Apologies, wasn't trying to dismiss anyone's theory or dissuade anyone from researching this.

What I will reiterate though is just how hard this is to prove, a little bit of googling to find some data on this from XI brought up threads where people had performed tests with thousands of samples, elaborate controls in place and the results were still pretty much inconclusive.

If you want this theory to get off the ground, I'd like to see similar tests performed, go hit up the crafting forums maybe, drum up some interest and get some data...I'd be more than happy to see this theory proven, anything that can give me a little edge in crafting is certainly a good thing.

Shen