Should I drop engineering for skins or herbs?

Q u o t e:
I'm a miner and engineer, but seriously considering dropping engineering for another gatherer profession.

1) Is engineering worth keeping? It was very useful back when I pvped, but not as useful in our raid (we have other more dedicated engineers for the raid).

2) If I keep mining but drop engineering, what should I replace it with? I know that the mining and herbalism radars can't both be on at the same time, but I don't mind that. The question is about which is more profitable in the post-BC game: skinning or herbalism?

There has been a lot of discussion on the forums lately about the utility of various professions and how people feel they should be working. Much of the feedback we have received points to professions needing a little work and some better utility for those that choose to take them up. While we can’t give you specifics on what is planned or even dates on when players can expect change, we wanted to let everyone know that all professions are being looked at and will be revamped over time. Engineering will be the first on the list, but all professions are being closely looked at and player feedback is a welcome part of that process.

Q u o t e:


No, Engineering needs a fix now. I'm tired of waiting. I went through my entire mining bag to get 5 points to learn my first orange skill in the past 30 points. So now, everything else is green except a khorium scope which is RIDICULOUS to make.

Your now and ours aren't the same. The most I can say is sooner than later however, I can't give you specifics any more than I have. Things are being worked on "now" but you aren't getting them "now", it's not how it works. Things will need to be added in and tested first and when we feel it's ready, it will be patched in to everyone. I'm sorry if you feel it's going too slow for you but it's better that when we implement something new that it is truly worth people investing in both on our side and on the play side. Patience is necessary for all of us to accomplish change.

Q u o t e:


Why was it that another CM said some details about the changes would be given once you guys informed your Euro team? It seems as if then the reason was because your community relations had to get things together, now it seems that the bottleneck is due to the developers and those actually making the content.

That wasn't another CM, that was me. The information that I could release is what I posted here. I'm sorry if you were expecting something more detailed however, I felt it was important to let people know that we were working on professions and who was at the top of the list for changes.

For the person upset about the use of the term "Trade Skills", it wasn't meant to imply anything other than I used it in place of professions. Whether that means there will be more items available for you to create and sell as an engineer, I couldn't possibly tell you at this point in time. I have edited the first post to reflect this applies to professions to get rid of any confusion.

I felt that this topic warranted the response I said I would get to everyone and I have passed along the message that I can at this point in time. I felt that it would be helpful to some to know that change is planned, is being planned as we speak and is going to be implemented over an unspecified period of time. Take the information as you wish.

If and when we can give more details on what is coming, we will.

Q u o t e:


This is the news we've been waiting for? You've told us nothing new. You just said wait some more and see what changes and we have no idea when we will change things. We new all that! Nethaera you take my hopes and dreams and then you step on them. I swear you guys use players tears to power the servers.

This is far more concrete than 'Wait and see' . Trust me on this one. I just can't comfortably give you a timeline as of yet in case there are reasons that we don't hit that time. We are more able to focus on these things now that the Burning Crusade has released since we can now see how things are running live. While some feel we've been saying we are working on it for awhile now, we are much closer to implementing those changes than we were before. Thus, why I felt it was something that warranted people being told about. Again, I'm sorry if you are disappointed but hopefully there are others who feel it's good news they've been waiting for.

I would suggest that rather than being upset about it, that people start constructive feedback threads on changes and ideas they might have for their profession. We are watching and reading after all.

Would I have been in the office earlier in the week you would have had this post sooner, but I wasn't, thus the slight delay.

Q u o t e:
I look forward to the information, Neth. Though, you'll have to forgive me if my optimism runs on empty. =/

I can understand your guarded demeanor. No worries there.

No one was at fault for the delay in information. As others are pointing out, it's not crucial or highly detailed. It was just something we thought people might like to be aware of. We give information as we can when we can and I had warned it might be a short bit until we could post it. If we give a date and miss it, feel free to flog.

For those that say it's too late for feedback, that's your perogative not to give any if you wish. However, it's more a benefit to you (if you care at all) to continue sharing feedback than to withold it as if to punish us like when children hold their breath. No, I'm not referring to anyone as a child, but it does seem like a statement of "I'm holding my breath until I pass out" than it does anything else to me.

Q u o t e:


We have already given feedback, and have done so for a long time. It would be nice (especially as you guys are always reading everything we write, apparently) for us to actually collaborate instead of just spitting out new ideas and feedback.

But what would benefit the most is if there was time between when Blizzard implemented their own ideas and when they actually went live, for us to give feedback. Given as no player knows what Blizzard is planning, it is not possible for us to give the best possible feedback we could.

Its just as childish to beat a dead horse by giving feedback which has already been gone over so much that its hard to come up with anything original.

We have been reading that feedback and continue to do so, thus why I am encouraging people to continue giving more. Players are given the opportunity to test things on the Public Test Realms as often as possible so if you get the chance, we would love for players to participate in that testing when implemented. If you don't have anything more to give, then that's fine. Wait until you see what we have planned and give more then. We'll still be here.

Nethaera just informed you that Engineering will be the first profession to be reviewed further and that we're working to incorporate these changes in the near future. It may not be the information, or response that you'd receive in a completely perfect world, but it's the truth. Each day we see threads containing promises that all will be right in the world if we'd just provide official acknowledgement or perhaps even just a small commitment that states we're looking into a matter for possible improvement.

When it's given, we're flamed that it doesn't suffice.

We're going to continue to make World of Warcraft the best game possible. Our work never ends. We recognize that each profession plays an important and special role in Azeroth, and we'll continue to make improvements as necessary.