and make the 1 2 3 combo a 1 button combo that would help reduce button bloat.

Generally i feel like leveling crafters got super easy in ShB as well as crafting already. It was a neede change imo to merge and streamline crafting a bit but it kinda got too easy for now.

However even if it would require to overmeld heavily, there are a lot more crafters nowadays so we have an influx of people trying to make money out of the same products. I made much more money selling materials that could be turned into crafts than HQ gear.

A lot more people craft their own items nowadays.

But what can you do? Increase the values needed to craft HQ?
That would be kinda boring imo and would probably result in frustration due to "i cant craft it 100% but only 90% or get it done on a lucky excelent"

I havent really crafted much during Stormblood, but how would the ideal crafting look to you?