[Pribthecreator]

I am curious if it has been found true that it matters which direction you are pointing when you craft, or if it matters what you do on a given day? If anyone has the answer I would appreciate it greatly. Thank you.
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And also if there is a big enough difference between advanced support and regular support when crafting to make it worth the cost?

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Originally Posted by Pribthecreator

I am curious if it has been found true that it matters which direction you are pointing when you craft, or if it matters what you do on a given day? If anyone has the answer I would appreciate it greatly. Thank you.

I don't think anyone has done enough controlled testing to prove whether or not directional facing has an influence on crafting results.

Originally Posted by Pribthecreator

And also if there is a big enough difference between advanced support and regular support when crafting to make it worth the cost?

Advanced support gives you +3 skill while the free support only gives +1. Whether that extra +2 skill is worth the cost depends on a lot of factors.

[Elwynn]

Until someone proves that direction does make a difference, don't waste your time. Yeah, they say "it doesn't hurt to try", except that you're always wasting your time having to look up which direction is which. I've even seen where someone said that the colored stars and the layout in the Great Star Tree don't quite agree with each other, with two of them being swapped.

As for the day of the week, I've heard that it actually doesn't make a difference, and that there's always a 5% chance of failure when you're past the cap.

In my own limited experience I think it's possible that it could increase materials loss in the case of a break on the same day as the crystal. The other day I was trying to make some prism powder (at 58 alchemy) on Lightsday and had a break that lost ALL my materials. I also have had somewhat bad luck with material loss when getting breaks while synthing silk thread from cocoons en-masse on Lightningsday. But this could all just be a case of how you never notice when things are going right, just when they're going wrong. So I'm not going to let it stop me.

I say just stop, drop, and synth, and don't worry about what day it is or which way is which.

[Caspian]

Yeah, when I quit, direction was considered bogus by pretty much everyone in the crafting community. Days were considered to matter somewhat, but it wasn't real clear how much, if any, effect they had on your results.
Unless somethings changed, moon phase most definately affects results and new moons are ideal for HQ'ing, iirc.

[TheGrandMom]

FF11 (FFXI) �������� ffrecipe - 2009�N01��27���̔[�i�p�^�[��

Is a great resource if you aren't already aware of it. It might help you with some of your questions. I personally pay attention to direction for big synths.

[Elwynn]

Originally Posted by TheGrandMom

FF11 (FFXI) �������� ffrecipe - 2009�N01��27��̔[�i�p�^�[��

Huh? That link goes to a chart of daily guild points items, just like this one:

Guild Pattern - FFXIAH.com

Personally, I think crafting direction is no more valid than the daily horoscope in the newspaper. If you believe in it, then I guess it's a great resource.

[Ellipses]

This is anecdote, not data, but to me it seems to have more of a positive effect on successes, especially while skilling up, than it does on HQ rate or failures when at or over cap. I don't pay too much attention to day, but I do face the supposed direction. Haven't had to look the compass up in months; it's not that much harder to memorize than the cycle of elemental weaknesses.

[TheGrandMom]

Originally Posted by Elwynn

Huh? That link goes to a chart of daily guild points items, just like this one:

Guild Pattern - FFXIAH.com

Personally, I think crafting direction is no more valid than the daily horoscope in the newspaper. If you believe in it, then I guess it's a great resource.

Well excuse me. >< It just happens to be the link I have in my favorites. I was talking about the ENTIRE site and not a single page.

And does it hurt you to read your daily horoscope?

[Elwynn]

The problem is, if you always face in the "correct" direction, how can it "seem" to you that facing in the "wrong" direction is any worse when you never do it?

When someone always faces in the recommended direction, never tries any other direction, and decides that it must work simply because it "seems" to, that's an example of cargo cult science. In comparison, what we know about enmity was found out using proper scientific methods, hypothesis, experiment, verification, repeat.

EDIT:

Cargo Cult Science

Originally Posted by Richard Feynman

It's a kind of scientific integrity, a principle of scientific thought that corresponds to a kind of utter honesty -- a kind of leaning over backwards. For example, if you're doing an experiment, you should report everything that you think might make it invalid -- not only what you think is right about it: other causes that could possibly explain your results; and things you thought of that you've eliminated by some other experiment, and how they worked -- to make sure the other fellow can tell they have been eliminated.

Details that could throw doubt on your interpretation must be given, if you know them. You must do the best you can -- if you know anything at all wrong, or possibly wrong -- to explain it. If you make a theory, for example, and advertise it, or put it out, then you must also put down all the facts that disagree with it, as well as those that agree with it. There is also a more subtle problem. When you have put a lot of ideas together to make an elaborate theory, you want to make sure, when explaining what it fits, that those things it fits are not just the things that gave you the idea for the theory; but that the finished theory makes something else come out right, in addition.

In summary, the idea is to give all of the information to help others to judge the value of your contribution; not just the information that leads to judgement in one particular direction or another.

. . .

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself -- and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that.

[TheGrandMom]

You know, I'll believe what I believe and you believe what you believe. The op can take what they like and believe that too because it doesn't hurt anyone to face a certain direction when they synth just like it doesn't hurt to read your horoscope.

[Ellipses]

Originally Posted by Elwynn

The problem is, if you always face in the "correct" direction, how can it "seem" to you that facing in the "wrong" direction is any worse when you never do it?

Well, personally, I didn't always follow the recommended direction (I always do now, which is why it was in present tense in my first post in this thread, but I should have been more clear). I started sometime fairly late in my second character set's crafting career (I had cooking over 60 on a mule. And Alchemy at least to 53, plus enough woodworking to make Holy Bolts, on my main). I noticed the difference in success during skill-ups, and originally chalked it up to luck. But I kept with it, and the trend continued.

I haven't changed my habits as far as what recipes I aim for with this third set of characters. But I remember the "Oh come on! Another fail?!?!" feeling from my early crafting career, and it's been a long time since it's happened to me.

Except for desynthing for skill-ups, but desynthesis is a special snowflake.

[Caspian]

As random as crafting is, without thousands of synths under the exact same conditions (day, moon phase, etc.) you'll never know for sure, and even with those thousands of synths there still might not be enough of a difference to know anything for certain. Like TGM said, it really doesnt hurt anything to face a certain direction if you know where to face. I did it for a good portion of levelling woodworking. After awhile I quit caring but I still never saw any appreciable difference.