Greetings Falkor.
I agree with you, and I think, as Kaw does, that we already have enough great weapons & armors on WP.
But are you sure the firecrafting thing has been "largely ignored", as you say ?
When this system was introduced on WP, there was a crowd waiting to kill that dragon and get the book, and it was hard to get the pickaxes & the tools, as most of the time, the vendor had nothing left on him.
My guildmates and me got the book, bought the anvil, crafted the forge & the glasses, and made some firerock items.
Then what ?
The shield I use when I'm not using my crossbow is a firerock shield, one of my biopets wears a complete firerock armor, another one has a shield, too, and I will probably be trying the firerock crossbow (and the bolts) soon, but why should we craft much more things than we can use ? (or sell, as noone of us in the guild has vendors).
Don't worry, Falkor, introducing firerock crafting was good, but you can't expect that every player will use it daily, as the items it gives have a very very good durability.
Maybe another problem is that the crafting menu is limited, mainly, to some weapons & pieces of armor ; Perhaps people would use it more ... "largely" if more deco or miscellaneous items were available (but I don't know if it's possible to do that).
Please go on with more additions, and tell us what they will be !