Some enchanters are disappointed at the upcoming addition of disenchant as a loot option. I’m personally quite happy with it. I have an enchanter of my own and I sympathize with the hassles that enchanters go through in instances and the like.
The enchanting process now
Here’s the steps involved in taking an item and sharding it for the group:
- Need roll the item
- Look for it in your bags
- Select disenchant
- Find the item again because you forgot where it was
- Actually disenchant it
- Tell everyone to roll
- Wait an extra 15 seconds for the AFK guy to roll
- Open trade after closing within range
- Actually trade it to him
The enchanting process in 3.3
If there’s an enchanter, all the group needs to do is hit the disenchant button. The process of item sharding and trading is done for you. The sharded item goes straight to the winner of the role without the enchanter having to do anything.
Thank goodness for this feature.
Enchanters benefit because they don’t have to spend the time or effort fishing for the item, looking over the rolls and figuring out who gets the item. Is this actually a pain in the ass? No. The first few times, it’s manageable. But if you’re in a raid and you’re handing out shards at the end or if you have a lot of items to hand out, it can get annoying. Just for a streamlined process alone makes it worth it.
Everyone else benefits because there is little risk of having shards stolen or conveniently “forgotten” about. Heck, I’ve forgotten to distribute shards once or twice (or more). Right now, I just greed stuff in instances hoping to win it and keep the shard for myself. But with this in place, the group will immediately know if there’s a disenchanter present and can get a crack at the shard legitimately via the updated looting system.
The argument against
Actually, this is a stance that has gone back for a long time. The traditional argument goes something like this:
Herbers, miners and skinners get to keep their own loot that they acquire. Why can’t enchanters keep the shards?
It’s only fair right? No one rolls for herbs or for ore nodes unless they’re an herbalist or a miner. It’s assumed to be theirs with little discussion. Why then are we enchanters not allowed to be entitled to these shards? We did invest a ton of gold and time to our professions. It’s only fair that we reap more of the benefits. I know I personally experience runs where there are 4 drops and I don’t get one at all.
Why I disagree
With that in mind, an enchanter then would have every right to roll on every drop in the instance regardless of whether or not they can use it on their character. Every item is viewed as something usable that contributes to the enchanter and pays off for the time and gold they’ve invested into enchanting.
Hey, I totally understand where they’re coming from. I must’ve sunk 5000 gold into it myself just from getting from level 70 enchanting to level 80 enchanting.
But just imagine how chaotic it would be if enchanters had the right to roll on anything just so they could disenchant it.
I can’t buy into that.
All tradesmen have paid their dues in leveling up their skills and each has their own unique set of perks and benefits.
In the item’s base form, without an enchanter present, it would be greeded and vendored.
In shard form, the shards can be greeded and then sold for greater value. I just don’t quite see how the presence of an enchanter automatically means they get all the shards simply because they’re the only ones able to disenchant it and convert it into a form that can sell more.
What you can do
Remember that setting loot rules ahead of time can always be done no matter what you’re doing.
As an enchanter, I’ve politely requested asking specifically for one shard if it is determined that we’re on a shard run. Group members will usually understand. Try asking for a change.
Of course, you could always do the completely dick move and wait for everyone to hit “shard” on the loot option before hitting “greed”.