Super-mega-grind

[Denmo]

Crafting between 1-20 is a joke.

It's easy, intuitive, and you get the equipment you need for your low level DoW/M's.

I created a character just for 1.19. I had no jobs above level 20, and I leveled my crafts using 99% materials that were dropped by monsters/gathering. By the time I got GLA to 20, I had already crafted a full set of Iron armor, dyed, with materia waiting to be melded.

Oh, and the extra run off? I sold it all and netted about 400k, riding the wave of demand for low level gear.

20-50?

I'm not so sure. As the gap between levels starts to rise, and the exp rates stay the same, I feel like I'm doing nothing repeatedly in order to just get my level. Meanwhile my GLA is steadily rising in rank at the same rate as it did from 1-20. I'm going to fall behind in crafting, it seems almost certain.

If SE gave a % exp based on your max EXP tnl for each synth, I'd like this grind more.

So instead of 400 exp flat rate for a successful decent challenge synth, make it a progressive rate. At level 10 you would get say, 300, and at level 20 you'd get 600, 30 you'd get 1000. And so on and so forth. That way, like it is with combat exp now (don't argue, it's true), you gain levels at a steady rate, and don't feel like you're getting bogged down in a senseless grind.

[Betelgeuzah]

Crafting between 1-20 is a joke.

It's easy, intuitive, and you get the equipment you need for your low level DoW/M's.

I created a character just for 1.19. I had no jobs above level 20, and I leveled my crafts using 99% materials that were dropped by monsters/gathering. By the time I got GLA to 20, I had already crafted a full set of Iron armor, dyed, with materia waiting to be melded.

Oh, and the extra run off? I sold it all and netted about 400k, riding the wave of demand for low level gear.

20-50?

I'm not so sure. As the gap between levels starts to rise, and the exp rates stay the same, I feel like I'm doing nothing repeatedly in order to just get my level. Meanwhile my GLA is steadily rising in rank at the same rate as it did from 1-20. I'm going to fall behind in crafting, it seems almost certain.

If SE gave a % exp based on your max EXP tnl for each synth, I'd like this grind more.

So instead of 400 exp flat rate for a successful decent challenge synth, make it a progressive rate. At level 10 you would get say, 300, and at level 20 you'd get 600, 30 you'd get 1000. And so on and so forth. That way, like it is with combat exp now (don't argue, it's true), you gain levels at a steady rate, and don't feel like you're getting bogged down in a senseless grind.

How about the devs simply create more gameplay mechanics and content for both DoH and DoL for the lvl20+ range just like they're doing with fighters.

It is also slightly misleading that while the actual process itself is fairly simple, crafting has never been about the process, ever. Now that we have players with gazillions of gil in their possession, powerleveling their crafts to 50 the actual purpose of crafting is lost.

"What can I do? Oh, steel ingots." /buys 10000, synth spam overnight, dump the results to an NPC.

While that's how crafting works for some people right now, that is only the case for as long as you have the means to pull it off. The rest of us need to plan ahead, synth stuff that might make us profit or at least break-even and generally play with the economy to get most out of it. Actual single synths have a meaning beyond that 200-500 exp.

I think that at the point when everyone has to obey to the rules above, crafting will become more exclusive activity as it's meant to be, played by those who like what it stands for [not the actual gameplay process]. Hopefully not only vertically time-consuming but also horizontally, and diverse.