I don't understand the gnome math here...
Guild is currently at 106/1500 on Master Crafter. Getting there means making 1,394 epix. 359 epics generally sell for 3k g+. Let's assume 100% markup on mats (which is ultra-aggressive, since the mats for epics are pretty expensive and chaos orbs do take a decent time investment). But that still gives 1500g per 359 epic. To craft 1,394 epix is thus 1,394 x 1500 = 2,091,000 gold. 2 MEELION gold.
I mean, wouldn't the cheaper path simply be to identify the cheapest 359 to craft, pay someone to make four of them, pay someone to DE four of them, and get your crystals that way? Maybe it's just me, but four feels less daunting than 1,394.
I don't see many guilds having Master Crafter for a LONNGGG time. If some guild then, then sure, they could kill the Maelstrom Crystal market and make some nice bank with a related monopoly until another guild caught them. But the resources needed for 1,500 epix ... are just nuts.
Fallen is at 694/1500 ... they have Abusedgoat, one of the top LWs on the server so they're at least some heavy crafting on. And they're still leagues away.
A team is at 134/1500, barely ahead of us