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In the World of Warcraft, there are three types of craftspeople: those that gather, those that enhance, and those that create gear. They are not mutually exclusive. For example, Scribes can create off-hand weaponry in addition to glyphs and Jewelcrafters can prospect gems from raw materials.

Gathering professions are known to be money-makers, and in addition, when asked, many players will also list the enhancement professions as well:

• Inscription, although it is currently suffering from a lack of demand created by the introduction of dual-specs with patch 3.1.
• Jewelcrafting is on the list, not because of its ability to create gear such as rings, but mainly because of the Prospecting and gems, cut or raw.
• Enchanting is often stated, not only because of the enchants that can be created and even auctioned, but also because of the Disenchanting ability.

To balance this out, one would assume that the gear-crafting professions of Leatherworking, Tailoring and Blacksmithing must be incredibly useful, if not lucrative. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case. This week, Insider Trader will be discussing the state of these professions. For a similar assessment of Engineering, check out The state of Engineering in 3.1.

I am especially interested in reader input and brainstorming, so don't forget to read through the comments section at the end of the article!
What makes a profession desirable?
Before we can assess how we might like to change these professions, we need to set up a list of criteria upon which they shall be judged.

For the purposes of this discussion, I will be exploring the ways in which Tailoring, Blacksmithing and Leatherworking are:

Fun and creative.

Lucrative.

Worth keeping.

Leveling your profession
I have personally leveled all three of these professions, and had the most fun with Leatherworking, and the least with Blacksmithing, although this is a very subjective statement.

With Tailoring, I always felt like I had a reason to push ahead 5-15 points, be it to use a new type of cloth, craft a bigger bag, or make myself a Magnificent Flying Carpet. Purchasing some extra materials in order to accomplish this never felt unreasonably expensive.

Leatherworking was my "first" profession, and I had the most fun with it because I was forced to really experience it. I worked hard for each and every skill point, sometimes delaying due to lack of funds, and I spent time farming every scrap of leather, scale or chitin that I could.

I don't know that this could every truly be recreated for those of us who have made our money and tend to "power-level" our alts' professions, although I know that Blizzard has tried. Inscription Research and the Jewelcrafting dailies are examples that attest to this.

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