On woodworking: Why we can't have everything we want
by David Bowers 
Sep 6th 2007 at 6:56PM
A player on the official forums asked what the new woodworking profession would be like, how gathering wood would work, and so on. If it had been me I'd have asked, "How much wood could a woodworker work if a woodworker could work wood?" and "Where would a wannabe woodworker who would work with wood find wood with which to work the woodworker's wood work?" But I digress.
Nethaera was kind enough to pop in and basically tell us that we were getting ahead of ourselves again, and imply that woodworking probably wouldn't work in this expansion.
"But why just one profession per expansion?" you ask? Got profession fever have you?
Well Nethaera responds to this as well:
We're never short on ideas. We have many that we would like to implement, but implementing them isn't always such a simple task.So there it is, as usual: this whole "game development" thing can be a lot more complex than it seems, and consequently we players can't always have as much new stuff as we might want. Still, woodworking is in those Blizzard offices somewhere, percolating through the developers' brains -- so maybe one day we might actually get to work with the wood we've always wanted.
For a new profession you need to consider:
How it will work?
Where will the recipes come from and where in the world will they be placed?
Who will the trainers be and what is their story?
What recipes are necessary and what materials are required for them?
What exactly will be the result of the profession as far as stat changes and enhancements be?
What art assets are going to be needed?
What technology will support it on the back end?
Why will people want it?
Is it ultimately fun and interesting?
And many more things. Then in the end, it must balance out with the rest of the game as well as with other professions. Combine that with all the other things we are working on for Wrath of the Lich King and it isn't something we can just toss together overnight.
Nathaera said:
Filed under: Expansions, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tumples Sep 6th 2007 7:12PM
lol
wood
Mats Sep 6th 2007 7:50PM
Its like I have said all along, apparently Blizzard knows how to make games, and are not "teh suck".
Dan Bradley Sep 6th 2007 7:51PM
"Who will the trainers be and what is their story?"
No one cares. Call every trainer Woody and be done with it.
And with however many billion dollars there are making off this game, they can afford to hire a couple extra developers and artists, I'm pretty sure.
RogueJedi86 Sep 6th 2007 7:59PM
Since when do Profession Trainers have stories? Can anyone at Blizzard tell me the life story of any random Jewelcrafting trainer?
Derick B Sep 6th 2007 8:00PM
I'd like to see a more flowing economy.
It would be neat to have have something like the lumber mill in AB on a worldy level where whichever faction owns the mill has lower prices than the other.
Perhaps there would be a cumulative score for the battles played out during the week in battlegrounds, and at the end of each week it determines which faction owns that resource.
And this could work for all types of professions.
There could be farms that have to be possessed weekly for wool and food resources, and mines for mining meterials. Or with mining nodes, it would determine the rate that a node pops up in friendly territories.
Just something that makes the world (of warcraft) seem more alive and impressionable.
Benor Sep 6th 2007 8:02PM
Well, I don't want woodworking along with inscription. I want woodworking instead of inscription. Those are all questions that will need to be answered for inscription too, and I think they're easier to answer for woodworking. Plus, it could be used to fill some existing holes in what players can currently craft-I bet a lot of hunters would like to be able to make their own bows and arrows, as would warriors. Druids, mages, priests and warlocks would probably like to make their own staves, and warriors, paladins and shamans could use the shields. That does raise the question of what woodworking products rogues could use, but being able to cover a need for eight of the nine classes, right off the top of my head, sounds like a good start.
That being said, if they have a choice between one new and well done profession per expansion, versus two or more that aren't well done, I'd rather see one. Even if it's not the profession I'd prefer.
Alexander Sep 6th 2007 8:04PM
Well, wood working could be used for player housing as well. Think of that. Making furniture and whatnot. A bit lame, but at the same time, I bet a lot of people would go looking for epic designs for their homes. More reason to build up your house or something. EPIC FURNITURE FTW.
Urthona Sep 6th 2007 8:18PM
Unless the Epic Chaise of Fire Protection gives you a +100 FR buff for 60 minutes that persists through death just by sitting in it, woodworking furniture is not the Blizzard way.
Everyone needs to stop thinking about real estate and start thinking about the Tides of Darkness.
The Defias hired goblin woodworkers to make a battleship. Everyone knows THAT story Nethaera.
Taters Sep 6th 2007 9:40PM
can nobody see the typo in the title?
woodworking.
btw, it sounds fantastic.
G Sep 6th 2007 9:32PM
This post has a title? My eyes must have been looking elsewhere.
Rich Sep 6th 2007 9:53PM
i haz wood
David Bowers Sep 6th 2007 10:45PM
Hehe... Whoops! I tootally didn't see that mistake. Soorry everyboody! Neext time I'll bee suure to speell all my titles coorectly.
James Sep 6th 2007 11:12PM
The girl in the picture can work my wood whenever she wants
Derick B Sep 8th 2007 2:03PM
Luckily for her, she won't ever need to as you always have the work done.
Gungolf Sep 7th 2007 1:15AM
There's this idea going around in my mind since ever, and it would be perfect for woodworkers: they should be able to build traps which can be used to catch critters, which in turn can be tamed and sold to other players. Finally a way to get your own cute little skunk!
Legintown Sep 7th 2007 10:28AM
I made a topic on the suggestion forums some time ago, but it seems to have been deleted due to server change. However, the idea is about an item dye profession, which will enable the player to dye various parts of armor pieces, whilst still maintaining the armor piece's original graphic. Haven't gotten any feedback from blues etc. but maybe some more ppl will read this topic....
OrionPaxt Sep 7th 2007 6:12AM
JUST SAY NO - to Wood
Wood would have a limited scope in the game unless you wanted to make wooden weapons, armor or build a house. Instead let’s give the professions some love. We all know that engineering really needs some loving so why not make arrow patterns? Get simple wood or star would from an enchanter supplier, an arrow head from a blacksmith and you have the mats to make arrows.
Instead of making a new profession, Blizzard should buff up the old ones. This would require no new trainers and the patterns could be drops, or trainable I would love to be able to make shields with my blacksmith.
dacamper Sep 7th 2007 6:32AM
I'd like to ask Nethaera if those considerations apply for an existing profession (such as Engineering), but I can't because a EU subscriber can't comment on stuff on a US forum *sigh*.
p3ngu11 Sep 7th 2007 7:34AM
with the addition of another primary profession, how long until we're given a 3rd primary slot? with how "op" blacksmithing and tailoring are, i wouldn't mind an extra one now...
Vestras Sep 7th 2007 8:01AM
I think woodworking has a definite place in WoW.
Bows, arrows, shields, staffs and the eventual totem weapons would all be crafted by this profession. Additional less useful items could include items similar to the practice dummy from engineering, items such as the voodoo masks, improved campfire skills or even craftable totem-like mini buffs. Wood gathering would be similar to Mining in that you carry an axe, find a tree with a spawnpoint in it. You hit the tree for a few wacks, take a piece of wood. Repeat for a few more pieces, then off you go. Wood would then be "refined" by milling it, something which can be found in a lot of the towns already, or even added to a blacksmiths area.
Ooo. Here's an idea, Wood Working can create battle standards. they behave similarly to Totems, but have no hit points. they only buff, no debuffing ones. Effects would include +% to hit rate, or hit points, things like the battle standards in the battlegrounds do. To limit them, these rescipies would be few and far between, and have a long cool down, say 10 mins, but it would definetly be marketable.