It's supply and demand.
You picked mage so you could rocket through the levels by pressing your "cast 01 pause 15 pet attack" macro. You do you, Rocketmage!
But being at the cutting edge of server content, one of the very few at the far end of the leveling curve means that there aren't very many people who are spawning research mats at all - much less the ones you need.
A good deal of those who are doing so, are mages themselves who need the very same mats.
And of course, Everquest being Everquest, failed combines are definitely a thing even at trivial.
But hey. You knew this going in.
|