IDEAS FOR RYZOM

That's like a child would say "Math homeworks are too easy; my math PhD dad can solve them in seconds and tell me results." Imagine doing it w/o KC. But KC isn't where problem is. For every static system there will eventually either tool be made or result matrix found through trial and error. After all precraft window itself is half the "cheat". As long as there are finite number of possible combinations they will be discovered and ranked. Sure, maybe it'll take KC 2.0 10, 500 minutes more but it's not like you need to watch it juggle numbers. Then when a recipe is found you File/Save. There, done. For ever and ever. Plus, you can't get rid of information exchange. That recipe you found *will* make its way into other crafters' books. Urge to brag is part of human nature. Sure, select few will keep their jewels close to their chests, most will display them in full glory.
I believe Dainan ment mixing land not grade.
What would make suggested slight variations in civilizations' items more appealing than just current cosmetics? Even in a theoretically balanced PvP fight point or two in cold resistance won't make a difference. If it's high they'll acid/fire/... you anyway. For everyday's usage the point is even more moot ... no pun intended. You don't spend days gathering mats so your favorite crafter would come up with an awesome sword. Chances are they've done it already and after first item it becomes mass production. Nothing really interesting in that unless you're either of the marketing or economics species. You throw together something decent and replace it in 20 levels.
One approach would be to introduce significant differences in racial items of same type. But then you would have to do *massive* relocation of mobs so for instance Trykers simply don't fight messabs until they venture into say Desert. Sort of like plants are done. Then you design items around local fauna and flora, preferably in inverse manner; local items being inferior. As much as this makes no sense it would promote inter-racial exchange and interacition which to me far outweights nonsensical basis.Yes, and results are surprisingly equal :)

Finite-resultset problem spans far wider than just crafting. A Stinga will throw cold and root at you the first and seven billionth time. It gets boring far quicker than playing with recipes too. The only solution to this is random. Look at raw material source behavior; depending on mode it reacts within set of parameters with added randomness. Now imagine crafting behaving in the same way. Voila, still not infinite set as you are dealing with integers but still, order of magnitute larger and then KC suddenly needs to work with statistics and chances intead of algebra. Apply same mechanics to mobs.

But oddly enough you know what the result would be? Playerbase going mad on forums. For some inexplicable reason majority prefer comfort of grind while at the same time lamenting about boredom. Based on market surveys around 5 months into the game and then leaving couple of months later. Argument passed around often includes "if I wanted RL complexity I would, well live RL". So RPG developers, being professionals first, design them as they do. Look down the RPG history lane, every significant detour from the norm was met with failure. It's not them, it's us.