So, just wanted to say I'm loving FFXIV. While I can't claim to be a mastercraftsperson like you, I was a master alchemist in XI and made a shitton of money on it. Crafting in WoW bored the crap out of me. I enjoyed the risk/reward (oh skinnerbox you) and the crazy nuances (face what direction on what day?) -- not so much the craziness of them but knowing such things definitely boosted output, which boosted profit. Controlling HQ rate, knowing the risk to reward chances...Love it. While crafting base ingredients without the ability to batch 'em kinda sucks, being able to macro things helps. I haven't gotten deep enough into combat to love it or hate it (though THM is way more interesting to play than BLM was - fire fire fire fire transpose ice ice ice lightning transpose fire fire fire fire is at least better than thunder thunder thunder rest...)

Right now playing on Midgardsormr (of course). I've run across all sorts from old Midgard - some PlusOne, some PhoenixDown, though no one I've known. If people I've known are gonna play, I would love to hear which server.