Your dropped loot and crafting options are trash because of trade

Having hundreds if not thousands of item drops and almost all of it is just straight up trash? Trying to slam exalts on the few decent ones only to brick the item? Trying to recombine them just to see them poof into non-existence due to low success rate? Finally found that Omen of Whittling and it replaces 3-7 fire dmg with 32 accuracy rating?

All working as intended. And the reason for it is trading. Each person individually finds/crafts mostly garbage with a few good items here and there which are put on the trade site creating a repository of collective loot, leading to a situation in which you can get items on trade for a div that feel unobtainable by actually playing the game. High end gear is just straight up not obtainable by playing the game but instead by playing the trade site.

Personally I find this an absolute horrible design choice undermining the very essence of what a looter arpg is all about: loot drops and crafting.

I know that trade in it's current form is a hill that GGG is willing to die on, despite the atrocious loot drop/crafting situation it creates and despite all the negative experience of price fixing, scamming, bait and switch, cornering the market, etc. it creates for the player.
I am just trying to understand why they think this is a desirable state for the loot situation to be in.

As someone who chooses not to engage with trade at all. Its true, there is hardly any reason to pick up loot. And endgame seems so far out of reach, i dont even try anymore. Not to mention buildguides being a joke. "here is a good build, it will get you through the entire game, oh also you need these 3 uniques that never drop."

The lack of an AH means this will never be a serious game IMO. XP loss means characters are over at 70 (I refuse to play if devs are going to steal my xp and waste my time), and the loot could be increased 1000% but 1000 trash items are no better than 1.

The 'crafting' is a joke, an embarrassment. [Removed by Support]

Real and true. They really should balance the game around SSF. I keep reading prices are out of control now... More supply of useable loot and/or more ability to craft useful loot would increase supply and reduce demand. I don't get why people want to buy their gear, but it certainly shouldn't be allowed to make the game feel even worse for SSF players. Slow AF, taking massive damage, getting slowed on top of being slow, drained of mana, low regens, fast mobs, swarmed and few upgrades. Huge Ls at every turn and an endless stream of quit moments. Brilliant vision.

Trade is a crutch that over time took over the game. Right now, trade is the Tail that was the Dog. And sadly, the game may die on this hill.

My personal take, not telling you what to do, is to send a message by not playing the game. And I mean, neither trading, nor SSF. If you play SSF, GGG thinks that this is an indicator for you willing to play at the current state of the game and therefore no changes are needed. If you keep consuming a bad product, you will keep being offered a bad product.

Personally, I am not making myself abstain for playing. Rather, I see more pleasant ways to spend my free time. To my surprise, after spending several hours in the new Oblivion, I am back to modded Skytim, having good time and still finding new things that I haven't seen before.