Oh, the change is well thought out:
Having socketed items destroyed was a feature ever since Sacred 1 - a feature, the majority obviously didn't like. That is why LAN cooperative saving trick was widely utilized, to deny the Lord of Random his due. In Sacred 2 the developers introduced the mastery chance of keeping items intact, but made it meager and not really worth the bother. Funny thing is, that if they upped the max. chance to 100% at top skill level, everyone would consider the Blacksmith skill to be a must have, thus reducing the variety of builds.
What's done is a best available compromise, derived from the English description of the skill. It states that item enhancements are subject to being destroyed. Well, rings and amulets are not, they are wearables. Blacksmith arts and damage converters are enhancements, with a catch, that a truly rare, or unique damage converter resists being destroyed. Runes are unique consumable enhancements, and as such, resist being destroyed.
The net result is, that players(and no, I can not in good faith imagine, that they don't do it) no longer have to use various chest and LAN tricks to ensure, that items, that matter, are safe. And there's a gold sink - they have to buy generic damage converters (and reforge arts with preferable properties, available in Enhanced Edition). And the Blacksmith skill is not obligatory for comfortable gameplay.
The purpose of Blacksmith Mastery is, as before, extra convenience and costs reduction, Blackmith Art's arribute scaling. But it's no longer paramount to achieve. Though in EE it's bound to be more important.