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Lets talk today about the in-game economy at this point before expansions. If you recall, when a new expansion comes out it has always been a mad rush to the level cap for most people. The sudden influx of gathered materials (herbs, ore, low-level gems, etc) is staggering. For most professions, you aren’t able to make much gold when leveling up your toon and professions since there seems to be thousands of other people making the same trek to the caps.

However, this time around we have two expansions under our belts, and we can better gauge trends in the economy. Is it a bear market, or a bull market? Either way, that’s a druid….

The DK Effect

Then, if you recall, WOTLK came around and Death Knights strangled the economy. Soaking up all of the low level mats to power level blacksmithing, jewel crafting, and whatever other professions they incorrectly decided upon. Hafrot was a smart one back then. He worked for months before the Xpac, planning and preparing for his Death Knight. By the nite of the release he had three toons worth of mats ready for leveling his professions from 0 to 375 in a night. Looking back, I think Blizz should offer Welding Caps to Blacksmiths to help them do their stuff faster… Anywho!

Go Nuts!

This time around with Cataclysm there is a whole new reason to start back at level 1. With the addition of Worgen and Goblins new people have an even better reason to pick-up the game, and thousands of us have a renewed interest in leveling all over again. And, intern, low-level mats will inevitably be in demand.

So, in preparation for Cataclysm, I am encouraging you, our readers, listeners and haters to go nuts… Squirrel up and start farming low-level materials when you are able to. Wool, Silk, Runecloth, Briarthorn and all of the other crazy stuff that people will need when leveling their professions.

Profession Leveling Guides

Check out a few popular profession leveling guides and find out what they recommend when power-leveling professions. There are also many guides listed on wowhead.com and wowwiki.com. Make sure that you also take into consideration if you are planning to level any professions at release, rolling new toons is going to be fun all over again!

Off Load Inventory

If you horde high-level mats, you should probably consider selling that stuff before everyone else off-loads their stuff right before the release of Cataclysm. Frozen Orbs are selling for more than Frost Lotus on our server, which is something to check before creating/selling flasks. And, flask is one steady selling item with some many people having access to instance raiding in ICC this time around. But, also keep in mind your needs for those materials!

Spend some time planning ahead for Cataclysm. With any luck, we can all plan to make some gold upon release and work towards all of the stuff that is going to be even more expensive this time around!

What are your thoughts about the current in-game economy? Do you have any tips on how to take advantage of trends experiences during previous expansions? Visit our public discussion forum to share your input!