[Castle2.0]

You're still calculating 60 hours time investment, when in fact you're asking for 200k. If someone could make 200k in 60 hours why would anyone be camping manastones to sell them? You yourself said this isn't reasonable (which is why 60 non afk hours is worth more).

Yes, 60 non-afk, consecutive hours is worth more than 60 hours afk, with breaks, etc.

No, I am not making the case people should camp manastone to sell it. I am making the case it would be worth it to a number of people to camp items/plat to buy it - but also made a side calculation of camping it could also be worth it to use it.

Even if someone could consistently make 2k per hour for their 3 hours of daily play (again, no vacation, no helping guildies, no playing toons not using the manastone, no semi-afk camps because manastone isn't useful there), it would take 9 months for them to break even. Just in time for the usefulness of the manastone to go down in kunark.

The beauty of camping plat/items is you can take a break to go help guildies, take vacations, whatever. People don't have to camp plat/items every hour every day.

It would only take 100 hours of camping 2k/hour to make 200k. These 100 hours can be done at any pace you like. I doubt there would be zero other benefits in those 100 hours like there's no other benefits while camping The Manastone. Even assuming there were no benefits, by the next 500 active play hours you break even and gain time from then on. At the casual 3 hours/day you suggested, that's not 9 months, that's 5 1/2. Kunark comes out in 9. If someone is more hardcore and plays 6 hours/day they break even in under 3 months. These people are definitely Manastone buyers.

Just because Kunark releases doesn't mean The Manastone is now useless.

1. If you're a wiz, druid, necro, etc. you're probably soloing. Even with Kunark/Velious there are great zones to group/solo in classic
2. Manastone currently usable in all available planes
3. Druids/wiz can self port to classic to use Manastone whether it's Kunark or Velious. At 60 with Kunark and even Velious gear with much higher mana pools it becomes even more valuable to do this to get FM

Additional thought: Not only efficient, but fun

We talk about time saved via using The Manastone: efficiency. We haven't yet talked about enjoyment, which is the most important. This is a game after all.

I find it a LOT of fun to use The Manastone. It's almost like using cheat codes -- you can see why it was removed from game. From once you buy it, you no longer start immediately saving time, but it makes the caster experience that much more enjoyable.