What I've been saying (rather, trying to) is that there's a pretty obvious amount of progression required before you can jump into the two-star recipes, so not being able to now doesn't surprise me in the slightest. People need gear, and while some people are willing to forsake that for the sake of doing favors right off, many more are taking the safe route and gearing up first.

Me? I look at the Forgemaster's Hammer recipe in my Master Blacksmith III book and think, "that's gonna take some work." I'm not trying to craft it now because the materials required scare me, and I know my odds of success are fairly low with the gear I currently have. I also know that, once I am able to craft it in HQ, and hit the meld caps, I'll have a tool that will last me a pretty long time. I know the long-term investment will be worth it, but it's exactly that: a long-term investment.