How I Made 5k Gold In Netherstorm

I'm sorry. I can't let you do that.

Sorry for the slightly misleading title. I did make 5k gold in Netherstorm in one week except that it was 4 years ago. This is my entry into Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival for March 2011 entitled "What Was Your Defining Moment?".

Gather around children because Old Grandpa Flux is going to tell you a story about making gold back in the day. Back in a time when flying mounts were slower than ground mounts.

Back in a time when we fed our pets Roasted Clefthoof and the Track Treasure was actually useful! Pull up a seat and settle in as we take a trip down memory lane.

The Nostalgia
I love The Burning Crusade. It was when I fell in love with World of Warcraft. It will forever be the defining time in my WoW career.  For those of you that came into the game after TBC you should count your lucky stars.

Good to see you again old friend!

At that time we had just been introduced to flying mounts. Oh the fun we had with flying mounts. They could fly! We could avoid mobs by simply fluttering over their heads. We had it made.

Unless you actually wanted to get anywhere quickly. At the time regular flying mounts went 60% speed in the air. Yes you read that right. They actually went slower in the air than on the ground. On the ground they went 100% speed.

This meant that if you had the 'need for speed' you had to come up a mind-boggling 5000 gold. At a time when most players gold amounts measured in the 100's 5000 gold was an enormous amount. You had to be dedicated if you wanted to be able to afford your epic flying skill.

The Grind
And thus was the situation my Dwarf hunter found himself in. He wanted to learn Epic Flying and he was committed to doing it.

The tools at hand were a reasonable knowledge of the Auction House, a flea-bitten poverty pigeon and a worn-down, rusty mining pick.

It's a trap!

Thus our rugged adventurer set out to farm enough ore to earn himself 5000 gold. He chose Netherstorm as his battleground and with Gatherer in his Addons folder he set out with grim determination.

(Luckily for him his quest for gold happened to coincide exactly him having a week off from work. Funny that).

He started his quest. It was hard at first. The terrain was somewhat unfamiliar and the route unclear. After a few days he no longer even looked at his map. He didn't need it. He had memorized not only every mining node in Netherstorm but every treasure chest and gas cloud as well.

He had a macro to switch from tracking mining nodes to tracking treasure and knew just when to switch as he neared a treasure chest location (hint: there was one in the barn).

Home sweet home.

He knew the most convenient vendors and mailboxes along his route. He knew which mining nodes were infested with mobs and which were easy picking. He fought Blood Elves, demons and devilsaurs. He learned the art of trapping and feigning death for easy pick-ups.

Through it all visions of soaring through the air at two hundred and eighty percent speed filled his head. Nothing was going to stop him now.

The Payoff
And so it came to be that after nearly 7 solid days of mining 8 hours a day (sometimes much more) he landed his worn out mount next to the mailbox and collected his final auction winnings. They put him over 5000 gold.

He had done it. He had finally done it! He had done what very few in his guild had done. He was now part of the exclusive club. A group of players who got to soar through the air like a bats out of hell.

Dailies became easier. (Bombing runs? Please. Give me a real challenge) New mounts opened up to him. (Nether Rays and Drakes and Hippogryphs, oh my!). The world was his oyster and life was good.

Hauntingly beautiful.

Hook, Line and Sinker.
The gold-making hook was set at that moment. I realized that I could make a good amount of gold in the World of Warcraft. All I needed was a little focus and dedication.

Over the years the techniques for making gold have changed time and time again. (I'm not sure I would ever be able to mine for that long again.) Heavy auction house play and multiple professions on multiple alts make acquiring gold much less of a grind today. That doesn't lessen the thrill of my first big gold accomplishment.

For all the gold I'll ever make. All the tips and tricks I will ever learn. Deep down inside I will always be that dwarf hunter flapping his way around Netherstorm at 60% speed with my rusty mining pick in hand.

Socrethar, you so crazy!

Talking Points

• What was the first major source of income that took you over the top gold-wise?
• What was the biggest gold-making secret you used during The Burning Crusade?
• What was your fondest memory of making gold during The Burning Crusade?