having one more than one subject in one thread often makes it pretty confusing down the line.

I enjoy the crafting mechanics in this game but i agree that the animations take too long. They balance this out a little by offering a big amount of an item ( such as rewarding you a 12 of an item). Does not change the fact that you have to do a lot of crafting.

If they let you craft and pick menu options while your character is busy pounding away at the anvil. The animations can go after one another based on what you choose, and the color globe will change and react at the speed of your menu choices. And then you could finish early before all the animations go. hopefully making crafting closer to 15 seconds than 1 minute.