How Blizzard dropped the ball with professions

[Kyphael]

First Aid is gone. We hear ideas all the time of the idea of Mage tanks, Warlock Tanks, or even Rogue healers. A running gag was, a Rogue with First Aid sprinting around bandaging players was a Rogue healer, but is that really that ridiculous an idea?

The problem with First Aid was, it was never very useful. Bandages have a casting time just like any healing spell, but they're as inefficient as a band aid. It makes sense, but in a fantasy world where every profession should serve a purpose to end game play, why couldn't professions like First Aid allow pure damage classes to fill the role of an efficient healer in a dungeon or raid group? The way first aid worked, it wasn't anymore useful to a player solo questing than sitting down to eat a Delicious Red Apple to regain their HP.

Professions are in the worst state they've ever been in-game, ever. Never before have they made less gold, been less fun and pointless to level, and never served a purpose to gameplay whatsoever.

If Engineering grenades and other gadgets were more powerful, why couldn't any class that leveled it have used the profession to play like a hybrid Tinker class? A rogue with maxed engineering that sets explosives, launches frost and other grenades and fires missile launchers could be a Tinker. Likewise, any class, even just a damage class like a Mage who can make a mechanized suit to absorb damage while firing mage spells for threat could be a Mage tank. A warlock with herbalism could likewise create powerful potions to either heal or buff parties in an effective way to fill roles or player class fantasies that don't necessarily need to be their own class, but can be achieved by existing assets in-game (professions.)

With all these tools, Blizzard has always just used Professions as either a way to make gold or for cheap cosmetics when they can be so much more and add more depth to game play by making professions a supplemental option to add further depth to game play and combat.

It could be argued that making professions this strong would diminish the purpose and role of classes. "If rogues with first aid could be healers, we'd have no rogues actually being rogues!" "If mages with engineering could tank, we'd have no mages entering queues as damage only." To that argument I'd say, people who play pure damage classes, more often than not have no interest in healing or tanking to begin with. Healing and tanking aren't roles everyone masters or enjoy. Those players would still be filling pure damage roles anyway, giving professions a higher purpose in the in-game combat only gives those with the desire to max out a profession and take advantage of the potential versatility it brings so they can be a rogue healer, or a mage tank, pending they become master Engineers (Tinkers) or master First Aid healers.

What do you think?

[shaggawoolin]

Crafting is a joke in world of warcraft. It seems it is meant to be an extension to acquire gear for raiding. While it could offer a complete gearing path outside of raiding.

The thing is just the devs do not want to put any effort into it. Lazy, biased and stupid guys doing nothing because they only care about raids and dungeons.

[Socialhealer]

Just watch the first 4 minutes that's all you need, it pretty much hits the nail on the head comically about the state of Professions in 8.3

[Justpassing]

Well... whenever I see a comment like "Oh my gosh you guys it's WARcraft, not PEACEcraft!!" or something inane like that I always think of professions and snicker.

[Kyphael]

Crafting is a joke in world of warcraft. It seems it is meant to be an extension to acquire gear for raiding. While it could offer a complete gearing path outside of raiding.

The thing is just the devs do not want to put any effort into it. Lazy, biased and stupid guys doing nothing because they only care about raids and dungeons.

Sadly, I didn't even touch up on the states of Blacksmithing, Leatherworking and Tailoring but you're right. They should be an alternate means of gearing other than dungeons and raids for those that wish it. In a way, they used to be, crafting gear used to be sought after and valuable. Somewhere, Blizzard just stopped caring to make those three professions meaningful to end game gearing and started focusing on instance gear acquisition, while hilariously taking away tier sets.

[shaggawoolin]

In a way, they used to be, crafting gear used to be sought after and valuable.

Yeah, in TBC we were able to craft T4 gear.. completely without any mats from raids or dungeons. It was quite fun to create those sets.

Somewhere, Blizzard just stopped caring to make those three professions meaningful to end game gearing and started focusing on instance gear acquisition, while hilariously taking away tier sets.

Well, crafting is another thing Ion Hazzikostas does not understand. And another thing to blame him for.

A theorycrafter who only knows boss mechanics and DPS sims is just not the guy to create a fantasy for a great crafting setting.

[Pony Soldier]

I think my biggest problem with professions is that it seems like for every profession there's always a point where you need to farm for a material that only drops in dungeons or raids and then on top of that it has a shitty drop rate. So you'd run these dungeons and raids and get shit out of them wasting hours and hours even days of your time. It's that shit that turns me off from going any further with my professions. Not only that but for the professions that can make gear and weapons all of the shit you make is useless garbage so it makes crafting them pointless. Most of the time too they don't even look that cool either so I can't even use them for transmog.

[Lord Pebbleton]

It would be a terrible idea without some work behind it.

For example, let's say that rogue tinker is the best dps class. To be competitive, EVERYONE will have to go tinker. If you are not one, you are benched for someone who is. So you gotta drop your profession and go engineer.

Then next patch you actually deal more damage without tinkering. Now you are frustrated because you are stuck with a subpar profession and you lost all progress in your old one just to get invited to things.

Professions would need to be reworked from the ground up for this to work.

[ArkantosChampion]

Classic/Tbc/Wotlk best time of proffesions