[Disillusionist]

I'm currently at a game that has player crafting, and offers the ability to make unique items.
I'm of two minds on this, being that quality control (spelling/grammar, lore deviation, or an item's descript that goes well above its actual capability) is an issue, while on the other hand, that player creativity is to be welcomed and enjoyed.

My current game has a policy, as I understand it, of self and player regulation (with staff oversight, of course), and a general trust of players to stay 'in bounds' during creation and of other players to monitor and adjust quality control issues. Much like some games allow an enormous amount of freedom in character description creations, not requiring a great deal of attention to staff-run alterers or merchants for unique displays.

Some games use menu-driven crafting, wherein quality control (or other 'control' issues) is paramount, and only certain descriptors are allowed. Presuming (heh, which I don't, having seen my fair share of staff-driven typos in alters) that the issue of spelling/grammar and lore adherence is dealt with, the option is to sacrifice player creativity.

My personal preference is to give the players the benefit of the doubt, and allow as much creative freedom as possible. Roleplayers -tend- to be fairly creative in nature, and it seems to me that stifling the creative impulse overmuch is detrimental to creative enjoyment. In menu-driven systems, one's creativity would generally be limited by someone else's creative limitations, which can range from brilliant to utterly mundane.

If there are other types of crafting out there, what systems have you seen?
What is your general take on the benefits and drawbacks of them?
What is your preference?