Hello all,
As I posted in the fishing thread, I finally got Shaper's Shawl on one of my accounts, and wanted to do side-by-side testing. The sample size is increasing and I hope to add to it further over time.
Methdology:
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Slightly Specific results:
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Cooking Specific results:
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Smithing Specific results:
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Alchemy Specific results:
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Woodworking Specific results:
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Bonecraft Specific results:
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Leathercraft specific results:
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Goldsmithing specific results:
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tl;dr
Based on this sample size, the value of the cape ranges from marginal to good. Specifically it is directly related to how many Matsya it takes you to get the cape. Assuming a 500k/fish price point, and a 1% drop rate, it's a 50 million gil cape. For some crafts, like cooking, it won't be worthwhile. For others, like Gold, Smithing, and Bone, it might save you 50 million gil in one level after 106 or 107.
Final Thoughts: After nearly 5,000 total synths between two characters and five months after I started this project, I'm comfortable saying that the results of using the cape are definitive. This has been a very challenging project – the amount of time and effort involved in saving enough crafting materials to do 10 levels at a time over two characters was enormous, but very rewarding personally.
I would like to thank those that have sent me notes, either through BG, FFXIAH, or in-game, who in turn thanked me for my testing and efforts, it was nice to be noticed by those in the community. Also, I now have 175 Matsya sitting on a mule, so I guess I can go get my main character a Shaper's Shawl now.
edit #1: Edited 08/25/2012 to include 65 > 70 cooking testing. Also removed terminology specific to cooking, to allow for future testing in other crafts without being confusing. While doing this, I discovered a basic addition error from the first day of testing. Not the actual results, but how I added them. I fixed today.
edit #2: Edited 11/08/2012 to include 61 > 70 Smithing testing.
edit #3: Edited 11/23/2012 to include 60 > 70 Alchemy testing.
edit #4: Edited 11/26/2012 to include 60 > 70 Woodworking testing.
edit #5: Edited 12/02/2012 to include 60 > 70 Bonecraft testing.
edit #6: Edited 01/07/2012 to include 60 > 70 Leathercraft testing.
Edit #7: Edited 01/27/2012 to include 60 > 70 Goldsmithing testing.
p.s. I will be testing the effect of Kitron Macaron in similar fashion on my woodworking and bonecraft mules in the near future, as well as doing some testing on the differing effects of rusk(s), so look forward to that. However, it's going to be time for a break for a couple weeks to recharge before I get started on those.