MMORPG.com WoW Correspondent Hylton Buijs writes this look at what professions can contribute to raids in Blizzard's World of Warcraft.

The next few articles will focus on the evolution of professions in World of Warcraft, and on their current usefulness in raiding. This article will be on the history and evolution of the professions, while following articles will focus on the various professions themselves.

As raids become more and more based on the work you do outside of them, so have professions expanded to increase their usefulness. In 'vanilla' World of Warcraft, professions were just a means to an end, and their actual usefulness was pretty mediocre at best. Few professions actually helped every class as well as they should, and they were difficult to level up (as they should be). Only the gathering professions were actual money-makers, along with enchanting, which everyone needed to use if they were planning on being a serious raider.

Those days were a simpler time, really: the professions you chose were the professions your class needed. Druids and Rogues tended toward Leatherworking and Skinning, while the Warriors and Paladins tended toward Mining and Blacksmithing. Few people actually stepped out of these well-worn norms. One of the main problems with the original professions was a lack of real usefulness in raiding. By your second run in Molten Core, you would already have realised how quickly getting items could be, and more often than not, there were better items in places like Stratholme or Upper Blackrock Spire, which only took a few runs to get.

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Engineering is still mostly worthless, unless of course you are a Hunter and even then it's not so much useful as it's more of a requirement for the ammo. Almost everything worthwhile to craft can only be used if you are an Engineer already.

Engineering is without a doubt the red-headed step child of all the production professions and no one with a brain would choose it unless required to as a Hunter.

You forgot to mention that a lot of the crafted items got boosts to make them more useful while lvling up.

Alchemy now has Mixology... "You receive an increased effect and duration when you drink any elixir or flask you are able to make."  Its great for me as a raider to get double flask duration, and an additional 37 spell power from the Frost Wyrm Flash.

I dunno, but I always thought that crafted BoP items were always one of the things that made WoW professions pretty stupid.

Why do I need to know how to make a sword in order to swing one?

Why do I need to know how to enchant a ring in order to use one that is?

Why do I need to know how build the goggles from engineering in order to wear them?

There's a long list of questions like those and no real reason for why they should not all be available to everyone.  I personally think removing all of the BoP elements would go a long way toward improving all of the professions, especially engineering.