I don't understand why they make the blacksmith leveling such a pain, yet when you level him, his items suck ass... no point.. as far as lvl 5 is.. Does it get better?
Should be some payoff for the hard work.. much like armor maker in WOW.. 95% of the items are pointless and random weak drops are better... they need to make it worth it.
For me? Second time going in... level 38 on Nightmare, and love it so far. The clicking does get old sometimes, and I do miss the 'auto-stats' but its ok...
The Voice actor for the gem merchant played Lo-pan in "Big Trouble in Little China" (James Hong--LOVE him!) He's awesome. Very cool voice!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hong