Crafting Needs a Place in Endgame Raiding

[Felis]

but then the person is forced to level a DOH and DOL to use it, which isn't helping them or the economy.

catch-22 much?

Not if SE bring also a craft request feature, like the meld request feature. Then a crafter can craft it for you without that you need to give him the items.

[Sylve]

I don't disagree with all you're saying, but this little bit is plain wrong.
Opportunity cost. If I'm sitting on 900k of Potashes, and turn it into a 600k robe, I don't make 600k, I lose 300k.

It's still a higher RoI (Return on Investment) than plain dropping the robe (which is 900k loss).

Every time a crafter attempts to make something, there is a chance we won't HQ (unless you have a 100% HQ recipe/crafting set, which is pretty hard to get). If an item is worth X, and has 90% to HQ, you have to factor in that 10% chance of ending up with a loss when you calculate in in your average profit margins, otherwise, you're better off just selling the mats.

Well, i guess we just look at the HQ a little different. I view it as a bonus, something a lil extra. NQ Vanya melded is still as good as Darklight. If i farmed the Materials for it, then the NQ is the aim, the HQ is the bonus.
It would still be a profit of however much you sold it for, just not as large as had you gotten HQ, since you never invested money into the making. Only time.

I still maintain that crafters should simply not have bought the Philo materials for that much. By being the only ones demanding, you do have control over the price point. A vocal boycott of MB Philo Mats would have driven down the cost of materials and end product considerably. Which would allow you to sell on volume instead of making bank on a single item once in a while.

I'm glad to see you have a solid opinions though (mine are opinions too ). Too many posts are junk, just mindless ranting about how it "should be better".
I don't think Crafting has a place in Endgame Raid Content. Because thats the reward for doing that Content in the first place. Vanity sets, that being gear with a unique appearance, is an excellent way to keep Crafting relevant for Combat Classes. Housing is mostly just for fun, but again keeps Crafters in business (but only if you make it affordable).

Materia Melding i think just needs to be changed completely. A lot of people want side stats that are not CRIT/DET/ACC. I'd like to see Materia moved from offering just stat boosts, to making small changes to the way skills work. Nothing so powerful as adding to the Damage Reduction from skills like Rampart, but something like:
"Increases the DoT duration of Touch of Death by X seconds, but reduces the Potency by X"

It'd give gameplay options without making it critical to success, and give Crafters and Melding in general a little more purpose.

[NeoAmon]

Snip

As soon as you introduce a crafted set equal to the new tomes, the new tomes set becomes worthless. Why? Because Gill can get you the second best set in the game faster and easier. It is also customizable! Further increasing its value. So lala onichan running around in full second best set in the game melded to the teeth while he have never came across Twintania.

This is one side of the coin, the other side is RMT. Nub A buys 3-4m Gill so he can get that one piece created for him by lala onichan. #inb4 SE ban every single crafter for making millions upon millions form RMT bought Gill. Then you guys come running to the forums crying about how you were the first lala selling HQ ilvl100 and made millions. #Dedication #Hardwork #Wrongfully_banned #Gill_taken_away.

Be reasonable, instead of demanding end game gear, demand to be involved to a limited extent in making the best gear better. Why not ask for the ability to customize the new Allagan gear? Win win for everyone but NO! onichan will no longer make 40+ millions in profit, so it is a bad idea -_-.

[TheUltimate3]

I always felt that items you get from tomes should be inferior. I understand why its not that way in this game (design) choice, I just think that design choice is a stupid one, but a stupid one borne from a good reason.

If the game has two tomes (like it does) i feel the highest level crated gear should equal the lowest tome? Why? Because bloody hell it's the lowest damn tome. And it requires more effort (and this bit is important) from all parties involved than tome gear. Using 2.2 as an example, myth drops from every low end dungeon, these dungeons that have been designed to require as little communication as possible due to potential language barriers, so I can argue that spamming dungeons is brain dead easy. Crafting on the other hand requires mats to be farmed, bought with those tomes, put together, and RNG god'd to HQ, all of which will require at least the active participation of at least 1 or 2 people that have to work together, indirectly or otherwise. (And one could argue that crafters don't communicate, I would argue that their communication is pricing, supply and demand, ect.).

However, I'm aware how this game works and why it does so. Being an Eastern MMO, RMT is the devil and every and all decisions have to be made with it in mind. If crafted gear actually had a place, no doubt RMT would be all over it.

Damn shame really. As a player who's ambition is to find an mmo that will actually let me run a store (like legit run a store. As in I log in, stand behind a desk, and provide a service to customers), I am well aware that I could never do such a thing here, but I understand why people want to feel like they actually matter.

Also I want to point out, when someone says that you are a "stepping stone", that is simply them being nice. Everybody with even half a brain knows that "stepping stone" is a nice way of saying "We'll give ya something to do but don't expect much use out of it." To be perfectly honest, they shouldn't even have crafting classes if they were by design supposed to be "stepping stones" because eventually stepping stones becomes useless.

[AAAFate]

Not sure if this has been said, but if they added high level crafting mats that could only be obtained in the higher level content like t6 through whatever...what is wrong about that? Running high level content for mats to make the higher level gear?

[Rivest]

Not sure if this has been said, but if they added high level crafting mats that could only be obtained in the higher level content like t6 through whatever...what is wrong about that? Running high level content for mats to make the higher level gear?

Yeah, make the materials drop from Binding Coil and the crafted gear untradable.
The RMT + lots of gils = leet gears would be non-existent.

[Galactimus]

Not sure if this has been said, but if they added high level crafting mats that could only be obtained in the higher level content like t6 through whatever...what is wrong about that? Running high level content for mats to make the higher level gear?

That's not the problem. It's when this "higher level gear" gets put up for sale on the Market Board. You now have RMT (gil buyers) wearing some of the best gear in the game with zero effort? If this crafted gear couldn't sold on the MB or traded then there wouldn't be a problem. The crafter would have to put in time and effort to craft these pieces and only he could wear the finished product. Just like someone running dungeons and getting the drop. If "Gil can buy you the best gear" I'd probably quit shortly after.

[NeoAmon]

If "Gil can buy you the best gear" I'd probably quit shortly after.

The short end of the story. There would be nothing to be said at that point but "I quit".

[Sylve]

Not sure if this has been said, but if they added high level crafting mats that could only be obtained in the higher level content like t6 through whatever...what is wrong about that? Running high level content for mats to make the higher level gear?

brb, need to Coil Turn 6 and 8 for the chance to maybe get a piece of my Shield. That way, next week i might be able to get another piece! In about maybe 6 months, I'll finally be able to be able maybe find someone to make my shield! ... Yeah, sounds like a blast.

Or, you know, the boss could just drop the Shield in the first place, yeah?

[Alkimi]

People need to stop using "but... RMT" as an excuse not to bring anything new to the game's economy. The RMT in this game isn't even that bad.

Coil gear should still be the best, but crafted gear could be i100 but difficult to HQ and use rare materials and recipes. None of this 100% HQ stuff we have with the current 2-star recipes.

The materia system also needs a complete overhaul, it's pretty terrible. However, Yoshi-P mentioned there's stuff in development for that.