azazeldeath wrote:
I don't understand why people say that you shouldn't take up a profession. Only yesterday I got told I should drop alchemy (at 300) and take up mining because 'you can never make money off alchemy'.
Well thats the biggest lie I've ever heard. Even at 300 I can pull a decent amount of gold in. I have a small group of people who buy potions off me, the main two are greater rage and free action.
I make an easy 150+g a day, thats still questing, grinding and 'farming' herbs.
Yeah its true that you should start your first toon with two gathering skills, but never underestimate tradeskills, if no one did them well a large portion of the game will most likely collapse.
First, thanks for the bump of a topic two-weeks old.
Second, thanks for reiterating points we have gone over already if you read the thread. Let me show you what you missed.
azazeldeath wrote:
I don't understand why people say that you shouldn't take up a profession.
Dlbrt wrote:
I never tell someone that trade skills aren't worth it, heck I've leveled whole chars just so I had access to certain trade skills. However, if I were starting warcraft over back on my priest, I wish someone had told ME that my first char should run double gatherer instead of trying to level enchanting and tailoring. I
lionlemus wrote:
I have to agree with the majority of posters here. Crafting skills are fun and useful, but not the best for the WoW newbie.
I wrote:
...The ONLY professions I really consider leveling while I level are engineering and alchemy. Both of them will always be helpful, and you'll use the items you make (mostly because they can't sell, but often because they are pretty darn useful). You'll have excess, but it's not nearly as useless at some of the other professions.
...
Telling people to not take trade skills, I'll agree, is stupid. Telling people that taking a trade skill is inefficient, in both gold-making and time, is the truth.
Not one of these posters said "don't take a profession." They all explained, along with the others, that a profession is
not as efficient as taking a gathering skill. I even mention that the only professions I usually consider taking while I level are alchemy (which you use in your own example), and engineering.
Now, every profession has some sort of niche at some point. A lot of tailored and leatherworked items can be given to a disenchanter, who can usually turn a profit off the dusts and essences. Some alchemy potions have a constant demand thanks to PvP, like the FAP and QP. However, these are niches, and of limited use. You can only sell so much dust per day (dust that isn't arcane, I mean), and will usually run out of cheap materials in order to make the LW or tailoring items before you can make a large profit. And only a certain amount of PvP potions will sell a day as well. The profit you make in both cases will be relatively small, and will still require work (tracking down recipes, getting all the materials, finding a disenchanter, etc).
Edit: And if you're going to be doing all this work to sell the items for a small profit anyway, you might as well just play the AH. Find low items, resell them high. Or better yet (if you want to be less of a ******* :-P), get enchantrix and follow OhMikeGhod's guide on how to make a killing with (dis)enchanting. This will make you a LOT more profit than eeking out a few silver per synth.
Double gathering, on the other hand, will ALWAYS make you money. My whole idea is: why take your alchemy up to 150 or whatever it is to make PvP potions for, maybe, 5-10g of net profit a day, when you can take up skinning at the same time as herbalism, and do both out in the field to make money? It seems a much more efficient use of time... and you get a lot more profit.
This entire discussion wasn't us saying "DON'T DOOOO IT!" It's saying: "Weigh the pros and cons, and think of the opportunity costs. Even if you IGNORE them, it doesn't mean they're not there." The best advice at the end is "Do what you want to." People like me look at skills as a means to an end (getting gold!), so I don't take into account any subjective factors like "I like to tailor bags!" I've lost that glow that I had years ago and have refined my focus into being efficient :-P
Edited, Jul 29th 2008 1:51pm by LockeColeMA