Worst fears about specialist crafting are realized

[Nalien]

Specialists need a proper fix, because the main problem with crafting is still the fact that you really need all eight leveled to do anything with one of them.

I have no problems with Specialist recipes in theory, but the current crafting system puts a lot of people off, which really is something that should have been addressed before/during the implementation of Specialist recipes... I loath what omnicrafting does, but given how inaccessible crafting is, the system worked... If Specialist recipes are to make recipes less accessible, crafting itself needs to be more accessible... When Specialists were first announced it sounded like they'd do exactly that, but they don't, not by a long shot...

The Sky Pirate stuff itself is also utter trash... Doesn't even have melding slots, so it's basically just dead on arrival, considering the Alexander (Easy) changes make i190 the new i180... Crafting producing nothing more but Glamour pieces, another reason most I know don't bother with it at all... Really hope 3.15 or something fixes Specialists, because for some reason, even after seeing the Sky Pirate stuff, I have hope that 3.2s promised "stronger crafted gear" might actually break this sad paradigm of producing vanity fluff... Specialists really need to open up crafting to more people before we get some serious recipes, although I guess it's just wishful thinking that we even will at this point... Sigh...