Pre 4.0 actually, but yes, 5.1 put the final nail in the coffin unfortunately. Honestly, the whole “work hard for what you want” mindset in terms of crafting is officially dead, and will not ever come back. and ultimately you have yoshida to blame for that. whatever new FF mmo comes around 2025-ish, you better hope yoshida has no involvement in...because if he does, it’ll just be FFXIV crafting all over again. so now I just play gold saucer games, sell materia, and play monster hunter world. at least in that game, hard work and grinds are encouraged.
