Nerf to skinning?

[lfd]

Not sure if this is something peculiar to skinning, or whether it's a new change, or something to do with character level...

I was playing yesterday with a friend who was levelling up skinning in stranglethorn. He's level 32, and had skinning of around 150, when we started hitting the level 30 tigers and panthers in the north. The skinnable tooltip was showing these mobs as orange, and yet he was not getting an increase in skinning from each successful skin; at one point it seemed fairly predictable that he'd get an increase from one mob and then not from the next, but as he got into the 160s (and we were hitting the 31-32 mobs) I think there was at least one time when two successive skins failed to yield a point.

I was under the impression that for all tradeskills, unless you're at the cap for your character level or your apprentice/journeyman/expert/artisan level, that orange meant a guaranteed point - be it herbalism, skinning, mining etc. but this seems not to be the case for skinning at least in 1.8.

Is this a new thing? Has it happened to anybody else?

[Ruvanal]

Is this a new thing?  Has it happened to anybody else?
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I have not done any of the gathering trade skills lately that have been in the 'orange' status, but this sounds similar to the method of skilling up skinning and fishing that was tested in phase 3 of the closed beta. Not the same, but similar. At that time, the color did not matter except for determining if you would accumulate 'points' for the purpose of earning a skill up. For skinning the level of the mob would determine how many points you added to the total. When that point score was greater than your current skill then your total would get reduction by your skill value and then your skill value was incremented by 1. At higher levels then it would typically take 5 successful uses of the skill on the highest mob you could skin to earn a skill up.

[lfd]

I have not done any of the gathering trade skills lately that have been in the 'orange' status, but this sounds similar to the method of skilling up skinning and fishing that was tested in phase 3 of the closed beta.  Not the same, but similar.  At that time, the color did not matter except for determining if you would accumulate 'points' for the purpose of earning a skill up.  For skinning the level of the mob would determine how many points you added to the total.  When that point score was greater than your current skill then your total would get reduction by your skill value and then your skill value was incremented by 1.  At higher levels then it would typically take 5 successful uses of the skill on the highest mob you could skin to earn a skill up.
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The friend talked to a GM about it today, who told him that "orange" mobs aren't 100% chance of a skill-up, just a "high chance". This sounds like a bit of a simplification - I think I follow your explanation and it does seem to fit the experience better. If he's bored enough I'll get him to note down exactly how many skins he's getting without points.

It certainly doesn't apply to herbalism, or else I was very lucky - every orange herb has been a guaranteed point (when finally harvested).

[RTM]

I've noticed this too on the 2 characters I just switched over to skinning. It's pretty annoying, especially when you're right on the threshold of being able to skin the next level of beastie. :)

I suspect that they deal with different gathering skills in different ways. Skinning being one of the easiest to level up, they probably don't guarantee a skill-up on an orange mob whereas with mining I've got a skill-up from pretty much every green Tin node I found until I could mine Iron.