Trying to do something very basic: Upgrade my loom.
Finally found a Infernal Ledger, but needed an Iron Gear to upgrade the Loom. So I have to do the entire loop over barter conversions to get it to an Iron Gear.
Infernal Ledger-> Storehouse Plans
Storehouse Plans-> Ash Bucket
Ash Bucket-> Copper Pot
Copper Pot-> Leather Cutter
Leather Cutter-> Steel Tongs
Steel Tongs-> Iron Gear
And each one of those required buying and re-buying more Glint Dust to do each step. So when I finally have the part I need to finally upgrade my Loom, I now am one short on Glint Dust to do the Loom Upgrade.
So I go back to the Treasurer to buy Glint Dust and he's sold out now (because of all the conversions above requiring Glint Dust) and he's not going to restock until 8 hours from now.
So that's ZERO progression in the game for the next 8 hours. It literally encourages you to log out.
That's not very engaging and that's NOT how you keep a player base.