Blu, you said everything I was thinking. I especially agree about the imbalance of material and uncertainty of slots already being used, that is the main reason why I see things not being used--worried the herd will need it or simply not having a demand for weaker material made items.

I think also that the problem with trading for items and materials with other herds is A the slot uses not being certain or public, but also the general uncertainty about alliances. I know alliance meetings are not currently up to date in some cases and so as a plain old herd member let alone a crafter, I don't really know who I can go to and trade with. And frankly I don't have much need for cloth, I don't think a lot of characters onsite do. I have gone to crafters for two items and had them crafted--Zahra who was an outcast and I found through the plotting trading center and then Johnny, whom I asked to craft a gift for someone else in the herd. But it took awhile to find out if that slot was needed for something else and the whole process of that ended up being delayed.

Right now the kind of items I want are stat boosters, and cloth can't do that. Maybe if it were enchanted, but that requires a VOTG pass as well--for my sake, it's easier to use and item pass or a custom item rather than going through the complex and confused process of internal crafting sometimes, assuming that my (speaking in a general sense) herd even has the ability to craft the material I need.

I think also in general, possibly because of confusion, crafters don't seem to be as popular as a role to take on onsite. Not sure why that is--I myself have never done it, though I'm hoping to get a crafting character soon.

But the question then is are we striving for reality (IE, trading systems that are subject to embargos based on alliances) which can get gummed up by uncertain relationships, or are we striving for fairness? If we're striving for fairness, perhaps rather than adding more materials the ones that are currently available should simply be put on a system of rotation throughout the herds. This does not necessarily foster inter herd relationships but it doesn't force herds to rely on them, and it also creates a more even playing field. Obviously some IC or maybe even SWP stuff would have to happen for that magic to be passed around season to season instead of assigned as the gods, and I know it's kind of a crazy idea, but it might have a chance of making things more fair. That way, the Aurora Basin isn't stuck making tapestries and the Edge isn't stuck making vials and trinkets while the Falls makes buildings and the DT makes weapons and armor. As Blu said, unless we ignore the natural properties of the Edge and Basin materials they aren't fit for such strong structures. Yes, the Basin can make tents and whatnot, but they also live in a very harsh windy cold area, realistically those would get ruined without some sort of enchantment. If things rotated, they would have just as much of a chance to create a stone structure/towers as the falls.

Thinking it through: even with trading, Falls crafters would have to give up all their slots (unlikely) go to the basin themselves (not super likely, or perhaps not even possible given territory specific magic, thinking about what Isopia said recently in a thread with Ampere) and then spend time there building something for a herd that isn't their own. I haven't ever seen a herd alliance go to that extent onsite.

So rotation would allow a fair playing field but not entirely abolish trading. Obviously if you want something sooner than it takes for the material to come back around to you, you'd have to work out a deal (though let's face it trading can be difficult for individual and particularly new players without things to trade to do given that most herds only craft for free within their herd, leaving others stuck--a waiting option would be good for this, then.) By rotating, all four herds also develop more slowly and at an even rate, since they all have the same opportunity but it's more spread out.

As much as I do love the idea of adding new materials, I do wonder if maybe a system like this could help without simply just throwing more things into the mix. And no matter how many new materials you give one herd, another's exclusive rights to craft one other will always be problematic. Plus there are individual crafting characters that can supply materials that aren't currently in the four herds, and they are fairly unlimited in their choices as far as I understand.

TLDR:

So, kind of a crazy idea and maybe not the direction you're looking for if you want to simulate realistic trading, but perhaps a possibility to create a more level playing field in the crafting world that would perhaps encourage it to be better utilized would be rotating herd materials. Obviously IC changes with gods or what have you would have to be made. Sorry that got long.