Crothian said:
Which is a little silly. Party resources are still being used. In fact the same amount, the only difference is that who it is given to.
Let me ask you this, and for the sake of the argument, let's say that I agree with you.

If I make a magic item, then to me it's half cost against my wealth. If I give it to you, and you're in my party, then it's also half cost against you're wealth. Now, if you leave the party, why does it suddenly count against your wealth in full, as it should?
From here on out, for the sake of argument, assume I don't agree with you.
It's been made clear to me that the only reason that item creators are charged half cost is because of the sacrifices they make, such as slowing down their level progression. If you really wanna craft all of your own gear, thereby allowing you to carry twice the amount of stuff, it's perfectly legal. However, you'll have spent so much XP that you'll be at least a few levels behind the rest of your party. One nasty fight, and you're potential toast.
In my opinion, item creators get the discount because of the sacrifices they've made, such as time, gold on hand, XP, and yes, even role-play. But tell me, what has the Fighter sacrificed to earn the discount? Nothing. Item creators get the discount because creating their own items weakens them. Fighters are already tough as nails, and arguably, Paladins are the worst (they might as well be Abrams (sp?) tanks). They didn't sacrifice anything for the item. They spent no XP, no time (not like the poor creator had to spend, such as 8 hours per day completely uninterrupted), and they didn't slow down their level progression at all.
See what I mean?