After reviewing the bonuses from the various crafting stations (see this thread for more info:
http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/118944/1-3-0-armor-and-weapon-sets ), the more strongly I believe the bonuses for the 8 trait crafted sets are simply awful given the amount of time needed to research 8 traits on an item.
At a minimum, the collection of 2, 3 and 4 piece bonuses need to be boosted by 20% (maybe even by 50%) to set them apart from the sets crafted on the lower tier stations. For instance, instead of boosting VR12 Max Health by 118 or Max Magicka by78, the 20% boost would push them to 142 for Max Health and 94 for Max Magicka. A 50% boost would put those numbers at 177 and 117, respectively, which is not game breaking by any means.
The 5 piece bonuses also need to be replaced. While the Oblivion's Foe and Shalidor's Curse 5 piece bonuses are borderline acceptable, the rest of them flat out stink. What would be some better alternatives?
For the Arena set, why not a 100% cost reduction of Break Free with a 5 minute cool down? Or maybe something comparable to the Warlock set's Magicka Flood, but for Stamina, such as a 560 Stamina increase when dropping below 33% Stamina with a 5 minute cool down? For Eyes of Mara, why not a 12% reduction in Magicka costs of spells/abilities instead of the 12% reduction only for restoration staff abilities?
I would also support the implementation of new bonuses that apply only to the crafter of the set pieces in order to reward crafters who devote the time to researching 8 traits.
Does anyone have any other suggestions or ideas for improving the completely lackluster and underwhelming 8 trait set bonuses?