Quote Originally Posted by Darkmatter View Post
Not at all. The whole point of having tools in the real world is to be better at skills. You don't need tools to see a small object, but magnifying glasses help. You don't need tools to swim fast, but flippers help. This is what the "masterwork tool" is supposed to replicate in the game world. Just because some skills (like "use rope" for example) cannot be used without a tool doesn't mean they are the only ones that can be better performed with one.
While that sounds not unreasonable, you have to admit that RAW doesn't actually say so, and that the other interpretation (that skills which don't use tools also don't have masterwork tools) is equally valid.

As a related issue: whenever the MW tool for anything is asserted to be any kind of reference book or any kind of laboratory equipment, using the skill would logically take several rounds. How many seconds does it take you to find something in a paper encyclopedia?