Crafting Needs a Place in Endgame Raiding

[Zumi]

Crafting may not be the main focus of the game, but when they're not even that proficient in the one thing that they're meant to do (item creation), it makes them feel useless. Some people may like that and want combat jobs to trump everything, but of course there will be people who think that crafters and gatherers should have a place as well.

How are they not proficient at making items that's all they can do? And you can make millions and millions of gil crafting and selling items. What more do you want?

[Susanoh]

How are they not proficient at making items that's all they can do? And you can make millions and millions of gil crafting and selling items. What more do you want?

They're not proficient in it because most of the items they create aren't highly desired by anyone except people who haven't found anything better yet. They're largely looked at as a "stepping stone." Also, making one million or one hundred million gil is irrelevant in terms of progression if there's nothing there for you to buy.

Just to throw out a random example, having desirable items that could be crafted from a mix of high level, rare resources obtained from gathering jobs and combat jobs would be something that could make all three types of classes relevant with the same item. It wouldn't have to be every high level item, no one is saying crafting has to trump everything in every situation. Right now though, it's largely the opposite. Food is useful, there's some argument for melded i70 accessories on some jobs, but that's it. Just about every other really desirable item in this game is 100% combat jobs, 0% crafting, and 0% gathering. Some would like crafting and gathering to have a place in creating high level items, instead of being cut out completely. That's all.

[SarcasmMisser]

...

What you're describing is not unlike how you have to obtain your pre-relic. An item required to craft it was a dungeon drop, needed to be crafted and melded. However in reality there are listings on the market board for the whole thing pre-made and ready to be turned in for a handsome sum of gil.

This is what would happen if you made it a part of the best gear, unless you made everything BoP which would then be useless for dedicated crafters because there's no market in that. This is why crafting will always be second-fiddle in gear progression, because having a gil shortcut to gear with a RMT economy is practically pay 2 win. There's a market for crafters out there already and it is sufficient and stable.

[Susanoh]

What you're describing is not unlike how you have to obtain your pre-relic. An item required to craft it was a dungeon drop, needed to be crafted and melded. However in reality there are listings on the market board for the whole thing pre-made and ready to be turned in for a handsome sum of gil.

This is what would happen if you made it a part of the best gear, unless you made everything BoP which would then be useless for dedicated crafters because there's no market in that. This is why crafting will always be second-fiddle in gear progression, because having a gil shortcut to gear with a RMT economy is practically pay 2 win. There's a market for crafters out there already and it is sufficient and stable.

If you want to make the point that the game doesn't want a relevant economy because they want to combat RMT, I won't argue (that may be the case actually).

I wouldn't exactly call this game's economy "sufficient and stable," though. In creating a market that items are incredibly abundant and most are in low demand due to so many better/easier to obtain options, it definitely keeps everything cheap and accessible which can be great to combat RMT. On the other hand, a market that has been designed specifically to have little meaning isn't exactly thrilling to get into either.