New player some questions!

[Vazoth]

1. While gathering and crafting surely is the way to make some serious gil, you should first ask yourself, if you will need a lot of gil. I mainly did the mainstory quests and partly leveled some additional classes to unlock skills, which I use for my main class. If it's gear for leveling you're looking for, don't look at the market board (equivalent to auction houses). There's a NPC vendor in every levelregion, who is most sufficient, not to mention the quest rewards you earn anyway.
Having just reached the Expansion, I just crossed the 1 million gil mark and honestly I don't know what I should spent it on. To sum this up: Enjoy the game and you'll get enough gil by questing. If you should need more, then might be the time to look into gathering and crafting.

2. Yes, but keep in mind that there are two types of subscriptions. There is the standard subscription and a cheaper entry level subscription. The entry level restricts you to one playable character per server.

[Vazoth]

One more thing. If you want some neat starter items, which also save you some gil by eliminating the ingame transportation fee 99 times you're free to use this code before you pay for your first subscription (30 free days that come with the purchase of the game don't count).

MDSFZ96D

Friend code benefits
Friendship Circlet - Increases EXP earned by 20% when level 25 and below.
Aetheryte Ticket x 99 - using Teleport will not incur a gil fee
Ballroom Etiquette - Improper Greetings -Using this will unlock a new emote. (/fistbump, /brofist)
10 Silver Chocobo Feathers - To trade in for starter, or level 50 gear!

To register a recruitment code:
-Create a Square Enix account
-Log into your Mog Station
-Manage Service Option
-Enter Recruitment Code