Butcher, Baker, or Candlestick Maker?

[Catlyn]

So ever since I was a wee small Elf-lass, I've been a skinner and a leatherworker... it just made sense. Make my own armour, collect skins to sell. My wares walked up to me, often trying to kill me (sometimes succeeding), but that's niether here nor there. And, when I got old enough, I went Dragonscale with the hopes of being able to make my own armour and make some money armouring other Hunters...

Then reality set in, and Dragonscale Leatherworking is just the most Unfun thing I've ever come across in a MMORPG crafting profession... the materials are way too hard to get, and the efficacy of the limited number of pieces that can be made is highly suspect.

Generally unfun and kind of depressing when I think about all the time and energy I put into it for such a lousy outcome. But, it got me thinking.

There's this guy in the Inn in Ironforge with a blue questionmark over his head... if you give him a stack of 200 Thorium Shells, he'll give you a stack of 200 Thorium Tipped Arrows (+5 DPS over Jagged Arrows). Thorium Shells sell for a gold a stack, and my quiver holds 16 stacks... ouch.

When I'm in an instance... and things are going bad... real bad... Oh god we're all going to die bad... I'm usually one of the last, if not the last person down... almost always well after it's evident that we're blowing up. I (even though I consistantly forget about it existing... but I'm getting better!) have Feign Death... so, when things are going way south, I can often survive the encounter, and, if I had a way to rez someone, I might be able to geatly reduce the pain of a wipe recovery...

So, I've been thinking about Ditching the Hundreds of Hours I've invested in the disappointing professions that make the most sense for a Hunter in an Role Playing sense, and picking up professions that make the most sense for a Hunter in the context of the Game that Blizzard's built... Namely, Mining and Engineering.

But I'm gunshy... Once bitten, and all that... am I going to find any more satisfaction with higher level Engineering than I did with higher level Leatherworking? And, if so, what's the difference between Goblin and Gnome Engineering? Would you do it if you were me?

Thanks, all;