Quote Originally Posted by Reiterpallasch View Post
The economy in XI was downright atrocious because items didn't bind when used.
Incorrect, the economy was perfectly fine until the RMT started basically handing out gil.

Until you were at cap, leveling a profession was a loss the entire way, and a big one at that.
Half true. If you went purely HQ? Yeah, you'll expect to be spending a lot of gil especially if the +1(or 2) gives you addition stats like the Alumine Set for example. Otherwise basic gear was very easy to come by and easy to buy for quite awhile until SE shifted focus purely to end-game players.

Absolutely everything you could make while leveling was sold at a loss
Kind of like ARR now thanks to undercutters. Let's not forget that ARR hands out all the gear you need through your career from Quests since gear in ARR has no worthwhile stats so everything is just basic gear crafted or not.