Crafting... Why are we doing it?

[Zantetsuken]

I craft because I enjoy it, but there isnt' much real use for most of the stuff we make in-game.

Case-in-point:

Cobalt Haubergeon (lvl48) sells for ~50gil on my server.

This used to be a premium piece of armor in 1.0, but now even the HQ version is practically worthless. It is outclassed in every way by Vintage Haubergeon (lvl46), and there are roughly 3 or 4 other body pieces which are easier to obtain and provide the same stats or better.

Not only that, but lvl 40-50 gear is handed out like candy from quests and dungeons and once you hit 50, you get body AF, so the armor has no point at all. Beyond that, crafting for end-game is even worse with the easy drops from dungeon speed runs. Most players will get multiple pieces of iLVL 60 armor for free. (and the best crafters can make is ilvl55, not including the insane Vanya/Darksteel stuff) To make matters worse, even if crafters could reasonably pump out NQ Vanya/Darksteel, most people would skip it in favor of Darklight (which looks better, has better stats, and doesn't cost them any of their precious gil.)

Weapons and tools have even worse issues, as your class quests hand out your latest weapon every 5 levels, so classes like Armorer and Carpenter really get the shaft along the way. Endgame it's the same situation. Players get free weapons from dungeons, and then Ifrit, Garuda, Titan, Relic. No place for crafters in that scenario (other than the cheap NQ double-melded item you trade to start relic quest).


Anyhow, I don't like complaining about things without proposing a solution.
So here is what i'd like to see happen:

1) Quest rewards should be GIL only. Get rid of the item rewards from quests. People are already complaining that they don't have enough gil, and the flood of free items has rendered a majority of crafting recipes practically worthless.

2) Dungeon chests (except final boss fights) should be largely changed to 'Damaged' weapons/armor and other craft-able items. - Change 'Aetherial gear' so that it's created by using special dungeon chest drop (with grades, like Dark Matter) which upgrades stats on NQ crafted gear but simultaneously removes materia/slots. This would make NQ items more useful in the markets, and the Aetherial upgrade item would allow players access to near-HQ items for cheap! It's a Win-Win.

3) Remove weapons/tools as rewards for Class Quests. Again, change the reward to Gil so players can purchase the items from crafters.

4) Introduce Ifrit/Garuda/Titan drops which can be traded in with 'crafted frames' to obtain Primal weapons. [eg. 10x "Ifrit Spurs" (dropped) + "Inferno pole frame" (crafted) could be traded to an NPC for an Ifrit Harpoon -- *Perhaps only 8x 'Ifrit Spurs' would be needed if a HQ frame was used*]. It would be a supplemental primal token system which keeps crafters involved.

5) Involve DoH in AF procurement. It would be nice if maybe you had to restore the artifact pieces you received in your lvl 45 and 50 job quests. Maybe deliver the ruined pieces + HQ mats like: Cobalt/Electrum Ingots, Felt/Velveteen Cloth, Mahogany, Dodore/Hippogryph Leather, etc. to a NPC who would restore the artifact armor for you. DoH certainly can't craft the AF, but it makes sense that they could contribute materials for it. -- this would also slow down the acquisition of AF and grant some usefulness to other lvl 45-50 gear in the process.

-this last one is a maybe-

6) Make 100% bound items re-sellable (introduce a NPC that would reset a 100% spiritbound item for a price proportional to iLvl) - I know this sounds a bit counter-productive for crafters, but most players don't want to waste large amounts of Gil on HQ items when they can get a comparable item free from dungeons -- This would increase the amount of goods on the market, but it would also make players more comfortable buying them if they knew they could get their money back at some point. This is ESPECIALLY true for end-game items like Vanya/Darksteel.