Considering my server is still looking for its first A8S clear, there's not really a lull in raiding atm, especially for those who'd be in the market for max-pots. There's only so much gating SE can do on making a craft viable before people just ignore the recipes entirely.

While it's true that difficulty = less competition, in my opinion the difficulty in crafting ALC pots should not lie in the crafting, but in the actual gear investment. Requiring high stats to make macro-crafting feasible is also a way of lowering competition, and would save a lot of sanity as well.

You know what else lowers competition? The fact that these are gated by specialist requirements. That, plus the gear investment, should make reaching the goal difficult enough to lower competition, while increasing actual reward vs the work of crafting these potions.