Back from both work and holiday travel, it’s really nice to be sitting here writing about WoW again. Whenever road trips hit for holiday, work or in this case both, I find it’s hard to find the time to write. I’m not sure all writers have the same writing routine, personally mine is sitting at my gaming machine, having my morning coffee, and doing some research. Anyway, I was following How to Improve the WoW Economy in the Professions Forums where Painbunny from Shandris chimed in on revamping professions.
Painbunny did a great job articulating the fact that you efforts and investments (time and gold) are rarely recovered in the process of leveling a profession especially pre-WoTLK. The thought process was to allow items to be deconstructed in a way where some ability existed to level. It’s sort of let’s take it apart and see how it works type option. If I were to draw this picture in my head it would be the equivalent of a Blacksmith being able to disenchant an item for points. Although I find it unlikely, I find this a refreshing viewpoint that definitely warrant discussion.
Making an option to deconstruct an item certainly does make things a bit more interesting. One option that might make this viable is to provide a XX% chance to recieve a skill point in the deconstruction process. One thing that would happen is that people looking to level professions would in turn start buying those rarely used crafted items.
For example, let’s say your a tailor on your way to level 80, you’re out in the Plaguelands and the Pattern: Ghostweave Vest drops, you decided to craft a few of these since you can still level with them, normally you would just vendor these items or disenchant. If the deconstruct option were to exist, someone who was leveling tailoring between 250-275 could deconstruct the item to attempt to learn how it’s made. In that event that person could earn leveling points or even perhaps even learn the recipe at no charge.
This would create a viable market for more products, I would find it hard to believe that the prices would be absurd for the items, after all market would be driven by two factors, the potential value of the to obtain a profession level and the value of disenchanting such an item. I don’t think it would be too difficult to come up with the math to balance the mechanic. I do believe that they could also shut such mechanic off for latest content (Cannot be done with WotLK items).
Overall I think this may be a very plausible path for Blizzard to take, as the level cap increases, XP bonuses make shopping for gear less of a requirement. I would be surprised to see Blizzard make a change like this when I try to think about the development hours involved but it would certainly make leveling such professions a bit more fun to say the least.
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by morningstar, on December 3 2009 @ 5:27 am
it doesnt have to be a skill point for deconstructing, why not allow other professions to benifit from items in the same way enchanters can.
A deconstruction option that returns raw mats would give the ability to skill up using the mats as well as providing an alternative to lets de that item and get another void crystal.
Surely it would make sense that a blacksmith could take a sword or plate chest and smelt it back into a few bars of metal, perhaps not as many as used to make it but some at least. Or a tailor recovering mats from a robe.
Or another approach is to add a research ability, much like glyphs. A big epic gun drops in toc, an engineer uses research on it, the gun it taken to bits and destroyed, but you receive schematic 1-a or 1-b etc from gun, if you combine all 8 schematics (ala darkmoon cards) you get blueprint and you can learn to make this item.
The tradeskills in wow could be expanded to provide much more functionality than they currently have, especially at end game where the only tradeskill used in a day to day way is the disenchant function of enchanting.
by HolyWarrior, on December 6 2009 @ 2:12 pm
OMG. I love the research ability idea. It makes so much sense. Good call Morning star and good article wowecon
by Kurtosis, on December 6 2009 @ 3:43 pm
I just wish they’d add a buy side to the AH. Currently you can only post ‘asks’, items you want to sell and the bid/buyout prices you are asking for them.
But that’s only 1/2 of a real auction house, which also includes a buy/bid side, where people also post what they want to buy and the price they are willing to buy it for.
Markets are liquid when the bid/ask coincides in enough volume that deals get done and the market is constantly gets cleared, and illiquid when that does not occur.
That one change would make the WoW economy much more interesting, imho.