Professional Woes of a Different Kind

[thessalian]

So I am now floored with what is probably a stress-virus. Or just a cold. Oh well. These things are sent to try us. But I'm bored and there was no way I was going back to sleep (if I lie down, breathing becomes an issue) so ... Warcrack. Obviously. But of course, I didn't really have the brainpower necessary to actually go kill things or do quests, so I thought, "Hey! I'll level my professions! That'll be a good, easy, mindless way to kill some time!"

Problem: I picked mining as one of my professions.

Mining as a profession (kind of like herbalism) goes something like this: "Spend hours running around low-level areas, in some cases killing trash mobs that insist on attacking you despite being ten-thirteen levels below you as you pass, looking for a gathering point that may or may not have spawned somewhere in the area. Lather, rinse, repeat until you've levelled as much as you can in those areas or are bored beyond all sense. Then move on to the next level and ... well. Later, rinse, repeat."

There is a bonus in that unlike in FFXI, the mining points are relatively generous, easy to spot without mousing over everything, and not continuously camped. However, the fact remains that mining (and herbalism) are essentially thankless busywork that involves an awful lot of roaming around scanning your zone for a collection point ... and, in some cases, realising that you aren't actually high enough level in your chosen professionto collect anything from that particular spot anyway. Riiiiiiiight. I miss skinning. Skinning was simple. Slay mob, skin mob, end of statement.

Right. Actual quests, or just watch something?

Comments

[doccy.livejournal.com]

Speaking as an ex-miner meself, have some mining maps;

http://www.almostgaming.com/wowguides/world-of-warcraft-mining-guide-1-300-with-maps#h1-65

[doccy.livejournal.com]

(...and also remember that - mostly just at the lower levels - Smelting levels up your mining awesomely)

[thessalian.livejournal.com]

*chuckle* Oddly enough, that's exactly the map I was using. Still doesn't change the fact that it's a lot of roaming around looking for mining points.

And smelting does level you up awesomely but you need the ore to smelt first. I've got five levels to go before I can move up to silver, damnit. Ah well. Push comes to shove, I've got a trip to make to the Undercity soon, so I can just grab an airship to Orgrimmar and do some mining there to nudge those last few levels.

[doccy.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I just remembered you're about to be able to get a mount, aren't you? Definitely get your mount, then go back to mining. Most places, the mine spawn rate is good enough to allow high-speed circuits :)

Anyway, I probably shouldn't try and help any more - the last time I played, the Cataclysm was at the point of "Oooh, and sometime in the future there may possibly be another expansion!"

[tyrell.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit the same, all my knowledge is one or two expansions ago :)

I did take Inscription though, and that made me a bucket of money really fast. Heh.

[thessalian.livejournal.com]

Well, I couldn't tell you what's changed first-hand, but I keep hearing rumours and bits of lore. The lore involves what got destroyed in the Cataclysm. The rumour is stuff like "Dar'Khan got nerfed so now you can solo him at 20 if you're smart about it". I still think I'm going to get a couple of levels before I try to take him on solo. A Deatholme group is notoriously hard to find.

[wingedkami.livejournal.com]

http://mapwow.com/ might be useful - you can get it to show all the ore spots of stuff you can mine and ignore the rest. The down side is that this site hasn't been updated since Cataclysm came out, so some of the stuff on it no longer applies, but it's pretty useful for finding high concentrations of particular ore.

(Probably stating the obvious, but have you set the mini map search dropdown to show ores/herbs?)

Regarding smelting, with the ridiculous sums that copper ore often goes for, it's quite viable to mine a few stacks of copper, sell it at the auction house, and use the proceeds to buy a stack of whatever you need to smelt now. I go on a copper run any time I feel a bit short of cash. Jeff the voidwalker kills the monsters for me while I get on with mining.

As you may have guessed, I absolutely love mining, and my dwarf has been known to run off into mountains with shouts of 'Sod your missing quest items, there's thorium about!' It's not just a profession, it's a raison d'etre.

[thessalian.livejournal.com]

(Probably stating the obvious, but have you set the mini map search dropdown to show ores/herbs?)

..............You can do that?!?

*goes to check*
*stops*
*turns back*
*hugs you tightly* THANK YOU!!!
*voom*

[doccy.livejournal.com]

...didn't realise you weren't doing this. Glad to hear it's sorted now! :D

BTW, there used to be an addon that kept track of previous ore deposits on your main map - which was double help for me, showing lovely mining paths all over *s*

[thessalian.livejournal.com]

Keep in mind; everything I know about MMOs, I'm getting from FFXI, in which you couldn't do that. And most of the online guides assume, much like the rest of you, that anyone who plays might be familiar with exactly what's on the drop-down menu. Which ... not so much. Though I should've figured about the ore deposit thing on one's main map, given some of the mining guides have those nifty little dots.

Level 68 woohoo! I can mine tin and silver now! WOOOOO!

*ahem*

[nadriel.livejournal.com]

There may well be addons available that would help you on the locating nodes front- I haven't used any for ages, so I don't know what is currently usable, but Curse Gaming tends to have a fair few addons of various sorts.