Are you a recipe completist?
by John Himes 
Dec 13th 2007 at 11:01AM
Earlier today I was perusing the official WoW forums, looking for any new info about our favorite game, when I noticed a particular post. Warla, the player in question, was announcing that they had collected all of the cooking recipes in the game. At first glance, this might not seem like much of an accomplishment, but there are a lot of recipes that are more readily available to one faction or the other, such as Dig Rat Stew. Taking into consideration that Warla is on a PvP server and can't easily do a trade through the neutral auction house, this is actually quite a feat.I'm not really a perfectionist when it comes to my professions (and I'm definitely not the type who would announce such accomplishments in a public forum), but I have known other people that were. One guy I know is a blacksmith and spent hours researching and tracking down every last pattern that was available to him. The same guy was making a point to complete every single available quest in the game too, so his blacksmithing goal wasn't really his loftiest.
Personally, I tend to be more utilitarian. If I can't use an item in some way, then I don't care about learning how to make it. Of course, I have a relatively broad definition of "use", which includes giving away items to friends, making money on the auction house or simply earning skill points. I've only rarely gone out of my way to pick up recipes, and only when I had a definite plan to use them.
How about you? Do you spend a lot of time and money tracking down rare recipes even if you'll never use them? Or are you more like me when it comes to such things?
Filed under: Cooking, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Sunwind Dec 13th 2007 11:14AM
I am, I am currently about 10 recipes away from finishing all cooking recipes, and about 20 from alchemy. Should be done with cooking after winters veil, and depending on my luck with the cooking daily.
Blacksmithing.. .well, i'm a shaman, I only use it for the weapons, and I might change it in future, so i'm not going to bother gathering all BS recipes (there's a lot) I'm also on a mission to get exalted with all factions.
Jp Dec 13th 2007 11:31AM
I try to be.
Someone should make an addon, that checks your recipes list, and gives you a list of all recipes that you don't have. Maybe wowhead links to all those recipes so you can see how to get them.
Sunwind Dec 13th 2007 12:06PM
Try AckisRecipeList, no wowhead links but, it scans your recipe list and tells you what you are missing and where to get it.
kek Dec 13th 2007 11:52AM
There is an addon for this, it's called AckisRecipeList, which you can find on files.wowace.com, it scans all recipe lists on your profession and tells you which ones are missing. Quite useful I would say.
Mainman Dec 13th 2007 11:58AM
That'd be RecipeRadar.
http://wow.curse.com/downloads/details/2955/
After going through the same right-click caching process you get with AtlasLoot, you'll be able to see any vendor recipe (and the vendor's location) from the addon window. It even minimaps any local vendor with a learnable recipe for you (or an alt, if you allow it). Dropped and quest recipes aren't listed, but there are so few of those that you could easily cross-reference a list off Thottbot or something.
Richard Dec 13th 2007 12:03PM
kek, thanks for that tip. I'm going to check that out tonight... I don't think I have more than a half dozen cooking recipes left.
Gonna have to work something out with a Hordie to get the horde-only ones.
And I don't think I'll see Dirge's Chops, but maybe I can talk my guild into doing it sometime.
Six Dec 13th 2007 11:33AM
I admit, I'm a completist. With my professions (tailoring/enchanting), it's a bit difficult, but it gives me something to do in game on my main when not raiding. Prevents boredom, in my opinion. Also, when the guild asks for something, they know they can come to me because I usually have what they need.
Bearskunk Dec 13th 2007 12:39PM
I was missing only a handful engineering plans... but I dropped the profession as it stinks even with goggles and flying machine.
Tristan Dec 13th 2007 11:52AM
http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/08/25/are-you-a-recipe-completist/
Mahmoth Dec 13th 2007 4:37PM
I'm not a completist as such, but I am trying to get the full range of recipes from the cooking dailies. Now if only that Godsbedamned cake recipe would pop up...
Warlock Dec 13th 2007 12:07PM
I have most of the cooking recipes, though I'm still lacking a few Horde ones (i.e. Digrat Stew). I just haven't gotten around to doing the Neutral AH shuffle to get them over ;)
Also getting close with LWing, except a few faction recipes and some BOE Epics that are too expensive to buy right now (though I have purchased quite a few :D). But hey, I do know the Kodo Hide Bag!
Warlock Dec 13th 2007 12:21PM
Yeah I checked, missing like 4 recipes. Mainly the new Horde TBC recipes (i.e. Bat Bites, Lynx Steak) but also Dig Rat Stew like I mentioned ;) I think DRS was the only non-TBC recipe though, so I'm close ;)
Jelement Dec 13th 2007 12:47PM
Am I missing something here, how does being on a PvP server make this any more difficult in regards to the neutral AH. Sure, on a PVE you can have horde/alliance on the same account but you can't buy out your own auctions, it still would require a second account...
Verit Dec 13th 2007 1:44PM
On a PVP server once you've chosen your faction thats it - you cannot create a character on another faction. In other words you can't purchase items for your own character.
Not that it matters much - on PVE servers these days if you try that it says you cannot purchase something from your own character.
Orc Peon Dec 13th 2007 4:28PM
It's still much easier to do on a PVE server, since you can have friends on both factions and have one of them put up the items you need on the neutral AH. On the PVP realm I'm playing on noone ever puts up faction specific recipes and items on the neutral AH, I check it almost daily and I haven't actually seen a single such item yet. :-(
Jelement Dec 13th 2007 12:48PM
Am I missing something here, how does being on a PvP server make this any more difficult in regards to the neutral AH. Sure, on a PVE you can have horde/alliance on the same account but you can't buy out your own auctions, it still would require a second account...
ThorinII Dec 13th 2007 1:09PM
I'm kind of lazy when it comes to my professions. I only go out of my way for "useful" recipes. I pretty well define useful the same way this author does. If it's good for points/AH/friends/alts/current toon it MIGHT be worth the effort. Maybe.
Brian Carnell Dec 13th 2007 1:47PM
Gotta. Collect. Em. All.
Balgair Dec 13th 2007 1:49PM
I'm a bit of a completist but as I don't do the 25-man raids I obviously can't get all recipes, plus I'm pretty lacking in luck with drops of the recipes from other instances. I do have almost every jewelcrafting recipe though, only missing a couple of BoP instance drops plus the epic recipes from the high-end raids.
Trilliad Dec 13th 2007 3:42PM
I'm definitely a completist. It becomes a problem at times when you need to grind for rep to get a recipe. I spent a lot of time grinding Argent Dawn rep just to get a Transmute recipe that I'll probably never use. Still... I had to get it!
And now I have to decide if going Scryer in Shatrath is worth it just for the one recipe they offer. Based on my desire to be a complete alchemy master, I'm guessing it is.