Crafting shards, crystals and clusters...

[Gemina]

If you gain them faster than you use them, and they also don't take up any inventory I have zero clue why you're even griping about them. Are you just looking for something to complain about?

If you don't need those shards/crystals/clusters send them over to me. I go to the MB 2-3 times a week to buy crystals by the thousands. My gardens are used for shards when they are needed, when I could be growing more valuable crops. Clusters are the only ones I have in abundance because gathering mats for masterbook recipes is very time consuming.

[Krojack]

If you gain them faster than you use them, and they also don't take up any inventory I have zero clue why you're even griping about them. Are you just looking for something to complain about?

I knew SOMEONE would say i'm complaining. It was just a matter of time.

I'm just wondering why they exists if they sell for dirt cheep and seem to not really matter for anything.

Can't even have a conversation without someone saying your complaining anymore. This is exactly why I even hesitated to even bring this up.

[Gemina]

I knew SOMEONE would say i'm complaining. It was just a matter of time.

I'm just wondering why they exists if they sell for dirt cheep and seem to not really matter for anything.

Can't even have a conversation without someone saying your complaining anymore. This is exactly why I even hesitated to even bring this up.

Then help me understand what the problem is. They sell consistently on the MB because they are in demand. As far as their value towards crafting, you can look at them as just another mat that needs to be gathered to perform the synthesis, and the way they work is what a lot of crafters are asking for from the devs: mats that exist outside of normal inventory so they don't take up those slots.

It's understandable if you want to have a conversation, and the best way to do that is when you bring up a problem or something you have an issue with, you also bring suggestions and possible solutions. That's what turns a gripe into a conversation rather than a complaint.

[Jojoya]

I knew SOMEONE would say i'm complaining. It was just a matter of time.

I'm just wondering why they exists if they sell for dirt cheep and seem to not really matter for anything.

Can't even have a conversation without someone saying your complaining anymore. This is exactly why I even hesitated to even bring this up.

They're dirt cheap mostly because of the bots. Without the bots, the prices would be far higher because most players don't have that sort of patience to keep hitting up the ephemeral nodes for hours on end.

They are a constraint for crafting just like any other crafting material. There have been times I've run out in the middle of crafting items and had to run to the MB to buy more. If it weren't for the bots flooding the MB, I'd have to get off my butt to run out and go hit up the ephemeral nodes myself to get more.

They also tie into the game's lore about aspected aether for those who enjoy having RP aspects incorporated into the crafting system.

The bonus to you is that you can sell your excess for gil. They won't go to waste even though you don't want them. Putting up 5000 shards on the MB for 75 gil each is still 375k gil. It might not be that big amount by itself but little amounts add up to big amounts over time. And there are crafters like me that will be happy to buy them from you.

As for how players can end up getting so many passively without botting: class quests, levequests, Moogle/Namazu beast tribe quests, and treasure maps. Uznair can drop insane amounts if the right mobs spawn while you're part of a group that's map farming.