if the mobs are more important then player characters in blacksmithing, why have the prac?. i think the players themselves should have the high end abilities to smelt platinum and make weapons out of them, because if the mobs can do EVERYTHING and your limited to lower class metals, whats the point of practicing it, you can just pay this old guy in caemlyn to smelt platinum, and fal moran to make something epic out of it, when you cant make good stuff?
lower mobs abilities on blacksmithing to the lower metals, let players have high end metal abilities so they personally get the rp satisfaction of mining, smelting, and making their own weapons.
players should be more powerful than mobs = my point