Really, there's only one main issue here: no other craft allows a person to take finished or semi-finished, non-defective goods and convert them into some form of raw CNR. Sawdust cannot be made from finished staves and such that no one wanted, finished armor and weapons can't be melted back down into ingots, and so forth. But if we add the ability to grind up cut or fine gems, this is exactly what we'd be doing....and I'm pretty certain that other crafts would want something similar.But essentially, that is exactly what you are asking for here. When you craft, you make certain decisions about what you should make with the resources you have. One cannot take a form of intermediate or final CNR and transform it into another. You decide what to do with your resource and that's the track you need to follow.
I seem to recall this argument showing up before... and I'm right!I think the points mentioned in that thread remain valid, most notably, Dorg's:"When you craft, you make certain decisions about what you should make with the resources you have. One cannot take a form of intermediate or final CNR and transform it into another."
We do it that way because... we do it that way.
Thanks, Dorganath. A fair and complete answer.
I must say that play balance should be a consideration only after you've decided that the current system really is play balanced. And right now, as we all know, it flat out is not. No one, for instance, does poison crafting, because it provides no benefit. (And if I had a single thing I would like to see changed, it would be to either make poison useful - add poisons of paralysis, blindness/deafness, contagion, confusion, etc. - or simply remove it)
Cooking too, while providing an amazing amount of XP, doesn't actually lead to anything useful (other than the RP enjoyment one gets from distributing pies) for example.
Just... think about it.
That said, I still like to see well worded questions to Dorg or him being called on a non answer, steve. It allows the rest of us to see how his mind works.