TGG News and Announcements

Hello Gold Goblins!

ChillBilly here bringing you some news regarding Tamriel Gold Goblin and Elder Scrolls Online!
Our last installment of our newsletter has said to have been the best one yet. If you have not signed up for the newsletter please do it now! Lot's of good information in that newsletter.

We are moving forward as scheduled in a whole mess of activities. The NDA has finally dropped so be on the look out for some cool informational videos on trading in ESO! Mostly Harmless, a guild for the Daggerfall Covenant has invited me to talk in a podcast February 22nd at 7pm EST. You can find that podcast here:

http://www.twitch.tv/mostly_harmless_gaming

Come out and support me! I greatly appreciate it!

Before we move any further, I would just like to thank all of my followers. You have been extremely supportive, and the comments and messages I have received are heart warming. I am so glad that this service is not a complete waste and people are finding it helpful. I appreciate the wonderful feedback and look forward to more and more of it in the future. Good or Bad! :)

Moving on, A new service for Tamriel Gold Goblin is a free trade network teamspeak. You guys are more than welcome to use this free of charge. I have set it up personally on one of our servers for the time being the address is just a static public address but it should change over into a domain soon. If it updates I will update you. You should be able to access it through the IP at any given time.

That information is here:

Tamriel Gold Goblin Trade Network
199.68.232.126

Go ahead and bookmark that today. We will be holding live auctions and much more.

In further news, I have finished the first part of the sql server that will replace the ticker information on the website. It has been a long complicated process, but soon it will showcase the Average Market Price of the Commodity items throughout Tamriel. We look forward to more of that now that the NDA has come to close.

Are you in a guild? Run a guild? Officer in a guild?

Be sure to comment with your guild information below. I want to come interview you. I want to know what you are about. I won't be joining, but as a spot filler until release, I have been doing some guild reviews and posting them in several places. Let's get you some exposure.

Some New things:

New YouTube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ChillBillysauce

Entertaining videos made out of shear boredom.

-CB

Interviews and playthroughs Oh My!

One of the major problems as a writer is coming up with new material each time to write about. Writers and content creators spend hours upon hours researching, interviewing, and experimenting. Often times we as these content creators get to spend a few hours a day playing games. Although, what you may consider playing, is not what we consider playing. It is always preparation. From the moment we log in until the time we log out, we are constantly stopping and starting.

It usually begins with us following the "Ooo - Shiny" as we jot down a few extra notes concerning the location of an ore vein, or a wood source. Nearly often enough, we spend more time writing these notes than we actually get to enjoy what we are doing. This does not necessarily mean it is all that bad. We get to meet people, the average player does not. We get to enjoy upper tier communities, that many normal players do not. We get invited to betas that other people strive to get invited to. The reason for all this is simple. We are not here to play, we are here to study. I overheard a conversation the other day with a few players who have not been invited to a certain game with a certain "open all the time" beta. They were complaining that only people with certain clout were allowed into "these types" of betas. That only the people who knew someone or had popularity were allowed in.

I wanted to enter and hijack the conversation to tell them they were wrong. I realize now that even if I had, it wouldn't have changed their opinion one way or another. Sometimes you just cannot convince people of your thinking, because of their stubborn ways. I guess the same can be said about myself as I am as stubborn as they come. "Fear not! For the people whom you show jealousy for, are not having fun, but are working, and working for free for that matter!" I wanted to scream in their channel locked all to themselves.

Betas are always viewed as some sort of demo for the real game. That is not the case. Betas are to test, and only testing shall it be. You should never take knowledge from a beta, to insert your own opinions of disgust.

To put it into a bigger perspective:

IT IS THE BETA, THERE ARE GOING TO BE BUGS.

I feel that some people do not quite grasp this fact. Yet here we are again, explaining the over explained. 

-CB

Another Wasted Day

I think that part of waiting for a highly anticipated game, is the shear boredom of things. I have sunk low in troubled times such as these. There are only so many ways a gamer can keep himself or herself occupied before a big game release. Let's list a few shall we?

• Play another game.

Sometimes this one helps. It keeps your mind off the fact, you are still waiting for your MMO or new game to arrive. Picking another game similar to the one you are preparing to play is the best idea. It allows you to up your skills before release. More or less, it keeps you occupied in gaming and nothing else. Including keeping you away from unnecessary things like cleaning your room / house, doing laundry, or replacing the weather stripping on your back door because the rainwater from the no gutter system off your poorly built house is leaking in and destroying your door and floor.

• Endurance training

Old people, like myself and a few others that fancy themselves readers of blogs such as this one, prefer endurance training. We aren't young anymore, and quite frankly, we cannot stay up past 12am. For that matter I pulled a muscle this morning putting on a sock. So we must train ourselves to be able to keep up with you young whippersnappers. It's not exactly the easiest thing to do considering games don't captivate us as well as they used to. We have to find a totally addictive game or an activity that keeps us staying up past our pill / bed time.

• Character Creation

Before we launch full steam ahead, a good majority of us, will begin to create our characters in our minds. We will even have names picked out, so that we aren't searching randomly for a named item on our desks at launch time. (I literally have a character on WoW named Aqualibrium for that very reason.) We will make sure we have made a final decision on whether our characters will be Female or Male. We will decide if we want to start as Argonians or Redguards. We will write long roleplaying stories on our characters. We will be prepared.

• Guilds

For the more nerdy of people, we will find other people to align with. This is a tricky one. Since there is no current game to play, boredom runs rampant. I have seen only a few guilds this go around that have not 100% went to the dark side. I joined a guild before the launch of SWTOR and they were hardcore. As memory serves, they kicked me out, because I said if SWTOR releases on Thanksgiving day, I would spend my free time watching football.  I guess I got kicked out for having a life? No idea..

• Forums

Joining Forums is the greatest thing you can do. Forums often times have a lot of news and like-minded people talking about the game you are about to play. They even have some developers come in and do private interviews which is kind of cool. As long as the information doesn't violate the NDA, most websites, including this one, will discuss things from videos and other official sources. Forums are a great source of information, and should never be overlooked. I like Enjin's forum over others because its straight and to the point. You don't have to wade through a trough of useless garbage to read what you want to read.

• Writing

Sometimes you just feel like writing. I like writing because it is a form of stress relief. With a generous amount of time, you can have a plethora of information waiting for you at launch. Dust off that old Microsoft Word program you got back when you were flunking out of college, playing video games instead of going to class, and write something useful. Or don't and spend your time playing internet spades with a guy that never covers your nils! Either way, enjoy yourself before launch. Be sure to friend me on Enjin, and we shall play, oh yes. We shall.

(Original Version on ElderScrollsForum.com)
Thanks
-CB

5 Possible Events After Launch

Based off the information we are given from the Elder Scrolls Online staff, we can expect a few spring up ideas that will make life a little easier in ESO. Here are 5 ideas you can expect to spring up at ESO Launch.

1. Trade Guilds - Players can join up to 5 guilds in ESO, this means you can almost guarantee to see some Trade Guilds to spring up, almost over night. These trade guilds will most certainly have a guild store, multiple members of all levels, and even though traders are not the most violent people in the world, they will have a PVP division as well. 

2. Mercenaries for Hire - With the need for trade guilds, I would expect to see mercenary groups spring up as well. These mercenary groups will most likely join trade guilds to maintain keeps, and without any doubt, get paid generously for their service and protection. 

3. Player Auctions - Yes, we will be kicking it old school. Several trade guilds will not be able to maintain a guild keep, hire mercenaries, or PVP. They will have to turn to alternative methods. In Ultima Online there was no Automated Auction House and no trade chat. If you wanted to sell your materials and items, you had 3 basic options. Place a vendor on your door step, sell your items in populated areas, or sell your items at one of the various player auction houses. I realize that the pampered players from WoW will find this a problem. Your old school players on the other hand, find it awesome and are eager for its arrival. 

4. Guild Politics - I would expect there to be some sort of player driven political system. Even now before launch, you have guild alliances springing up left and right. This will bring the political campaign to a start. I would even go so far as to see cross faction guild alliances as well. This is great for maintaining control of a keep, maintaining guild relations and such. What does it mean for traders? Opportunity. It gives them an opportunity to capitalize off of such politics. 

5. Spies - With politics, you will always have greed, deception, and spies. Spies can be agents, or double agents for that matter. It will take a unique player to pull this off. Given the information we have received about guilds, this is an extreme possibility. They will exist. So look out. 

Have something you want to add to the list? Leave a comment below. 

-CB

These 5 ideas are mere opinion, and are based off of information given from official sources.

Comments should follow the rules of the NDA. Any information using beta knowledge will be deleted.

Adapting to the surroundings. Elder Scrolls Online

I use the same methods no matter what game economy.

That's a bold statement. It's true nonetheless. I have been speaking with several of my future guild-mates. My specific job has been handled and changed, but remains almost the same. I have recently been pseudo-promoted to a position as a battalion general / tactician. One of the many reasons why I was selected for this position was that I have an ever changing mind. I am able to adapt. Adaptation in several colleges around the world is considered a virtue. Adaptation is something I consider to be a very good quality in someone who is claiming to be a Gold Goblin. Adaptation allows you to achieve more than you would prior to becoming adaptive. However, I spend most of my time using the "same old tricks" as it were. Everything is primarily the same each game, each area in which you are trying to learn. So without current game or beta knowledge, I am certain I can achieve greatness and overcome challenges with the upcoming release of Elder Scrolls Online. 

As with my tactics in PVP, my strategy so to speak is going to be that of the same. Pick a foothold. Any will do, but it needs to be sufficient with the goal set in mind. Our goal, like any other sword swinger is to be victorious. So how would we go about being victorious in a pre-decided battle of wits? Easy. We prepare. We train. We fight. 

So how would we go about being victorious when it comes to money? Easy. We prepare. We train. We calculate. A small difference, but it can mean all the difference. Preparation is one of those acts that I like to thump into the heads of my pupils. Preparation can mean the difference between 10 gold, to potentially 1000 gold. Without the proper money guided knowledge, how can you expect to take advantage of the markets? 

What is my strategy at launch you might ask? 

Without prior knowledge to what is happening in the beta, I can only tell you this. Penny pinching. Buy only what you need, and save the rest. Set aside every penny you can afford. Do not neglect yourselves, repair bills and food. Set a budget. Calculate what you want to have by the end of the day. When you press that button to log out, you should have more money in your bag than you started with. As long as that number keeps going up. You are on the path to success. 

Here are some helpful tips for you. 

• Goblinism - Sell grey or otherwise useless items
• Hoarder - Do not keep items that are no use to you. ie. Do not save materials that you are going to use later like for blacksmithing or weaponsmithing. Sell it now, deal with it later.
• Level. Your. Toon. - The first thing everyone worries about is money to spend on items such as fast travel and gear. Do not worry about these things, they will come with time. 
• Preparation. - In world of warcraft terms, this would be considered a chest spawn, or node spawn. Keep up with these places. Mark them down on a little pad of paper, so you can come back later. 
• Ironforge Jumping - When you find yourself bored, and you are merely jumping around in place, or conducting lewd acts in trade chat. Go fishing, go back to those areas you have completed, help another player. Anything that can result in your pockets jingling a little more than earlier is a step up. 
• Research - Many of you, will just ask, others will seek. Whatever you have to do, you need to explore as much for yourself as possible. If someone tells you, you may not remember. If you see it for yourself, you most certainly will. 
• Notes - I keep a journal of everything I bid on, sell, research. I keep it in the filing cabinet next to my computer. If I want to know what the market price of iron was 2 weeks ago, and want to know the contrast of what it is today. I have those records. I can establish a median on my own. 

As far as techniques go, Well I guess you will have to follow me won't you? I will divulge as much information as possible prior to launch. I am afraid it won't be until after launch that I really get down into the nitty gritty. With the NDA under the beta, I cannot release any information what so ever, as far as the game goes. Having that said here are some helpful informational tips on the beta:

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I hope that helped.

-Ashleign

Experimentation

As with many ventures of mine, I have a great deal of experimentation to undergo when pursuing new avenues. For the first time in my life I am following through with an idea that I have had. Many times, and I am sure many can sympathize with me, I have picked something up for a few days. Only to drop it and move on with my life. However, this idea is different. I find myself wanting to do more. I find it almost intoxicating.

Blogging has never really been a very important thing for me to do with my online free time. I find myself eager, and wanting more lately. With a few friends and some non-mentioned alcoholic beverages, we discussed the possibility of stock markets on the outside of MMO games. Where players, that either could not play the game, or could not make money inside the game, could still get a piece of the action.

Many people out there, are unable or otherwise don't care about money markets within MMOs.
It is something I love. I spend on average, about 10 hours a week to gold management alone. That's not counting my PVP and my "Ironforging time."

So what to do with all of this useless information that I have accumulated over several years? Sell it? Share it? Keep it to myself?

I couldn't look back on my wasted life and say I did nothing with the knowledge. I have decided to share it.

So my friends and I will be sharing with you, all of our secrets in the months to come. Hopefully, with any luck, we will have fun along the way.

Welcome to The Tamriel Gold Goblin.

I am your host. ChillBilly.

Good to have you.