Have Professions Ever Felt So Worthless So Early In An Expansion?

[IIamaKing]

Blizzard has ruined professions all around. I can't fathom how this current incarnation got past alpha testing. The actual gear and mats are useless, and tying them into garrisons made them even more garbage.

No, they aren't.

[miffy23]

Neither, actually.

I'd rather we had a rich and interesting crafting system. WoW's crafting was always somewhat weak compared to other MMOs. But WoD has dumbed it down and simplified it and tied it into Garrisons to the point that it's painfully dull.

I guess the real source of discontent is that professions now just feels so unsatisfying. It seems that Blizzard was so intent of making crafting instantly accessible to the great mass of new players and players returning after a long break that they forgot to make it interesting for those of us who have actually enjoyed it over the years.

I've played pretty much every other MMO out there, I keep wondering what people mean by that "rich and deep crafting". Crafting is either FAR more grindy in most other MMOs, or it is gated behind paywalls. I have yet to see an amazing crafting system outside of WoW that is actually more fun. Many other MMOs beat WoW in certain aspects like PvP or Housing, Rp, etc...but crafting not so much, I just feel like it's a side activity in every game and not a very enjoyable one in any of them.

[BergErr]

I've played pretty much every other MMO out there, I keep wondering what people mean by that "rich and deep crafting". Crafting is either FAR more grindy in most other MMOs, or it is gated behind paywalls. I have yet to see an amazing crafting system outside of WoW that is actually more fun. Many other MMOs beat WoW in certain aspects like PvP or Housing, Rp, etc...but crafting not so much, I just feel like it's a side activity in every game and not a very enjoyable one in any of them.

Was pretty good in Lineage2, there were even a dedicated class to find crafting materials.
2nd loot table on all mobs, only for that class.
And one class could do the crafts.

[Binko]

I've played pretty much every other MMO out there, I keep wondering what people mean by that "rich and deep crafting". Crafting is either FAR more grindy in most other MMOs, or it is gated behind paywalls. I have yet to see an amazing crafting system outside of WoW that is actually more fun. Many other MMOs beat WoW in certain aspects like PvP or Housing, Rp, etc...but crafting not so much, I just feel like it's a side activity in every game and not a very enjoyable one in any of them.

SWTOR crafting is far more interesting and enjoyable than WoW's. And it's very accessible. EQ2 had a very interesting crafting system.

Honestly, I'd be fairly happy with the way WoW's crafting used to be. You had to go out in the world to gather mats. And you often had to work on rep or make some other effort to get recipes.

[miffy23]

SWTOR crafting is far more interesting and enjoyable than WoW's. And it's very accessible. EQ2 had a very interesting crafting system.

Honestly, I'd be fairly happy with the way WoW's crafting used to be. You had to go out in the world to gather mats. And you often had to work on rep or make some other effort to get recipes.

You ARE kidding me, right?
SWTOR's crafting is literally a copy-paste of the old WoW system pre-WoD, only with guess what: TIME GATING included through crew missions xD

There's nothing that SWTOR crafting has that isn`t in WoW. I love SWTOR, but the crafting is pretty much the same system as in WoW, and certainly not more engaging in any way.

Your dissatisfaction seems to be pretty vague, tbh. Oh and most people hated having essential crafting recipes gated behind rep etc, that's why it's gone. Idc either way, just saying.

[macdisciple]

Blizzard has ruined professions all around. I can't fathom how this current incarnation got past alpha testing. The actual gear and mats are useless, and tying them into garrisons made them even more garbage.

Man I used to waste so much time doing the JC to enchant shuffle. I made a lot of gold, but now I dont worry about that ****, and I don't have to power level my alts either so that I have access to ore, etc. I feel more self-sufficient, and less driven to make gobs of gold.

[Deleted]

No, I have always made lots of enchanting buying cheap mats when on AH and craft enchants to sell. This is first time when already mats go for higher than actual enchants on AH, and I expect it to become even worse when mats become cheaper.
Tailoring always had bags and threads on pants to sell, and at start of xpac pvp gear always sold ok.
So, they took the biggest poop on professions they ever could this xpac... which is sad because I have had lots of fun with professions and AH. I had JC alt that made tons of gold throughout expansions in the past, and I enjoyed prospecting ore. I miss glory days of buying botters ore on AH in wotlk and prospect and vendor and get lots of gold... sure a bit of work. I sometimes even farmed my own ore and prospected and vendored so it was all pure profit.
I have no JC today but I feel sorry for them, and I feel sorry myself... no gem slots at all on pvp gear is shamefully sad =(

[azurrei]

*requires pressing same cooldown for 5-15 days and posting once on AH along with some animal trapping, turning GR from 10 alts into Draenic dust, and letting your TSM Sniper run for 3-8hrs a day.

It requires zero "market analysis". That's what previous expansions required. I'm on 3rd EU largest server and I had barely any competition in some markets. These are some of markets I had to drop because they have very low or non-existant profit margins and they were profitable during Cata/MoP for me:
-TBC and WotLK gems
-LW bags
-old Enchants (Mongoose
-some bar xmuting/smelting (Saronite, Trillium, Titansteel etc)
-crafted mounts
-part of xmog gear that appears in Salvage yard
-part of xmog gear from instances VERY easy to solo now
etc.

It's not that professions are worthless, it's just that "niche" markets went to hell, and you can't even be creative about your goldmaking anymore.
Get your 10 lv96+ alts, spam CDs and you'll probably make a solid 300k a month.

... lol - you realize that half of the stuff you just posted falls under "analyzing markets," right?

[Mormolyce]

I think they should consider making SB easier to obtain, possibly give you one with the daily heroic? I mean I have made a FORTUNE from selling SB, but I think it feels punishing to a lot of people to have two bottlenecks to crafting gear. Plus I don't bother upgrading anything because selling 640 gear for 12k and SB for 1-2k each means I'd need to make over 30k off a piece upgraded a single time to make a profit, and it's simply too risky to list something at that price point when it might not even sell - whereas the 640s and bloods sell fast. Really fast.

I still have one guy slowly leveling, but he already hit his 3 crafted item max and now he can't even make armor for himself. Feels pointless to give armor to alts because even LFR gear is just as good. Weapons are especially pointless: I give my hunter a 630 gun and if I go to the expense of upgrading it it becomes 640, upgrade it again for a huge cost and it's 655. But even the upcoming LFR will drop 650 items. So why bother?

1) In the past you generally had two crafted items of raid quality, for two specific slots, with fixed stats. Now you can craft gear for any 3 slots with any stats you want. Just got a better wrist from raiding? No problem, wear a crafted leg instead. Stats on crafted items are shit for you? No problem, reroll them.

2) If you have extra crafted gear, sell it. I just now made 12k selling a 640 chest.

3) Any crafted item that doesn't have a bottleneck rapidly diminishes in value. Look at the slim profit margins you used to make on and gear that just required farmable mats. Competition is huge, you make little. Profit margins on limited CD items are massive, but you make a lot less of them.

[shifu]

As Herb/Alch combo yes. . .i feel like its worthless. I miss something to transmute!

[Mormolyce]

*requires pressing same cooldown for 5-15 days and posting once on AH along with some animal trapping, turning GR from 10 alts into Draenic dust, and letting your TSM Sniper run for 3-8hrs a day.

It requires zero "market analysis". That's what previous expansions required. I'm on 3rd EU largest server and I had barely any competition in some markets. These are some of markets I had to drop because they have very low or non-existant profit margins and they were profitable during Cata/MoP for me:
-TBC and WotLK gems
-LW bags
-old Enchants (Mongoose
-some bar xmuting/smelting (Saronite, Trillium, Titansteel etc)
-crafted mounts
-part of xmog gear that appears in Salvage yard
-part of xmog gear from instances VERY easy to solo now
etc.

It's not that professions are worthless, it's just that "niche" markets went to hell, and you can't even be creative about your goldmaking anymore.
Get your 10 lv96+ alts, spam CDs and you'll probably make a solid 300k a month.

I haven't tried any niche markets recently because SB blows everything out of the water for profit/time, but I hear MoP bags are still highly profitable at least.

And my personal favourite - the Reborn weapons from ToT BS. I made a KILLING on those in MoP. Bet that's still viable.

- - - Updated - - -

As Herb/Alch combo yes. . .i feel like its worthless. I miss something to transmute!

Yeah I have a lot of Alchs and definitely miss transmuting.

Suggestion: 50 Savage Leather -> 1 Savage Blood transmute. One day CD.

Or maybe 50 primary mats of any kind -> 25 primals?

[middling]

Neither, actually.

I'd rather we had a rich and interesting crafting system. WoW's crafting was always somewhat weak compared to other MMOs. But WoD has dumbed it down and simplified it and tied it into Garrisons to the point that it's painfully dull.

I guess the real source of discontent is that professions now just feels so unsatisfying. It seems that Blizzard was so intent of making crafting instantly accessible to the great mass of new players and players returning after a long break that they forgot to make it interesting for those of us who have actually enjoyed it over the years.

This is my exact feeling. Can I make good gold with professions, sure. Am I logging in my 7 alts to do the daily cooldown and meaningless garrison chores, absolutely not. I defended the garrison at first. People calling it a "facebook" or "mobile" game. But really that's what it is.
No wonder they didn't give us flying because NOBODY LEAVES THE BLOODY GARRISON.

At least in MOP we had the Thunder Forge. Sure it was a pain to get to but when I did get there and make my first 502 item I felt proud of it.
This time, every Tom Dick and Harry all have the same ability to make the same gear and to me that just takes the specialty out of it.

Also buying recipes each day after clicking one button for a daily cooldown is extremely lame. I would prefer to have the reputation recipes again, at least then it had some meaning.

So, If I could I would change the title of this post to.

Have Professions Ever Felt So BORING So Early In An Expansion?

[Al Gorefiend]

Professions needs a complete overhaul. I want to see them equivalent to a mini-game, and better tied to the bank and auction houses. I want to see professions reach the point of such intrigue and fun that people level alts solely to try new professions.

[Eats Compost]

The problem with professions right now is that actually having the profession is only good for daily crafts in the form of stuff like gearspring parts. There's not much point having it for epic crafting, as most of the cost of upgraded craftable items comes from the Savage Blood and can be made by virtually anyone who has the profession. I've made good money off of blacksmithing this expansion, but that's based entirely on the approximate value of my "free" truesteel ingots. It's so abhorrently boring and meaningless as a crafting system.

[NuLogic]

Only profession that got screwed over was alchemy but everything else is better. Crafted armor is finally useful but minor professions aren't this time.

[Mormolyce]

This is my exact feeling. Can I make good gold with professions, sure. Am I logging in my 7 alts to do the daily cooldown and meaningless garrison chores, absolutely not. I defended the garrison at first. People calling it a "facebook" or "mobile" game. But really that's what it is.
No wonder they didn't give us flying because NOBODY LEAVES THE BLOODY GARRISON.

At least in MOP we had the Thunder Forge. Sure it was a pain to get to but when I did get there and make my first 502 item I felt proud of it.
This time, every Tom Dick and Harry all have the same ability to make the same gear and to me that just takes the specialty out of it.

Also buying recipes each day after clicking one button for a daily cooldown is extremely lame. I would prefer to have the reputation recipes again, at least then it had some meaning.

So, If I could I would change the title of this post to.

Have Professions Ever Felt So BORING So Early In An Expansion?

They usually get pretty damn boring after a couple of weeks.

MoP professions only got interesting again when they introduced Reborn BS weapons, celestial cloth etc later on IMO.

[Eats Compost]

Only profession that got screwed over was alchemy but everything else is better. Crafted armor is finally useful but minor professions aren't this time.

Crafted items being useful doesn't necessarily mean that crafting is a good or interesting system, though. The current results could be tied to clicking on some random thing in my garrison once per day for rewards - entirely outside of the profession system - and be much the same.

[Celista]

I actually think the crafting system is an improvement, garrisons make the whole process much more dynamic. No longer do you need to powerlevel herb/mining on an alt for your raiding toon, etc. For those players who already have those professions on their main, they can make crafted items via garrisons without having to swap out their current professions.

Great system, I hope we see something like this in future expansions.

[jn27]

I've found crafting professions to be better than ever, both in making useful gear and making gold.

[Verdell]

I have to agree, gating crafting professions behind garrisons is such a bummer. I just like the fact that it's been said that Garrisons are "optional" but, imo, they feel required to progress your character. I personally feel like I was bait and switched on Garrisons and I even participated in Alpha/Beta. Maybe I just missed a few things there, but it didn't feel as necessary in testing as it does now.

Maybe I'd just prefer not to have Garrisons as the focal point for anything meaningful outside of raiding.