I just checked my stats this morning, and I’m about to break a record today, thanks to a top-line link from Tobold’s MMORPG Blog – Free Advertising for Gold Guides. In his post, he states:
You might think I’m strange, but I do think that people selling guides how to earn gold in WoW quickly are worse than people selling that gold directly. That is because the information how to earn gold in World of Warcraft can be learned from lots of free websites. So gathering free information and selling it on seems disreputable to me. Especially since the guy needed to collect the information only once, and can sell it to other people many times. A gold farmer, if he isn’t using a bot or dupe, can only sell the gold he farmed once, that is he is selling some sort of “work”. A gold guide seller is selling stolen intellectual property. Of course Blizzard would argue that WoW gold is their intellectual property and that a gold farmer is selling stolen intellectual property as well, but that argument never convinced me.
You seem to be making a bit of an assumption in your comments about selling guides. You state that they are “stolen intellectual property.” If one was to combine all the posts from someone leaving detailed accounts of their journey from level 1-60, THAT would be a guide. It would have info on what quests to run when, who to kill, where to farm, and how to play the AH.
No one is critical of Joana’s leveling guide that I have seen, yet why is it that selling tips on making money are so “disreputable.” If everyone knows about buying low and selling high, and everyone knew about getting the items in most demand, then there would be no demand. Everyone would be equal. However, there are people out there call idiots, dummies, and nincompoops. They post things too low, don’t buy the limited supply items, and buy things for too much gold.
To look at it from the same perspective about Joana’s guide, if everyone knew what quests to do, in what order, what gear to buy, and all the things involved in leveling quickly, then other people would be leveling faster than him every now and then.
I must admit I think they are a waste of my time..all these guides should be taken with a pinch of salt…take what you need from them but hey people should find a way of playing that is enjoyable first & foremost…
I really hate all this rush rush towards a goal that will always change before you get there.
Thanks again for more comments. Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated. It’s great to have such a frequent new “face” around.Â
I for one see gold guides as an efficiency improvement. I’m always looking for ways to improve myself, and since I already thought pretty highly of myself with my AH and other schemes I had figured out on my own, I am of the mindset that learning from others is one of the things I do best.
I have been playing for over a year and do not feel like I have missed out on anything by reading another’s skills and methods that they use. I have thought about selling some intellectual property that I have, but I have not spent the time to put it all together into a package that anyone wants. So, since this fellow has, more power to him.
I would not try a leveling guide until I have leveled a class all the way to 60 with my own methods. I wouldn’t want to miss out on areas or things that I might wander upon in my attempts to gain XP, gold, or reputation. That said, after I have Deadr to 60, I just might create an orc or troll warrior since I have run Gitr through 60 and love tanking.
Well, my point is that there are lots of freely available guides around, and that the gold guides that are being sold do not have any information which isn’t already available for free from other sources. I’m not saying you shouldn’t use a leveling or gold making guide, I’m saying you shouldn’t *pay* for one.
Thanks for putting in your 2 cents on this topic. I surely would not have paid for the guide, but then again, I also won’t buy gold or get the Collector’s Edition. I’m cheap. Well, no, I’m poor because of debt that I racked up in my late teens and early twenties, but that is beside the point. Some people just don’t like looking for all that information and would rather have it presented to them in a nice, neat package.
I have mentioned several times about canceling the account because of money, but when it comes right down to it, this is the cheapest form of entertainment that I enjoy.