Insider Trader: Tools of the trade
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.
It takes it to make it – and let's face it, craftspeople love goodies and gadgets. Addons for professions are some of the most satisfying, relieving the drudgery of tasks such as repetitive combines and character-hopping to verify inventories. Today's installment of Insider Trader is a reminder to revisit your favorite addons site and take a peek at what's fresh for craftspeople. New addons come out every week, and if you haven't surveyed what's out there recently, you just might be in for a pleasant surprise.
Read on for a sampling of today's most downloaded addons for craftspeople – no profession-specific addons this time (we'll save those for a later installment), but rather a taste of some of the sweet little tools that make life easier for every profession. Don't forget to stop by to post a comment and share your own favorites.
Auctioneer
Know it, use it, love it. Auctioneer will change the business of buying and selling for your crafters. Track average prices, set profit margins, identify trends and more. We can't possibly say enough about this "industry standard" here – follow the link and check it out for yourself.
Advanced Trade Skill Window (ATSW)
Lots of mods are designed to be more informative versions of the basic UI; ATSW is one of them. ATSW is a complete replacement for the standard trade skill window. It works with all trades and provides both information and utility.
Larger overall window size, offering a broader overview of your recipes.
Recipe views sortable by groups, alphabetically, skill difficulty or custom criteria.
Filter and search features including text, minimum and maximum level requirements, item counts, item rarity and required reagents.
Queue items and produce them all with one click.
Automatically produce items needed as components of other items; indicates missing components for both items.
Shift+click to output recipe components into a chat window.
Component inventory system, including banked components, components on other characters on the same server, which components are available from merchants.
In the same vein, Skillet is a new take on Slarti's ATSW offering similar functionality and design.
BottomScanner
Formerly known as BottomFeeder, BottomScanner continuously scans the bottom (or last page) of the Auction House every 20 seconds, fishing for bargains. When it finds an auction that matches the profit margins you set, it prompts you for a purchase decision.
Professions Book
"Does my leatherworking alt know this recipe?" RecipeBook gives you the answer.
Auction House tooltip shows you the names of any characters who know that particular recipe.
Browse the recipes and related required components of any of your characters.
Color-codes recipes in the Auction House according to whether or not you have a character who already knows or is capable of learning that recipe.
Recipe Radar
Where is that dratted vendor? Recipe Radar helps you locate recipe vendors on the map by region or by profession.
TTCraftAddict
This stand-alone addon displays both the currently selected craft item from your trade skill window plus any and all required sub-items and reagents. Conveniently enough, it also allows you to create any required sub-items along with your selected item.
The Fizzwidget Addons
Gazmik Fizzwidget serves up entertaining patter for his handy suite of profession utilities. Here are a smattering of our favorites (and a taste of their creator's smooth sales pitch).
Fizzwidget AdSpace
"My colleagues in the Vendors' Union of Azeroth are appalled! Many adventurers these days are buying tradeskill recipes on the Auction House at insanely high prices... when they could be getting a much better deal from us! Someone's been buying our wares and marking them up for 100 percent, 200 percent, even 400 percent profit -- and you silly adventurers are falling for it. Lucky for you, Gazmik Fizzwidget is here to set you straight. This device provides a friendly reminder whenever you consider buying a recipe, pointing out which vendors it can be bought from. Never pay outrageous prices for your recipes again!"
Fizzwidget AutoCraft
"So, I was playing my favorite strategy game with my good friend Marin Noggenfogger the other day, and I was struck with a brilliant idea for how to design a device that keeps track of what things you'll build next! ...The result: the Automatronic Craftobot 100 (or AutoCraft, for short). This handy automaton takes care of repetitive crafting tasks for you!"
This addon changes the "Create" and "Create All" buttons in the trade skill window to become "Queue" and "Queue All." There's even a "Queue Everything" button -- click it to automatically queue up all the items you can currently create.
Fizzwidget ReagentCost
"Once I'd enhanced my (already quite impressive, might I add) Enchant Seller gadget with the ability to estimate and report a total cost of materials for each enchantment, I knew I had to do the same for practitioners of other professions. ... Not only will this gizmo keep you informed on the current market price of the materials for all your trade skill recipes, it'll also help you choose which items are most profitable to produce for sale!"
Fizzwidget ShoppingList
"If you're trying to run a vast mercantile empire like mine, you may occasionally find yourself (or your agents) losing track of all the stuff you're supposed to be looking for. Does your alchemist need Kings Blood today, or does he need the other stuff to mix it with? How's your blacksmith doing on gems? Sure, you could go ask them or send a mail, but that takes precious time. With this handy gadget, your auction agent can easily stay on top of all your material needs. If you're also using Auctioneer, it can even help make sure he knows when there's a good deal and when to wait for one."
Insider Trader's Lisa Poisso is a writer and editor, which she sometimes wishes were available with single-click automation.
