Mr GM has posted a video showing the fireside chat with Ion discussing, among other things, professions in Midnight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwvuBvM7XJ4
Profession discussion starts at 29:39
Here is a transcript of what was said. There were a couple of words I could not make out due to the audio issues.
Mr Gm: Final thing, um, professions, uh so we’ve kind of seen an evolution of professions from Dragonflight going into the War Within, ah, is there anything you want to talk about in regards to professions in Midnight?
Ion: Sure um, the general structure of professions is being carried over from the war within to midnight just as it was from Dragonflight to The War Within. Um that said, I think reflecting on the state of professions today, I think there’s definitely room for improvement.
Um, in Dragonflight, when we overhauled professions, one of our major goals was really to add a level of depth to professions that previously had been lacking. So if you were someone who really wanted to dedicate your character’s identity to being a crafter, you wanted to become a great blacksmith, a great tailor, you could put a lot of time and progression into that and be special, right? You can be the person that everyone on your server is hitting up with orders. And I think that aspect of the system has played out and its been really cool to see.
Um, the other goal that we had was to make professions relevant to nearly everyone. Even if you aren’t yourself a crafter, you should be able to engage in that ecosystem. We also accomplished that.
However, I think the amount of complexity in professions is probably averaged higher than we want it to be right now. And what we’ve heard from many players is that they love the fantasy of professions, but it just feels a bit too overwhelming. And so, I think we’re looking to potentially differentiate professions from each other a bit more.
Like, there’s a certain level of depth and customization that may make sense if you’re a blacksmith, making an item that someone is going to use for the next 5 months. I don’t know if that same level of complexity makes sense when you’re making a potion or gathering an herb, right? And so we’d like to kind of differentiate the professions from each other a bit more so that if you’re someone who wants to engage in trade skills but doesn’t necessarily want to go all the way down that rabbit hole, there are some options that feel more approachable to you.
Mr GM: Fantastic. I love to hear [it]. I guess uh kind of a final thing on professions as well like—we—there’s a lot of décor through old professions, right?
[Ion nods]
Mr GM: So like and things like that which is kind of cool. So guys, if you go and level your old professions right now ‘cause it’s going to be a lot to do. So definitely go and do that. Will we see like new materials coming in for like building different décor and things like that?
Ion: The main avenue for that is going to be an all-new resource called lumber which you’ll be able to just gather out in the world. Um, like a standard gathering skill, just grab a, you know, pickaxe from your neighborhood or, you know, [unintelligible]axe rather, and just carry that with you and you can gather lumber and use it to craft a wide variety of furniture and [unintelligible].
Mr GM: Amazing. So, that’s all I’ve got. That’s uh, that’s everything. So thank you very much for your time again. I really appreciate it. And uh everyone’s super excited for midnight, [audience cheers] anything like that.
Ion: Thank you for your questions. Thank you all for coming out. Really, it’s been amazing being here at Gamescom these past few days, seeing people experience housing, especially hands-on. Like, that’s been—it’s been so special for the team.
[Ion continues with his thanks and says that there will be alpha news in “about a month”
