Crafting is dead

[Sibyll]

Scoff if you like, but 718 Craft/695 Control is darn near "max meld everything"..

I didn't mean to come off that way. I had nothing melded when the patch dropped and I thought it was a bit stupid how much melding these required. The meld requirements wouldn't be such an issue if it weren't for Clam Chowder requiring fish, which tend to cost of fortune due to fishing. The Control melds are the real killers here. Clam Chowder combined with budget craftsmanship melds is very easy to hit those requirements.

As for the rest of your post, if they don't release crafted versions of the gathering gear and drop a patch that raises stat caps then it's going to really throttle the supply of materials for crafters, as you alluded to. As of right now the only major piece that you can make is the off hand and maybe the belt.