The Current Ecnomical State of ARR

[Sollux]

Which part am I missing? Beginning of 3.2: Current players had ilvl 210. New player within a week: ilvl 210 armor + 220 weapon. Skill is gained by doing the content, which they can do.

Crafters, on the other hand, can't. They're locked out of 3 star.

For 3 stars to be equivalent of Midas, you would be able to attempt them, but not guaranteed to succeed, in the same amount of time. They aren't equivalent. The barrier is set much higher for crafting. And skill is pretty much absent for crafting.

The example wasn't meant to compare difficulties, it was meant to compare how Crafting is gated similarly to Combat, and I apologize for not elaborating. In terms of gating in comparison to Combat, I consider 3* to be at least A7S+, and 1*-2* to be A1S-A6S.

Just because you can ENTER A5S doesn't mean you can clear it, and if you can't you're locked out of A6S+ until you can gear up through weekly caps.
Just because you can CRAFT 2* doesn't mean you can HQ it, and if you can't you're locked out of 3* until you can gear up through weekly caps.

Clearing A5S gets you better gear and unlocks A6S and eventually A7S and A8S.
Making HQ 2* gets you better gear (i170) and eventually unlocks 3*.

Speaking on skill, you're correct that there's no skill required when you can be told "Get these stats, use this rotation", but there most certainly is for the people who found those numbers and that rotation. Especially on a new patch with new gear/rotations, the first few Crafters to find those optimal stats and rotation are going to make much more than others unwilling to experiment.

The main thing hurting new players (Or new Crafters in general) is that there has been no catch-up gear for Crafting and no increase in Red Scrip cap or reduction of the token cost for the i180 gear. Yes, Crafting content is harder to break into than Combat, but it's also not as essential as Combat is to enjoying the majority of the content the game has to offer, nor does it get as many updates or additions. You can complete the entire storyline, every Primal, and every Raid without even unlocking a single Crafting class. The same can't be said in reverse.

[Sardonia]

When 3 star crafting came out they should of either removed the red script cap or lowered the amount of scripts needed for the 180 gear. Granted I can craft any of the 2 star items but it gets extremely costly when melding. Granted all 180 will not get you to 3 star but the MH, OH and perhaps body with other pieces can greatly help and save you some gil in the long run without spending millions on overmelding. At least I have all the accessories and belt overmelded which greatly helps since you can use it on any crafting class

[Sollux]

When 3 star crafting came out they should of either removed the red script cap or lowered the amount of scripts needed for the 180 gear.

I completely agree with this statement, and don't know why they haven't at the very least increased the Red Scrip cap.

Granted all 180 will not get you to 3 star but the MH, OH and perhaps body with other pieces can greatly help and save you some gil in the long run without spending millions on overmelding. At least I have all the accessories and belt overmelded which greatly helps since you can use it on any crafting class

Actually, it will. With full i180 including the new i180 OH, white accessories with minimal Tier IV overmelds, and HQ Seafood Stew you CAN reach 3* capabilities.

Source: http://ffxiv.ariyala.com/TB9K

I put this together quickly and it could probably be cheaper, but this build only requires 4 29% Tier IV overmelds and a single 16% Tier IV overmeld. I even planned for it to have enough CP for Rath's rotation. If you have all your accessories capped and every i180 piece then you have the ability to Craft 3*.