It's not that there aren't good ideas: it's that they don't capitalize on what they create!
Take the crafting system, appart from the balancing, it's a ton of fun to design your own weapons. But just dropping it in the game isn't fun.
What about quests? Starting off by forging tools for villagers? Perhaps forging for bandits to gain relations? Making weapons for lords, bringing materials to a blacksmith who would reward you by giving discounts when forging weapons for you or better, who would grant you access to "masterwork" weapons?