alls i can say is 'Barf". the last thing the next xpac needs is woodworking. its just more of the same...just BSing with a different shell. The beauty of jewelcrafting is that it was a bit different. it added a new dimension. woodworking definately would not. the next prof needs to be fresh and new.

Why even go that far. I'm seriously disappointed. We keep being told by Wow.com that the next patch is going to drop any day now and the oP makes a post about something months or even a year in the futures. That's sickening. It's not that the topic is a bad one, but the timing could not have been worse. This is the time to talk about what's going to happen or not happen or what changes are still left to consider...and there have been changes since the last article...about the upcoming patch. Seriously, this is an irresponsible topic to be posting right now. The suggestion that there is nothing left to say about patch 3.2 is insulting.

I really don't think we need another profession. Hell, I thought Inscription was overkill.

@Daniel

1. Why would you be insulted? Are you part of the dev team?

2. People should stop complaining that Wow.com or Joystiq.com or any blog is posting articles they dont want to read. You are not being force-fed this blog. For many this is an interesting discussion.

3. The patch is coming! But.... that's not the only topic out there. The site would become very bland and boring if they only ever wrote about the next patch. I'm sure there will be an article poring over the new latest tiny details of the changes on the PTRs.

4. By the looks of this article though, I think Amanda has been working on it for a while. It has links to other similar articles, and it contains a bunch of ideas for the speculative woodwroking professions (Except it's use in player housing :D )

5. Also, and finally, it was something to post while she writes up another one. These posts don't write themselves, they take some time.

Lets try to be more realistic in the future. Another gathering profession is not needed because they can make more use out of the ones already in game. Several professions use mining and herbalism, but only one profession uses skinning. It is an abundant resource that blizzard could use to make an alternative profession instead of reinventing the wheel.

Good point, Gothia. Maybe Skinning could procure other items useful for existing professions--such as teeth, eyes, and hearts, perhaps to use in Enchanting. "Eye of newt, wing of bat" and so forth.

Along with what Gothia noted: the existing 'new' professions have had their resources supplied by already-existent gathering professions.

The problem with introducing something like Woodworking is that it would require an overhaul of all zones to have lumber-nodes.

Besides, they won't just introduce another crafting profession for the sake of adding one. They'll add one to coincide with a new character-mechanic (Gems -> Glyphs -> ?)

@ Daniel:

You said, "We keep being told by Wow.com that the next patch is going to drop any day now and the oP makes a post about something months or even a year in the futures."

The PATCH will be dropping any day now. The next EXPANSION is what this article is about.

Expansion: The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, etc.
Patch: 3.0.2, 3.1.0, etc.
Patch content: nerfs, additions, changes, artwork, etc.
Expansion content: new lands, new quests, new races, new professions, etc.

Hopefully this clears things up.