Profession benefits

[Lokipower]

I much prefer the vanilla approach. Having all professions provide what is essentially the same bonus in total stats make the whole system bland and homogenized. Right now some professions can harvest, some have crazy good BOP recipes, some have cooldowns, engineering has gadgets, etc. Lots of fun variety, preference/roleplaying choice according to what you lean towards. Much more interesting than "everyone gets +5 stats in some way or another" of later expansions imo.

[Berdal]

Here's what ChatGPT says about it:

Using ChatGPT to do your work for you is not It bro.

What a troll. This is an excellent use case of ChatGPT.

I can definitely sign onto the profession buffs but only if they are tied to having matching professions.

Like Mixology only works if you have Alchemy AND herbalism.

Otherwise you will have a push for people to make gathering alts to min/max their actual character which defeats much of the purpose.

That's a good take! Alternatively, make the gathering professions equally advantageous/beneficial.

[Darien]

I much prefer the vanilla approach. Having all professions provide what is essentially the same bonus in total stats make the whole system bland and homogenized. Right now some professions can harvest, some have crazy good BOP recipes, some have cooldowns, engineering has gadgets, etc. Lots of fun variety, preference/roleplaying choice according to what you lean towards. Much more interesting than "everyone gets +5 stats in some way or another" of later expansions imo.

I agree with you. I'm pretty solidly against passive buffs just for having professions. That ultimately results in professions just becoming another homogenized raid grind... which is exactly what happened in retail.

[Berdal]

I agree with you. I'm pretty solidly against passive buffs just for having professions. That ultimately results in professions just becoming another homogenized raid grind... which is exactly what happened in retail.

And as it stands now, what other profession has any competitive advantage compared to Engineering?

In my eyes this suggestion is to level the playing field, so "BiS" professions may very depending on class/spec/play style, and you're not necessarily on a competitive disadvantage (or at least less so) if you freely choose a profession according to your character RP/fantasy.

[Crimsonclaws]

Here's what ChatGPT says about it:

In Wrath of the Lich King, each primary profession provided a unique personal bonus in addition to its normal crafting or gathering features. These bonuses were designed so that every profession offered a similar overall power level, but in different ways.

Examples include:

Blacksmithing: Two extra gem sockets.
Jewelcrafting: Access to stronger unique gems.

Enchanting: Exclusive ring enchants.

Leatherworking: Stronger bracer enchant.

Inscription: Stronger shoulder enchant.

Alchemy: Longer flask duration and improved flask effects.

Engineering: Unique glove, cloak, and boot tinkers with utility or temporary stat boosts.

Tailoring: Special cloak embroideries.

The purpose of these bonuses was to make professions part of character progression rather than just a way to make gold or craft items.

If THIS is what we are talking about...then NO, but if we are talking about passive buffs being given from professions...like leatherworking giving an AP bonus against beasts then YES!

[Fugus]

If THIS is what we are talking about...then NO, but if we are talking about passive buffs being given from professions...like leatherworking giving an AP bonus against beasts then YES!

If this is the suggestion, then no, it's borderline worthless. And the meta still boils down to "Engineering + X" for end game players who bother with alts.

And using your own example, what good does that AP do for casters who use leather or mail? Or if you were going to just keep it to the AP for AP users, how much would that AP have to be to compete with the benefits of Engineering? Then how much more AP do you need to throw onto Skinning as well to make sure that that is able to compete with Engineering?

Edit: Unless you wanted to merge the gathering profession with their associated crafting profession and make it where they could only choose a single primary profession instead. Then it would be much easier to balance things against each other.

[Holydruid]

No please dont do anything like this.
You will just create a culture where specific professions are BIS for classes and other professions no one wants to do. Right now every profession is in a good spot (except for goldsmith, fuck that prof)

[Fugus]

No please dont do anything like this.
You will just create a culture where specific professions are BIS for classes and other professions no one wants to do. Right now every profession is in a good spot (except for goldsmith, fuck that prof)

Really?

Mining/Blacksmithing
Skinning/Leatherworking
Tailoring/Enchanting
Herbalism/Alchemy

Which one of these compares with Engineering/ANY other primary?
Or Blacksmithing/Enchanting
Or Leatherworking/Enchanting

As it stands, without this, There is already one profession that is BiS for every class and every spec that no other competes with.

And three (possibly four) professions that are worst in slot for all classes and specs as they can all be 100% replaced by alts or the auction house.

[Enziszero]

If anything, engineering needs a nerf to not have effect in raid. Professions should be a true choice of what people actually want to do, and not be centered around parse culture. Ultimately this depends on what those benefits are. If it's something interesting that doesn't effect raiding, then heck yeah! Having a flute to get a critter to follow you world be super fun! OK doesn't have to be that, but you get the point: benefits should match the true classic rpg nature of the game. On the other hand, if the op wants parse benefits, professions will be completely destroyed and never be choices again.

[Berdal]

Which one of these compares with Engineering/ANY other primary?
Or Blacksmithing/Enchanting
Or Leatherworking/Enchanting

As it stands, without this, There is already one profession that is BiS for every class and every spec that no other competes with.

And three (possibly four) professions that are worst in slot for all classes and specs as they can all be 100% replaced by alts or the auction house.

If anything, engineering needs a nerf to not have effect in raid. Professions should be a true choice of what people actually want to do, and not be centered around parse culture. Ultimately this depends on what those benefits are. If it's something interesting that doesn't effect raiding, then heck yeah! Having a flute to get a critter to follow you world be super fun! OK doesn't have to be that, but you get the point: benefits should match the true classic rpg nature of the game. On the other hand, if the op wants parse benefits, professions will be completely destroyed and never be choices again.

These two are the only takes that are correct. Either make Engineering competitively irrelevant or uniquely bring the other professions up on par.

Anyone that disagrees are flat out wrong from a balancing point of view.

The best thing, in my opinion, would be if they all had unique MINOR benefits. This way you wouldn't be punished for going with personal or RP/fantasy choices. And you'd still be able to minmax, but it would matter less because they'd all be closer in the small power level they'd have.