I am really enjoying the game so far. Community seems better than WoW's been in ages (though I could just be getting really lucky), I like how it teaches you the basics of your party role via Quests long before you get your first Dungeon.

Anyway, a couple questions.

1) How do I make Materia? Is it a quest that unlocks easily, or do I have to go out of my way for it? I'm level 24 on my Gladiator and can't do Materia yet, but I keep getting equipment with slots for Materia.

2) I want to play Paladin. Should I switch as soon as I hit 30 on Gladiator to get Conjurer to 15, or is it best to level one class to 50 before starting another? On that, can anyone give a deeper explanation of how the bonus XP works? The game only touched the base and then kept going.

3) Is crafting like WoW, where getting one to max level grants bonuses, or is it purely for crafting benefits? If its the latter, is it worth grinding out crafting right now?

Thanks in advance.