So why are we Engineers, again?

(Disclaimer: This is a much more rational rewrite of my earlier very antagonistic and up-in-arms lambasting of Blizzard for the event I will be reporting on. Sorry for flying off the handle.)

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=10043218992&pageNo=3&sid=2000#53

Read them and weep. Ironic that I'd be eating my own words. Our beloved motorcycles, the crown jewels of the Engineer schematic book for Wrath of the Lich King, are no longer ours and ours alone. This presents a fair number of issues for the future of Engineering itself come Wrath, and is even calling me, one of the most radical and diehard Engineering fanboys, into serious doubts about my upkeep of the profession.

Engineering, from its inception, has been a profession based around an acknowledged agreement that we would sacrifice versatility, profit, and raid usefulness for fun and uniqueness. Most Engineers, myself included, have lovingly embraced that. And, regardless of that agreement, we've found niche uses for the devices we make - Repair Bots have always been a family favorite, and I always bring some even to 5-mans, just in case. Frost Grenades are a Hunter's best friend when kiting and trapping in an instance. Scopes have always been something that Hunters have loved, be it the lowly +1 damage scope or the mighty Accurascope and Stabilized Eternium Scope.

Over time, some usefulness and profitability has been given to us. The Zapthrottle, a staple of any Engineer's bags, has turned something that was intrinsically a money sink into an opportunity to, if not make money, at least supplement our own Primal needs. The Flying Machines finally gave us the sense of identity that we lost to Jewelcrafters with the inception of Burning Crusade. The goggles gave every class of Engineer a very solid piece of gear to guide them into at least Tier 5 content, and the Sunwell schemata, albeit exasperatingly hard to acquire and far too late to be of use, supplemented these goggles further.

This brings me to today. Engineering is a profession that, while not common, is taken by a few noble people who enjoy its quirkiness and have found uses for the few things that it provides that they can use in their realms of play, and has remained a profession that is obviously distinguishable from what it does to us aesthetically - our goggles and our helicopters. I had a very cute and fun discussion with a lowbie Priest in Shattrath the other day who had never seen one of our Flying Machines before. She was enamoured with it, and once I'd told her its origins, she swore she'd drop her professions and become an Engineer. It made me proud to add another person to our fold, as it were.

I held the same hope and mystique for the motorcycle mounts. Regardless of whatever good or bad came for Engineers in Wrath of the Lich King, that was the one glimmer of hope and excitement that bound us all together. Imagine it! Choppers for the air and choppers for the ground!

Then today, that hope was snatched from us. Our crowning glory, our pride and joy, our motorcycles are no longer ours and ours alone. With no bind on acquire, and no Engineering requirement, it will merely be a matter of time before they become as common and prolific as the Netherdrakes and Amani War Bears of today. This saddens me. People will ride them and love them, but they will not empathise on what it has taken to get them. They will not understand the tedium of leveling Engineering, not appreciate the sacrifice that an Engineer makes merely by BEING an Engineer - and it's an even bigger sacrifice in Lich King, with the powerful self-binding abilities coming to many crafting professions!

Many unaware people have continuously questioned the immediate and fiercely negative reaction from most Engineers in regards to this decision. Most tend to be "why don't you want this to happen? you will make money from it!" That is a very short-sighted and untrue conclusion. I ask you, my reader - how often do you genuinely tip a crafter for something they do? If you do, how much is it? I know I'm even guilty of this myself - my tips for enchantments and Stabilized Eternium Scopes (*grumble*, I should've had that schematic) usually ranges from 10 to 20 gold, depending on my mood and the candor of the Enchanter or Engineer I'm doing business with. Many people tip less - quite a few of my customers who get Potion Injectors or ammo dispensers often tip nothing. I am content with this. Why? Because even if my Engineering never gives me a dime of profit, it's given me a sense of unique identity and it's given me a mount that no non-Engineer can acquire, period. Now, both of those concepts are being stripped from us in Wrath. I guarantee you that there will not be a coalition effort by Engineers to keep these to ourselves, and I guarantee you that we will not be given the exorbitant amounts that we deserve to for these mounts.

I dunno. I'll live, and I still hang desperately on to a faint, dying hope that something good will come for Engineers, but I've seen it in original WoW, and I've seen it in TBC, and this mount was the only thing that actually said to me "it will still be worth it". I was willing to sacrifice the bonuses from any other profession for this mount.

The question is, since I no longer have to make that sacrifice, will I?