Whenever trying to make an item with a particular kind of Crystal, there were rumors that if your character was standing and facing, for example, Southeast with a Wind Crystal, they would be less likely to fail the synthesis and lose the crystal and items. I even once saw an entire investigative guide that said the directions to face were linked to the time of day in-game, and that each crystal had its own favored 'direction' depending on the time of day. [FFXI, F, 22]

Due to FFXI being incredibly coded for hidden effects, moon phase and basically anything that is mutable, there are a lot of these beliefs going around. For instance, I have never seen any proof that the Elemental Staves (there are 8, fire, earth, air, water, light, dark, lightning, and ice) will affect your craft outcome, however I tend to craft with the corresponding staff/crystal im using. There is also substantial (yet without seeing the *actual* code for the game I don't consider it fact) evidence pointing to which direction your facing has an effect on what your crafting. Some players are extraordinarily picky about the time/direction/day/moonphase that they craft certain (expensive) items, some aren't. [FFXI, M, 30]