Transmutation Ethics
So I’m on my Shaman, whom I leveled to 68 a couple weeks ago and then pretty much stopped. Upon hitting 68, I promptly hiked it to The Stormspire and picked up Transmutation Mastery. I’m not sure why, he’s probably most useful as a Potion Master since he keeps Doofy in Super Mana Potions. I think I may have been influenced by my guild leader getting five Primal Mights in a single transmute.
Anyway, I have no idea why I’m on him at that particular moment, when someone in the trade channel asks for an Earthstorm Diamond transmute.
Since 1) I’m so lazy that I don’t farm the primals needed to make my own Primal Might, 2) I’m too cheap to buy the primals off the Auction House and 3) I’d feel guilty about borrowing the primals out of the guild bank (most of the time, anyway), my cooldown is available so I send a tell saying I can do it.
He asks what I’m charging. Five gold is fine, I say. He asks where I can meet him. The easiest place for me to sell any Jewelcrafting, Tailoring or Alchemy when in Shattrath is under A’dal, so that’s where I go. At no point does he ask if I’m a Transmutation Master. He also does not send an invite to a group, as some people like to do to make locating easier.
He trades me the mats, and I perform the transmutes. On the longer casts/crafts, there should be some type of music playing. I suggest the Final Jeopardy theme.
Anyway, when it’s complete, I see on my screen.
You receive: Earthstorm Diamond x4
I separate one from the stack, complete the trade, get the pre-arranged 5g tip.
Did I do something wrong by not saying “hey, I got four of them!” Should I have refused the tip? (If we hadn’t agreed on a price beforehand, I would have definitely said it was free after the transmute.)
If we were in a group and he saw that I had gotten four gems, would I be obligated to hand them all over? I am the one that invested 4 Primal Mights in getting the mastery. (And while I’ve been very lax about doing it on a daily basis, I’ve only gotten one multiple Might transmute, and that was 30 seconds after completing the mastery quest.)
I’m kind of at a loss over what I should have done. Opinions?
Explore posts in the same categories: UncategorizedTags: alchemy, Doffy, transmutes
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Doofy the Paladin 
February 5, 2008 at 2:21 am
He payed for a service that you provided. If you got some nice sideeffect from it, thats just fine.
February 5, 2008 at 2:24 am
Typically, unless you advertize that you are a transmutation master, people will assume that you’re a normal alchemist and that one set of mats = one transmute.
If you were to spam “XMUTE MASTER” in trade chat, you’d probably be obligated to hand over any procs.
Usually what I’ve seen with xmutes is a simple “Transmutation master – Your mats, tip. 10g tip required to keep the proc” (or whatever you’re charging)
In any case, if you don’t advertise that you’re a xmute master, keep them out of your group, and if they insist on being in the group let them know “Hey, I’m xmute mastery but you’re going to have to pay me extra if you think you’re buying procs and not just the transmute itself.” As long as you’re not using your mastery to gain a higher tip price, all they’re buying is the xmute, not the proc.
February 5, 2008 at 5:35 am
as far as I see it you done nothing wrong. True it might have been nice to give him an extra one, but unless he was someone I grouped with a lot or a guildie I would’ve done the exact same thing.
If I’m using any of my cloth cooldowns (shadoweave specialisation) I’ll always keep the extra one for myself. It’s one of the ways of making it worth specialising imho, and you should not have to give away the rewards
February 5, 2008 at 3:15 pm
I agree with everyone else. Unless its a guildie, I will not hand over the extra procs. To me it is extra cash for later
February 5, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Haha, grats!
I find that master procs so few that unless its a guildie or the guy was looking for a trans spec than i keep it.
February 6, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I find that and interesting dilemma of eithics. Especially since i myself is a alchemist but a Elixir Master.
Best i can say thinking about it is to agree with what others have said. In short just don’t promote your self as a master of anything. Yes you can do transmute or whatever. If they want a transmute do the transmute and give them back the transmute they paid for. If it proc a bonus in some way thats to the benefit of your specialization to you. I would neither say if it proc or not. They did not specify that in the beginning and the other thing is you as a alchemist cant control the proc also so you don’t know when it will happen.
When i do my own elixirs i can do 10 and not a single one proc its soo random when it even does and then i can do another and every 2 or 3 proc. Nothing you can control. Just do the transmute the client ask for and if you get a bonus thats your bonus for the act of doing it.
February 6, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Or, offer two prices. First price for basic transmute. They hand you the mats, you give them 1 product. (You keep the extras, if any.)
Second price is higher. They hand you the mats, you give them whatever is produced. Their risk if it doesn’t proc. Their gain if it does. They’ve paid extra for it though.
However, I was under the impression they’d see the results of the transmute in how many I received. They don’t?
February 6, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Do yourself a favor and drop Transmute mastery as soon as you can. I had it for the longest time and as many Primal Mights I had made, I NEVER got more than 1 extra. I am now an elixir master and for every 20 elixirs I make, I get a good 4-9 extra. A friend who went Pot master made mana pots all day and in one week, raised the 5K+ gold for epic flying. Xmute mastery sucks fungus (even with the so-called “fix” they patched in.)
Btw, when you do drop xmute mastery and pick up pots or elixirs… no quest. Just pay the money to change at Stormspire, speak to the new trainer you need and BAM! New mastery.
February 7, 2008 at 11:55 am
If you ask me, he paid for a single item and therefore is entitled to only one, unless you agreed to something beforehand that is. The procs are a product of your profession specialization and belong to you for doing the work to grind up the profession and all other such work. If it was a friend or a guildie I’d be inclined to offer the extras, but for others it’s pay for one and get one. I’d say that you can offer a discount for the procs if you are so inclined, but don’t feel obligated to do so.
As a side note, I figure that if you sell a few transmutes more often than the rest, make one and bank it. That way when someone asks for the transmute, you take the mats and just give them the one you had banked. Do the transmute itself on your own time and keep whatever procs (this way if they party up , they can’t see that you got more than one). Sneaky, maybe; unethical, no.