Quote Originally Posted by Mikita View Post
At times I have found the need for specific types of handles frustrating...
... but the flip side of doing away with different types of items is the impact it will have on Botanists and DoL as a whole.

The current need for many different types of handles supports the need for botanists to gather progressively higher grades of raw wood, thus giving them an important role to play in supporting the community.

And I think that was really SE's goal when they created FFXIV: Encouraging the growth of a community where everyone can have satisfaction in playing a role that is important in supporting their friends.

I wonder if they have given up?
I didn't mean in terms of every type of wood. there could still be varying grades of wood for different tiers of crafting. Just to give a rough example.

Ash lumber and linseed oil is used to make:

Ash Axe Haft (Carpenter 1)
Ash Hammer Grip (Carpenter 6)
Ash Hatchet Haft (Carpenter 2)
Ash Pickaxe Shaft (Carpenter 5)
Ash Scythe Snead (Carpenter 1)
Ash Sledgehammer Shaft (Carpenter 21)
Ash Spear Shaft (Carpenter 10)

Cedar lumber is used to make:
Cedar Hammer Grip (Carpenter 14)
Cedar Skillet Handle (Carpenter 27)
Cedar Sword Grip (Carpenter 27)

They could easily condense all the ash lumber recipes into one result, let's say "Polished Ash Shaft"

And the cedar items could all be condensed into one "Cedar grip"

There can still be "Polished Cedar Shafts" and "Ash grips" and Oak and Yew... but each grade of wood doesn't need 6 craftable items that are basically the same thing but only make one specific item.