Quote Originally Posted by DoctorMog View Post
On the topic of marginalizing crafters:

Go back to killing NMs (Like buffalo, dodore) then crafting the endgame items that are better or equal to raid gear from the drops

Regular farmed mats (ores, leathers n junk) should not make superior armor/weapons.
This was actually a pretty decent system. Why not let raids consist of materials for some items and rare/ex. also?

Like to take Kirin for example from FFXI. He dropped not only a Kirin's Osode, but also dropped a Damascus Ingot, which made a few things such as a Haubergeon. FFXI actually had a pretty good balance on crafted gear and rare/ex. gear. One shouldn't be favored over another, it should be working together. I still stand however that rare/ex. ultimately needs to be better.

Like Mog said, making the best gear is way too easy. If better armor is to go through crafting, then the materials better be hard to get. FFXIV in the beginning actually did well with this and while it would need tweaking, the system could work if balanced right with other rare/ex. gear.