Personally, I thought Synergy was a horrible idea in the first place. Especially, in a shrinking population. Prior to Synergy, you simply had to hunt down a single highly-skilled crafter and bring them your materials. Not always an easy task. But, I could often find someone by asking around. With Synergy, it is now quite possible that you will need to hunt down several highly-skilled crafters and get them to gather at the same place at the same time. Anyway, just my thought on Synergy in general.