Make materia inlaying a NPC action, not a crafter action

[TheVedis]

I think thats wayyy to steep, as compared with guaranteed success, keep in mind you have to make the materia and obtain a catylyst before you can even see the dude, then you have to obtain the item. Your talking about tripling the cost of an item just for what will probably be like attack+4 or so (unless you get an HQ materia) and that doesnt include the time of making the materia or getting the cataylst.

Only advantage i see to the pricing system you suggest is sucking out money by the millions. keep in mind, if the inlay cost is 4mil, and the item cost 3 mil, and the materia to get it came from an item thats 1mil and, thats a 2+3+4 mil item, base cost not inculding catalyst cost, now if it has a 25% fail rate, that multiplies its base worth by 4, people are going to want to double their risk at least for such an item, so you going to 40 mil if it takes you 4 tries, and you looking at 80 mil on the market. and thats probably not even with good materia.

I think you are def increasing the base cost too much

the cost of a single inlay, too cheap
the cost of a double, depending on how difficult it is for crafters to do, may be just right

thats the main issue here, people are going to speculate on what will happen, but act remains, IF it is very hard for a crafter to do, the price SHOULD be really high, period

some people just dont wanna pay for something regardless of value, and thats the main issue with the OP here

hes also totaly anti crafter to begin with, which in itself kills all its merit

[Physic]

the cost of a single inlay, too cheap
the cost of a double, depending on how difficult it is for crafters to do, may be just right

thats the main issue here, people are going to speculate on what will happen, but act remains, IF it is very hard for a crafter to do, the price SHOULD be really high, period

some people just dont wanna pay for something regardless of value, and thats the main issue with the OP here

hes also totaly anti crafter to begin with, which in itself kills all its merit

why do you think you think the cost for inlay is about right, at 10 times THE NPC PRICE of an item, do you think some one should pay you 2.6 mil to even attempt to upgrade their level 26 axe, knowing full well if it fails it cost them 240k and you nothing? i really dont understand you guys, you want to make materia into a rich mans pursuit only, and have the cost so prohibitive no one would even attempt it until they are at level cap.

even at 200k a leve reset it would still take someone 15 days to even attempt a double synthesis at that price, at level 26, in 15 days they are likely to be level 40, its totally illogical.
remember you are creating a system for all players, new players, and people who are returning. 10x npc price is insane for an upgrade that is supposed to be high risk of failure

[Sorel]

why do you think you think the cost for inlay is about right, at 10 times THE NPC PRICE of an item, do you think some one should pay you 2.6 mil to even attempt to upgrade their level 26 axe, knowing full well if it fails it cost them 240k and you nothing? i really dont understand you guys, you want to make materia into a rich mans pursuit only, and have the cost so prohibitive no one would even attempt it until they are at level cap.

even at 200k a leve reset it would still take someone 15 days to even attempt a double synthesis at that price, at level 26, in 15 days they are likely to be level 40, its totally illogical.
remember you are creating a system for all players, new players, and people who are returning. 10x npc price is insane for an upgrade that is supposed to be high risk of failure

I see your point, sir. May I propose a compromise?

Reduce the cost of the Second Materia Inlay to only 2x the retail cost of the item. But increase the risk as the NPC attempts to inlay more and more materia. That way, the Materia system can actually scale up in the future.

NPC 1st Materia Inlay = Retail Cost, Item Loss Risk = 0%
NPC 2nd Materia Inlay = Retail Cost x2, Item Loss Risk = 25%
NPC 3rd Materia Inlay (future) = Retail Cost x4, Item Loss Risk = 50%

PC crafters would have reduced risk (-1% for every 2 crafting levels).

This way, crafters have a benefit, but don't monopolize the entire system. This sets a floating ceiling on what they can reasonable charge for a particular level of materia inlay for a particular item.