The economy in Warcraft is getting right out of kilter. The progression is being lost. When, at level 60 you are better off farming copper than fel iron there has to be a problem.

The reason as I see it is the economic weight of so many level 80 characters paying the way for their ‘toons.

My situation is not unique. I have 16 level 80 characters (I level characters up by multiboxing 5 at a time) That may seem a lot, but I know several guild buddies who have three of four level 80′s levelled the normal way – and often a level 80 Death Knight as well.

But I still start new toons, and this follows a pattern.

Well, if you’re anything like me, you are trying a new class, race or combination of the two. At some point you give your character a profession, then, using the huge piles of gold from your main characters you level them up to say 225 in about 90 minutes. Buying stacks of low level items in the process.

However, at some point down the line I get bored of the characters.

More often than not, I don’t. I might even delete them. So I never buy the mid range crafting materials for them. But the problem remains for Blizzard. Whenever I start a new alt, I can (and will) just buy my profession skills. Why not?

I know I’m adding to the imbalance problem. Crafting is a gold sink. Until you get a crafting profession to 450, you are pretty much pouring gold down the drain. Sure the odd item sells, but most are destined to be vendored for a fraction of the production cost – or just thrown away. Apparently it costs over 5000g on most servers just for enchanters to level their rod. Just the rod! Never mind the 450 enchants they have to perform as well.

The Warcraft economy is going to change with Cataclysm. I predict the following.

A huge overhaul to crafting. Low level crafted items will be tweaked, or new ones added to make them appealing to use. The better ones will cost a little more to make, but will be decent enough to be vendored, and will offer more than one skill point to the maker.

New huge gold sinks will be added. The biggest gold sinks ever. It is rumoured that there will be a skill needed to fly across the ashen wastes of Azeroth, and that might set you back between 5000g and 10000g. New speed perks for flight will also cost a fortune. More than your epic cost in the first place.

Archaeology will provide crafting materials that can be added at the manufacturing stage to alter the stat bonuses of many items made by the existing professions. These perks will improve the saleability of these items still further, and will provide some real variety and choice for both the crafter and the potential user.

Consumables will go up for level 81-85. Not just the graded step that they went up with Wrath of the Lich King, but a huge increase. Food, Drink, Ammo, repairs and in game flights (which you may well have to take before getting proficiency to fly over Azeroth) will cost exponentially more than the current equivalents in Northrend

The players will be forced to “ungroup” either from guild or (in my case) multibox setups to progress from 81-85. Instance in groups but level alone will be the way. This will prevent exploiting colleagues to rush through these levels. Blizzard are determined to make this a unique and exciting journey for players – not just the rush to level cap that previous expansions have been

Blizzard has the choice to either totally revamp the economy of Warcraft, or at some point in the future get rid of the idea of an in game economy altogether. The current system is uneven and is getting more out of kilter by the day. The laws of supply and demand have become unbalanced in a way that would not happen in the real world.

Luckily for those of us who enjoy the professions and economic parts of the game, Blizzard seem to have noticed this, and are putting some efforts into getting it right. If it fails however, then perhaps 5.0 will be the end of in game crafting and a proper economy altogether.

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