Trade Skills are now "Professions"

[MongoJerry]

They should make the gathering skills not be professions, but instead secondary skills.

My thoughts exactly. Limiting a person to two professions sounds fine, but including the gathering skills as professions seems whacky. Or if they're kept as professions, let people choose three professions, then. I guess Blizzard is thinking that the gathering and finished goods skills should be decoupled. I guess this does force people to get involved in more trading with one another. However, it does also give a big advantage to tailors, who don't need to also get a gathering skill, versus leatherworkers and blacksmiths who do.

The one part of this that I like is just what Blizzard said: It creates more of a marketplace for trade goods. I am now maxed out in Mining (including all gemologies), Engineering, Herbalism, Alchemy, Enchanting, First Aid, and Fishing. I have been debating lately what my next trade skill would be -- and I'm leaning toward tailoring. The currently implemented system seems silly in that it makes it so easy to just get every trade skill in the game. So forcing some kind of limitation is probably a good idea. I'm just not sure if how Blizzard is implementing the new sysem is the right idea. I'm going to wait to see how the new system is actually implemented before I pass too much judgement. Boy, it would be tough for me to decide between Engineering, Alchemy, and Enchanting. I have really liked all three. Tailoring doesn't seem too bad, either.

Hmmm... quick thought. I wonder if you will be able to unlearn professions and choose other ones. You could, for example, start off with mining and herbalism to pick up a bunch of raw materials and then unlearn the gathering talents and skill up in engineering and alchemy really fast. I dunno. We'll see.