Mogging and MoP

Don't you just love that artwork? So cute.

Anyway, as we all know, the Mists of Pandaria expansion is on its way to a release date sometime this year. There are many exciting changes coming along, not the least of which are the new Pandaren. And with a new character type comes new gear (and new player expectations of how those toons should be geared). Between all of the info on Blizzard's site and the start of beta testing, players have already begun to form conceptions of what a Pandaren and what a monk should look like. Now is the time to start collecting items that people may want to transmog into later in order to fit these ideal looks (like the Ginn-Su Sword, which looks just like the one the panda in the above picture is wearing). Think about what you would wear if you were cosplaying a Pandaren monk.  Are there any key characters to the Pandaren storyline who you would try to emulate? Would you want to wear the low-level starting gear? Get into the role playing mindset and go from there. Also, as soon as the xpac goes live, we need to start collecting those BOEs.

The new expansion also affects non-panda toon gear. Why? Not every player is changing their gear set every few weeks. Some people just weren't as excited about the addition of transmogrification in patch 4.3 as I was. As such, those who have been busy with the other aspects of game (or who have taken a break) may not have switched out their xmog gear at all in the last few months. This has slowed down the market a bit (but hasn't stopped it - people will always be leveling alts).

But, once MoP hits, and players begin to collect new tier gear, chances are high that people will finally be looking to switch up their attire (which they have probably grown sick of by this point). This puts those of us working the transmog AH market in a good position. It is a buyer's market. Snatch up every under-priced piece of xmog gear you can find and hold onto it. Invest in these items now, and you will see a great payoff once patch 5.0 rolls around.

Don't just quit selling altogether. You don't want to go broke from buying everything and selling nothing. Like I said, there are always alts. And you don't want to deprive people of pretty gear, do you? If you are selling now, just expect to be undercut by other players who are also stocking up on the same gear you are (and may be manipulating the market in order to get others to under price items they know that they can buy up and profit off of down the line).

You also may not want to buy every piece of the same item that pops up. Remember that you are trying to make a profit, not become the master of all Astralaan Robes (something that I am guilty of). If you find yourself stuck with too many of the same item, release them into the AH slowly over time. Rarity (and thus individuality) is just as important to players as aesthetic appeal is.

Well, it is time for me to stop looking at xmog and start reading over strats for HM Hagara, which I will be putting in my first attempts on tonight.