So here you are, making that awesome steel lever crossbow you've wanted for so long after a lot of looting, leveling and searching for that chalk you needed so much to make those steel ingots. Ready to test that baby in action, you walk into the next door and find... a much better crossbow. Basically, all the effort that went into getting the materials for the crafted crossbow is wasted. Sounds familiar? How about that same story, but then with swords or armor instead of crossbows? In any case, crafting items yourself of which you're probably going to find better versions in the game is a bad idea. It's a waste of materials, and the only reason I keep getting the tinkering skill for my rogues is because of the ever so handy trap-disarming effects it comes with. That, and the ability to craft my own bolts and bombs, which is awesome. In my opinion, crafted (non-disposable) items like crossbows, swords, maces, armor, etcetera aren't really appealing to make, since the player has a pretty big chance of running into a much better version of the crafted item. The player could enchant crafted items at anvils to counter that effect, but crafting upgraded versions of that item would be impossible since the original (unenchanted) item needed for the crafting recipe is lost. In other words: enchanting a crude steel crossbow would give you a slightly better crude steel crossbow, but you wouldn't be able to upgrade it to a normal steel crossbow later on. Some wild ideas: The ability to use enchanted items (that were originally crafted by the player) in recipes to upgrade the item, preserving enchantments after the upgrade. The ability to use enchanted items (that were found in the dungeon by the player) in recipes to upgrade the item, preserving enchantments after the upgrade. Some kind of transmutational addition made to the tinkering system, where the player could combine the power and effects of two items into one better item The ability to enchant items yourself. Make your own awesome item with enchantments found throughout the dungeon, as an addition to the random anvil-enchantments that exist now. What do you guys think about this?
Enchant inheritance might give Smithing some help...but it's still not enough, I think. As you noted, nobody takes crafting skills for the onetime crafts anymore - at best they're a stopgap if you find the recipe early, at worst they're wasted points when you find the widget already enchanted on the floor. The best balance points in the crafting skills would be the stats and the "durable" recipes - Alchemy is head and shoulders the best durables source, simply because there IS no other consistent source of instant healing. Traps has good offensive durables, and the trapsight and skill are invaluable. Smithing has....+5 HP and +2 Melee Power and a collection of single-target raw damage throwables. Yeah.
