Ok, before you get the wrong idea, the point of this thread is NOT to buff the original epic items themselves (although a few of them could use it). Here's the problem that I think really needs to be fixed:

You hit lvl 20, now able to do epic content. You have lots of choices, and there are some cool epic items out there to be obtained too. So tell me, does anyone grind for scrolls/shards/seals to get the old school ML 20 epic items from say, Chrono, Carnival, Sentinels, Sands, etc. anymore? Only a few dedicated souls, bless their hearts. Why is this?

In my opinion, the reason for this shift isn't because players are too lazy. People are willing to farm for a good item. I think the biggest reason is this: It takes so long to get all the ingredients for these items that, to be quite honest, by the time you've managed to get everything and put the whole thing together, you've leveled past its usefulness! The +7 Con on the Epic Envenomed Cloak is awesome to have at level 20. No, really. It is. +7 stat items, if I recall correctly, are ML 22 or 23. The only ones that are ML 20 are the named ones, so they have their place. However, these items are meaningless if by the time you manage to get them, you're level 22 and can use random generated items with +7 stats anyway. Except for grinding them out to have on your next life, why bother?

The problem with this crafting system is that it's STILL set up as something to be done at endgame. Let's not forget this system came before the level cap increase and before epic destinies. It was designed to give epic characters something to do for a good long time when they hit the level cap of 20. The level cap is 28 now. Level 20 is not endgame, and ML 20 items, with very few exceptions, are not endgame gear. This system desperately needs to be changed to make it more practical. These items can still be special for their level range, but players don't bother right now because they are unreasonably difficult to get. My own suggestions are these: First, increase the drop rate of seals and shards especially. In some packs, it's only 4-5%! No wonder no one ever goes there! Second, and I think this is what especially would bring life back to these packs/items, add a selection of seals and shards to the quest end reward list for every third completion of the end quest of the chain (Big Top, Tide Turns, Chrono, etc.). This way, people don't get a free ride. They still have to farm a little and put some work into getting these items, but they'll get them before they've outlived their usefulness.