I disagree with you on D:OS 1 as its one of the coolest systems out there but you are correct not profitable. Aside from profit the majority of the recipes were found in books spread out in the world once crafted would then appear in your known recipe list. I think in the EE once you just clicked on the book the recipe was added but originally you had to read it make one of those items then it would be added.
Some of the recipes were not in books and either experimented or found on the
internet I believe this was only due to the fact that this was one of the last things added to DOS1 and did not have time for polish.
I can tell you in the current alpha crafting is barely implemented some recipes call for a skill that does not exist some combinations say unknown result and yield nothing. I can tell you that recipe books do exist I found one in the alpha. If I were to wager a guess I am sure since this time it is their intent off the bat that all recipes will be found in the world. Whether or not the items should yield profitable results is a matter for the Devs intentions.
A good debate for the forums since one of the tabs is labeled "experiment" should all recipes be found in game via books/questing? Or should some be left to the imagination? And should the value of crafted items go up to make crafting for profit rather than use a viability?