(This possibly should be in the Gameplay part of the forum, but General Discussion seems to be used the most- I'm sure someone will move this if it is in the wrong place )

I have seen a few posts on the forums regarding the incoming changes to crafting, and rather than add my thoughts to page 100ish on another thread I thought I would start a new one

Now, of course not everyone may agree with me but I have given the changes to crafting/synthesis a lot of thought and personally I would like to see the proposal for scrapping +1, +2 and +3 gear turned on its head a little.

One of the main reasons for proposing to have just NQ or HQ gear I think is the problem we all have in regards to inventory space. However, for me it is not gear that causes this issue but rather the synthesis items I keep hold of to use for crafting.

Mobs no longer drop +1 and +2 materials (just NQ and +3), but you can still get these from gathering and crafting. I would personally prefer to see just NQ or HQ materials and keep the current system of being able to create +1, +2 and +3 gear and weapons.

One of my retainers carrying materials just for clothcraft and leatherwork sits at 96/100 (and I have to clear it out often), due to all the different levels of HQ materials that I keep hold of just incase I need it to make an item- cloth, yarn, leather, straps, cords etc. If there were only NQ and HQ materials (with no +1 or +2 equivalents) my inventory space would be able to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

The current synthesis system does need changing- having an item with 300+ quality and using touch-up 5 or 6 times resulting in sometimes not even a +1 is, in my opinion, pretty poor and disheartening .

But, I also don't think that creating a HQ piece of gear should be 100% just by using all HQ materials only. Creating a HQ item should have some complication and sense of achievement; isn't that why crafters put time and effort into ranking up in order to do this in the first place? Also, isn't this a good way of removing gil from the economy (players spending out a little extra on a +1, +2 or +3 piece)?

With only two levels of materials- NQ and HQ- I would prefer to have a system in place so that you can still create a +1, +2 or +3 item even if you don't have all HQ items.

What will happen to synths such as the Vintage Coif? The torn coif is only ever an NQ "material", so does this mean that all vintage gear that you craft will only result in an NQ? Will my Vintage Coif +1 turn into an NQ piece of gear after the patch and is there any point in purchasing gear that is not NQ or +3 right now?

Perhaps if all these left over +1 and +2 materials can really be removed from the game once and for all, HQ materials used within a recipe could instead contribute a set % amount towards a chance at HQ'ing the final item?

Using the Vintage Coif recipe as an example:

First Material: 1 torn coif (- NQ item)
Second Material: 1 bolt of undyed woolen cloth (- HQ item)
Third Material: 1 circle of red ochre buffalo leather (- HQ item)
Fourth Material: 1 diremite sinew cord (- HQ item)

If a crafter could use three HQ items with the torn coif (NQ), each HQ item could add 5-10% (I'm not really sure on what the figures should be) to the chance of creating a non-NQ item. Depending how well the synthesis goes each touch-up could then maybe retain its ~10% chance on top of that in creating either a +1, +2 or +3 piece of gear/weapon.

I'm hoping I explained that well
(It's easy to know what is going on in your own head, but very difficult sometimes to explain to others!)

Allowing players to continue making choices in buying either NQ, +1, +2 or +3 weapons and gear to me personally enhances a sense of character development more than everyone running around in just NQ or HQ gear. Striving for +3 gear over the other HQ types and NQ is something that a lot of people enjoy in setting aside their character from others.

I don't expect people will agree with me (!), but I would like to hear other people's thoughts ^^.