Two Worlds: The Temptation - Player Workshops

The Two Worlds site announces Player Workshops in The Temptation, which will craft items depending on the staff you hire:

Show me a RPG player who's never been annoyed at having to pay high prices for a weapon or other item at an expensive merchant's place - I'll bet you can't! And even if you're a member of the local Guild, your money soon disappears if you're putting together a strong suit of armor! So how about players setting up their own little production sites, huh? Like the idea? OK, in that case, I can highly recommend the new gameplay feature in "The Temptation" - currently being implemented by Reality Pump!
The player can buy a small workshop where he can then hire, fire and of course pay employees of his own! As a reward for his efforts, he can sell or use a new product every day. Just what you produce depends either on the type of workshop you have or on the skills of the people you hire. The hero doesn't have to sit around at his office table counting figures the whole day, of course - he has a workshop manager for that; BUT he should keep an eye on this guy - because he's not always the brightest bean in the sack… and the other employees are of course normal people - pay them poorly, they won't produce much for you, and your reputation will suffer… but if you pay them a bonus, effectiveness will rise and the company will become more attractive for prospective buyers.

More information.

I like those "small" ideas they have which surely add to the gameplay, but honestly: how long do they want to delay the game to get stuff like that in?
It seems as if they are waiting for something or have too much time on their hands.
Also: isn´t it neccessary to rebalance everything in the game after they put in such a mechanic?

I could live without it.

I personally have no interest in participating in a 'shop sim' in the middle of an action RPG.

i think its hardly going to be a shop sim; i would welcome any depth to the game as although its a fun game, the lack of relation to the game world are what caused me not to go back and finish it. i'm guessing its going to be somewhat a mesh between crossroad keeps element of nwn2 spliced with your 'do it yourself' equiment in fallout 3. i don't see why it couldn't work in an action rpg, which it would be much more fitting than say a simple hack/slash rpg where environmental actions besides killing, looting, and shoping are limited.

This sounds like a fun idea if well implemented. Such things improve my immersion in a game world.