Yeah i guess it is a bit. It just saves me a lot of time bringing the ore all the way back to my forges which are usually a good distance away. Then having to melt the into ore. Plus the instant repairs are lovely and the huge food supply you can have accumulated.

I wouldn't do it on a multiplayer server just a solo play through since you don't have someone at base constantly making stuff. Its nice to have someone run the smelter and furnace when you do have a team.

I seen people complain about having to go back and sail to get ores, etc to transport them since they can't be teleported. Simple quick and easy fix to that as well.