The Assembly Line

In July 1908 Henry Ford, Charles E. Sorensen and others at the Ford Motor Co. were hard at work, the moving assembly line and the Model T were the result of their efforts. Both of which revolutionized industry in America, and indeed the world. Prior to this, cars were toys of the rich. The Model T and the moving assembly line changed that, mass production was now possible. Along with other innovations, costs were kept low. And by mass producing a set of identical parts, repair of the vehicles became easier. This revolution meant that 15,000,000 Model Ts were produced (and sold) in the coming years. An empire was created on these ideas, a legacy that exists today. And a valuable lesson for those looking to make their mark on wow’s economy…

The Beginning: The Terracotta Army (circa 215 BC)
Ford didn’t create the moving assembly line out of thin air, instead there were several sources of inspiration. Various innovations in the end, were compiled by Ford making a streamlined industrial assembly line, and though the Terracotta Army was not discoverd until the 70s, it provides the earliest notable example of the assembly line. The Terracotta Army (roughly 8000 clay soldiers) of The first Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi was commissioned to be buried with the emperor at the time of his death. Each soldier was manufactured piece by piece and assembled (one would assume) inside the tomb. Individual pieces were signed by the respective creators, to ensure quality control (a tradition that persists today).

In WoW the assembly line works along the same rudimentary lines of the the Terracotta Army’s production. Raw materials are gathered, processed into serviceable parts and then assembled info the final product. For me, mass production means my own personal army of alts spanning two accounts. There are definite pros and cons to this method, but it does perform and is pretty stable once you’re up and running.

Overview of the System
This wow assembly relies heavily on the synergy between two professions: Alchemy and Jewelcrafting. My army of alts is comprised of Alchemists, all but two are Transmutation Masters, the remaining two are Elixir Mastery and Potion Mastery respectively. Using my main account as an example I have 10 characters. One being my main, who has Enchanting/Jewelcrafting. This is the character with the epic cuts. I also have a farmer, my rogue Cicatriz who is both Herbalism and Mining. The remaining 8 are Alchemists. My Paladin makes potions (Runic Healing Potion, Runic Mana Potion, and Potion of Speed primarilly) and my Priest who is Elixir’s makes flasks. This maximizes my potential when making either, while still allowing me to do a single gem transmute per day from each.

The real stars here are the gems themselves, and that’s where the other six alchemists come in. With Transmutation Mastery each day I have a roughly 20% chance per transmute to produce 1-4 extra gems. Each bonus gem is pure profit, and with the amount of Transmute Alchemists I have I’m likely to get at least one extra gem per day. Note however, that I said “likely” it’s just as likely to get zero procs as it is to get six in one day. The important thing to remember is that production is fast, in a matter of minutes I’ll have approximately ten epic gems. On average I can sell the gems at about 150g each (uncut) which puts me at 1500g from the gems. After cutting the gems however (another quick process) I add an average of 30g to the value of each gem, bringing the total to 1800g for about 10-15 minutes worth of effort.

So, the real beauty here is that for minimal effort/time you can generate a large amount of gold that is reliable and relatively stable, each day. Prices may change, but the lion’s share of the gold made in this method is profit anyway, so it’s not that big of a deal. Additionally, with this method you don’t have to worry about competition (as much) as with other professions. You’re only sending out one or two of a particular cut at a time. So, your gems are likely to sell (assuming you do your homework and have the right cuts). When the Zamboni Method which I talked about in a previous post “War(craft) is Hell” is employed in conjunction with this method can create HUGE dividends. But at the cost of making yourself a target for any other big fish already entrenched in the market.

The Problem With this Method
There are a few major concerns with this system, first is the same problem that any gold making strategy has: focus on it too much and you’re really risking everything. Putting all of your eggs in one basket is never really a good idea, which is precisely why I have worked so hard at cultivating other markets and professions. If the bottom falls out of the assembly line, I can still manage. But again, this is something you need to think about with ANY market or gold making strategy.

Secondly, start up costs. Building this little army did not come cheap (in terms of labor), remember the first time you leveled to sixty? Now add twenty more levels and multiply that by ten (or twenty as I’m now working on account two in earnest). Add in professions and you get very real, liquid costs. If you power level as I did from 1-450 you’re looking at a high amount of gold spent in a short amount of time. Over the course of a week I leveled Alchemy x4, Tailoring, and Leatherworking each from 1-450… The price can be deferred by using your own farmer, and maybe some wheeling and dealing. But, it’s hard to argue past these initial costs.

Finally, there’s the future concerns. How likely is this to continue to be a profitable system in Cataclysm and beyond? Judging from previous expansions, it’s likely to continue to be profitable. Vanilla had transmute Arcanite which was profitable, and I’m sure would’ve been profitable on a similar scale to what I’m doing now. And BC introduced even more with the Transmute Mastery and the introduction of Primals, especially Primal Might which even now still sells for a pretty penny. Jewelcrafting is going to continue to cut gems at a profit, so in the end I think it’s a reasonably safe bet. If I didn’t, I would’ve have invested as heavily as I have into it.

Another redress for these concerns is this: by the time Cataclysm gets here I will have moved past my initial costs (even on the second account). The start up capital necessary is just that: start up. It’s a one time fee, to get the skill up to 450, and to get the character leveled to 68 or higher. Since I’m leveling these all to 80 I should have no problem getting the new skill cap with these alts (525 I believe) which as getting from 375 to 450 now proves to be much cheaper than earlier levels of skill. So, in the end it’s a risk but a highly calculated one that should pay out massively in the end. And even knowing that, I’m still hedging my bets. I’ve got the other professions to fall back on, to prop me up for those inevitable times where (if like Wrath) there are no Epic gems available for a time, and I’m trying to make some money in the interim. I will likely be doing transmutes of the “new” Primal then, to make the “new” Darkmoon Decks, or whatever else is hot. I’ve designed my army so as to remain agile, I want to be able to change with the times as necessary. So that said, remember that this assembly line is merely one aspect of how I make my gold, and if you are going to do something like this yourself you should consider diversity yourself, to maximize earning potential and to provide safety in an ever changing economic environment. Thanks for reading.

The Bloodscalp Report
This week has been a mixed bag, the gems are selling great. Increasing production has increased my needed materials, which thus far hasn’t been a problem. I just keep my eyes peeled for deals (as usual) and buy up what I can, when I can. Unfortunately, all of the skilling up has taken it’s toll on my funds, I only cleared a profit of about 3K this week. Why? Restocking fees, and development fees. I leveled alchemy (four times over) as well as Leatherworking and Tailoring. Neither of these was cheap, I also finished off Engineering on my Elemental Shaman, Ghroth. With my recent suspension troubles I’m being much more conservative with my buying and shifting my interests to my second account (for security purposes). Likewise, I was suspended AGAIN this morning. I believe this was likely a result of my cross faction arbitrage, which was still in it’s infancy but had made me a couple K and found me a handful of cheap Pristine Black Diamonds for my Insane Title.

In light of this, I’ve decided to cease all cross faction trading entirely, it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Sadly, I’m going to be deleting my alliance DK and filling the slot with another alchemist (A horde DK) which is likely to become my new AH alt.

As for the Bloodscalp market itself, it’s in flux atm. With the release of 3.3.3 a lot of things are in question, there’s speculation but little more than that until we get some time to see what happens. My guess is that Frozen Orbs are going to continue to rise in price, until about 30g (roughly) where they’ll meet with Frost Lotus. This may in fact raise the value of some Eternals (which I doubt), more likely the Eternals will stay in relatively the same price as they are now. And people just won’t use their Orbs for Eternals. That’s it for me this week, time to go wrestle with Blizzard’s account management team again, and hopefully get my account back before raid time.