When MoP comes out the new orb will be called a Spirit of Harmony (SoH). They will be needed, it appears, for most craftable items. The source for SoH comes from mobs in the world (not exclusively 5 man bosse like in Cata). Apparently, there maybe a mote type drop which combines into SoH. SoH is BOP!!! Apparently Blizz wants to make everyone that has a crafting profession farm motes.
We also don't know yet if there are patterns that are drops like in the previous several xpacs. If there are, we propose we handle them just as we have in the past. Give them to an established profession maxed guildie, whom promises in excahnge to have some SoHs availabe if a fellow guildie wants something crafted and somehow will get reimbursed for said SoHs.
A blue post on SoH.
Spirit of Harmony as the new resource du jour.
Harmonious Prospects
In Mists of Pandaria, we’re introducing a new material known as the Spirit of Harmony. It slices— it dices— well, ok, it doesn’t, but crafters of any stripe will find it has many uses. By now, any experienced crafter is used to filling bags with a variety of materials such as Primal Life, Primal Fire, Primal Earth, etc. but in Mists of Pandaria, it’s all about Spirit of Harmony (in combination with the usual materials, like ore, leather, and gems). Spirit of Harmony is the result of the designers simplifying an already complex system while still keeping a wide variety of possibilities open to players. Much like with other Primals, Motes of Harmony can be combined (10 to 1) to create one Spirit of Harmony.
Harmony is Personal
Let’s get right to it. Spirit of Harmony is a Bind on Pickup (or “BoP” to veterans) crafting material that can be found on every lootable creature in every zone in Pandaria -- from dungeons to the outdoor world. Intially, we want crafters to be out in the world adventuring instead of camping out in front of an auctioneer, hoping to score some cheap mats.
We understand that this may be of concern to those who play a variety of profession alts, and may consider other options for the future, including the possibility of allowing Spirits of Harmony to be Bind to Account in a future patch.
In addition to serving as a core crafting ingredient, Spirits of Harmony can also be used to purchase a variety of additional bonuses or materials that your character may need. While not every profession will get equal value out of them, most everyone will need to collect them for one reason or another.
Here are some examples of the many ways that Spirit of Harmony can be used:
Alchemy: Purchase an extra Transmute.
Archaeology: Purchase a restored artifact.
Cooking: Exchange for an Iron Paw Token.
Enchanting: Buy reagents.
Engineering: New mounts and personal goggles.
Herbalism: Purchase herbs.
Inscription: Purchase rare inks.
Jewelcrafting: Use to purchase extra daily discoveries.
Tailoring, Blacksmithing, Leatherworking: Used to create epic items.
Purchasing materials may not ultimately be the most efficient way to gain resources, but it can be an added convenience to purchase something with Spirit of Harmony rather than going back into the world to get it. The Spirit of Harmony vendor can be found in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
How to value SoH ...
The following is from wowinsider and how to value chaos orbs ( a similar situation at the time).
There's no quick and simple way to find the value of a Chaos Orb, but for sure, they do have a definite value. And to get the most money out of your profession, you need to know exactly what that value is.
Rule #1: Chaos Orbs are not created equal
We've all seen the question roll across trade chat at one point or another: "What's a Chaos Orb worth?" It'll probably get a few people offering pricing advice, but the question is deceptive. There's no one value of a Chaos Orb. The value of a Chaos Orb depends on what profession you're going to use it in.
Counterintuitive? Maybe. But it's absolutely true.
Consider, for a moment, how the Chaos Orb market would work if they were liquid assets -- that is, if they weren't bind on pickup. A tailor who wins a Chaos Orb in a heroic now has two options: He can either use that Orb (plus four others) to create Dreamcloth via Dream of Destruction, or he can just head to the auction house and sell it to someone else. It becomes a simple economic decision; tailors generally don't put much value on Chaos Orbs because they can make Dreamcloth via other routes, so most would sell it to a leatherworker, blacksmith, or engineer, who have no other option but to use Chaos Orbs to create epics. The market would quickly establish a price for Chaos Orbs. It'd become uniform across all professions.
But that's not how the Chaos Orb market works. A leatherworker who has a Chaos Orb can't sell it to a blacksmith or engineer. He has to use it for his own recipes. There's absolutely no competition between professions for these (save, of course, the need roll in heroics!); the only pricing competition is between a particular leatherworker and every other leatherworker of the same faction. There will be a different level of supply for that particular profession, and thus, a different price.
Until Chaos Orbs become unbound, there are four distinct types: the tailor's Chaos Orb, the leatherworker's Chaos Orb, the blacksmith's Chaos Orb, and the engineer's Chaos Orb. Each will have its own distinct value on your server.
Obviously, the value of a Chaos Orb is going to differ from server to server. That being said, the relative values are usually the same across all servers: Chaos Orbs are generally worth the most to a blacksmiths and leatherworkers; they're worth less to engineers; and they're worth the least to tailors. (After all, for tailors, five Chaos Orbs have pretty much the same value as 30 lousy Volatile Life.)
Calculating the value
Let's consider a new scenario now. You're a blacksmith, and someone's come up to you and asked you to make Lightforged Elementium Hammer. He already has the eight pieces of Truegold and the 30 Volatile Water; you have the five necessary Chaos Orbs on hand. How do you come up with a fee for making the Hammer that's acceptable for both parties?
Solving this mystery isn't rocket science. It's algebra. Literally. See, we have a basic equation:
8 Truegold + 30 Volatile Water + 5 Chaos Orbs = 1 Lightforged Elementium Hammer
We can easily figure out the value of the eight Truegold, 30 Volatile Water, and Hammer by heading to The Undermine Journal (or for you folks on EU servers, by heading to the auction house). We need only search for the Lightforged Elementium Hammer, scroll down to the Component Parts section, and see what the non-Orb materials are worth. As of yesterday (July 31, 2011), the Hammer was selling for 12,500g; the non-Orb materials were selling for about 5,363g.
Calculating the value of the Chaos Orbs is then simple math -- 12,500g minus 5,363g equals 7,137g. That's pretty spectacular -- win a roll at the end of a heroic, and you've just scored a 1,427g item.
Before you go selling those orbs for 7,137 gold, though, do a quick check of the other blacksmithing items that require Chaos Orbs and make sure that value isn't out of line. Check how much the five Chaos Orbs are worth if you're making a Masterwork Elementium Spellblade. See how much they're worth if you're making Pyrium Spellward. Check i359 items, i365 items, and i378 items. And this is the most important point of all -- if your second profession on that character is another crafting profession that uses Chaos Orbs, see what they're worth for that profession. You don't want to sell a Chaos Orb for 500g if you can sell it for 1,000g crafting something else.
From there, it's all about haggling. I recommend trying to sell those Orbs a little higher than their actual value if you can, but ultimately, you should be comfortable selling the Orbs at a slight discount. Remember, if you were selling that Lightforged Elementium Hammer for 12,500g on the auction house, the AH would get a 625g commission. If you wind up negotiating a price of 7,000 gold for the five, you both win.
Should you sell Chaos Orbs?
Any time you start talking about crafting items over trade, you'll run into some controversy from the gold-making set. "Don't do it," they cry!
"They're taking advantage of you for a lousy tip!"
"You have to factor in all the work you put in to grind Molten Front dailies to get those blacksmithing plans!"
Don't listen to them. It's all nonsense.
When you're offering your services over trade chat, you've got the power to negotiate a fair price for your effort. Consider how much you could make crafting that particular item and selling it on the auction house, and then price your efforts based on the profit margin. Remember, the auction house is, for the most part, efficient -- it already prices in the fact that the seller had to grind dailies or pay for the necessary plans/pattern.
If Chaos Orbs are worth 1,000 gold each by crafting gear and selling it on the auction house, then there's no reason why you should turn down the opportunity to sell them for a similar price over trade.