A while back, WoW Insider covered a story about
selling Arena titles. Blizzard has acknowledged the little loophole in the Arena system which has been used and abused, which led to the implementation of a
few changes such as personal ratings and a rating requirement for Arena item purchases. While a lot of teams have openly admitted to selling ratings and titles, a
recent post on the Stormscale forums indicated a price tag on the
Armored Nether Drake, pegging it at 3,000g. The buyer, a dwarf Paladin named Madawk, admitted that he only wanted the 310% flying mount, and would never wear the Gladiator title. His guildmates quickly jump to his defense, saying that the mount was pretty much the only thing he couldn't farm and compared the cost to the
Cenarion War Hippogryph.
What do you guys think? Is the Merciless Nether Drake worth the three grand? Does the buyer make things right by vowing to never display the Gladiator title?
Tags: Arena, Farming, flying-mount, Gladiator, merciless-netherdrake, PvP
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tricks, PvP
Nov 10th 2007 at 11:00AM 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Maeric Nov 10th 2007 11:12AM
3000g is very reasonable. I'd drop that much for 30% faster flying mount that you can't farm otherwise.
Gladiator Nov 10th 2007 11:15AM
There is a team from the highest ranked guild on Bloodhoof server doing the same thing. But they are taking the gold and not leveling the teams.
Buyer beware
Burgdorn Nov 10th 2007 11:17AM
I think that this is a perfectly reasonable price tag for such a mount even after taking into account the amount of work just to be able to possibly buy it. I mean with all the gear that you will have at your disposal is it really going to be difficult to purchase any of this gear?
Pook Nov 10th 2007 11:52AM
Yeah seems pretty cheap to me :)
Erika Nov 10th 2007 11:56AM
Put it at 5k with the training and people will stop complaining. ANd make it look like crap and give the .5% a better looking one.
hpavc Nov 10th 2007 12:21PM
Seems cheap to me, I can farm 2500 in a week easily if nothing is going on.
Trinh Nov 10th 2007 12:31PM
I did not pvp my ass off for 3 months only to have some guy with no pvp skills just pay 3000g to get the same thing as me. I farmed 3000g in 2 days flat. If Blizzard made farming 3000g take 3 months I might reconsider. But even then it's not even fair. The only reason I'm doing this is so I can stand out from everyone else. Being the only .05% player on the server to have this mount is the most important part.
hpavc Nov 10th 2007 12:39PM
Seems cheap to me, I can farm 2500 in a week easily if nothing is going on.
Shadowisp Nov 10th 2007 1:07PM
3000g... cheap. x10 to seem expensive. 3000g is too easily affordable.
Would seem more appropriate costing if he was paying 3000g per person in the original Arena team.
Arnold Nov 10th 2007 1:55PM
I'd like to echo the above comments--while 3000g isn't exactly "cheap", it still is quite easily attainable. I think that the practice of buying and selling arena teams is unethical, despicable, and where can I sign up? I mean seriously, for 3000g to get the mount and full merciless gladiator gear? If I had know that it was that cheap, I would have, well, I still wouldn't have done it, but I admit that I would have been sorely tempted...
Jp Nov 10th 2007 9:12PM
I second Arnold(#10). 3kg for an Armored Netherdrake? Yes please.
bobsaieh Nov 10th 2007 9:46PM
It's not about vowing not to display the title, the mount itself serves as a title (which lasts through future seasons, by the way).
Quote: His guildmates quickly jump to his defense, saying that the mount was pretty much the only thing he couldn't farm and compared the cost to the Cenarion War Hippogryph.
-End Quote-
Yeah, it's the only thing he can't farm because it's not supposed to be farmed. It's earned. You want an armored netherdrake? Become a leet PvPer and EARN it.
Argent Nov 10th 2007 11:44PM
he did earn it. by paying 3000g. you do have an inkling on how property, exchange for currency and all those other econ 101 things at work here function, right?
just because he worked smarter and not harder doens't mean he still didn't earn it. if you really think effort must equal reward, then you should be blaming blizzard for allowing such nonsense.
Daniel Nov 11th 2007 10:38AM
This is a joke. The reason the armoured netherdrakes are so cool is because they are VERY VERY VERY hard to get. In my opinion, making the drakes buyable would only promote gold farming and allow lazy people to do what others had worked very very hard for.
Felshen Nov 12th 2007 4:42AM
Disclaimer: The below post is based on an assumption, not fact.
I think I know Madawk from my old server, Vashj. (recommended server, it was terrible..)
I know what he's like, and this doesn't surprise me one bit. But it still makes me sad. He didn't earn the drake, so he shouldn't get it.
bobsaieh Nov 12th 2007 4:54AM
Quote: he did earn it. by paying 3000g. you do have an inkling on how property, exchange for currency and all those other econ 101 things at work here function, right?
just because he worked smarter and not harder doens't mean he still didn't earn it. if you really think effort must equal reward, then you should be blaming blizzard for allowing such nonsense.[/quote]
Sure, and suppose I bought a pilfered Oscar statuette on the web. Are you saying I earned it because I paid what the seller was asking for it, even if I didn't slave away to perfect a craft and actually win it?
Or say I got an authentic Super Bowl ring made and paid big bucks for it. Did I still earn it even though I never played professional football?
There's a difference between earning something by saving up enough money for it (say, a sports car) and actually earning something through skill and effort (a trophy, a ribbon, a medal, anything that is supposed to reward you for an outstanding skill or performance).
Here, I'll leave you with a little something they don't teach in econ 101: not everything has a monetary value.
Buckshot Nov 12th 2007 10:16AM
Sure, everything is for sale. It's a good price.