Originally posted by sarteck:

The gameplay aspect of it makes sense. The actual logic of it, as OP indicted, does not.

Here is how I see it. Just my opinion, so maybe doesn't make sense to you.

When forging items at a workstations, you also work in magic to bypass the portals restrictions. Basically give it a little creativity,

For real, it has been expressed it was a compromise between devs. They could had gone with no portals at all.

In the end, don't like it, the future coming change with options will make it your choice.