I'm with the OP. I was "excited" back during... what was it? 2.4? When they released the new omni-crafter set (minus body) and there was i110 gear that people actually wanted to buy. It was a race to outfit crafters and get master books such that you could get that stuff up on the MB. You had DoW/M zerging T4 for Allagan drops, selling them and then turning around and spending that gil on the final product. Yeah, good times.

They need to really fix something. It used to be that my FC would get excited as I get master books and new gear since I could start helping people out. They wanted to know what the new gear was, or the new barding, housing items, etc. This new system is mostly "self-progression" and it doesn't feel gratifying at all.