Never, i never made a weapon because someone told me, when i started to play the game i just read the wiki since this its my second MMo (not counting TF2, Quake 3 or anything else) and since my previous experience on Dofus (when was pretty good until 1.29 version) reading the wiki improved my way to play the game, i decided to do the same here, so instead asking someone "what its the best weapon in the game" i just take a look at the wiki on the weapons to know which one to craft. And im glad i did on that way.

Until this day, when someone ask me about what weapon its the best on the game, i always told them: Every weapon it just situational and they have to craft a wide variety of weapons to face any danger they would find in the game.

I crafted a few weapons that were recommended, namely dread venom striker. At the time, the game was new and it wasn't a bad way to kill the jelly king. Then they went and nerfed that boss fight into the ground, as well as made the DVS worthless there. Most of my crafts were not strictly recommended, but were things I saw others use effectively and wanted to get to become stronger- like divine avenger.

The last weapons that were recommended to me were the brandishes. I initially had very limited intention on crafting them, as I already owned divine avenger and gran faust, which were still THE sword that you wanted to go for... it was only after I crafted them that I saw just how outdated the notion of vog+divine avenger had become.

As for your question- I think that most of the weapons in the game are usable and even decent choices. But if I see someone with a spur, I think that it would be cruel to let them continue on with it... they shouldn't have to grind for orbs and go through the game with that, because its not going to be a fun time, bashing things over and over until they die. Another aspect of this is that people ask what they should get and want advice because of how grindy the game is and how much consequence there is for crafting sub par gear. These people are going to find their answer at some point and are really quite smart to ask. If they don't want to do it that way, and would rather painfully wander into heavy deconstructor, flamberg and cautery sword, then its their decision but they could still stand to be informed of what they are doing.

I wasn't concerned with maximizing my damage or anything when I first started, I was super casual and just wanted to experiment and try new things. My first 5* armor was Volcanic Salamander because we ran Jelly King so much it only made sense (and I didn't wanna make Vog like literally everybody else hahah), and Dread Venom Striker was pretty awesome. It wasn't until much later when I started looking into the Vanaduke "necessities," which back then included the Argent Peacemaker and Vog Cub.

Nobody really told me that any weapons were explicitly bad until more recently, with guildies and friends giving input on new loadouts and whatnot. (I'm especially bad at Lockdown loadouts, ahaha..) Although, I'm probably going to start making various guns per a friends' recommendation, starting with the Volt Driver (which I was planning on eventually but starting with his advice). Finally picked up a mouse so gunning has become a lot more viable. :3

On my first character, I went through the wikipedias and decided I wanted movement speed, and then I picked up a Brandish and was about to get a Spur, but I saw a Flourish so I just got it on a whim. Then I went Silent Nightblade, Fearless Rigadoon, Mercurial, Grey Owlite Shield.
I regret not getting the Winmillion when I could've played with the forward step.

I'll say what's good, but generally not say what's bad. I remember seeing an Ash Tail rock the Faust and Pulsar in some T3 Undead/Fiend floors, and a Magic set rock the Cutter in RJP, making great use of his/her shield.

I have picked a weapon twice because of recommendations. And I nearly regret getting the Glacius and the Strike Needle (phew, almost made a blitz there).

I play a lot of this game alone so I always just crafted what I wanted rather than what other people suggested. My first set was full Valkyrie, a grey owlite shield, leviathan blade and a magma driver. That set carried me through a good portion of the game. I eventually found out that divine avenger and argent peacemaker exist, so I made those to continue with my angelic appearance. After reaching firestorm citadel (and relying heavily on remedy capsules from the rest of my teammates), I realized that the fire vulnerability was pretty terrible, so I created a divine veil to nullify it. Since then I've expanded my arsenal quite a bit, but never has anyone's word prompted me to create a weapon or armor piece. Despite having a large amount of weapons and armors, I still haven't dabbled into the chaos set. The only real offensive gear I have is stuff that doesn't have a direct crafting line/event only (Snarbolax, BKC, kat eye ... err, whatever the 4* is) because those are more like a trophy than useful to me. Except for the BKC and its speed boost, that is helpful.

Honestly, I learned very early on that brandishes were not for me. I liked my calibur more, especially since constructs were very common back in the day (and I have a VH vs constructs on that) with only one difficulty level. OHKOing turrets was the reason I had that thing on me at all times. Then polyps and howltzers showed up and made my blade significantly less useful. Heck I even crafted a cutter back in the day and was blessed by an ASI VH UV.
For whatever reason I seemed to get great UVs back in the day...

But as for the topic and not about myself, I think that people should be guided, but not told what they have is rubbish. Every weapon and every armor does have its usage, and in the right hands it will work wonders. (Cobalt works wonders for those who lack crowns, while chaos works wonders for those that don't get hit)

I listened to my close friends mostly, and did little research then crafted and experimented on my own to decide whether use it or not. My friend recommended brandish back before 5 explosion burst update, and I actually love the non-buffed version (3 explosion burst) more. My preference changed from time to time, autogun was one of my first gun and I hate it almost immediately, picking it up again after few months, liking and using it more often even at time people said it's only effective at fsc and useless somewhere else.

At some point, I just crafted any weapons because I am just curious, disregarding people's specific opinions.
Now however, after so many try-my-own, I grew closed minded and have a fixed mindset about specific weapons.
Still, I like to be proven wrong.