[Kristov]

So I've read about 2 guides and are currently goldsmith rank 10/physical 16. The most aggravating part of the game is trying to level goldsmithing. I see no consistency in trying the same recipes when succeeding and trying the same method. There seems to be no skill in this part of the game, unless it is something you need to be a rocket scientist to understand. Yes some of the very low level items I can craft but they give very little experience and the crystals used while making seems to be a waste. There is no place to turn, nothing I know of that I should be doing at my rank that is craft-able and gives decent XP. I did indeed enjoy trying this aspect of the game at first, but seriously what is the deal? Anyone else find this way too time consuming with no sense of accomplishment? I hope square enix does something about this that's all I think I can wait for, unless you guys know something I don't?

[zayl]

the trick is the watch the glowing ball you are crafting. Being a goldsmither myself, if the ball is white everything is good and you have a high chance of success. But soon the ball will flash different colors, turn orange or even red. the best thing to do is "Wait" which consumes 1 durability, and the ball usually go back to white. 1 durability is better than losing 20 because you failed.

[pogiman]

I started doing what zayl just said two days ago it makes a huge difference

[Inaaca]

Same as Pogi. It really does help a lot. You can also wait multiple times in a row if the first Wait doesn't help, though each time you wait it costs one more durability (first wait costs 1, second wait costs 2, third wait costs 3, etc).

Here's a quick rundown of the synth options and how they compare:
The Basic option is often your safest bet when trying to level a craft, as it has the highest rate of success at any given time.
Rapid gives more progress, but fails more often and has more durability loss. Rapid is usually only worth the risk if you're falling behind and need the extra progress to catch up.
Bold gives more quality, but less progress, higher fail rate, and high durability loss. Only use Bold if you have durability to spare, or if you're trying to make a high quality item.

Also, upgrade your tool if you haven't yet (especially if you're still using the starter tool) and that should help. Equipment that give crafting bonuses (control, craftmanship, magic craftmanship) can also help a little bit.

[JBizzle]

I read this somewhere and it seems to hold true, so I'll post for you to consider:

The color of the glowing orb has different effects on your crafting options.

White has the best chance of success, but the lowest quality improvement rate.
Red has the best quality improvement, but the worst success rate.
Yellow sits right in the middle.

Higher quality items will get higher appraisals and I believe there is a chance for them to receive a stat bonus, such as "Dagger +1," and so forth.

So it may be worth it to go for a bold synthesis on that red orb and risk the durability loss.

[Inaaca]

Yes, that's true as well, since SE mentioned this on the Lodestone it's reliable information.

[pogiman]

so far I have seen little corilation between quality and +1. all of my +1 items have come from 50 or less quality and when I get 200+ quality its still just a normal item (was not this way in beta may just be a bug they need to work out).