109046-making-cooking-viable

== Content ==
			
Currently cooking is pretty pointless. Festivals given out as path rewards yield the best food available. To make matters worse, it costs coin to craft variants that are actually worse than the base food (34 to 2 stats is worth less than 67 to a single stat). As it stands now, at least on my server, crafted variants simply do not sell on the exchange.
 
A few simple tweaks could change that without a major overhaul to cooking.
Double the base stat on all cooking variants (so they provide the same base stat as the base food plus 50% to a second stat).	Make the buff from all cooking variants persist through death (only variants and not base food)	Remove all variants from Festival loot tables.
Net result of these changes... players can continue to use free food from Festivals (or zero training basic crafted food) for a buff to a single stat as they already do.
 
Alternately, they can level up cooking to make (or buy off the exchange) a variant that provides a small additional buff to a secondary stat. Although this additional buff is only half the value of a boost, the benefits of variant food persist through death, so is guaranteed to last the full 30 min duration, mitigating the cost.
 
The impact to game balance should be relatively minor, but should be enough to make cooking variants viable products. The added value to variants also gives players a reason to discover them and restores value to several of the cooking talents.
 
Disclaimer: the above is intended as a quick and easy fix to the economical value of cooking and does not address other issues such as drop rates, bugged talents, etc. that should probably still be addressed but might require more dev time.	
----
			Cooking is a HOBBY that EVERYONE has access to...it is not a tradeskill (aka profession.)  Why does cooking have to be designed around you being able to make money off it?  From my experience, festivals have a decently long CD between "looting" and both the amount and type of food you receive is random.  Cooking allows you to make food equal to the random festival food at whatever quantity you desire vs getting a very small amount of a random food.   Once again, I really don't see a reason why players MUST make money off of a hobby - it is there for your convenience and enjoyment.  I'm sure in the future cooking will be able to make a food that is superior to dropped food, but for now I don't see a reason for that to be so.  I would actually love if they added food that gave you XP,renown, prestige, coin, and/or reputation buffs - now that would be worthy of leveling cooking :)	
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Cooking is a HOBBY that EVERYONE has access to...
----
			
{| class="blockquote"
Currently cooking is pretty pointless. Festivals given out as path rewards yield the best food available. To make matters worse, it costs coin to craft variants that are actually worse than the base food (34 to 2 stats is worth less than 67 to a single stat). As it stands now, at least on my server, crafted variants simply do not sell on the exchange.
 
A few simple tweaks could change that without a major overhaul to cooking.
Double the base stat on all cooking variants (so they provide the same base stat as the base food plus 50% to a second stat).	Make the buff from all cooking variants persist through death (only variants and not base food)	Remove all variants from Festival loot tables.
Net result of these changes... players can continue to use free food from Festivals (or zero training basic crafted food) for a buff to a single stat as they already do.
 
Alternately, they can level up cooking to make (or buy off the exchange) a variant that provides a small additional buff to a secondary stat. Although this additional buff is only half the value of a boost, the benefits of variant food persist through death, so is guaranteed to last the full 30 min duration, mitigating the cost.
 
The impact to game balance should be relatively minor, but should be enough to make cooking variants viable products. The added value to variants also gives players a reason to discover them and restores value to several of the cooking talents.
 
Disclaimer: the above is intended as a quick and easy fix to the economical value of cooking and does not address other issues such as drop rates, bugged talents, etc. that should probably still be addressed but might require more dev time.
----
			
Viability on the exchange is simply one way of measuring the value of the output to players. With the current system, it takes a serious time and/or coin investment to level up cooking. The reward for players that put in the investment should be worthwhile regardless of it being a "hobby" or a "tradeskill".
 
I'd be fine with soulbound foods that do cool things, but the rewards need to be commiserate with the investment.
 
I was also specifically looking for a solution that would not require a major overhaul. Adding a bunch of new food with new effects would likely take a lot more dev effort, resulting in the hobby staying worthless for a much longer time. My original suggestion could be implemented rather quickly with additional specialty foods still an option to be added later. I'd like to see a bunch of expert foods at some point. Maybe a single "Advanced" dish locked to each of the existing zone blocks.	
----
			Cooking is a pain in the ass to level, but it is definitely worth it in the end (once you get into the higher tier talent points). For a hobby that everyone can get, it can make you a lot of money once you invest in it if you know what you're doing.	
----
			Well ya you can do the whole craft in bulk and vendor it for a profit thing now, but making money isn't really my point... it's producing products players consider useful.	
----
			Players actually buy the food I sell in the CX, I suppose it is necessary for dungeons/raids for the extra buff stats even if it does last an hour.	
----
			
Get the tier 6 talents and provide a buff food service for raids. Easy cash.
 
Getting there is hard, however.
 
But it's viable enough.	
----