I look at it this way: Its 100% an better system than previously…the previous “tried and true” flat-one dimensional ‘diablo experience’ crafting where you click a button 5x to arbitrarily upgrade an item. No thought, no risk, no reward, just do. It was like that In D3 and was like that for a year in D4.
Now… heres my story: First character this season, rapid fire rogue, looking for a crossbow. Found a few good cross bows, some had GA some did not. Bricked a bunch and I was honestly more frustrated with the enchanting costs than tempering.
After a day or so of doing this (probably 5-6+ hrs of gameplay) a 2 GA crossbow dropped. I tempered and got what I needed. Awesome! 4x and hit the GA I wanted with a crit. Went another 4x and hit that same GA. Went to occultist to enchant, got what I wanted in a few roll. Aside from being 3 GA, it was near BiS. Dopamine hit… I won’t be replacing this. I worked for it, got it, worked it up and now this thing is a beast.
I didnt run to the forums complaining I bricked 15 crossbows before I landed that god-rolled one. I accepted “ok, this is how it is in the game… I need to go hunting for more”. There are going to be things we dont like in the game we are playing. Do you think POE players rush to the forums to complain about every little thing that makes them irk? And does GGG rush to cater to their little whims?