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Although patch 2.3 has not even been live for 24 hours yet, information about many of the new profession recipes is already leaking. Through independent investigation, Kaliope has already dug up the dirt on several of the most anticipated new goodies.
For all of you fishermen out there who have been dying to get the brand new fishing book, you'll be pleased to note that it only took Kaliope two pools of wreckage in Zangarmarsh, which gave her four curious crates, before she nabbed it. Unfortunately, due to competition, pool spawns were proving somewhat scarce. If you can't wait a few days for the shores to clear, you can try pool spawns in Azeroth. While they may be less of a commodity, it will also take you longer to fish up your book.
If you tried out the new daily cooking quest, then it is possible you found a new recipe in your fishy (or meaty) loot box. While Kaliope had no such luck, I managed to get myself a disappointing Broiled Bloodfin. My guildmate had slightly better luck, and came away with Spicy Hot Talbuk. Being a hunter, I was hoping for Kibler's Bits, but I would have settled for something with a buff other than the standard 20 stamina and spirit.
If you're a leatherworker, and have had your eye set on the new 24 slot leatherworking bag, then head up to the Barrier Hills above Shattrath and start killing some ogres. I was expecting an intense farming experience, but Kaliope notes she received it in two kills, her guildmate in eight, and a friend within ten minutes.
Unfortunately, not every recipe hunt I went on myself was as charmed as Kaliope's. While attempting to hunt Gan'arg Analyzers for the schematic for the new Field Repair Bot 110G, I noticed a severe lack of such mobs. Also, I ran into an abundance of what appeared to me to be kill-crazy gnomes swooping around in their flying machines. I gave up after about ten kills, because achieving even this took me easily ten minutes. Attempts to acquire the new meta-gem recipe for jewelcrafting reportedly were also met with hefty competition.
What have your experiences been so far with the new crafting recipes?
The weekly fishing tournament is taking place this afternoon in Stranglethorn Vale, and I'll probably be in attendance, hoping desperately to catch the last rare fish I need. I'm often intrigued by the etiquette that comes into play in different parts of the game where people are thrust into close contact with one another, and the fishing contest is one of the more interesting examples. For instance, in my experience, most other players will leave you alone if you're fishing from a school, such as the Highland Mixed Schools in Terokkar Forest. I've often seen fellow crawdad seekers flying low overhead, but they have always moved to the next spot once they noticed my presence. On the other hand, the weekly contest seems to be a no-holds-barred match, with people fishing wherever they can, whether or not you claimed the spot first. Personally, I try to avoid fishing in the same school as other people as much as possible, even during the contest. How about you?
Yesterday, we took a look at some of the new items in patch 2.3 that will be in the crosshairs of farmers across the servers. Today we'll finish off that list.
First, blacksmiths will want to keep their eyes out for the new craftable weapon chain being added to the game. While the source of theAdamantite Weapon Chain is currently unknown, it is speculated to be an Outland-wide world drop. If this is true, then the plans will have a low chance to drop from any creature in Outland. Hopefully this will prove not to be the case and it will be discovered on a specific creature's loot table, since the only other weapon chain is a world drop thus and notoriously difficult to obtain.
Apparently, there are a few different crates you'll be able to fish up, and each one of them will have a different chance to drop the journal. The earliest you can obtain the journal will be at about 55 fishing, while the easiest you can obtain it appears to be from pools in Outland, that require a much higher fishing skill. If you need to powerlevel your fishing, you might want to start now, as it seems Blizzard wants the school tracking ability to be a reward for mid- to high-level fishermen. Which makes sense-- since it doesn't matter where you fish, the school tracking ability only helps when you're looking for a certain type of fish, and wouldn't really be necessary when just starting out as an angler.
Definitely sounds like a new bit of fun, and a fairly useful ability, for those who choose to level up fishing.
Insider Trader is your weekly inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.
What's in store for your profession in patch 2.3? Without further ado, Insider Trader is here to update you on what craftspeople should be looking out for, now on the test realm. (Sure, you could read the official PTR patch notes -- but then you wouldn't get links to all our helpful posts at WoW Insider!)
The big news for professions, of course, is the new engineering mounts. Now that the mats list for these sweet little rides is out, we know you're all revving your engines to get those last engineering skill points. Early next week, we'll run a special engineering leveling guide with some inside advice on that brutal stretch of leveling from 300 to 375.
Until then, here are the collected notes for profession changes in patch 2.3.
Insider Trader is your weekly inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.
Amid all the hubbub over impending patch 2.3 changes, crafters could conceivably feel a little left out – that is, unless you're a fisher. Fishers (who tend to be a pretty chill crew, anyway) are already contentedly casting their lines with several small but relatively pleasing changes from patch 2.2. Newly announced improvements for patch 2.3 broadened those placid smiles into all-out grins as fishers anticipate a smoother, more user-friendly fishing experience.
Already in place is a fix to the problem introduced in patch 2.1, in which the bobber timing at the end of a cast period was preventing all but the quickest clickers from landing a catch. In the same line of Not Earthshattering But Basically Sweet™ changes, fishing lines now appear as you cast them, saving lots of time when you're waiting on schools. And the tool tip for the Aquadynamic Fish Attractor has been officially changed to indicate its new 10-minute duration, so fishers can quit losing sleep over whether or not the duration was an unintended buff they'd find whisked away some cold morning on the shores of Azshara.
Blizzard would like your fishing screenshots to help fill out their World of Warcraft Guide. If your screenshot is chosen, your character name and screenshot will be displayed in the guide.
So if you aspire to have your fishing or in-game photography skills on display, submit your screenshot to the Royal Photographic Society of Azeroth. There is a long list of guidelines to follow as well as a submission form at that link.
I took the above screenshot from the current fishing page in the guide. My personal request is to not take any more fishing pics with that creepy kid in it. Three of the "candid" fishing shots on that page include that boy. The Horde is rather unrepresented on the fishing page as well.
Hopefully taking screenshots while you fish will make the process slightly less boring. Good luck!
Every Friday, Insider Trader slips you the inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.
Nerf fishers – kicked back in their comfy Fishing Chairs, they definitely corner the market on chillin' with style. In honor of the upcoming three-day Labor Day weekend, we take a look at the newest way to hang with style (and psst, you don't actually have to be fishing to use this tip). At the other end of the spectrum, for those of you who demand crunchy bits, we've dug up some efficiency tips for hard-working enchanters. So whether you choose to spend Labor Day kicking back on the beaches of Stranglethorn or toiling in town over a hot disenchanting window, read on for Insider Trader's Labor Day special.
First up: the Fishing Chair. Available only via a special loot-coded version of the "Gone Fishin'" card from the WoW trading card set "Through the Dark Portal," this card seems to inspire some remarkable player enthusiasm. To quote wowhead.com's particularly eloquent description: "The Fishing Chair provides the discerning angler with a comfy place to rest his laurels and store his refreshing beverage of choice. The item is usable from the inventory and does not need to be equipped. Using the Fishing Chair opens a nice-looking folding chair with attached umbrella and drink holder. The umbrella's lining is decorated with a pattern of worm-baited hooks, very thoughtfully. The Fishing Chair works the same as a chair in any inn and can be sat in by clicking on it. While seated you can eat, drink or fish."
But it's not just fishers who are putting the Fishing Chair to good use ...
We are back at our happy little camp of the power source spot in the press area to liveblog the WoW Professions and Items panel with Tom Chilton, Travis Day and Jon LeCraft.
Updated: This post has been cleaned up and extensively added to after it was partially eaten by a technical error.
Fishing is probably the strangest implementation of activity in WoW-- there's really nothing like it (well, except everything-- it's basically clicking in a certain place at a certain time, and when aren't you doing that in this game?). But for all its boring qualities, players are still fascinated with it. Blizzard has hit on that weird balance of positive reinforcement-- it's boring, but gives just enough reward to keep you doing it.
And so it's not surprising that, once again, players are asking for fishing to be made "more fun." What that means, no one is really sure-- they could add better rewards, or make it a less boring minigame, or just make it require less attention (all other professions don't require any attention to be paid).
Lo and behold, Drysc actually acknowledges that there's something wrong with fishing-- something that has to do with the unquantifiable quantity known as "fun." But what it is, even Blizzard doesn't seem to know-- they added nodes to fishing to join a bit of exploration with it, but once you've found a node, it's just back to that same old clicking. Drysc suggests that real fishing is just as boring for some people, and that's why not everyone likes fishing in WoW, either.
My personal preference would be to put more into the fishing minigame-- catch different fish at different times of the day, or use different lures to attract various catches. Either that or make the skill involved something other than "waiting"-- maybe a meter where you have to click when the bar reaches a certain point. There's lots of reasons to fish, and that's why people still do it. But there's no question that sitting there waiting for the bobber to bounce needs more cowbell fun.
While some may argue that World of Warcraft doesn't have enough professions, there are enough choices to leave any new player at a loss when it comes to selecting one for the first time. So today we're going to discuss the good and bad of the game's ten primary professions and six secondary professions -- and hopefully give you the knowledge to make some informed decisions next time you need to chose a profession for yourself.
Interested in knowing a bit more about the game's professions? Keep reading! Want to tell us which professions you find the most useful (and why)? Leave us a comment!
Insider Trader is your weekly inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.
This week, Insider Trader offers up two insider tips, one for frustrated fishers and another for level 29 PvPers searching for the strongest possible gear.
Fishing means chilling with some good music, a tall drink and a chat window full of the latest guild gossip -- or at least, it used to. As of patch 2.1, fishers were transported back into twitch-gaming mode if they hoped to snag catches at the end of the fishing timer. It's all about the splash; when you hear a splash while fishing, you've hooked a fish and can click to either loot or "miss" it. It used to be that you could reach the end of the fishing timer with no splash/hook. You could look away from your fishing timer while fishing, as long as you were quick about getting back to the bobber when you heard the splash. If there was no splash, you most likely lost a little time until you noticed you hadn't heard anything and looked back over to re-cast ... But no lost fish. No harm, no foul.
Post-2.1, there's always a splash at the end of the timer. Sounds great, right? Always a splash, always a hook and an opportunity for a catch? Unfortunately, there's now no time for a catch on end-of-timer hooks unless you click the bobber at exactly the same moment as the splash – requiring you to watch that timer like a hawk and click right on time. The bobber vanishes simultaneously with the splash, instead of fading out and giving you time to react to the splash. While it's still possible to catch (or miss) the fish with a perfectly timed click, frustration seems just as common. And the it sure ruins the peaceful, laid-back aspect of fishing.
No word on whether or not the grace period for fishing will be reinstated. For now, if you're dead-set on catching every available fish, bring your game face and prepare to keep your eye glued to the timer bar.
I had read the news that, in patch 2.1, many more fish would be added to the waters of Azeroth and Outland, so that every time you cast a line in, one of them would bite. So, as I leveled up my draenei hunter, dreaming of one day becoming great like my hero (with a Big Red Lizard or something), I thought, "I'll just wait until after patch 2.1 to start fishing! Then I'll be able to get a bite every time, and level up my fishing a lot faster!" So, soon after the patch came out, I found myself questing along the shoreline of Feralas and wishing I could fish up all those schools of valuable fish and boxes of floating treasure. "Well, self," I said to myself, "Now's the time to give fishing a try!"
I was so wrong. Fishing is still astoundingly boring. After about two hours of fishing in Darnassus with lures, from a skill level of 1, I reached a mind-numbingly dull skill level 19. The abominable sense of wasting time shocked me all over again. Usually your fish will bite, only to get away! Often, your fish will bite within the last 0.2 seconds of your fishing cast time, and latency makes your click on the bait come after the cast time is finished. You actually have to click the bobbing bait thingy before you hear the splashy sound in order to have a chance at catching it.
So there I was, staring like a hawk at my computer screen, ready to click in the last split seconds of the cast time, dreading another "your fish got away!" message, and thinking, "This should be better! How would I improve it?" Then, suddenly, I remembered a certain piece of Blizzard fan art I had seen (which still makes me chuckle whenever I see it) and I suddenly sensed the tremor of monstrous ideas rising up from the depths of my subconscious.
Brilliant fishing improvement ideas after the jump. Don't forget to see the larger version of this art, too!
Reader Roastbeef (and sidekick Sandwich) send in this tranquil shot of an evening of fishing out in the Barrens. Yes, I know it's the only place to find Deviant fish (and thus make the yummy Savory Deviant Delight), but I have to think this screenshot only appears tranquil because the chat window isn't visible.
Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth.
We've covered a few noncombat pets here before, but this is the weirdest noncombat pet you've ever seen. If you're a fisherman, this is the reason to get to 375, and if you're not, this is the reason to train it anyway. We mentioned him way back in beta, but he's worth another look.
Name: Mr. Pinchy (also known variously as Furious Mr. Pinchy or Benevolent Mr. Pinchy-- you'll see) Type: Noncombat pet... unless he choses to combat you Damage: 180-230 or N/A Abilities:
Mr. Pinchy is not just a lobster (although he's named after one on the Simpsons)-- he's a magical crawdad, and he grants wishes! That's right, on use, this crawdad will grant you one of five wishes:
1) The most common result is an item in your inventory called "Mr. Pinchy's Gift"-- once unwrapped, it gives you 5 Super Health and 5 Super Mana potions.
2) Sometimes he will give Mr. Pinchy's Blessing, a buff that lasts for two hours (even through death) and grants a whopping 1200 HP.
3) Sometimes he'll help you himself, and transform into a huge Benevolent Mr. Pinchy that acts as a guardian for about 15 mins.
4) And sometimes he'll get pissed off at you, become Furious Mr. Pinchy, and try to beat you up.
5) But the best wish he can grant is an actual, permanent, BoP noncombat pet named Magical Crawdad. This one's rare, but it's been known to happen.
You get three wishes with every Mr. Pinchy, but there's a two-day cooldown between each. Mr. Pinchys aren't unique, but they do share a cooldown.
How to Get It: Mr. Pinchy can only be fished up, and only out of those special fishing holes (only reachable by a flying mount) in Terrokar Forest-- the lake in the Mountains west of Stonebreaker Hold, the lake south of Allerian Stronghold, and the lake around the Arrakoa capital of Skettis, to the east of Auchindouin. In those lakes, you want to fish in "Highland Mixed Schools"-- fishing in the regular water will get you fish, but there's no chance of Mr. Pinchy.
To fish in the water at all, you'll need a fishing skill of 430 to even throw your line out, so you'll have to pick up some +skill equipment to head up there. Fish will also drop off of your line if your skill is less than 525, so really you want to be up around there if you want to catch fish with any speed. Here's the bad news: each pool gives about 3 or 4 catches, and Mr. Pinchy shows up about every 500 catches-- a .2% rate. That's a whole lotta fishin'.
The WoW Fishing Guide has this and lots more strategy on how to get a Mr. Pinchy in your bags. Good luck out there, fellow anglers.
Getting Rid of It: Mr. Pinchy will of course disappear when you've used up your three wishes. If you're lucky enough to get a Magical Crawdad Box, that will sell for a measly 25s.
Although patch 2.3 has not even been live for 24 hours yet, information about many of the new profession recipes is already leaking. Through independent investigation, Kaliope has already dug up the dirt on several of the most anticipated new goodies..jpg)
Yesterday, we took a look at some of the new items in patch 2.3 that will be in the crosshairs of farmers across the servers. Today we'll finish off that list.
El's Extreme Anglin' Guide
Amid all the hubbub over impending 
Nerf fishers – kicked back in their comfy Fishing Chairs, they definitely corner the market on chillin' with style. In honor of the upcoming three-day Labor Day weekend, we take a look at the newest way to hang with style (and psst, you don't actually have to be fishing to use this tip). At the other end of the spectrum, for those of you who demand crunchy bits, we've dug up some efficiency tips for hard-working enchanters. So whether you choose to spend Labor Day kicking back on the beaches of Stranglethorn or toiling in town over a hot disenchanting window, read on for Insider Trader's Labor Day special.
Fishing is probably the strangest implementation of activity in WoW-- there's really nothing like it (well, except everything-- it's basically clicking in a certain place at a certain time, and when aren't you doing that in this game?). But for all 
While some may argue that World of Warcraft doesn't have enough professions, there are enough choices to leave any new player at a loss when it comes to selecting one for the first time. So today we're going to discuss the good and bad of the game's ten primary professions and six secondary professions -- and hopefully give you the knowledge to make some informed decisions next time you need to chose a profession for yourself.
