Lockpicking takes a long time and a lot of effort to level to 400 for scant reward. Oh sure you have the benefit of opening some doors, (though in the whole of WotLC they put in only one – The Violet Hold), and you can open your lockboxes that you find but it’s more a pain-in-the-butt than a help. A pain in the sense that when you get the dreaded whisper of;
“Hi, can u open sme boxe 4 me?”
You just know that this is going to waste your time. I remember one of the first times that someone whispered me like this. I felt thrilled that I would be asked by another player to help them! What a sad, misguided young rogue I was. The trade window opened and I proudly pressed the unlock button. Then it opened again. And again. I think I opened 18 boxes for the prick, all in total silence without a word whispered. Until then end of course when I got a, “thx”, and that was it. Not even a lousy copper piece.
And the fact of getting a rogue to open valuable items for you doesn’t make a lot of sense. If anything, we should be trying to steal those items from you. Wouldn’t it be great if a rogue could pick the pockets of players? Particularly of the other faction? That would change the environment around Dalaran, I can tell you.
I never charge for opening boxes because I never know what to charge. What level is the box? What level is the player? What would be fair in each unique situation? I just don’t know. So you wait to see if you get a tip. You can wait a long time, I can tell you. Just make it a secondary profession and give everyone the chance to level it up. Except paladins of course. Those goody-two-shoes should be made to have to suck up to everyone. Can you open this for me? Please? Pleeeeease? Oh, and priests. And druids of course, those pesky nature lovers. Would be silly to give it to shamans as well, just thinking about it …
I would never want to work in game design.
May 20, 2010 at 7:20 am
Ask for 10-20G. The trick is that the guy doesn’t know what’s in the box and curious. Very curious. “It must be some rare epic! I heard that someone found battered hilt in it. It’s hidden treasure” – he thinks and pays up. Of course it’s mostly vendor/DE greens, but that’s his problem.
Since most rogues can’t open any lockboxes, you have near-monopoly. Ask 10-20G fee. If he doesn’t want to pay, well, soon the boxes will fill his bank. He won’t vendor them. You know, it’s hidden treasure.
May 20, 2010 at 7:53 am
It’s a real pain to learn and I think Gevlon’s tactic would probably work.
As for a secondary profession, sod that, I’m proud of my rogueish ways. We’re universally hated by anyone that’s ever done pvp, a better charge than the gold would be “I’ll open the box for you, just tell me how wonderful you think rogues are”…
May 20, 2010 at 10:12 am
Its actually easier to be a blacksmith and make the skeleton keys than it is to level lockpicking.
Hopefully they will change how its levelled or add in more ways to level it come Cataclysm. constantly resetting brd etc to get three measly lockpicking points is a bit of a grind……
May 20, 2010 at 1:17 pm
I have never understood the whole “it is hard to level lockpicking” thing. I was ALWAYS max as I leveled and never ONCE graced the “lockpicking areas” to do it. But then I am a pick pocket fiend. (Free stuff? Sign me up.) Just keep five locked boxes on reserve for your next level and you can instantly be at max without wasting time at some dungeon door.
On my server the standard rate is 1 gold per box and 5 gold for a Titanium Lockbox. (Man I miss when those took having the Dark Leather Gloves to open, I made a KILLING on them of 50g a pop.)
May 20, 2010 at 2:53 pm
I only open them if I’m in a very nice mood. Then I run to the top of the bank and threaten people who don’t put boxes in trade. I get a few gold here and there, along with people asking for free enchants, for no apparent reason.
May 20, 2010 at 3:32 pm
or you could just make a macro to cast pick pocket everytime you open with cheapshot or whatever ability you like to open with from stealth, done from early on and you will always have enough lockboxes to keep your lock pick skill at max.
May 21, 2010 at 2:16 am
I started using a pick pocket macro after I had already reached lvl 40. I was so far behind on it that i had to grind the lp area’s to catch up my skill. Once I cought my skill up, it was a breeze with macro. I always had tons of junk boxes on hand and in the bank so everytime I dinged I had 5 boxes on hand.
Why is it that 90% of the time the junk boxes always have poisen in them that is one lvl below what you are already using?