Economy News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Hello! Welcome to the 305th edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we embark on a new journey with Season of Discovery and with it some gold making tips and advice. We also dive into some old world professions and look at ways you can maximize your inventory. My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!

The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) has today published the 2023 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking (WDCR), in which India ranks 49th among 64 economies. According to IMD's study, India has made significant in terms of cybersecurity knowledge but lacks on fronts like technology and future readiness. IMD's World Digital Competitiveness Ranking offers insights into how various nations are navigating digital transformation in the era of artificial intelligence (AI). 

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Bayerische Motoren Werke AG Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse was incredulous when asked this month whether the German premium carmaker would respond to a brutal price war in electric vehicles by cutting production. “Do I understand you right that you try to slow us down? Two years ago, it was the other way around,” he told analysts, triggering wry laughter.  

It’s possible (though incredibly difficult) to complete Baldur’s Gate 3 with a single character. Some classes for a Solo Challenge run though, are much better than others at getting the job done.

 Battery giants are starting to put their money on new sodium-based technology, a sign that there could be yet another shakeup in the industry that's crucial for the energy transition.

Hello! Welcome to the 304th edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we look ahead to Classic Season of Discovery and some simple ways to get ahead with some starting gold. We also take a look at a couple of items that have hit new highs with the release of 10.2 and why they are in such demand. Finally, we investigate racial abilities and how they can have a massive affect on profits in Dragonflight. My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!

Imagine this: A roaring fire, neutral hues on every wall, plants hanging all around you, and books galore. This is the cottagecore dream, and this Black Friday it can become a reality. I've been off looking for the most cottagecore gaming gear and accessories so you can get the aesthetic in your study this deals season.

Old School RuneScape is knee-deep in its latest game-warping League event, Trailblazer Reloaded, and this particular limited-time mode has sparked a fierce feud between players that's quietly become one of the most interesting races in MMOs right now. 

WoW Tokens provide a way for players to quickly get gold and game time in a safe way that helps keep the game’s economy thriving. To help you fully understand how this item works, we’ve put this guide together detailing everything you need to know about WoW Tokens.

CCP Games has revealed that the “First Strike” live event for EVE Vanguard will kick off on December 7. The online playtest is for EVE Vanguard, the upcoming sandbox FPS module that will connect to thelong-running MMORPG EVE Online.

Against The Storm is a fantasy, rogue-like strategy game about building settlements in a storm-ravaged land.

A couple of years back, Final Fantasy 14 had a major drama involving a pizza emote, GrubHub, and a promotional campaign some unlucky souls spent over $30 dollars on. Yes, this really was a big deal. Let me explain why.

Hello! Welcome to the 303rd edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we take stock of the WoW Token and the new restrictions coming into place and how this will affect token prices going forward as well as diving into various gold making methods for 10.2. On top of this, we also discuss how Inspiration should be replaced in the next expansion — The War Within. My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!

Germany plans to invest more into video games, beginning with a subsidy of €33.3 million (or $36.2 million) in 2024. Per a translated report from Games Wirtschaft, the Ministry of Culture will spend €100 million overall over the next three years. 

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A story has been doing the rounds that Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of GTA publisher Take-Two, thinks games should be priced by the hour.

FOSSA Systems, a startup that uses satellites to connect devices through the Internet of Things (IoT), revealed on Wednesday that it successfully raised an undisclosed amount of new funding. The funding round was led by Indico Capital Partners and Nabtesco Technology Ventures, joined by existing investor Newmind Venture. The company, based in Spain, plans to use the funds to expand its network of low-power satellites, enabling improved communication on Earth. Julian Fernandez, co-founder and CEO of FOSSA Systems, stated, "We aim to strengthen our industrial satellite and IoT services while extending our reach globally," Payload reported.

The cyberattack that paralyzed several major Australian ports was a sharp reminder of what governments and experts say is a growing threat to shipping, the lifeblood of the global economy.

AI job threat peaks in Washington, D.C., according to a recent analysis; Majority of Americans believe AI will revolutionise healthcare in 2024; Google files lawsuit against hackers in India and elsewhere spreading malicious AI ads on Facebook; MIT Scientist urges CFOs to shift risk tolerance for rapid impact of generative AI- this and more in our daily roundup. Let us take a look..

A startup backed and incubated by Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures has engineered a hybrid technology that  combines engineering with natural photosynthesis processes to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it underground.  

Hydrogen-powered heavy lorries were once seen as the future of emissions-free road transport but they could soon be relegated to niche markets in Europe, overtaken by electric trucks.

First reported by Bloomberg (readers may encounter a paywall), the US unit of the Industrial and Commerce Bank of China⁠—the world's largest by total assets⁠—was struck by a cyberattack late Wednesday, forcing it to conduct business via messenger carrying a USB stick with transaction details.

Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal is scheduled to visit the US from November 13-17 to attend the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) ministerial meeting and has been invited to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in San Francisco.

China's tech sector is racing to gain ground on developing artificial intelligence technology, but Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman predicts the US will still be in the lead 10 years from now. 

When Pico launched its Oculus Quest challenger in China last year, it did so with great optimism. Light (295 grams) and affordable ($420), the virtual reality headset released by the ByteDance-owned manufacturer was expected to drive adoption in a market inaccessible to Meta.

Crafting a robust game economy is no small feat; it's a multifaceted challenge that demands careful consideration. The goal of game economy design is to maintain the vitality of your game in the long run. Economic problems can cause entire projects to collapse.

Counter-Strike 2 is the latest instalment in one of the most popular multiplayer game series of all time. 

In order for your metropolis to thrive in Cities: Skylines 2 you will need to fulfill the requirements of the diverse zones you set out. As you progress and level up your city, you will start to notice that additional buildings and businesses demand more educated workers.

Blizzard may have turned Diablo 4 around in the last month, but there's still plenty of work to do before the release of its first expansion, Vessel of Hatred. BlizzCon's Diablo 4 Campfire Chat stream had surprisingly little to say about the action RPG's major remaining issues: dull itemization and a barren endgame.

Baby Bezos

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.'s October sales slid, reflecting uncertainty in its business after Beijing launched an investigation into the world's biggest iPhone assembler.

 In recent times, India has been making significant strides in the global tech manufacturing arena, with the introduction of Google's Pixel 8 manufacturing in the country. This development marks a pivotal moment in India's journey toward becoming a top-notch manufacturing hub for cutting-edge mobile technology, The Washington Times reported.

Lords of the Fallen is one 2023's most significant Soulslikes, a rapidly growing sub-genre in recent years. Since launch, the game has seen a host of content updates and patches that seek to balance the solo dungeon-crawling experience as well as the online multiplayer skirmishes that players can take part in. However, the most recent update has garnered a lot of attention within the player community, and almost none of it positive. Following the launch of the patch, which has over 100 updates and quality-of-life changes, many Lords of the Fallen players have voiced frustration with how the developers have altered weapons in the game.

We have some monster hits in video games this season as a lot of titles have been released as companies finally recover from the slowdown in game development due to the pandemic.

The UK Government is developing the nation's most powerful AI supercomputer, featuring NVIDIA's GH200 Grace Hopper Superchips.

Saudi Arabia’s ambitious NEOM Company threw its support behind Web3 in a big way today with a $50 million investment into Animoca Brands.

Ashes of Creation ’s latest monthly stream showed off the game’s Caravan system, how it works and the many other systems it interacts with.

The CEO of Silent Hill: Ascension developer Genvid has defended the game's transactions, and said they were there to allow people to «skip time» in gaining in-game currency rather than being a way to «game the system».

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday called for urgent action to protect the public and democracy from the dangers posed by artificial intelligence, announcing a series of initiatives to address safety concerns about the technology.

Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in his address to the world's first global summit on Artificial Intelligence in the UK on Wednesday, said India looks at AI with a prism of openness, safety, trust and accountability. Addressing the 'AI Safety Summit 2023', Chandrasekhar said India has maintained that international collaborations and international conversations was extremely important at a time and a year when "technology is throwing up most exiting opportunities ever in the history of mankind."

Tesla CEO and 'X' owner, Elon Musk said on Wednesday that Artificial Intelligence (AI) could endanger the existence of human civilisation. "There is some chance, above zero, that AI will kill us all. I think it's slow but there is some chance. I think this also concerns the fragility of human civilization. If you study history, you will realise that every civilisation has a sort of lifespan," he said.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

It would be easy to believe that the outlook for the games sector is all doom and gloom based on recent headlines about record numbers of layoffs in the sector, with estimates that up to 6,400 people have lost their jobs globally in 2023 after some of the biggest names in the industry, Microsoft, Epic, Sega, Unity, and Roblox, reduced staff numbers.

Greetings, Adventurers!

You know what’s pretty great? Good video games. You know what makes good video games even better? Not having to pay a penny for them. Well, I come bearing great news for lovers of good video games you can play without paying a penny: Planet S is totally free and by all accounts pretty darn good.

Ledger is launching the second season of its gamified educational platform in The Sandbox virtual world with the aim of expanding crypto knowledge in the metaverse.

Hello! Welcome to the 301st edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we take a look at the new shipment quests coming in 10.2 as well as what other systems are going to be viable such as the Dracothyst transmute. As such, we also discuss setting up alt armies and factories of workers using both old and new expansions. My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!

The government wants India's telecom service to remain the most affordable in the entire world, union telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

I’m not sure any of my Lego constructions would hold up to anything more aggressive than an accidental bump or the over-excited nose of a dog, let alone wave after wave of ghastly monsters. Soon I’ll be able to put that hypothesis to the test, as the next game from the creators of shopkeeping-sim-turned-dungeon-diver Moonlighter looks to throw endless horrors at your custom-made grand design.

I’m not sure any of my Lego constructions would hold up to anything more aggressive than an accidental bump or the over-excited nose of a dog, let alone wave after wave of ghastly monsters. Soon I’ll be able to put that hypothesis to the test, as the next game from the creators of shopkeeping-sim-turned-dungeon-diver Moonlighter looks to throw endless horrors at your custom-made grand design.

Cities: Skylines 2 features a robust economic simulation where individual businesses generate realistic demand for certain goods that can be satisfied either by local industries or by imports from outside connections. At least, that's how it's supposed to work - the reality is that these systems aren't working as intended, and while initial fears that the economy is a "deception" seem to be overblown, developer Colossal Order has acknowledged that there are some serious bugs to be fixed.

The overarching theme of this year’s GamesBeat Next conference is “Playing the Edge” — in other words, the technologies, innovations and initiatives sitting at the edge of the gaming industry that have potential to become industry game-changers. User-generated content is one of the areas with the most promise, says Dean Takahashi, Lead Writer at GamesBeat. He spoke with Nicola Sebastiani, chief content officer at The Sandbox, during a special preview session for the conference, about how developers can power brands and creators with immersive experiences and tools.

There are plenty of great ideas and mechanics Insomniac’s Spider-Man games have borrowed from Rocksteady’s Arkham series. The influence from those Batman games is clear in the fluid combat, stealth sequences, and most notably, the new addition of the web line in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which lets you make a tightrope to create more flexibility and room to pick off bad guys. But one element stands out to me that should have stayed with Da Bat: the utility belt of fancy gadgets.

Cyberpunk's 2.02 patch has hit, bringing with it a surfeit of tweaks, fixes, and improvements to Night City in the wake of the game's sweeping 2.0 update and accompanying redemption arc. As usual there's a whole lot of bullet points here, and I'll put the full patch notes below, but there are a couple of entries worth highlighting in particular.

Artisan Studios, the French indie developer behind Astria Ascending and Super Neptunia RPG, has opened a new studio in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and is prepared to accept any criticism that might now come its way.

Like the industrial revolution itself, Victoria 3 forges ahead with patches and expansions, tearing asunder the idiocy of rural life, melting all that was once solid into the air, and faring relatively poorly in the Steam reviews for its DLC (the Steam reviews for capitalism would have been terrible in 1848, which is probably why they didn't have them). 

Artisan Studios, an independent game developer with a reputation for creating premium role-playing games, plans to open a game development studio in Saudi Arabia.

Paradox Interactive has revealed a new region pack is on the way for Grand Strategy title Victoria 3. In the Colossus of the South region pack, players will face a number of challenges as they seek to lead Brazil through a rise of power after being freed from the domination of Europe.

Diablo 4 players believe they've made a breakthrough discovery in the hunt for a non-existent secret cow level.

Blizzard has once again disabled Diablo 4 trading amid a new duplication exploit players were found to be using. In a post on the Blizzard forum, community manager filthierich said the developer is working on a fix for the issue.

Hello! Welcome to the 300th edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we take a look at a great site for tracking Profession Weeklies for your alts, look at some possible investments in materials now prices are low and a great guide to some skinning farms in Classic Hardcore. We also have a great interview with someone who has made a lot of gold with crafting Work Orders and it looks like the Magpie buff in Dreamsurges has been hotfixed. My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!

Ready Player Me, the virtual avatar platform, has launched its Premium Skins Catalog, which will enable developers to sell premium skins for avatar personalization.

Upland has raised $7 million in funding for its virtual land metaverse based on Web3 technology.

Cyberpunk 2077 is, unsurprisingly, full of homeless people. After all, we're constantly told how bad poverty is in Night City, and apartments will lock you out as soon as your rent is late, so it's hardly shocking that we see so many people living on the streets. But now, these unfortunate souls are in luck, because they seem to have been given a huge boost in the new update.

Web wings? A bazillion suits? TwoSpider-Mans? In this economy? Yes, Spider-Man 2 is markedly different than its predecessors, 2018’s Spider-Man and 2020’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. There are new abilities, new mechanics, and nearly twice as much New York to explore than before.

By Jay Peters, a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.

Real-time strategy games can be pretty complex, but you generally don't have to concern yourself too much with the economic particulars of whatever war you're fighting. You harvest your Tiberium, your vespene gas, your minerals, and turn them by alchemy into tanks, guns, and troops. You've got tactics to focus on, after all, no need to concern yourself with the dollars and cents.

LinkedIn today announced layoffs that affect 668 employees.

Yet another wireless service jumped into the US market last month, but while the pricing on World Mobile’s lineup of travel eSIMs doesn’t stand out from the growing selection targeting new smartphones without traditional SIM card slots, the business model does.

Hello! Welcome to the 299th edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we look at what's coming up ahead for professions in 10.2 and some items and materials to look out for and prepare. We also take a deep dive into Epic flipping in Wrath Classic and Engineering in Classic Hardcore. On top of all that, there is still the niche of speed sets in retail! My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!

Twenty-one months since Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal was announced, the $68.7 million merger is complete. It’s a new era for both Activision Blizzard and Microsoft as the ink dries on the video game industry’s largest acquisition, which puts Microsoft and its Xbox brand in a vital position moving forward. Change is expected at both companies, starting at the top: Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is expected to exit the company after a transition that’ll keep him on “through the end of 2023,” according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer.

Amid rising concerns over inflation and its impact on the American economy, a recent report indicates that U.S. teenagers continue to prioritise their tech preferences, with Apple's iPhone and Apple Watch leading the pack.

Psyonix has announced that Rocket League will be getting rid of all of its player-to-player trading systems before the end of 2023. “Player-to-Player Trading will be removed from Rocket League on December 5 at 4 p.m. PST,” says the official announcement. The good news, though, is that you’ll still have an opportunity to trade in duplicate and/or unwanted Core, Tournament, and Blueprint Items for a “random new item of higher rarity,” according to the attached FAQ.

Venture capital funding in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in six years in terms of venture deal value and the lowest level in deal count in three years during the third quarter.

By Jay Peters, a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.

Come December, Rocket League players will no longer be able to trade cosmetic items with each other: «Player-to-Player Trading will be removed from Rocket League on December 5 at 4 pm PST,» developer Psyonix announced today.

Havoc Demon Hunters have received a fairly substantial rework with the Dragonflight 10.2 PTR. Our Havoc Writer, Shadarek, reviews the talent tree overhaul, new fury resource economy, and other major gameplay changes that players can expect in Season 3. Havoc Demon Hunter Guide

They may or may not come with bedbugs, but even the worst motels offer free Wi-Fi. Likewise, if you stay at an Airbnb or other sharing-economy rental, you expect free (and trouble-free) Wi-Fi. Same thing, right? It turns out that using Wi-Fi in a short-term rental is vastly riskier than in other locations. We're here to explain why and what you can do.