By this point, I think most players are aware that there's a way to randomly
"manufacture" a variety of armour with 4 stat bonuses without too
much
difficulty. This is slowly flooding the game with such items and making
a lot of eq mobs invalid. On the plus side, this makes it much easier
for lower end players to have access to some decent gear on the cheap..
and for players in guilds which require stat-item sacs to have an
unending supply of same.

I recently had a conversation with a more experienced player who felt that
this type of content was ruining the game. Personally, I believe it's not
doing anything to damage the game , but merely providing a variety of
needed equipment that the pre-existing static mob drop system doesn't address.

Considering the blatant ability to manufacture items is already there...
i'd again ask.. why don't merchants or alchemists have more of an ability to
provide gear that.. in effect is being provided in a backhanded way ?

I know there are other ways for gear to be provided (crystite and newbie
enchanter ) which are more involved and interesting.. but they're also
both level-capped. At any rate.. it's just bull-shit.