Quote Originally Posted by Skivvy View Post
And don't forget that in order to build the spiffy otter water fountain, you have to either buy it from the MB (it was about 9M for all parts when I checked the other day..) or participate in Expert crafting which is essentially crafting savage mode.

"oOOOh but it's optional!", they'll cry! OK, sure, but it was still an idiotic decision by SE. I'm still of the opinion that IS should have remained 100% self-contained, but if they're going to insist on having it cross over into the outside world, they could have chosen to put it behind a normal recipe. This would have still been annoying for non-crafters/gatherers, but the pricing would have tanked by now as the materials are not that hard to get.
I'm not so bothered by the fountain, since that's totally optional and you don't need it to make progress. The crafting factory is the core of the gameplay and everything you build on the island feeds into it and is occupied by its workers, and it's miles away from I what expect a relaxing island getaway to feel like.