New toys for Engineers
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 26th 2007 at 4:58PM
Now, I don't mean to rain on Engineers' parades-- they definitely deserve all the love they're getting, and I can't wait to see all the cool stuff they're making out there on the realms. But here's the thing: wasn't the whole problem with Engineering that they were stuck making toys instead of useful items? The Epic Mount is awesome, but is anyone else surprised to see that an "Engineering revamp" includes papercraft toys? This is just more Mechanical Squirrels, which is what Engineers were disappointed with in the first place.
An unweighted Companion Cube would be hilarious (Portal has my game of the year vote right now, until I get to check out Mass Effect). But I thought the whole point of beefing up Engineering was to get past these pets. Will letting them do some papercraft really bring the profession up to speed?
Update: Or maybe they're not all for Engineers. The Rocket Chicken certain seems like Engineering, but there's speculation floating around, according to our illustrious commenter Kyle, that these are rewards from the new Upper Deck loot cards.
Filed under: Engineering, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kyle Oct 26th 2007 5:07PM
I'm not sure the Onyxia-kite, rocket chicken, and the paper zeppelin and gryocopter are items made through engineering.
One of the comments at MMO-Champion says that they're the prizes from the next "expansion" (or whatever you wish to call it) of the card game.
At the very least, the Onyxia-kite certainly looks like it would be from it.
Mike Schramm Oct 26th 2007 5:09PM
Oh that's a good point. I wondered if they might be part of a holiday of some kind. I'll update the post.
Sindral Oct 26th 2007 5:33PM
you know what I want? A [Terror Engine]. An engineering trinket that fears everyone within 3 yards (including the caster) for 3 sec with a 5-10 minute cooldown. To me that's the sort of thing that engineering is for: Guns/ammo (when you can use them) and trinkets that have a modicum of usefulness, plus a hefty helping of personal endangerment. I'm an engineerin IRL, and it's totally the same ;)
Stormtamer Oct 26th 2007 5:55PM
Meh looks very cool, but adding in a new cosmetic thing every patch doesnt really help Engineers.
Repair Bots are useful, flying machines are cool, and trinkets are fun, but Engineers are still spending time farming mats or buying them, making BOP/Engineer only items, and taking up trinket slots, where important stuff like stats trinkets need to be, with glorified Squirrels in a Box.
Zee goggle did help, but overall zee goggles did nothing and in my opinion Engineering's are pretty much just at the point where every other profession was before the lauch of TBC in terms of usefullness.
Pook Oct 26th 2007 6:05PM
Yeah, to me they have still not addressed the engineer problem.
While the engineering mount is the most wondrous thing in the game, It still doesn't actually make your character better.
Engineers need to able able to make something comparable in power to Spellfire &/or something of as much utility as Health or Mana pots.
I want so much to go back to engineering, but other than goggles (& the worlds sexiest mount) it still has nothing to offer me. :(
Todd Oct 26th 2007 6:28PM
Loot cards, cool. I don't know why Engineering gets all the cool crafted "toys" and none of the other professions do. Hopefully if these toys are for real, they aren't BoP only.
billgates Oct 26th 2007 7:16PM
Im getting sick of the loot cards, they should be putting this stuff in the game not making us spend more money on top of the 15$ a month
Sean Riley Oct 26th 2007 7:38PM
What I want to know is, why should Engineers get all the toy fun? Why can't my tailor make a teddy bear, held in off-hand?
More seriously, I think the real issue is that splitting toys across all the professions would be a nifty nod to the RP crowd. They make great presents, allow for fun interactions, etc.
(Plus, seriously. Teddy bears. There should be a quest to make them and give them to the orphanages for Children's Week or something.)
Dragonfox Oct 26th 2007 9:32PM
Well, I've been looking at these new models that people say are for engineers. Something that popped into my head was that it might be related to the chinese new year kind of event.
Origami being the zeplin and gyro-copter...and then the kite being related to China as well.
But that is just my two cents
The Storm Engine Oct 27th 2007 12:00AM
Uh... if you trained to be an Engineer for the "usefulness" of it, you're missing the point. Seriously. Engineering is the most FUN profession in the game. Exploding Sheep? Tiny Walking Bombs? Rocket Launchers? Poultryizers? Come on.
Yes, Engineering could craft more useful items but in all seriousness, that's not the point behind the profession. It's the craziest profession of all, and the Flying Machine makes it all worth it, believe me. I have absolutely no regrets with Engineering in 2.3. -- I log on to my Shaman just to fly around Turbo-Charged. It's THAT fun. I rolled Engineering to make the Tiny Walking Bomb, which IMO is still the best vanity pet in the game.
Engineering is about having fun, not about raid utility. That's what all the other professions are for. Engineering allows the Engineer to do a little of everything. If the items they made - like the Net Projector - were usable by just anyone, it would be a pretty boring game. The few things that Engineers can make that are useful to others, like the Repair Bot and (in 2.3) the Potion Injectors, should be enough. If Blizzard adds more in the future, great. If not, Engineering is STILL the most FUN profession out there.
You can make TOYS. Come on. If you're asking for more utilitarian items, then you've missed the point by a mile.
ErsatzPotato Oct 27th 2007 12:29AM
"You can make TOYS. Come on. If you're asking for more utilitarian items, then you've missed the point by a mile."
I agree. The new flying mount = toy. For those that want it, great! Me, it'd just sit in the bank beside my far-too-large netherdrake mount...which is why I've never done engineering.
Toy + PvP utility? Sure, make the profession that again. That works.
TheMinority Oct 27th 2007 11:09AM
I want the kite. :(
"Wee! Lookit me kite! Lalalala!" says the troll hunter who just got through slaughtering the inhabitants of Westfall.