The current crafting order system doesn’t work, nobody is using in for reason.
The principal reason is that public crafting order doesn’t allow the orderer to define the craft quality other than by always providing the best quality reagents.
The more consensual solution would be to allow the orderer to set the quality. But there is an innerant issue with the current crafting order system, is that anyone can pick up the order and keep it for 30 minutes. It wouldn’t take couple of hours to see someone creating an addon that auto-pick any order on the system or following specific rules so they always insta pick the more profitable orders.
So how I would revamp the system is to associate the crafting order system with a live directory of crafter able to do it.
On the same panel as today, you select the item you need to be crafted, the quality, the components you’re providing and you validate. From then appear a shuffled list of crafters, connected in the game but not in an instance, able to craft it, listed per quality.
The player can then contact who ever he wants from the list, the system open a special chat box for both players. Someone having the full skill, someone not having it but maybe able to do it with concentration and finishing reagents , the orderer can chose and negociate the price. Once agreed, he adds the tip and send the order to that crafter through the crafting order system.
Was it a good deal, the orderer can keep the crafter in his favorite list. Or he can ask someone else next time.
The whole crafting order system is bust, it really needs a revamp. The first thing i would do is make a slider what quality the person is looking for.
Second is how you materials work if i set a quality then the correct items needs to be used straight away if i don’t have them then the crafting order can’t be started (this will prevent paying for mats by the person crafting the order).
Third if i do not have the materials then the system needs to give the option to put in the raw materials to craft the correct materials or i can by them from auction house.
Fourth if you have optional reagents that you’ll need the system gives the option to convert straight away instead of walking to an NPC and convert it there. If you need BoP stuff same as in the third you can start an order straight away instead of looking that one up yourself.
Fifth and this one is the important one make it so that the order system can be used for all items not only a select few. If i want a Enchanter to give me something i either need to hand over the items or look on auction house. Not all enchants are for example in the crafting order. If an item is only to be used by the profession only then list it and say so in the main screen in RED can only be used/made for profession only.
Sixth make everything backwards compatible so it works for DF, Classic, Legion, MoP etc even if its not used in those expansions. This will keep the professions alive for all expansions.
Seventh make a reverse crafting order i mean make where you can say making item x will cost you 1000 gold then another can say with me it costs 500 gold. Make it so then that item level is part of this so if both are the same ilvl its listed as the same if not there separate. Make sure people can filter upon it. Then advertisements can be banned everyone has the same chance like the auction house.
Eight let people advertise with there own mats including BoP once if i have a surplus of Sparks i can sell it by making items so seventh item is two folded own items and items provided by the crafting person.
Nobody is using public orders. But otherwise, many players are using the crafting system with either guild or personal orders.
So basically a replacement for trade chat? Because other than the “list” of available crafters, it’s not different than current system. The negotiation part is what is already happening now. You pickup a crafter or a customer from trade chat, then negotiate fee, required materials quality, crafted item quality, etc.
I don’t know about dead realms, but in populated realms, you just say “LF crafter XYZ” in trade chat where XYZ is the item you want crafted. You will probably get 2-3 whispers from crafters.