So, Crafting...

[Kaurhz]

It's quite an investment yeah, considering what it ultimately brings to the table. Getting to the level required to glamour prisms isn't too tedious and can probably be done fairly quickly just grinding items with a friendly recipe. Crafting is only really tedious when you need to gear up at each major interval 50/60/70. The latter not too bad at the moment, but the transition from base game to expansion, or expansion to expansion is fairly nasty. I personally wouldn't even bother investing the full way if you don't plan to craft fairly frequently. I'm also inclined to say that even power levelling from 50-60 you can make gil rather than lose it. You could comfortably just level to 50, work up to Talan gear, sell prisms, furniture, and relic items then you'd be set for making a comfortable amount of gil.

Crafting is in a good spot for new players right now, to where it's fairly cheap, and there's something there for everyone. Not much more unique can be said considering what was added by the other posters, but if you want to check out stuff more in depth, I'd check out Mithrie's guide for new players, it's really good 1-50. Or even Caimie Tsukino's crafting guide, if you prefer the written. Though hers is more written and a little theory I guess, but a really good rundown of each of the abilities