A smarter pragmatist would belt the first pragmatist in the chops and ask him why he did not save some gold toward an epic flyer,decent enchants,and the kind of gear that buy wow gold will keep deaths and downtime to a minimum.A hybrid pragmatist would stifle a bitter laugh,and then double or triple the smart pragmatists figures on enchant and gear costs in order to cover a tanking set,a healing set,or quite possibly both. With a minimal amount of effort,every player in the game should easily cover their living expenses with gold left over to bank.But while writing this,it is hard not to remember the 1,400g I dropped on gems and enchants for my Resto set,and the week I spent 700g on respecs.If I were still saving for my epic flyer or another big expense,that would have been a pretty demoralizing experience.I consider it a great privilege to be able to respec to do something else on my Druid -- but I think it is also easy to underestimate both the high cost of said privilege and the time it takes to learn how to play each spec effectively.

While reading through comments on the site the other day,I stopped at Draks on a recent Breakfast Topic and had to think for a bit.In defense of pure classes concerns with the upcoming dual spec system,Drak wrote that we were weighing class functionality against hybrids desire to save gold,and that the two concerns were by no means equal.

I am still convinced that pure classes stand to gain a lot more from dual specs than they will lose,principally in the form a lot more tank and healer availability,but it is an interesting point.How much gold do you really need to get by? Does the idea of having to spend a lot more of it,or having to spend more time getting it,on a particular class or spec make that world of warcraft character less fun to play,and has that played a role peoples unwillingness to tank and heal?

Again,for the purpose of this discussion I am considering pure classes to be Hunters,Mages,Warlocks,and Rogues,as everyone else can respec to do different roles.


At first,it does not seem like the question merits a lengthy answer.Take what you are spending per week,divide it by 7, and then do dailies until you have got it covered would be a terse and accurate means of responding to it,but personally I do think a certain amount of the issues driving the debate over dual specs.

A hybrid who constantly respecs without recourse to outside assistance is someone who has to spend a lot more time in the game to make the same amount of gold as someone who does not have to respec frequently(if at all).And So do not respec if you do not want to,is not always a good answer, not with the legions of impatient people in LFG.We can not simultaneously acknowledge the healer shortage but scoff at the people who respec to cover it--and I do not think we should lose sight of the fact that people in healing and tanking specs do not quest or grind as efficiently as a DPS spec,further compounding the problem

The conclusion seems pretty straightforward;a hybrid who respecs a lot,or who is constantly specced for tanking or healing over damage,is virtually obligated to play the game less casually than a pure DPS if they want to stay on comparable financial ground.I think this does play a role in how many people want to tank or heal,or can if their playtime is limited--and that necessarily bleeds into the chronic tank and healer shortage.

But a pragmatist would opine that as long as you have got enough to cover the games true necessities--repairs, food/water,reagents,and a basic flying mount--everything else is gravy.Making gold in the game should not have to be a goal in and of itself,right?