Gathering versus crafting in early expansion gameplay

about 2 years ago - Direct link

With the impending launch of Shadowlands many goldmakers are in fact coming into their first ever expansion launch. An expansion launch is a magical time, both for the game in general and goldmaking. 

Everyone knows gathering is good

The common knowledge is that gathering professions are really good early on in an expansion. This is of course to some degree true, but it does not mean that gathering is the best or only way. In general I find that gathering is not worth it unless you can spend a significant amount of time farming. 

The fact that everyone knows this also means that many players will be gathering. In this specific case a contrarian approach by focusing on crafting can work really well. 

Not all material prices are high

One of the main reasons I don’t do gathering early on however is the fact that material prices just aren’t that high the first week. The first couple of days very few players are buying materials, as they focus on leveling. After a couple of days prices do start rising though and they eventually hit a peak depending on the material type. If we look at Anchor Weed from the beginning of BfA for instance we can see that it is not really great until almost two weeks after launch. For other materials the price  is higher, but you can usually get materials quite cheaply on day two. 

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