One of the major flaws in the goblin way is their anti-social tendencies. I am social and I have no problems with admitting I'm social. There are perks to being social; Here are a few:
- Most of my farmers are my friends. Ex guildies, current guildies, etc. When the farmers do their rotation on the servers I have farmers still who are selling me product cheaper then the farmers would. Why? because I'm a friend.
- I helped out 2 or 3 guild members with noble trinkets. I sold 2 of them at 50% market value. And 1 I traded 7 noble cards + 400g for a trinket because the last card was 2kg in the AH. In return 1 of them is farming me junkboxes and titanium ore. And another has a stash of eternal life I can buy at any given time. (Even at 50% market value I'm still making a profit)
- Playing the auction house is about developing relationships with people. Whether its potential buyers or sellers. I scratch their back and they'll scratch mine. Now the random person isn't going to return the favor usually and that's fine. I don't generally help out those people I don't know.
It's a great feeling knowing I've helped several people obtain their epic flying because I bought their herbs / ore / etc. And in return nine out of ten people have returned the favor and cut me deals on herbs and ore. I've even received crates of herbs for free simply because they wanted to show they are grateful.
My usual disclaimer. I'm not saying go out and help out every Joe, Dick, and Harry expecting the favor returned. Because it won't happen. However selling a greatness trinket at a discount (still making profit) to a friend only creates a better friendship and thus increases the chance to pick up some extra perks down the road.
If your a reader of JMTC you may remember me talking about loaning one of my farmers gold to purchase their epic flying. He repaid me in 2 days and to this day he still farms for me. Even when the AH prices spike to 18g a stack he still sells to me for 12g a stack. Why? Because I helped him get his epic flying.
Where the idea of being social is a bad thing came from I really don't know. I just keep seeing it around various blogs and I find it odd considering they are blogging. Last I checked blogging was being social. A true anti-social would record their daily happenings in their Hello Kitty diary for nobody to see.
Friday, November 6, 2009
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It's nice to read this. A friend teases me that I am becoming a Goblin because I am enjoying my forays into the market place but I always insist I'm not a Goblin. I'm not out to dominate a market, to wring the last piece of silver from people, to drive competitors from the AH...I just want to sell my stuff, not rip anyone off or spoil the game for someone else. To me the social aspect of the game is the most important thing about it...how could I ever be an anti-social goblin?
ReplyDeleteWhat you listed does not need to be social. It merely needs the understanding the socials and doing the right tricks.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I can also "help out" and "be nice with" people I selected to be my future farmers. I just laugh on them when they believe I'm their friend and the price I'm giving them is good.
@Gevlon. You say you do not wish to be social, yet here you are running a blog. What gives?
ReplyDeleteGevlon is right. 'Helping' a farmer get his epic flying, if you were a goblin, would be simple exploitation of the knowledge that you'd get cheap ore for as long as he plays EXACTLY BECAUSE he's a M&S social. It's more like... an investment. Call it human capital.
ReplyDeleteIn fact everything you're saying is tantamount to the goblin way. You encourage people to invest in social friendships when 'it increases the chance of extra perks down the road'. That's exactly what a goblin would do--invest in human capital.
If you were a true social, you'd be doing the exact things you disencourage--namely, helping random people on the street with ZERO promise of payback. Don't be ashamed of the inner goblin, we all have one inside =)
Oh, and @Anonymous above, there are plenty of goblins who don't run blogs, you just don't know about them. Obviously.
I'm not a true social and I've never claimed to be a true social. I'm also not a goblin though and I don't agree with many of the AH techniques used by goblins.
ReplyDeleteDo I have things in common with goblins? Sure were all here playing wow and playing the economy, it's foolish to think otherwise. If you consider a "goblin" to be the lover of gold then yea I guess I have an inner goblin. Why else would I be playing the AH and run an economics blog if I didn't love gold? Doesn't mean I agree with the AH tactics majority of the goblins use. That's why I say I'm anti-goblin.
My point of the post was being anti-social is dumb and it's ok to be social.
I think the main reason it's become fashionable to be "anti-social" is because of internet anonymity. It's "ok" in this day and age to take advantage of people as Gevlon likes to. The main issue is that they're not anti-social as they believe; that is, they are not true sociopaths. I'm a sporadic reader of Gevlon's blog, and he's not a sociopath, at least as defined under ASPD by the DSM-IV. Gevlon is just another jerk willing to rip the next person off to get some money. He does not have many of the defining characteristics of the disorder.
ReplyDeleteSocial and "anti-social" tendencies are somewhat arbitrary, and in the age of increasing anonymity and "fame" that can easily be obtained by blogs, twitter accounts, facebook pages, etc. people have many more avenues to become famous. Gevlon, in my opinion, is clever with the AH, and while he has good ideas (sometimes), posts most of what he does to stir controversy, not because he truly believes in it.
Regardless, I think you hit the nail on the head, Carbon. In a true business sense people that feel you appreciate them and will help them out when they need it will do the same for you. Dale Carnegie would be proud.