Immediate Disclaimer: I don't think this idea will necessarily make armormech/synthweaving as good/desirable/profitable as other crafting skills like Cybertech, but I do think it will help make them more worthwhile than they currently are.

So, we've all been there: we've picked up some green/blue piece of armor an thought "Well this looks kind of cool, maybe I should equip it." But then the cold reality sinks in: equipping it would result in you taking massive hit to your stats (especially if you're currently equipped with orange gear). Also, it's level bound, so even if it is an improvement to what you currently have, you will grow out of it sooner or later, and eventually you're going to want orange gear anyways. So what do you do? You take it to the next vendor you find, sell it, and move on with your quests.

But what if it didn't have to be that way? What if you could take that item to someone and, for the cost of a few resources (which would depend on the level of the item), they could turn it into an orange item? What if that "someone" was actually "someones" and those "someones" were your companions? Or an alt's companions? Sure, the process would likely strip the item of all it's stats and return to you in a "blank" state. But you could mod it. Upgrade it. Keep it with you until the end of the game. Wouldn't that be worth something?

Have you ever been on one of the late level planets (level 50+), picked up a green item, and thought, "Who the @* is still equipping green armor post level 50?" I know I have. What's sad is there's some cool looking stuff in there, but it can't even compete with orange armor with level 28 blue mods. Yes, you can sell it, but what's the point of making me schlep around some worthless piece of armor when you could just give me the credits and be done with (although the exact same argument could be made and probably made better for grey items)? But there COULD be a point to it. Maybe you want to keep that armor and transform it into something worthwhile.

I don't know, maybe it's just me pining over "orangifying" my green armor, but given how meaningless most people think armormech and synthweaving are, I think it would at least make them a bit more useful.

While I DO like the idea...it will never happen. Why? because a lot of the gear you are talking about has already been converted to orange/adaptable and is available through the CM - whether via packs or direct purchase.

If BW were to implement such a system it would dig into their bottom line and that is not good business.

And don't fret too much. BW has already announced that with GSH there will be craftable stuff to put into one's strongnhold. There is another thread in this forum that postulates how UWT fabrics will be useful because of GSH.