So when the real game launches, is it optimal to start an alt to do all your crafting, so that you won't waste any skill points in it? Or is a lot of crafting soulbound, so you need to do it on the character you want to wear the items?

To raise an alt for crafting and gathering mats exclusively is the most reasonable option in ESO in my opinion.

I'll be mastering Woodworking on my main, just incase there are drawbacks to not being combat efficient. I also like the idea of being able to do things on the fly, rather than logging in and out.

I'm sure there will be enough skill points to throw around, given you collect all the Sky Shards.

No an alt would not be preferred. One you'll still have to level the alt to get skill points / find sky shards. Crafting things provide less exp than deconstructing gear you loot.

I have a lvl 30k who has tier 3 blacksmithing, cloth /leather, woodworking. He is not starved for points and has more than enough to go around and by endgame you'll have enough to max everything.

And to gather the stuff you need you need a higher lvl character for the higher lvl zones. This game made it so you dont need crafting alts.

I guess that depends on how many crafting trees you are going for. I recall Beth has stated you will be able max out only 2 crafting skill at max character level, if you want to keep competition in pvp.

I've never seen that stated. The closest thing to that I've ever read from them has been:

I read that you can only "master" two crafting skills. Can I master two crafting skills while still being capable of using the other crafting skills? I do so love the ability to be a bit of a jack of all trades.

If you choose to do so, you can advance in or even master every crafting profession we have—just keep in mind that skill points are limited. A skill point spent in crafting is one you didn’t spend on a combat skill that you might want on the battlefield, so make sure you consider your choices carefully.

So yes, you can master all, but there is a sacrifice. Doesn't necessarily mean you will be gimped in PvP though if you know exactly what build you want, because you only need 6 combat skills slotted plus whatever passives are related...

Crafting will be my main focus in the start. I won't make an alt for it though.

To my knowledge, there are no products produced by crafters that are soul bound. So from that perspective, crafting alts are perfectly viable.

Personally, I've found the crafting in ESO to be so much fun, I doubt I'd ever make a character who doesn't at least study a few crafting skills.

It's a nice feeling when you finally learn enough traits to be able to use the best secret workshops, or make your own armor, improve it to super high quality and then put your own glyph on each piece, for example.

Theirs enough skill points in the game to max out everything. Does that mean you might have to make a choice at a level if you wanna increase a skill point in your class line or black smiting? maybe but you'll still be able to get it later.

Do what you want. But I got to lvl 30 and had the ability to make staffs, weapons,shields,bows, heavy armor, light armor, and medium armor all up to lvl 46 ish and still have tons of points to take everything else I needed.

I dont plan to make a alt for crafting, but all of my chars are going to have at least a couple of craft skills.

This was discussed quite extensively over at Tamriel Foundry. Whilst it is possible, it is not without a lot of work. If you want to be effective in your crafting then you'd want to invest 15-20 points in each skill line. If you're trying to do several crafts on that single crafting alt you still have a lot of skill points to get with that character. And if you are dumping all those points into crafting then of course that char will be poor in combat which is going to mean that it will simply have a hard time getting the skill points.

Whilst there are a few skyshards in the open world which are easy pickings, many of them reside in dungeons which you can only pickup after it is clear so if you can't fight, you're going to have a hard time with that.

Another consideration is that if you want to take advantage of the special crafting stations which provide unique benefits, these are found in specific zones spread out across Tamriel and of course many of them are in high level zones. You'll have difficulty getting to those with your lowbie crafting alt.

Lastly, if you want to use the 'Hireling' skills to get free mats mailed to you each day, the mats you get are based on your character level and not your crafting level so if you keep your crafting alt at a low level, you're only ever going to get low level mats.

One character should be able to easily master at least 2 crafting lines whilst have all the necessary skills for combat so unless you are really set on only ever playing a single character I would recommend having an alt - but instead of a crafting alt, just a secondary character that you play and level up normally but take 2 crafts also. With 2 chars, you can master 4 crafts and that should be enough for most people to keep themselves well stocked in everything they need.

i try to figure out which crafting skills are realy NEEDED to craft and which are only for comfort (e.g. keen eye rank 2,3) and make things easier... this will reduce the points for crafting enourmously...

I don't understand how anyone would have time for a second character. It seems like a lot of work to me.

Literally? No. There is NOT enough skill points to master everything. However, you'll have enough skill points to master all the skills you need + a few crafting professions if you go all out of your way to find them.

6 Actives + passives could easily goes beyond 100 skill points. In the long run you won't be gimped but I think you will have to make sacrifice before you obtained the skill points.