Would love to have a new Crystal-System

[VanBeathoven]

Just a suggestion:
Would´nt something like:
3 Shards = 1 Crystal
3 Crystals = 1 Polycrystal
and
1 Polycrystal = 3 Crystals
1 Crystal = 3 Shards
be nice
(It could also be a 5/1 ratio)

Its just the crystal-system for crafting is rather annoying
I would enjoy the crafting more without the crystal-system at all
but thats not gonna happen i guess..

[Xlantaa]

If you ask me, I prefer they remove the crystals entirely. It is annoying as hell ,specially the damn Clusters.

I understand, lore-wise, the Aether is in all materia in the world of Final Fantasy XIV, and the crystals are the catalyst, but for the love of god, also for cooking?!!! I have all ingredients, but I need Water and Fire cluster to make a damn Omelette. I want to make a Omelette, not summon Chef Gordon Ramsey to make me a Omelette (or probably insult me because is not good).

[Khalithar]

If you ask me, I prefer they remove the crystals entirely. It is annoying as hell ,specially the damn Clusters.

I second this notion.

[HaelseMikiro]

I think SE made a good decision by leaving crystal shards out of level 51-60 crafting, and I'd prefer to see them deprecate crystals also in the 61-70 tier, leaving us using only clusters, and possibly some new resource. Asking for a method to keep the shards and crystals relevant as a crafting material is not something I'd be personally keen on, because it's something that RMTs can capitalize without purchasing an expansion. I think it's time to retire all ARR materials , with the possible exception of GC garbage, because I don't see SE making GC seals even more undesirable

[Gemina]

I just see them as another mat. And any mat I can obtain simply by swinging a pickaxe or hatchet is a welcome one. However, if they did away with tiers, you won't catch me griping.

[Vexander]

While I think Crystals are neat from a story perspective, I'm not sure I approve of them as a crafting material to be honest. They're rarely a second thought to me (though I do not craft a whole lot). Either consolidating them to single crystals rather than shards and clusters, or removing them entirely, seems a much better option at this point. Kind of like what they did with Glamour Prisms.

Keep it Simple.

[Enur]

I suggest removing then need for the crystals for common crafting stuff, like a simple sword, an omelette, a shirt etc.

However, for the bigger and more power crafts keep them. The lore reason behind the crystals being dissolved in order to put certain materials together fit a lot more when dealing with chimera hides and eikon metal, rather than cracking an egg over a fire.

Make crystal rarer and make the "tiers" more simplified and convertable.

[Enkidoh]

It's a legacy of FFXI which also used crystals in crafting synthesis, although in that clusters could be split into a dozen stack of normal crystals. In fact, there was a lore reason in FFXI for it (synthesis was actually a form of magic in a sense in that the crystals were used as a catalyst to change the base materials into a finished item by willpower alone.

I'm not sure if the same applies here though lore wise (FFXI simply showed crafting as combining all the materials together in a magical conglomeration between a crafter's hands, where as here in FFXIV at least crafters are shown with their tools at work fashioning their items), but I do know it was mentioned in 1.0 at least that crystals are a necessary component in synthesis (Minfilia actually stated it as such).

So because of this I don't see SE removing crystals from the game at all.