Crafting requiring dungeon drops is fine by my book.

What I think should be changed is that when higher tier recipees are added, synthing lower tier gear should be easier.

Best part about crafting for me was being able to make all the gear I needed for my jobs. Then I reached 50 and it ended. I was fine with 2 star gear requiring melds at launch, but we're at 4 star gear now and while making 2 star gear is easier now, it's still a lot harder in comparison to how getting the latest outdated combat gear is. Basically, crafting and gathering are now a lot less fun than how they used to be.