I don't really have any hope of crafting or gathering ever being a significant part of this game. The game is made for players to be self sufficient, and for anything where crafting items are actually desired the supply is so ridiculously high that it still usually eclipses the demand and all but a few items are sold for pennies on the market board.

You can't have a game where every player gets handed everything they could ever want just for showing up and then also have resource gathering, item creation (crafting) or the economy hold any kind of substance.