1. Give slight (I mean really slight) "skill" in forging different items. And the bonus should/could be very minimal, but just to add some more stats to the game which will always be welcome in a text based game (god I love stats).
IE: For every 1mil NW you forge something, you get a 0.05% bonus (just picked a number - could be more or less all depending) to the NW increase of what you do normally get.
The bonus could apply to specific items, or item groups, like helms/cloaks/slings/amulets etc. So you could ie become a decent "helm forger". Or it could be more general like armor/weapon. Or the other way, restricted to THAT kind of cloak/helm etc. Like being a skilled exbow forger,though with the salvage system that might be a little messed up (with specific item forger bonus)
I personally think it had been fun to become specialized in forging :)
And who doesn't love numbers, even close to insignificant.
The bonus could be character based or "account" based.
Conclusion: I would be completely stoked if I saw somewhere that I had a 0.12% bonus to forging armors :)
2. For anyone who've forged a bit, keeping track of how much you've heated/quenched, where in the process you are generally,is pretty easy, but I guess it wouldn't have been too much trouble having a "meter" of some sort showing how many minutes you've heated an item, and/or where in the process you are. Something like "50 minutes heated" written somewhere close to the RPM.
3. Minor EXP gain (no tattoo gain) for forging based on the NW increase after the round is done. Just so you feel your char isn't stagnating too hard when you are forging. This idea improbable as it is, should/would the forging effiency depending on how much exp
4. When a successful cycle is done, you'll get an automatic ratio of BA cost to NW increase. Guess its mostly inspired by lazyness but could still be a nifty little addon to this proud profession :) Either way it wouldn't change forging at all, just make information more present.
5. Being able to blacksmith a work in progress with price reduction equal to the current RPM.
Well thats about it, 5 not so good ideas, but felt good mentioning it :) Maybe some of it would encouraging more forging :)