Welcome to AOC
Age of Conan Money is very important. Crafting will be a significant part of AOC. However it is still unclear as to how significant it will ultimately be. It is likely that the end game crafting will be comparable but slightly less than those you obtain through questing and raids. However, like many MMO's some crafted items will be slightly better in 'Niche' categories (Like resistance, etc). Time will tell. What we do know is that in order to make any item, you will need Resources.
Professions in this game are divided up into 2 parts in AOC: gathering, and crafting. The gathering professions can be learned by any race/culture and any class at level 20. The crafting can only be learned when you reach level 40. A character can learn as many gathering skills as he/she wants. However, one character can only learn one crafting profession.
Resources are items you gather that are spread throughout the game world and dungeons. Their placement is often referred to as resource nodes. There are several types of resources...
Miner Minerals like copper and iron
Prospector Precious metals like silver and gold
Skinner Skinning the hides f Aion beasts
Stonecutter gathering stones such as sandstone and basalt
Weaver obtains cloth f Aion plants, such as cotton
Woodcutter cuts wood (Brilliant!!) like ash and oak.
Each one of these resources is used in crafting weapons, armor, potions, and in creation of the guild cities.
