The story only really changes if you're trying to make a specific type of Ayanad using the sealed RNG system. Getting to Ayanad itself is still cheaper in 3.0 than 3.5. Taking into consideration the statistical expectation of 1:7 Delphinad crafts going upgradeable, the materials required to make an Ayanad in 3.5 is the material equivalent of ELEVEN Delphinad craft attempts plus the materials for 1 Ayanad craft in 3.0. So yeah, if you're hoping for one Ayanad type in particular, 3.5 is "cheaper" in the sense that you have to craft significantly less, but again: this is all speculating that you got the worst case scenario statistically, and also assuming material costs will stay the same.
But they won't. As I said in a previous post, if the crafting changes, the Charcoal has to at LEAST stay the same. And if we get the cargo system, the crafting has to stay the same (possibly even getting the no-RNG system of 3.5 while keeping 3.0's crafting costs). Archeum requirements more than double, and archeum trees only increase yield by 30%. That's going to cause an increase in archeum costs by at least that much. But the Charcoal...oh ho ho the Charcoal Stabilizers. If we get the 3.5 crafting requirements and the Charcoal supply is hindered in ANY way, there is literally no way crafting in 3.5 will be cheaper. Absolutely no way, because every polish/oil/pigment requires the previous tier's polish/oil/pigment.
A Delphinad chestpiece requires five sunridge ingots/cloudspun fabric/wind spirit leather in 3.0. That's 175 charcoal. In 3.5, tier 4's will cost 3 Dragon Essence Stabilizers each PLUS a tier 3, which requires a tier 2, which requires a tier 1. So in 3.5, a tier 4 will cost 17 Charcoal stabilizers each (17x5=85), and 3.5 bumps a Delphinad's need for sunridge/cloudspun/wind spirit from 5 to EIGHTEEN. That means the Charcoal requirement there goes from 175 to 769. If the supply dwindles in any way like it did in 3.5, costs will increase. So right NOW on the low-end of the spectrum, you go from paying 175g to 769g. If the price of Charcoal even so much as doubles (it octupled on retail 3.5), that means you'd be paying a little over 1350 gold MORE to make a Delphinad (just ONE Delphinad) in 3.5 than in 3.0, just at this single step.
If prices stay the same across the board, statistically speaking you'd still be paying more for an Ayanad craft in 3.0 than in 3.5. If prices increase like they're expected to, it will cost upwards of 6-8x more for the materials to craft a "guaranteed" piece of gear in 3.5. This ensures new players would be incapable of gearing up to compete with the richer, more established players unless the admins give them one hell of a catch-up mechanic. And THIS is why people don't want Erenor. Just doing the math it takes to make an Erenor, the people who are just scraping by won't be able to catch up to the raw power having thousands of gold can buy in materials.
The best part is, you can't even say this fearmongering is speculation. Look at Live! They gave us Hiram because their Cargo system borked crafting. They gave us Hiram because crafting gear wasn't worth it for people who couldn't put that much effort into making thousands of gold that they stripped away thanks to the Cargo system's introduction. We have a live specimen to compare notes with, and anyone stupid enough to WANT to repeat history should gtfo. This server is a year old. The economy is not ready to step up to Erenor yet, the economy is DEFINITELY not ready to step up to the crafting changes and Cargo system that 3.5 brings. It is absolutely not ready, it's still in its infancy. But sadly, we're running on mild guess work because we still have no idea what admins plan on actually doing, but if it's remotely close to what comes with 3.5, the server is just as doomed as Live.