But it wouldn’t “level the playing field” now would it? Why raid if you can just gather resources to get the best gear in the game? Even if they include a raid reagent they would only raid long enough to get enough of the reagent to craft the gear. After that what would they do?
Honestly the way to get professions back into raiding would be to bring back the old profession perks.
However, if you expect a raider to try and go for all recipes, there is no way that will happen. Most recipes are useless except to level the profession with so why would anyone but a completionist (like myself btw) go for all the recipes.
Less than half the players do current-expansion dungeons. Blizzard said that in 2016. Your “starting out” means “after running enough dungeons”.
Your “mostly useless” means “not profitable”: you can’t make gold with it. That has been true for all the armor-making professions for 10 years now. I’ve been a crafter since 2006, so I’m used to this. I make most of my gold during the first 3 months of each expansion, and much less for the rest of the 2 years. Every expansion.
But there are exceptions. Every few months, something becomes profitable for a few weeks or a few months.
OH ABSOLUTELY! and yet Blizzard thought that they could get confirmed dungeon and raid haters ( you know farmer/crafters) to do dungeons and raids and likewise there is now way that that will happen .
What it did accomplish was to make them harder to do. Now a dungeon or raid group is likely to have 20 to 40% of the party just along to be carried. today a group will almost surely have some players who do not know or care about mechanics or fights. so in order to survive they will stay back as far away as possible from the fights.
That reply leads me to believe that you must be a quest lover or do dungeons and raids or PVP. It is obvious that farming/crafting is not your primary objective in WoW, and if Blizz were to remove them you might not immediately cancel your account as many of us who play primarily for the farming/crafting would.
If the only reason to raid is to get good gear, then what is the purpose of good gear? To raid at higher level to get better gear? And then what? Looks like a circular argument to me.
Personally, I think raiding and dungeons should have very little, if anything, to do with gear. Especially raiding. If you really want rewards from raiding, or you don’t see a point of it, then these should be transmogs and achievements and other vanity stuff you can strut around your favorite hub.
As it is, it is ridiculous that I can be a master leatherworker and still unable to craft gear I can actually use or even sell.
Crafting became almost useless in WoD because very very few crafted items would sell at all, and those which did sell took 5 to 10 times as long to farm materials and craft for half the price or less than players who did dungeons and raids could pick up BOE in instances.
that means nothing to players who play 99% for farming and crafting. Players who do not stab old ladies, do not do dungeons, do not drown babies, or run Raids, purchasing gear is out of the question. IF YOU DO EVERY available quest you get through and past the low level gear and even the 340 gear pretty fast. By the time each of your toons get exalted with the 6 starting factions you will almost surely be over ilvl 370
I completely agree with your characterization of professions through those expansion packs. However, the things that lead to state they were “severely broken” are the exact reasons why I liked the playstyle. Maybe that is how they got to today’s version where professions are optional. I liked the version where you received rewards for the effort expended. If that makes me an outsider, so be it.
Wow the nomber one, two, three, and four reason to cap your toon id so that you can BEGIN to farm in earnest. While leveling, farmer toons will risk getting killed to get some of the current mats. but get capped as soon as possible to make farming a less deadly and dangerous activity.
EXACTLY: wouldn’t it be great if blizzard took Dungeons and Raids out of the game completely! Thgen they could not force players to do tham to fly or to advance professions. I think players should be compelled to win 25 pet battles for each dungeon that they want to run, or to craft 500 pieces of current weapons or armor before being able to fly.