The Currencies of Wrath: Frozen Orbs and Emblems of Heroism

It's all Beta. It's all speculation, but....

The new equivalent to Primal Nether, which were like trying to acquire water from a stone for casual players, is the the Frozen Orb. Currently, these tickets to purple gear (read: heroics, nice PvP stuff and high-level 10-man raids) are not BoP. If they remain non-BoP, this will create a nice market for upper level players, new opportunities for casual players to gear-up for raid content and more fun for everyone. Currently, these are also purchasable for the BoJ Wrath equivalent- Emblem of Heroism, available from heroics and such. Emblems can also be used to buy the new bind to account items.

The significance of a non-BoP Primal Nether equivalent is enormous for casual players. This will open up access to excellent craftable gear. Some of this gear may only be available to those that have the profession. So, if heroics are easier to enter for the casual player, Frozen Orbs are easier to obtain excellent gear is profession-only, it may well be worth leveling a profession to get in on these goodies for end-game use. Previously, the cost of Primal Nethers was largely prohibitive to casual players and most of the Primal Nether seemed to remain within guilds- as it probably should. If you do decide to change professions, remember that one should keep at least one gathering profession with which to make money (gold)- that is if gold remains important in Wrath.

For a druid, leatherworking + herbalism may be a potent combination now that Nether-like crafting substances are growing on trees (an overstatement). I have recently picked up Engineering and plan to keep it. Herbalism- my other profession- is going to be under the microscope as I enter Wrath. If gold seems less necessary in WotLK, which could be the case if the price of mounts and advanced riding is minimized), I may be switching my primary professions to Leatherworking and Engineering, while keeping fishing and cooking as gold-generating skills.