I think the "hybrid" playstyle of some trade/some SSF is heavily hurt in POE 2

Disclaimer: This is not me bashing on new loot system, just simply sharing my feedback from not so casual but also not so pro audience.

So I know this might sound like a ridiculous concept for some folks, but me and my friends always played POE 1 basically SSF throughout the whole campaign up to and including yellow maps, and only in the very endgame we used trade to maximize our gear. I call it a hybrid playstyle for a lack of a better word and that was not a "hinderance" that we just put on ourselves for the sake of difficulty, it's just how POE 1 was designed.

I thought POE 1 always struck this perfect balance where I really didn't feel like spending any currency on trade since the in game means always had the loot on par comparing to the market throughout the campaign, including loot that dropped, crafting benches, currency, vendors, league mechanics etc. It was always around red maps and pinnacle bosses where we started gathering currency to buy the very best of items for our builds.

In POE 2 I was insanely struggling as Titan in the first maps already. I haven't realized trade was in the game already so everything I got was either made or dropped by me, I picked up every single base I was interested in, used all my currency, gambled whenever I got the chance, checked vendors every single time, hell even Vaal'd some stuff out of pure desperation due to lack of exalts looking for a second res modifier - and let me tell you I loved that a lot, actually caring about stuff I loot, using every single thing I got to get better odds to get what I need. I don't recall being so engaged in every single loot mechanic in POE 1, I love the new loot system. Then there was the moment I realized the trade IS already in the game.

It turns out getting the best base body that I need with any 2x T3 res costs 1 exalted orb. Let me tell you I don't think I have ever seen 2 res rolls after applying currency on gear, it was always one and usually T1 as well (some T2s here and there). And here I have the gear that solves half of my problems for a price of one exalted orb and it just rubbed me wrong.

Now you might say - hey, POE 1 is not any different, trade always has that guaranteed reliable loot for cheap price making the currency not really useful for gambling yourself until you absolutely know what you're doing and are 100% efficient at it - and you are right. There's one huge difference - the gap between the two. For few exalts I completely fixed my gear, my power raised by so many factors I'm not even sure by how many exactly, I had trouble having around 30% res each, now I'm capped in all of them with twice the armour and a weapon that boosted my damage times 5, all of it for like 5 to 6 ex. If I spent these exalts on crafting a single thing, I'd probably have more light radius now.

It may sound stupid but I really think that due to loot scarcity it is just insanely not worth it to craft your own stuff, way more than POE 1. Again - POE 1 has this issue too to some degree, but as I said I tend to have gear that is on par if not beter once I reached white maps - POE 2 maps went down from "almost unplayable" to "boring breeze" with just few exalts.

And I really don't think "just play SSF" is a solution - obviously that's not a problem in SSF, that doesn't mean this gap should be THIS big in trade league too, it's just discouraging. I know we always have this discussion go something like "if trade league bad, go SSF", but I really think there's a middle ground that is way more satisfied in POE 1. What do you guys think?