Square Enix, please think about both Casual AND Hardcore crafters..

[DPZ2]

So, again, what are you asking be done? How, specifically, does SE "please both at once"? Hand-waving and "I wish" won't cut it here. The developers can't read you mind any more than I can.

Also, more importantly, would solving this problem the way you wish it to be solved be ok if you couldn't put up the end result for sale on the Market Board?

(I've already read the post where putting hard-to-craft items on the Market Board was, somehow, a point of recognition -- that would be a gil-oriented recognition, I assume.)

[Kabooa]

So, again, what are you asking be done? How, specifically, does SE "please both at once"? Hand-waving and "I wish" won't cut it here. The developers can't read you mind any more than I can.

Also, more importantly, would solving this problem the way you wish it to be solved be ok if you couldn't put up the end result for sale on the Market Board?

(I've already read the post where putting hard-to-craft items on the Market Board was, somehow, a point of recognition -- that would be a gil-oriented recognition, I assume.)

Generally speaking, glamour related stuff is the simplest solution. Glamour's always wanted and has no mechanical impact on the game. This specific "high end" glamour recipes could also work similar to the collectible system (Which is largely a way for the game to remove excess resources). Make a hard item, finish the item as a 'master craft' to get a specific item instead of the crafted item. (Turning a 2 star item into a 'Twostar', proportional to the original recipes materials).

These Twostars are then used, in varying amounts, to craft both untradeable glamours (Shiny Crafter suits) and some tradeables (Shiny other suits).

Crafting the new shiney stuff could impose multiple modifiers to make the craft itself harder, and HQ'ing the item creates the shiny.