I have been searching for more on how professions will proceed in The War Within and have not found a clear answer.
Will everyone need to re-level from scratch?
Will current max level blacksmiths remain max level blacksmiths?
Will there just be a few additional levels in the tree?
Any concrete information on the subject would be much appreciated!
There is no concrete information.
For the new expansion’s version more than likely.
For Dragonflight recipes, I assume so.
I assume the trees will be completely new or nonexistent for The War Within.
I mean we gotta level expansion professions every other expansion
So, good chance you gotta level
It’ll be just like DF, with maybe tweaks to work orders, and maybe how we get specialist points.
Otherwise, yea, expect essentially what they did with DF.
I’m betting quality level stays too.
I hope not. DF killed professions for me. I’ll just skip professions entirely if this is how they will stay going forward.
It’s safe to say that, as in every prior expansion, you will have to level each profession for the new content. The question is more what they will do with crafting as a whole. The current system with work orders has very mixed reviews. That said I like the way they did specializations
The biggest problem (for me) was the slow pace of getting specialization points, and the fact that they were permanently applied.
But I don’t know how the integrity of the system they have can be maintained without those limitations, and they spent a lot of time and effort on the new system. They’re likely loathe to just toss it away after one try.
This is normally in every expansion, so I think it’s safe to say it will be the same.
You will always remain max level with that xpack, but just need to relevel with the new xpacks stuff.
Who knows if there will even be a new tree (I’m sure there would be) When DF launched they talked about DF being a foundational xpack, so the things added would not be going away but evolving.
Safe bet: Your Dragon Isles Blacksmithing will remain wherever you have it, and you’ll learn Khaz Algar Blacksmithing, which you then level using mats and recipes from TWW content. That’s how it works with every other expansion’s profession branches.
Inspiration is going away (which suggests the rest of the foundation is remaining)
There will be a source of NPC work orders
(The fairly short interview I remember is lost somewhere in an avalanche of streamer videos of speculation and brainstorming that I am not having much success sifting through, so I can’t back up my less-than-perfect memory with the original source)
We won’t have any concrete information, in one form or another, till Alpha starts. And by the time Beta gets here we’ll have several changes to what we see in Alpha.
They have a long history of tossing away things that didn’t work after one try. I suspect you’re right that a similar crafting system will probably stick around though. A lot of people liked it. I just don’t happen to be one of them.
I agree that it will maintain the same general framework as DF but I sure hope there are some greatly needed improvements. I’m holding out buying until I see what happens with profs and delves. 
You’re probably right.
Blizz developers have said in the past that because they work multiple expansions ahead, often once they realize a certain feature or system is widely hated, or just didn’t work the way they wanted it to, it’s still too late to pull it from the next expansion, so everyone has to go thru another round of it before it’s finally gone.
I can’t quite remember at this point but I think they were referencing borrowed power and mission tables at the time.
So yeah, professions will likely still be a mess in war within, but some of the issues may be addressed in Midnight.
Yikes. That’s a long time to wait for better crafting. 
I’m debating going “all in” on professions next expansion.
Leveling an alt army, getting 2 toons per profession, so that that can specialize down separate trees simultaneously.
Once they hit all of the base targets for knowledge points, then just cycle through them each week (do a couple quests, kill a couple mobs, loot a couple chests) to keep them on top of the knowledge point grind.
Dunno if that’s going to be utter hell or not.
They need to delete work orders and have a base piece on the AH. Let people slot in their own crests and sparks into their own gear.
Right now bots and cartels runs the entire work order market.
(disclaimer: I might try again … but I also might burn out fast)
Since each expansion is divided into it’s own skill level, most likely yes.
Each expansion is divided into its own skill level, so safe bet that yes your Dragonflight Blacksmithing will remain unchanged and you’ll need to go learn Khaz Algar (or whatever they call it) Blacksmithing when TWW comes out.
We’ve no idea. They’ve not shared much information on what Profession trees will look like in TWW. They could be expanded… or we might get entirely new trees. We’ll have to see when Alpha and Beta are available.
yes we do have to start all over again, they have made some minimal changes…
I used to love professions… but I dont know if I will even touch them if the gear or the things are worthless… it just a time sink…