Pardon me, sir, but may I have this Rugged Hide?
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
May 14th 2007 at 1:54PM
At level 55, I've finally realized that blacksmithing is not a good profession option for a prot/holy paladin, and is instead a voracious money pit. So I've decided to level up skinning instead to make some epic flying mount cash for my main. After an hour or so spent grinding in Durotar and the Barrens, I headed off to STV, hoping that the area's massive population of 30something beasts would provide my knife with some good fodder.
It was there that I learned that skinning is a great profession for lazy people. I could find a trail of dead mobs, skin them all, and find the original slayer. If it was a Hordie, I would ask permission to skin their kills. If it was a lowbie Alliance, well ... I'd help them by assisting with their mobs, but if they slowed down, I'd start /tapping my foot ... or whack them a couple of times with my sword to encourage them to get moving. There was something funny, in a sadistic way, about using level 38s as slave labor.
I've never had a problem with people getting angry at me for skinning their kills, mostly because I only skin abandoned corpses. Ganarch has been yelled at for skinning abandoned corpses, though, which makes me feel there should be some guide to skinning etiquette. Do you mind if someone skins your kills? What if they're from the other faction?
Filed under: Skinning
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
John May 14th 2007 2:01PM
I always ask. I think there are a few quests that rely on skinned items, and one of the rare times I didn't ask, the person was trying to clear the area BEFORE she skinned. Oops. Plus people like the politeness.
By the way....now the secret is out....
White Rabbit May 14th 2007 2:06PM
The moment someone walks away and doesn't skin right after killing the mob, I skin.
You walk away, you say it's up for freebies
BoBoTheChimp May 14th 2007 2:04PM
There is a really simple solution to this problem. If you aren't a skinner, don't bitch or get mad if someone kills the corpse you have looted and moved on from. If you are a skinner and don't want anyone thinking that you aren't one so they can skin it, skin it after you make your kill. It takes all of what, 5 seconds? There is no way someone should get mad over something they can't even use. When it comes to PUG's or just groups in general, just make it known that you are a skinner. If there are any other skinners in the group simply be a big kid and take turns. I'm sure that can be applied to mining and herbalism too. If someone wants be a jackass and skin before you, leave the group or boot their obviously 14 year old ass ;)
BoBoTheChimp May 14th 2007 2:05PM
*Correction, not kills the corpse, skins it.
::tips hat::
James May 14th 2007 2:12PM
I'm more interested in this slave labor concept you've developed using lowbie players of the opposite faction to kill critters for you. I could get my hunter pet to *encourage* the person to keep moving, or else.
cynthias May 14th 2007 2:11PM
I'm with #4. One of my 70s skins, the other is an herb/alch. I go so far as to mention in guild chat and my guild alliance channel that I'm killin' skinnable mobs in quantity for a quest, and if anyone wants to follow me around skinning, I'll be looting them clean. The LW who took me up on the offer is going to craft a bunch of stuff for me.
And as a skinner, I really do love people who loot ALL the crap out of skinnable mobs, and despise those who don't. Waste not, want not.
BoBoTheChimp May 14th 2007 2:11PM
Sorry for the triple-post but I re-read the original post and I'm sort of confused as to why you found the original killers of the beasts to give them their skins. I have to ask, why? If you are the first to see a node of silver, or a group of herbs, are you entitled to them if you aren't a miner or herbalist? If someone doesn't choose to be a skinner that is on them if they can't skin. Moreover, they probably don't have a profession like tailoring or leatherworking that could use it anyway.
Ichigo May 14th 2007 2:22PM
@#4.
Completely agree. If its a Horde player (I play Horde exclusively) and they move on from a kill that can be skinned, I move in like a vulture.
Alliance is a bit different, as I play on a PvP server, you have to be a bit more conservative or you might just go to blows.
If Im feeling nice, I may ask to party with someone and assist them in their quest (as long as the level difference isn't too great and I'm not being a XP sink).
Oh and Elizabeth, if you believe that Blacksmithing is a money pit, don't go into Jewelcrafting!
Dave May 14th 2007 2:35PM
I'm a 375 skinner on Norgannon and I've always observed the "if you abandon it, it's up for grabs" etiquette. The only exception is if the kill was done by a member of the opposing faction, and then it's "as soon as you loot it, I'm going to start skinning it whether you wanted it or not."
Tseran May 14th 2007 2:40PM
Actually, I have a very simple method for dealing with it, and it should solve all complaints. I was a skinner for the longest time, but since I switched to Mining, the problem is a little worse. If I see someone killing mobs around something I want (node, herb or the corpse itself to skin) I quickly hit the Armory and check what that person's tradeskills are. If they are a skill that ccan use it, then I leave it alone. If not, its fair game. If Fred is cleaning out mobs for his pal Joe to come in and mine the node, Joe had better already be there.
Malineros May 14th 2007 5:48PM
@9 That's pretty bad, even for opposing faction treatment (but then I play on PvE, so forgive my carebear-ness). I was killing mobs on my skinner/LW for the express purpose of skinning for Thick Clefthoof Leather, and I saw a night elf doing the same... then after I killed a couple, he stood there, obviously waiting for me to loot so he could try to jump in on the skinning on me... I waited him out, but I was angry at the audacity.
Pingmeister May 14th 2007 2:50PM
The only time I have had a "problem" as a skinner was when someone was standing next to me while I fought a mob and when the mob dropped the guy said "loot plz"
I said "I'm a skinner" and he just stood there, I guess wanting to give it a shot anyhow.
I moved on without looting and returned when he got bored of standing there.
That's the ONLY time anyone has made a move on my mobs without giving me time to loot and move on.
Jay May 14th 2007 2:54PM
I you're a skinner and you don't want someone skinning your kills, don't loot them until you're ready to skin. Otherwise, skin it. If you loot it and leave it, the skinnable corpse is fair game.
Kourma May 15th 2007 4:58AM
Well, that sucks that you follow around alliance and help them kill. You do realize that even though they tap the mob, if the mob is gray level to you, they still get half xp for the kill?
Bryce Fischer May 14th 2007 3:28PM
#10. Thank you. Can't count how many times I've cleared the area around a node (mining or herb) just to have some jerk run up and grab it.
Bryce Fischer May 14th 2007 3:33PM
as for the skinner part, I was in Nagrand once, killing the gazillion clefthoofs you need when I noticed an Alliance behind me skinning. It was funny, but it also seemed to act as an anti-ganking device. I'd see a group of AC come up, pause, almost like the guy asked them to leave me alone, then leave...
Shannyn May 14th 2007 3:40PM
The way I do it is simple... if there is someone near the looted corpse and I'm not sure if they're going to skin it, I'll ask. I almost always get the "go ahead". If they're not near the looted corpse and no one else is near, I just skin it. I figure, if they wanted it, they would have skinned it before walking away... too bad if they were going to come back. I haven't had any problems. Just be polite and take a quick second to ask nearby people if they mind if you skin the stuff they kill. It's not that hard.
Sindral May 14th 2007 3:40PM
I agree that if they loot and run off it's probably ok to skin, I have a 375 skinner and I've never really had problems with people accusing of skin-stealing. Mining, on the other hand, is FTL. Can someone explain what the deal is with lvl 70s in Badlands? Correction... lvl 70s who have no freaking manners whatsoever. I'm a prot paladin... I'm a miner/BS... I see a mine on my mini-map. There's a mob or two (or five) near the mine that I have to fight to get to it. I aggro everything and start tanking like a champ, standing on the mine. All of a sudden a lvl 70 rides up on his epic, dismounts, and mines.
"what the hell? I'm fighting for that!"
"lol relax it's only 1, gg, ty"
and then mounts back up and takes off...
"At least help me fight you freaking ninja!"
This happens pretty much every time I mine in Badlands. I understand that some people switch proffessions and need to go back to the lower zones, but please bring some manners with you. Get back on your epic and find another node, you WILL get there before me. Oh and I had someone ask me not to mine mithril the other day, that was classic.
navalpha May 14th 2007 4:00PM
I HATE when poeple do not loot their beats.
equiraptor May 14th 2007 4:02PM
The only time skinners annoy me is:
1) If I'm a skinner and they come up to my mob and start trying to skin it before I've even looted it. If this happens, I flat out don't loot the mob until they leave, though. So this is not a real issue.
2) If they're "exploiting." I play on PvE realms. I don't PvP. I just don't. I've found that occasionally, very rarely, one of the opposite faction will flag PvP and then stand on a corpse I've just killed, twitching back and forth. I've watched them to it to others, and when someone accidentally right clicks on the flagged person, the someone is flagged PvP (for auto-attacking a flagged player). The (originally) flagged person then attacks the "someone," and since the flagged person is generally quite a few levels higher and they're picking on people with little to no PvP experience, it's an easy kill.
One person skinned one of my kills (which doesn't bother me if that character isn't a skinner), but on my next kill, came over, stood on it, flagged, and started twitching. I was grinding for XP, not loot, so I just stopped looting. I've been told I could have reported their behavior as harassment.