Feedback/questions from a new(ish) player on crafting

So, I posted the other day about my general feedback on the game after roughly the first 30 hours. I'd like to provide a little feedback specifically on crafting as I approach the 50 hour mark (a fair chunk of which was spent on crafting). I realize that much of the system still needs to be implemented, and that much of this may have already been covered, so please take what I have to say with that broader perspective.

• Meticulous Harvest and Interruption: if you're in the chain of meticulous harvest and you get interrupted by a mob, the resource should yield the progress you've achieved so far instead of resetting the whole cycle. I've had this happen a couple times and it's rather frustrating given the spawn times / aggressiveness of mobs.
  
  
• How is crafting value derived? Is the value of a crafted good derived more from the components or the skills? At the moment, things seem skewed toward the rarity of the components rather than the skill of the crafter in that quality of the crafted goods hinge entirely upon the components - I'm guessing this will change with refining and production skills but it's still worth noting.
  
  Also, I haven't done the math, but it seems like NPC's pay less for finished goods than they do for their constituent components - effectively meaning that a crafters skills has a negative value. If the goal is to achieve a vibrant economy where the majority of things in the world are player crafted, this will need to change.
  
  
• Harvesting rare goods vs. refining them: I'm not a big fan of how you get to rare goods in the game as it stands. Take for example, Animal Hides. Every mob which can be skinned produces only animal hides and the only effect I have seen from killing tougher animals is that they seem to have a higher chance of dropping multiple hides and rare refining components. I think this does a disservice to the challenge of tougher mobs and limits the creativity of the crafting system. I think UO (especially some of the private servers) got this aspect right in that tougher mobs drop different skins, with different properties, which require higher skill to utilize. They also dropped the same amount every time which is realistic and predictable. As it stands right now, getting to refined goods for crafting end products seems less about skill or challenge of acquiring those goods and more about luck and sinking money into burnable components.
  
  
• Fuel for the Fire: where do vendors get charcoal, curing salts, wax, etc? Who makes the smithing hammer, the tanning knife, the cubit measure, etc.? If the goal is for a realistic economy and immersive experience - then having NPC's with unlimited quantities of required goods found no where else in the world doesn't make a lot of sense. I understand that there may be a balancing perspective in this, but I think it's a more laudable goal to shot for a player driven economy without magic NPC's with unlimited resources to drive that economy.
  
  
• Dedicated Craftsman: not to lean on UO as too much of a crutch, but to a large extent, you could dedicate your time almost exclusively to a craftsman and make it very far without ever having to swing a sword or craft a spell. It's my opinion that it should be a viable option for characters to pursue crafting, make a living, and be part of the world without ever having to be a combatant. I think this is an important option for many characters and makes the world more varied and interesting. But this necessitates being able to make money with crafting (see above) and also being able to get to resources which aren't guarded by a token group of wolves or spiders.
  
  
• Potential is there... on the flipside, the crafting system seems to have a lot of the foundations necessary to be robust and engaging. I'm excited to see what will come with (hopefully) R20. It's got a ways to go, but it's off to a great start.