It really does seem like it's just been completely abandoned, I thought it was a really cool addition to the game at first too... However, If SE was seriously going to make evolith useful they'd be giving synergy evolith-related recipes instead of random equipment (and driving the other crafts into the ground)...

If synergy wasn't created as a catalyst for the evolith system, which was my initial impression... then why was it necessary..? I find it hard to believe that it was designed specifically to be a time sink that all crafters had to suddenly conform to in order to make any gil off their skill levels...