The Phases of Knowledge, AH style

A Blog from Japan!

So I am writing this from Japan, but thought I would try to get to a web cafe to get this posted to my blog when I get a chance. So today lets talk about the phases of learning the Auction House.

While I am still refining my theories about the WOW economy, I think that all players can be placed into one of four categories. The following is me trying to quatify my thoughts and theories, and I would appreciate any feedback on my writing so I can further refine my explanations.

When learning something new, it is said that the first stage is being unconciously bad. This comes to mean that because we are unaware of something we don't even know that we are bad at it. The next three phases are conciously bad, conciously good, and finally unconciously good. These phases of learning transitioning learners from having no knowledge to the point where we barely need to think to do something well. The auction house is in essence like any knowledge, and as we learn to play and manipulate it we too move through these four stages. Today's post I want to try and quantify where each phase falls in terms of gold earning per hour and what defines each phase.

Preface: No one fits exactly into any definition. You may find that you have characteristics of multiple phases. Take everything you read following this with a grain of salt.


Phase 1: Unconciously Bad
Gold per hour potential: 0-1000g


So phase one represents the majority of players, this is where most people reside, and their knowledge of the auction house is limited to being minimalist buyers/sellers. They may or may not be sellers of items they have aquired in the normal course of their play, such as herbs, ore, and leather, eternals, and other similar items. We can describe their interaction minimal, only visit the auction house when they need items or want gold from items they would like to sell.

The major difference phase 1 and all other phases is intent, and the origin of where these players income comes from. As one progresses down the path of an AH Trader, our intent is to make gold strictly from the buying and selling of items on the auction house. While there are numerous ways to do this (arbitrage, investment, conversion, production) all share the common characteristic of starting and ending at the auction house. By moving to phase two we make a concious decision to create wealth .

(second half written offline, might be a little repetitive)

Phase 2: Consciously Bad
Income: -500 to 500 gold per hour played

This phase is exactly like it sounds, you have decided to go into business for yourself on the auction house. Like businesses in the real world, 90% fail in the first year. This stage is where many players lose money and return to being stage one players.

Let first discuss this entrance into the market and what differentiates it from stage one. In stage one; we are consumers, and sometimes producers (raw goods). Our gold comes from selling raw goods on the auction house, or quests and dalies. Stage two is different in that we are trying to make gold from supplying a service to other players, the process of which doesn稚 introduce gold or raw goods into the game.

This phase is a learning phase. Those that learn well may lose gold at first but eventually progress to the point where they supply services that will always turn a profit. Being successful in this phase pushes players into phase three. Think of it as the stage where you learn to ride a bicycle, some fall off and never try again, other eventually learn how to ride.


Phase 3: Consciously Good
Income: 500 to 1000 gold per hour played

You have been playing the auction house, and for the most part know the items you deal with, and how to guarantee a profit each time you sell. At phase three players understand that they need to sell items for more then the price of the raw materials to make a real profit. At this phase your trying out different markets, and probably have goods in a variety of sections of the auction house. All of these items should eventually turn a profit, the main question is how long it will take to sell.

For an analogy, you have learned to ride a bicycle very well


Phase 4: Unconsciously Good
Income: 1000 to 2500 gold per hour played

Phase four is different than phase 3 in time, quantity and volume. In phase four auction house traders have gotten to the point where you dont need to check whether items are profitable before listing, you list large amounts of items (in the hundreds) and make heavy use of mods like auctioneer to automate everything. Phase four takes less time to do then phase three, produces more gold per hour, and deals in larger quantities of goods. The actions of a phase four player are identical to the phase three player, they have just learned to do the same things more efficiently. You ride the bike without thinking about what you do, you just do it.


Phase 5?: The Professional (Consciously Excellent)
Income: 2500 to 5000 gold per hour played

If you can ride a bike doesnt mean you will become an Olympic bicyclist. Being unconsciously good at basketball doesnt make you Labron James. The difference with these professionals and normal people is that they take it one step further. Going beyond phase four requires becoming conscious again, It requires reanalyzing your every actions to find ways to improve and become excellent.

This phase goes beyond just selling on the auction house, it involves living there and literally taking over the auction house. It involves setting up monopolies and driving other players out of the market because they cant compete with your efficiency. It requires a massive amount of starting capital (20,000 to 40,000 gold) and a lot of knowledge. It is a phase I havent yet entered myself despite having a net worth of over 100k gold, because it requires a conscious decision to spend the time and gold to drive your competitors out of business. If I am successful, I will write a blog about it. If I am not, well I will write to tell you why I think I failed.