I have mixed responses here.
On the math side, 1/22400 isn’t zero; however, if you assume that no person will be willing to reroll a single item more than 100 times, it starts approaching zero; if you limit this to by the number of players who have 50+ hours in the game, it get’s even closer to zero. In a practical sense, I would say that it is anomalous for players to be able to roll perfect melee qualities for weapons of their choosing. This is to say… you’re right an an absolute sense; they’re right in a practical sense.
With that said, I have one orange item where I got perfect qualities by re-rolling. Counting betas, I have 600+ hours in the game, and I think I wasted more than half hour in order to get that outcome. I hated that experience.
I think you and others are making an aesthetic judgment about red items. I’d put this in the language of “I think it is beautiful that these items are so rare”. Don’t get me wrong, other’s are saying “I think it would be beautiful if these items were more common” but they’re also saying, “Given time I don’t want to spend rerolling, it would be practical for me if these items were more common.”
Honestly, I think you’re arguing that reds should be rare because you and others appreciate them as a symbol of status, and if they were more common that symbol would be diminished. I’m not saying this is your only argument, but I think this is a central part of it.
I’m only sitting on 300-400 orange dust at this point; I’m probably sitting on 100+ Champion Emp/General chests, and 200+ chests of value below that. I actively hate re-rolling. There is nothing fun about it for me. When I engage with this game, I want it to be fun. So I am in favor of any system that would allow me to bypass what I don’t like. For me, having more red items (I don’t particularly care about their appearance, so keep the illusions) is really a means for me to bypass what I don’t like about the game, so I can focus on what I do like (killing rats).
You are correct that there is little to no difference between 4% and 5% when it comes to combat effects. Frankly, most of my orange weapons do the trick just fine for me… but as a player, I am fundamentally dissatisfied with the quality/trait reroll system, such that I no longer engage with it. I would like the dust conversion because it would save me time. This is a matter of personal preference – but it is a practical one rather than an aesthetic one.
By saying, “restrict the blue illusion to actual drops”, I am saying “I respect your aesthetic argument; so, please respect my practical argument”.