My thought on this isn't the cost of repairs, or even the ability for everyone to be able to repair. Imagine that a couple of new players show up, wanting to be artisans. They take up mining and forging under the impression that it's profitable and that everyone will buy their stuff. But because eve...

So then general blacksmith could patch up an item, equal to wrapping some tape around a cable to keep it secure. The specialist can repair items properly, and then an ability that would allow a specialist to undo the damage done by the unskilled patcher?

I would be in favor of the idea to allow 'cobble together' repairs with general blacksmithing and then have proper repairs with the specific blacksmithing abilities. This seems reasonable as a person familiar with a given weapon would be aware of its weaknesses enough to patch the weapon up, possibl...