up promoting a great game.


In conclusion....

I thought this would be a fun thought exercise.  If you disagree with me and think I am up in the night, great.  Comment and tell me where you think I am completely wrong.  Ask Questions, be curious, spark debate.   That can make this topic more fun.

Just please keep it civil people.  I don't take kinda to trolling or rudeness.

(Final Note:  I realize this is a lot of text, I will try to add pics to make it prettier :P)

See ya next time...