I couldn't agree more to the OP. I try to get ONE of my crafters to be able to do the Master recipies. Since four weeks I try to add a Control +3 Materia to my offhand. It is the last slot and I have a whoppin' 7% chance for success. Guess what? Nothing in four weeks, all Materia lost and if you get one Control Materia out of 10 you bind, you are lucky.

Character progression came to a halt because of a very low chance. What I would like to see is a GROWING chance after a fail and if it is only 1%. See it this way: a character tries to insert something and fails. He has maybe learned something from the failure and uses his expertise on the next try.

The way Materia insertion is actually handled favors rich players and/or Gil buyers. If you are like me and try to produce the Materia on your own, you can wait till 2999 to have your crafter up to par with the highest recipies. Very discouraging to rely on abnormal low chances. The entire crafting system should not rely on a full pentameld set, that's the main problem. Normally if you have the best crafting gear and used the existing 100% chance Materia slots WITHOUT overmelding, it should be enough. Rest should be luxury and make things easier, it shouldn't be mandatory.