Hey DQ, I did some thinking about those special titles/skills and I figure a great idea would be to incorporate them whilst also putting the Econ to increased use.
I'm hoping things could be set so that people can buy the skill that they want, cost varying between $250-$500, and from there they can buy items (and some worthless items possibly free) out of thin air that are related to that skill, and they can only have 1 skill at a time, a new one bought replaces the old one.
All items bought would be more expensive than if you bought them from a player, making them a 'convenience' buy. Also not sure what would be best regarding enchantment levels of some items listed below, we don't want to clog up the skills with too many options (also in the on-screen help commands).
Skills:
Firefighter - Can buy enchanted armor with fire protection (iron or diamond, or maybe both), and buckets of water, or if it's possible, a never ending bucket of water, maybe also an iron axe since real firefighters use those.
Archer - Can buy arrows by the stack, a bow, and also leather & chainmail armor
Cavalier - Can buy iron/diamond swords & armor with projectile protection enchantment.
Engineer - Can buy all redstone items & devices (although I think redstone itself is worthless enough to be free), levers, buttons and pressure plates, pistons and maybe some coal & tnt (remember, it'll be more expensive than what players sell it for). Plus maybe iron shovel and pickaxe. This skill should be the most expensive?
Alchemist - Can buy water bottles, netherwart, glowstone, redstone, gunpowder, basically almost everything that can be used to make potions, plus brewing stand and cauldron.
Magician - not sure about this one, it'd be similar to alchemist, but I know ender pearl, bone meal and some harmful potions would fit in here. Also the enchantment table.
Master Miner - Can buy torches by the stack, as well as Enchanted Diamond Pickaxes and Shovels, maybe some tnt who knows.
Glassmaster - Can buy Glass, Glass Panes and empty water bottles by the stack, not sure what else.
Rancher/Lumberjack/Florist? - Can buy enchanted Diamond Axe & shears. Also all the plant types by the stack or something.
Bricklayer - Can buy Brick, Netherbrick, and the 3 brick varities from strongholds. Maybe enchanted boots (feather falling enchant, takes less fall damage).
Stonemason - Can buy Stone and Cobblestone by the stack, and all tools in stone form, also furnace and crafting table.
Currently we're all collecting money for no real reason (people don't buy as much as they used to?) but I think with some work this draft idea could use more of the Econ's potential.