There have been many discussions regarding the crafting system in FFXIV - there are people who are fond of the current on-hands system and also people that would much prefer a more automated system.
Why can't we have both?
The idea I would like to propose would be very simple and easy to incorporate into the current system, but would make a sufficient change to satisfy both parties in my opinion. So here goes:
There should be 2 choices on the synthesis menu: manual and auto. These can replace the main hand and off hand choices on the synthesis menu UI, effectively moving that decision to a following sub-menu.
Manual synthesis would be exactly how the current synthesis system is with no changes proposed in this regard.
Auto synthesis would have your character automatically craft the proposed recipe to completion. However, this option would only be available if the proposed recipe is at or below your rank and you satisfy the support & training conditions. Provided that all conditions are met, auto-synthesis would slowly complete the synthesis still on a step-by-step basis, unlike a Hasty Hand, but would also have a 100% success rate. As a counter measure though, using auto-synthesis will never produce HQ results.
The idea is, why should one have to worry about the intricate details of the synthesis process for a recipe they have the skills to complete (rank, training, support) unless they are concerned with its quality (HQ)?
Therefore when attempting a recipe above one's rank, or when trying to HQ something one would still resort to manual synthesis, thus employing player skill in obtaining such achievements. However for repetitive synthesis of easy recipes for which one doesn't care for having a high quality result I feel this option would remove a lot of the dull nature of crafting. Not to mention such a controlled automated system could very well prevent crafters from feeling compelled to make use of a bot.
I look forward to any opinions and constructive criticisms the community has to offer, and hope a community rep will see this.
Thank you all for taking the time to read my random idea!