Whereas, when you go to dungeons, you are rewarded exp points that make you a better fighter. AND more items per AP than you get by crafting.
Having to make 100 copper ingots (~4 days) just to be able to advance to tier 2 materials doesn't look like a bonus to me... It looks like a handicap. With 100 AP I can easily advance 2-4 levels and get much better items through raiding than I would through crafting, and more money (although it's debatable that one day this will be rewarded through demand in the market, I don't see why dropped items would not have the same or better value in the market as crafted items).
So, still seems unbalanced to me...
Also, a lot of the weapons I'd want to craft simply aren't available as recipes for Tier 1, which again means I need to advance an experience Tier if I want weapons I can both craft and, you know, actually use.