World of Warcraft Community Magazine Issue 10 | Page 39

World of Warcraft Community Magazine // 39

professions. After that, it’s back

system. This is what amazes me --

an easy calling, but it’s definitely a

to the main in the Auction House,

that there are these systems within

way a select group of individuals

checking for undercuts, and

the game that are almost hidden

choose to express themselves;

occasionally venturing out for

in plain sight. I mentioned win-

some of them are lucky enough to

treasure hunting or recipe farming.

conditions earlier: for a player such

be able to sustain themselves off

Elvine laughs as he admits that

as myself, I look at WoW and see the

of it. Learning about gold-making,

he’s a bit of a completionist -- he

win-conditions, or wincons, that the

I saw a bit of poetic parallelism

likes to have every single old

designers set out for me: complete

between Elvine’s stream and his

recipe for all the professions,

these quests, go into these raids, win

in-game activities. Both involved

something he’s still working on.

glittering prizes by saving Azeroth.

a different approach to living life,

Goldmakers like Elvine, though, are

finding satisfaction in a routine of

This process, or something like it,

able to find their own game within

one’s own design. In a way, it makes

has been honed by around three

the world. Which, when you think

complete sense that Elvine streams

years of practice. All his techniques,

about it, is an awful lot like real life.

gold-making. On Earth or on
Azeroth, there are both determined

the knowledge of the economy,
everything, has been self-taught.

We all have our niches, and as

activities that have a significant

By going around the Internet and

Randall Munroe pointed out, there

meditative aspect to them. Both

reading database website -- just

is no bottom to human subcultures.

lifestyles are being successful based

like a raid junkie might study PvE

Within gaming, within MMORPG’s,

on your own definition of the term.

spreadsheets -- Elvine learned the

within World of Warcraft, there

subtle ins and outs of this secondary

are the Twitch streamers. It’s not

By Ian Kernohan
Featuring Guest Streamer - Elvine
The GameOn Magazine