Specialist Recipes -- A Compromise

[Kakure]

Allow anyone to craft untradable versions of specialist items; where appropriate, make starred DoH/DoL recipes specialist-only

It is pretty clear that specialist recipes are intended to carve out market niches for players selling big-ticket items and to encourage commerce between crafters. Players complain because specialist recipes prevent total self-sufficiency. This would more or less accommodate both sides, allowing us to be self-sufficient without undermining the fundamental economic purpose of the specialist system.

None of the ilvl 170 DoH/DoL gear required specialization or specialist components, presumably because the developers didn't want to force us to rely on others to craft our DoH/DoL gear. This was a good decision, but it created a situation where two-star DoW/DoM recipes were flagged as specialist while two-star DoH/DoL recipes, gear for which there is a much smaller market to begin with, were not. Incorporating DoH/DoL recipes into the specialist system while allowing anyone to make these items for their own use would fix this inconsistency.

But wouldn't that shut down trade between crafters?

Not necessarily. As long as specialist crafting requirements are balanced around the craftsmanship and control bonuses on crafter souls, there will always be a higher entry barrier for non-specialist crafting. Ideally, most players would start out a new patch cycle buying components from other specialists and then gradually become self-sufficient as they gear up over the course of the patch.

Crafter souls also give SE a really simple way to tweak the relative difficulty of non-specialist crafting. Non-specialist crafting too difficult? Reduce the craftsmanship and control bonus from crafter souls and adjust recipes accordingly. Not challenging enough? Increase the stats on crafter souls instead.

What do you think?

[StouterTaru]

That would require every crafter and gatherer to have 6 DoH classes at top tier, instead of being able to just focus on one or two.

[Kakure]

That would require every crafter and gatherer to have 6 DoH classes at top tier, instead of being able to just focus on one or two.

It wouldn't require anyone to do anything.

People complain because specialist recipes limit what they can craft; a weaver/alchemist/blacksmith cannot make specialist-flagged carpenter gear. Giving you the option to make your own (unsellable) camphorwood necklace doesn't force you to gear up carpenter. You could still go buy one from a carpentry specialist, just like you can now. It just gives you another option.

[Caitlinzulu]

Incorporating DoH/DoL recipes into the specialist system while allowing anyone to make these items for their own use would fix this inconsistency.

The only way I see this actually happening is by having a flag that means untradable that gets removed if your a specialist. It would limit the ways in which you could make a profit though.

Crafter souls also give SE a really simple way to tweak the relative difficulty of non-specialist crafting. Non-specialist crafting too difficult? Reduce the craftsmanship and control bonus from crafter souls and adjust recipes accordingly. Not challenging enough? Increase the stats on crafter souls instead.

If the bonus does get any smaller it might as wel not be there, its only 20 craft/control right now. This will not help you in any real way to hq the craft. It can only help in reaching the stats needed for a craft.

That would require every crafter and gatherer to have 6 DoH classes at top tier, instead of being able to just focus on one or two.

I dont really see how OP's statement means that you would have to have 6 DoH classes at top tier?
If you have one class fully geared up that means you have the belt and accessories melded, these can be used by any class. You can reach 2 star level if the rest is white gear just by using food, or you could get the 170/180 mainhand.

[Kakure]

The only way I see this actually happening is by having a flag that means untradable that gets removed if your a specialist. It would limit the ways in which you could make a profit though.

That is exactly what I am proposing. If you're a weaving specialist, you can make all the same stuff you can today and it will come out exactly as it does in the status quo. If you're not a weaving specialist, you gain the ability to make yourself an eikon cloth hat, but it gets flagged as untradable. Extending this to DoH/DoL gear was a lesser point that would, indeed, limit how you could make money, but it would also make it easier to sell items within your specialties.

If the bonus does get any smaller it might as wel not be there, its only 20 craft/control right now. This will not help you in any real way to hq the craft. It can only help in reaching the stats needed for a craft.

Yeah, I agree completely. The point, which I might not have done a very good of making, is that in a world where non-specialists are allowed to craft specialist gear, the crafter soul bonuses provide a way to alter the difficulty of a craft for non-specialist crafters without affecting specialists in any way (provided that recipes are balanced around the soul bonus in the first place).

SE could easily make the soul bonus +40/+40, but change the requirements for three-star items to 870/840 crafts/control and rebalance the length of the quality and progress bars to account for this higher baseline. The net effect would be totally unnoticeable to specialists -- you would still need exactly the same amount of craftsmanship and control on the rest of your gear, your touches would improve HQ chance by the same amount, etc. -- but in a world where non-specialists are allowed to craft specialist goods for their own use, the entry barrier for non-specialist crafting would be much higher.