I cited my concerns with crafting here:

http://www.larian.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=495511#Post495511

The gist of it is this: The Crafting skill wasn't that appealing as a point dump before (and I love crafting; use it in every game that offers it). Now it's been made even less appealing in order to make the Repair skill more appealing.

This, I feel, was a mistake. If anything, Repair should have been rolled into Crafting to make Crafting more appealing.