#1 - June 13, 2013, 7:30 a.m.
Each of the 4 "base" mounts (Jade Panther, Sunstone Panther, Ruby Panther, and Sapphire Panther) require 20 of the Rare Pandarian Gem of their color, 4 Living Steel (and thus Trillium Transmuted from an Alchemist, an expensive prospect), and 2 Serpent's Eyes (JC created from prospecting and used in the creation of rare JC items), along with an "Orb of Mystery". The final fifth mount, the Jeweled Onyx Panther, is created exclusively from all 4 previously discussed panther mounts (unused of course - in one's inventory, not the mount display), to create one Jeweled Onyx Panther mount.
Originally, I thought this may be a nice opportunity to provide "flavor" for Jewelcraft which is sadly missing in professions (JC included) as of late, but it is the Orb of Mystery that makes the creation of these mounts untenable for all but the wealthiest. While all the other items can be created in game or purchased from other players, the Orb of Mystery is sold from Big Keech in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms for a whopping sum of 18,000g, each. Truly a ridiculous expense for those interested in crafting a single panther for their own use, but if you consider a JC who wanted to own the entire collection of 5 panthers, it would take 144,000g in Orbs of Mystery alone (4 for each previous panther to "learn", 4 for another copy of each panther to create the Jeweled Onyx Panther!) not counting the other costs of materials!
Sadly there are already some truly insane gold sinks in Mists of Pandaria (ie the 100,000g Grand Yak), which I feel are already way too expensive - the vast majority of players will never end up with 100,000g - it is only an absolutely minute amount of the population that, through auction manipulation, sales of extremely rare items or events (raid slots, PVP slots etc..) will ever come even close. MoP's prices even on things like the Black Market AH etc.. have gone way out of wack; it seems that Blizz has forgotten that for many players who don't study the secrets of moneymaking, simply affording Master Riding (and all associated flying fees) is still a lot of money, much less something like the costs of entering the Brawler' Guild!. There are already enough reasonable goldsinks out there (ie the 2000g White Shaghorn Goat from the Tillers etc..) that these excessive ones are not necessary. If it is necessary to handle those in the top 1% of gold ownership, if would be better spent eliminating some of the tactics available to amass such a fortune that is way outside the curve.
Thus, it is totally unnecessary to bind such an excessive cost to a profession-created item. Simply removing the Orb of Mystery as necessary for the creation of each panther would go a long way to making them affordable and accessible. At this point in Pandaria, it would be much appreciated to allow Jewelcrafters to actually enjoy the fruits of their time and money. If the Orb of Mystery MUST be used, I suggest requiring it only for the creation of the Jeweled Onyx Panther, not for the other 4 (ie The new recipe for Onyx would be the 4 original panthers + 1 Orb of Mystery), and ideally combine this with lowering the price of the Orb by 1/3 - 1/2.
Placing such a barrier to item creation impairs the enjoyment of Jewelcrafting and hamstrings the ability for players to craft the mounts for their own use or for profit. I would greatly appreciate a remedy to this ASAP.
